Graduating from college as an outstanding student in French, Jim Ryan began his career as a high school foreign language teacher on Long Island. But over the years, his passion for teaching would take him on an unexpected journey that would lead him to an iconic role as—in his words—a “spreader of happiness.” In today’s episode, Jim will talk about how his career evolved through a series of shifts across the educational and business worlds to a moment when he decided to take a volunteer job teaching prisoners locked up for multiple DWI convictions. It was then that he had an “Aha!” moment, realizing that his true passion was teaching personal development. Jim will talk about how this epiphany led to his widely popular book, “Simple Happiness: 52 Easy Ways to Lighten Up,” and to his current career as a motivational speaker and author, sharing his “Simple Happiness” message through empowering seminars across the country and sending out a weekly email of “Aha Moments” to thousands of people every Wednesday. Jim has discovered that he has the ability to turn profound concepts into easily understood solutions, and with humor, anecdotes and song, his presentations have folks leaving excited about the possibilities of living a better life.