Her Story

I’ve spent my career exploring one question that feels more urgent than ever:

How can we stay optimistic and resilient when the world feels heavy?

Before I became a researcher, I was a national news anchor at CBS News. Every morning, I told stories about everything going wrong—and eventually realized that those stories were shaping how millions of us saw the world.

So I left journalism to study the science of happiness and human potential under Dr. Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania. I wanted to understand how to talk about the negative in a way that didn’t leave us feeling hopeless, but instead motivated to create positive change.

What I discovered changed everything. Optimism isn’t soft—it’s strategic. When we retrain the brain to focus on strengths, meaning, and possibility, stress drops, creativity rises, and performance improves.

Over the past decade, I’ve shared this research with professionals and parents at organizations including Google, Meta, American Express, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Bank of America, helping leaders and teams build the kind of mindset that fuels both well-being and success.

But this work isn’t just professional for me—it’s deeply personal.

In my twenties, despite what looked like a perfect life, I faced a season of depression that taught me happiness isn’t about circumstances. It’s about how we frame our story. Learning to tell a different story—one grounded in gratitude, connection, and purpose—became the foundation for everything I teach today.

Now, as a working mom of two young children and wife to fellow happiness researcher Shawn Achor, I’m continually reminded that optimism isn’t a fixed trait. It’s a daily practice. Some days, it’s found in a quiet moment before the chaos begins; other days, in choosing grace instead of perfection.

My mission is simple: to share the science that helps people see what’s possible. Because every one of us is broadcasting something.

Through our words, our presence, and our mindset, we send a signal into the world.

And when that signal is grounded in optimism and resilience, it doesn’t just change us—it changes everyone around us.

That’s the story I want to help you tell next—because it’s only together, with your voice and your light, that we can create the kind of positive change the world most needs.