108. Teaching the World To Be a Better Place With Sharon Sloane

Sharon Sloane, President and CEO of WILL Interactive Inc has 30 years of experience designing leading edge instructional systems for behavior modification and performance improvement. She holds a US patent for creating computer based interactive movie software to help improve human performance. Her work has been featured on NBC, CNN, NPR, as well as in Forbes Magazine, TIME Magazine, The Washington Post, and approximately 50 other outlets.

Sharon grew up in an entrepreneurial household. In fact, she thought sights like watching her dad tally up retail margins on the back of a napkin after dinner was typical family fare. Her father had a saying, “You want to be the person that signs the check, not the person who waits for the check.” But she also saw how difficult entrepreneurship could be, and so she wanted for a while to become a teacher. She did eventually become one, but she realized that she wanted to use that teaching background to work with adults.

She discovered that the training that was being given to organizations and governments was not effective at creating lasting change, so she set out to build a better system. She had a vision for interactive video training that walked people through what they needed to learn. Keep in mind, this was in the 90s, when watching video on a computer seemed absurd. Technology, and her work with it, has come a long way since then.

It was through having a vision for the future and sticking with it despite the doubt of others that she was able to build her business to what it is today and make the impact she has on the world. She’s had proven success reducing the suicide rate of US soldiers as well as improving retention rates of some of the top companies in the US.

What Brett asks:

• [01:32] Tell me about your early memories and what your family dynamic was like as a child.
• [08:00] How did you decide what it was you wanted to do?
• [12:31] What was it like to hear so many people doubt what you’re doing and still carry on believing?
• [16:16] Can you walk us through the work that you’re doing now?
• [20:10] How have you seen tech evolve over the years?
• [35:42] Where are you headed and what’s next for your group?

To learn more about intentional living, and for the complete show notes, visit: gravityproject.com

Resources:

• willinteractive.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sloanesharon

Gravity is a production of Crate Media.