Shawn Achor

Early life

Shawn was born on March 9th, 1978 in Waco, Texas. He attended Midway High School Waco, having graduated in 1996. His parents were both academics. Shawn’s father taught Psychology at Baylor University. His mother also worked at Baylor, as an English professor. 

Shawn attended Harvard University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in Christian and Buddhist Ethics from Harvard Divinity School. He spent twelve years at Harvard, in roles such as freshman proctor and teaching assistant. He was the teaching assistant for Tal Ben Shahar’s “Happiness” course.

Career

In 2007 Shawn co-founded GoodThinkInc. alongside Amy Blankson, his sister. He also co-founded the Institute for Applied Positive Research with his wife, Michelle Gielan. This institute has researchers, speakers, and trainers who develop resources and work with employees with the goal of improving work performance via positive psychology. 

In 2011, Achor presented a TedTalk in Bloomington, Indiana entitled “The Happiness Advantage: Linking Positive Brains to Performance”. In this talk he discussed how to move one’s entire happiness average upwards. He also developed a corporate training program by the name of “Happiness Advantage Training.” 

Achor has written and co-written three books:

•  Before Happiness (2013)
•  Big Potential (2018)
•  The Happiness Advantage (2018)
•  Ripple’s Effect  (with Amy Blankson; 2012). 
• The Future of Happiness (with Amy Blankson; 2017)

Achor started an online learning class with the Oprah Winfrey Network in 2015, based on his research. He also worked with UBS and Yale to study the physical effect of stress on the body. 

Net Worth

N/A