About Michael J. Lyons

Michael J. Lyons grew up in suburban Philadelphia. At age nine, his family relocated to Paris, where he landed his first acting role, sharing a scene with Tony Curtis in the 1964 romantic comedy Paris When It Sizzles, starring Audrey Hepburn and William Holden. That early spark never left him.

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Michael built a distinguished business career in senior roles with prestigious multinational organizations, including Carlson Wagonlit Travel and Reed Exhibitions. But even as his corporate career accelerated, he never abandoned his first love. Living near New York City gave him access to auditions, and by the 1990s he was appearing in national commercials and earning roles in films and on television.

His screen credits include All My Children, The Sixth Sense, Outsiders, House of Cards, Veep, and HBO's We Own This City, along with a long-running recurring role on What Would You Do? — the ABC News hidden-camera program hosted by John Quiñones. Over sixteen episodes between 2014 and 2024, Michael and John developed a close personal friendship that continues to this day — a friendship John generously honors by contributing the foreword to this book.

Michael is the author of Set Yourself Free: Daydream It… Believe It… Achieve It! — a practical guide to breaking through limitations and pursuing long-held dreams — and of The Little Book of the Sixteen Cs for a Happy Marriage, distilled from more than fifty years of marriage to his wife Lorie. For fifteen years he was also one of the meetings industry's most sought-after keynote speakers, delivering more than two hundred talks on leadership, reinvention, and personal growth. Since 2015 he has served as the on-camera host of Smart Meetings TV, conducting over eight hundred interviews with CEOs and industry leaders; in 2022 he was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Members in the fifty-year history of Meeting Professionals International. In 2020, he launched the Lessons from Leaders podcast, a long-form interview series in which he draws candid insights from CEOs, entrepreneurs, and industry visionaries on the principles behind their success. His screenplay Father John has earned award recognition.

But above any credential on the page, family has been the center of Michael's life. He and Lorie — married on April 20, 1974 — raised three children together and have been blessed with seven grandchildren whose games, concerts, and recitals they have been attending, together, for more than two decades running. Michael lives by a phrase he coined himself, and means literally: “Your happiness is my happiness.” It is the voice behind this book, and it is the way he has loved the people closest to him for his entire adult life.