Is happiness something that comes naturally to some people? Can it be measured and taught? In order to answer these questions I’ve invited the Happiness Strategies Monique Rhodes to join me. Monique is the CEO of One People Productions and her mission in life is to lead you toward a lifetime of happiness.  To accomplish that, she combines teachings with powerful, habit-changing exercises. Monique wasn’t always a happiness expert. Growing up in New Zealand, she was the victim of abuse as a child. That lead to depression in her teens and ultimately a suicide attempt. While in the hospital recovering, she chose to make it her mission to find happiness - and to understand why some people seem naturally happy, while others struggle. This mission took her all over the world. In India, she began teaching mediation to a group of young girls who persistently asked for lessons. While Monique was not a natural teacher, she learned her passion about meditation - and her search for happiness - could be a driving force for others. Before long she was teaching 50 people a day. These early teaching sessions evolved into a program. Monique trialed her thought leadership to a class of 20 people at University College in London, and watched as that class swelled to more than 100. By the end of the trial, more than 2500 people were involved! Monique began marketing the program to various universities and colleges, along with word of mouth, and due to positive feedback she was able to build a business around the program. Monique has created The Happiness Baseline, 8 week program that not only guarantees results for those who finish, but has provable metrics, using Penn State University's Authentic Happiness quiz. This episode shows how thought leaders can tackle a personal problem and take their lessons to market, making the lives of thousands of others better! It's a winner, and we're thrilled to share it with you.  Three Key Takeaways: *  Many are not natural teachers, but if you have a passion for your thought leadership you can develop the skills needed to help others. *  Positive word of mouth about the effectiveness of your thought leadership can be better than a marketing budget. *  If you want to prove your thought leadership, ensure there are hard metrics to back it up.