“Happiness isn’t something out there in some fantasy land, it’s out there for us to grab” — Mimi Valdés, creative director for Pharrell’s i am OTHER, a multimedia company.

Happy has become a global phenomenon — 11 million copies of the song sold and nearly a billion video views of the song and its offshoots — mostly because at the end of the day people want to connect, share and be happy, Valdés said. It was a wonderful lesson I got from Valdés talk at FastCompany magazine’s Design Awards conference in Manhattan. Check out 24hoursofhappy!