SMP Q&A with Lisa Eve from happiness social network TheHappyChannel.com

Profiled interview with Lisa Eve, owner and founder of the happiness social network TheHappyChannel.com

Social Media Portal (SMP): What is your name and what do you do there at TheHappyChannel.com

Lisa Eve (LE): I am Lisa Eve, owner and founder of The Happy Channel. Since its creation, I have been the content creator, aggregator, manager, scout for great and passionate people to feature on TheHappyChannel.com :)

SMP: What were you doing before you started the TheHappyChannel.com and why the change in direction?

LE: Before I started TheHappyChannel.com, my career was in real estate. I did sales, leasing and property management. I loved being in the real estate industry because I loved being of service. I imagined that one-day opening my own property management business.

Once I began to explore a spiritual path, and became more in touch with my intuitive guidance.  I changed course knowing I wanted to make a difference in the world, and it was bigger than opening a real estate office. I knew it was time to go BIG and go after my dreams!

SMP: Briefly, tell us about TheHappyChannel.com (for those that don?t know), what is it and what does social network do?

LE: TheHappyChannel.com is a social network and website all about exploring and sharing what makes you happy with others! When you need a pick-me-up in your day, visit TheHappyChannel.com for Happy News, Happy Music, Happy Pictures, Happy Videos, Happy Movie Clips, Happy Quotes, Happy Links and even Happy Guest Bloggers! As a social network, you can join the community and create a profile to share your own happy status updates, photos, video links and much more! The Happy Recommended Videos and Happy Photos on the homepage pulls from user generated content. So it?s an interactive site for those who visit and for the members of the community.


SMP: When did you create the concept and when did it originally launch?

LE: I thought of the concept in 2007, when I was asked at the completion of a leadership class what I wanted to do next in the world, and I felt at the time the world was in need of a giant pick-me-up. I needed a pick-me-up too as the news consistently focused on exploiting people, and by sharing predominantly depressing news, our society continued to create itself from a place of fear. I didn?t want to live in fear anymore and I felt it was time for something different to evolve.

After an extensive inner journey, a career change and two moves, I found myself in an authentically happy place in 2010 and began to build TheHappyChannel.com.  TheHappyChannel.com finally launched in June 2012.

SMP: How is the social network funded and will you sustain its success?

LE: The social network and website is funded through private investors. To sustain its success, advertising opportunities are being made available to companies in alignment with TheHappyChannel.com and its mission.

SMP: Why has there been a relaunch and what has that entailed?

LE: When I originally launched TheHappyChannel.com last year, I was just so excited that my dream was coming true that I didn?t realize the full extent of what needed to be done to spread the word. I may have naively assumed that through my own social networking and community of contacts that the word would naturally spread and become successful.

As time went on, I realized I needed to align myself with a team of experts who could help me take TheHappyChannel.com to the next level. So, I worked on fine-tuning certain pages and layouts and began working with a PR firm to help with spreading the word, which has made a big difference! Many changes have already been made, and there are still more to come! This keeps it exciting!

SMP: Who are your target audience and why?

LE: The target audience reaches far and wide! It?s a place for parents to feel at ease with their kids because the content is inspiring and positive. It?s a place for young entrepreneurs to share their ideas and their passions. It?s a place for adults to share their passions, as well as remember and rediscover what makes them smile and to reconnect to the happiness within.  TheHappyChannel.com was designed for everyone!

SMP: How did you initially attract users to your social network (how do you promote it and its message/s) and site and how do you do it now?

LE: Initially, I promoted TheHappyChannel.com through my social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, The Happy Channel Newsletter subscriber list and by word-of-mouth. I still do the same, but now I also have a team helping me spread the word via press and advertising.

SMP: How do you encourage existing and potential new members to get involved and then interact with each other (and what are the benefits of this)?

LE: From time-to-time, TheHappyChannel.com Facebook page invites people to visit and join the community. Gratefully, TheHappyChannel.com has also received lots of wonderful press, which has increased the number of new members to the community.

I also realized I needed to play and do things that made me happy, and share on the site! If I?m not happy, as ?The Happy Channel? how could I expect anyone else to be, and to want to share? So, I began posting my own happy status updates, share photos and links to videos I liked.  Eventually as people joined the community they followed suit.

About interacting with each other, would any of the social networks out there be as much fun if there was no one to play with? TheHappyChannel.com was created so we could share our happiness and be inspired by the happiness of others! The benefits are that it?s a mutual exchange of energy; giving and receiving, you meet new people from all over the world.  You?re in dialogue about what makes you happy, which continues to create and recreate itself through you and throughout the world! Being happy becomes contagious! :)

SMP: What are the low moments of what you have been doing so far (and in regards to TheHappyChannel.com)?

LE: Well, through this process I?ve encountered a change in web companies, exhaustion and a momentary loss of funding. I wondered how and when TheHappyChannel.com would ever receive recognition and serve its purpose.

SMP: What are the high moments of what you have been doing so far (and in regards to TheHappyChannel.com)?

LE: Launching last year, committing to its purpose and seeing it evolve, working with an integrity-filled web team, and just being super-duper proud of myself and all that I?ve accomplished! :)

SMP: What do you see as your biggest challenges and opportunities for TheHappyChannel.com?

