Chris “SparkGuy” Downie, SparkPeople Founder/CEO and author of the New York Times Best Selling book, The Spark, is an entrepreneurial success story who is now giving back by “sparking” millions of people to reach their goals.

Chris, the “shyest kid in class” during school, set out to find a way to conquer anxiety.  He integrated the best of health and fitness with the best of goal setting, leadership, and motivation to build his own personal improvement program.

Results from this program gave Chris the passion and energy to co-found an online auction company with a friend.  This company grew into eBay’s leading competitor and was acquired by eBay.

After reaching many of his own goals, Chris wanted to do more to help others reach their most meaningful goals.  He knows that he never would have met his wife (an early eBay employee), had entrepreneurial success – or ramped up his tennis game– if not for the results from his improvement program.

To make this happen, Chris started SparkPeople in 2000 and added a great team of people passionate about helping others.  SparkPeople’s mission is to SPARK millions of PEOPLE to reach their goals using health and fitness as a springboard to reach goals in all areas of life.  SparkPeople now has one of the largest and most popular diet/fitness/health websites and apps in the world with approximately 10 million unique visitors per month.

Chris corresponds directly with members daily and has made well over 10,000 social community posts to motivate people.

You can learn more about Chris and Spark People here.

A sociologist and happiness expert at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, Christine Carter, Ph.D., is the author of The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Groove at Work and Home (January 2015) and Raising Happiness (2011).

After receiving her B.A. from Dartmouth College, where she was a Senior Fellow, Dr. Carter worked in marketing management and school administration, going on to receive her Ph.D. in sociology from UC Berkeley.

Dr. Carter has been quoted or featured in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post, the Boston Globe, as well as Good Housekeeping, Parenting, Martha Stewart’s Whole Living, Fitness, Redbook, and dozens of other publications. She has appeared on the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” the “Dr. Oz Show”, the “TODAY” show, the “Rachael Ray Show,” “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “CBS Sunday Morning,” “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer”, PBS, as well as NPR and BBC Radio.

A sought-after keynote speaker, Dr. Carter loves to share her work with new audiences. Combining scientific research and practical application, Dr. Carter offers audiences not just a way to cope with modern pressures, but a way to truly thrive. Speaking to executives, general audiences, and working parents, Dr. Carter looks at living life from our “sweet spot”—that place of both power and ease.

Dr. Carter also writes an award-winning blog, which is frequently syndicated on the HuffingtonPost, PsychologyToday.com, PositivelyPositive.com, Medium.com, and several other websites. She has been nominated twice for an award from the American Sociological Association for public sociology.

She lives with her husband, four kids, and dog Buster in Marin County, California.

You can learn more about Christine here.