Elisabeth Oosterhoff - Author

Did you ever wonder what really makes people happy? “Ask them!” recommends Elisabeth Oosterhoff. She followed her own advice, and embarked on a yearlong happiness journey, collecting 365 interviews from people of all ages across three continents. The result is her book, The Many Faces of Happiness: Inspiring Stories of What Makes People Happy.

 

Born in Sweden and a Norwegian national, Elisabeth grew up in a number of European countries which sparked her love of learning about different people, cultures, and languages. She finally settled in New Jersey with her husband, son and furry sidekick, Chino, a Cocker Spaniel. When not chatting up strangers (after all, strangers are just friends we haven’t met yet), you can find her working at the United Nations in New York, where she gets to meet people of different cultures every day.

 

“The year I spent interviewing one person each day about happiness and all the amazing people I met, who were willing to share their life experiences,” she says, “was one of the happiest years of my life. ”Their stories about happiness create a wonderful feeling that Elisabeth wants to share with others.