LE: I?ll start with opportunities. With its increasing growth, by visiting and being a part of the TheHappyChannel.com, the mindset of users will slowly begin to change to allow for ever-increasing happiness in a world that at the moment does not support this. By focusing on what makes us happy, pursuing our goals and encouraging others to follow and pursue their dreams, our interactions with one another will change in a positive way. This in-turn will provide an abundance of opportunities for everyone, everywhere!

My biggest challenge with TheHappyChannel.com will possibly be in bringing it mainstream. In a world that is filled with so much negativity, we have been programmed to believe there is scarcity and that we need to suffer in order to be happy. We have been brainwashed as a society and so it is with this understanding that I pray that somehow, someway, TheHappyChannel.com reaches the masses by providing an alternative to what has been previously learned.

SMP: What?s the next big step for social media / networks and what impact may this have upon what you do at TheHappyChannel.com?

LE: I personally would love to see social media/networks take a more proactive and positive approach to spreading the goodness in the world. I?m a big supporter of every company and all individuals living up to their highest potential.  So, no matter what happens, I intend to fulfil that for myself and it shall be reflected in how I carry TheHappyChannel.com forward.

SMP: What is the most challenging part of building upon the brands presence in digital environments (including social media)?

LE: The fact that the digital and social media landscape is constantly changing and people?s tastes and minds change just as frequently is the challenging part. I suppose, however, that my intention is not to follow the trends completely. I rather create a product and brand that is for the people, the people with whom it resonates. There are lots of folks out there who want to be happy and are seeking ways to achieve and experience it more regularly. The brand will appeal to those whose minds are open and ready to receive.

SMP: Is there anything else we should know, or is there anything that you?d like to share?

LE: Yes! I am so grateful to SMP for this opportunity. Thank you so much for giving me this platform to share about my company!

Building TheHappyChannel.com has been a labour of love and it?s a never-ending adventure and journey of personal growth and development. This was the first idea I had that I saw through to completion, and it took five years. Now that I know what I?m capable of, I know what?s possible for each and every one else out there. Dreams do come true! With TheHappyChannel.com, it is my intention to assist others in fulfilling their dreams too! There are parts of the site dedicated to featuring DJs, musicians, artists, photographers, bloggers and companies whose products and services come from a place of passion and desire to making a contribution to the world. For more information please read about the THC Casting Call.

Lastly, with the exception of my web team, I have created TheHappyChannel.com on my own. I love all that I have created and I know there?s so much more that can evolve. I would love a business partner. Someone who also has a big vision to create change in the world and would be interested in sharing their ideas and thoughts about how to take TheHappyChannel.com to the next level.

Thank You!

SMP: Best way to contact you and TheHappyChannel.com?

LE replies with:

Email: contact @ thehappychannel.com
Website: http://www.TheHappyChannel.com
Facebook
Twitter @TweetTHC
Pinterest
Blog


Now some questions for fun

SMP: What did you have for breakfast / lunch?

LE: For breakfast, maple raisin and flax instant oatmeal (gluten-free too!)

For lunch, penne pasta with olive oil, garlic and rosemary. (There?s goes that gluten-free! Ha!) Everything in balance. ;)

SMP: What?s the last good thing that you did for someone?

LE: Plan a holiday to visit with a friend I haven?t seen in over three years and who lives on the other side of the world.

SMP: What makes you happy and what do you do to make other people happy?

LE: I love meeting new people, travelling the world, helping others to live great lives, and honouring my inner child. I realized recently that I neglected my inner child far too long and so every day I now ask my inner child what?s one thing that would make her happy, and I honour that. One day I got a pint of ?Almond Joy? gelato. Another day I got a new and colourful nail polish that typically I would not wear because it?s so bright. Oh well, what the kid wants, the kid gets! And I do feel more playful inside as a result. It?s fun!

In addition to providing TheHappyChannel.com, I?m also a spiritual teacher, medium, intuitive, angel card reader and healer. I have an office where I provide readings and healings and I also have a public Facebook page where I often share insights and ask questions, to help my fans recognize their own strengths and to support their evolution.

SMP: On a scale of 1-10, how happy are you today?

LE: Today I am a 7.

SMP: If you weren?t running or working on TheHappyChannel.com what would you be doing?

LE: Wowzers, that would free up a lot of my time! I?d probably be spending more time on my other business, providing more classes, and I?d travel more and most likely be working on creating other ventures. I?m a visionary and an entrepreneur, so I?ll always be working on something! :)

SMP: When and where did you go on your last holiday?

LE: I took my last holiday in Punta de Mita, Mexico, in the middle of December 2012.

SMP: What?s the first thing you do when you get into the office of a morning?

LE: Well, I work from home and I also have an office outside my home. Most times though, I start my day in my home office reviewing and answering emails.

SMP: If you had a superpower what would it be and why?

LE: Hmmm, I would love to be able to fly. Just spread my wings and pick up whenever I felt the need to get away and just go! I would love to have that different perspective of seeing things from above. I would love to be able to just coast, soar, enjoy the air up there and all the beauty and splendour that exist in the world. And I?d love to be able to talk ?bird?. I often whistle and talk with the birds where I live, so I?d love to know that they?re receiving my messages and that I understand them correctly as well. :)

If you're interested in doing a Social Media Portal (SMP) interview, get in touch.