Our story

The Sharon Faye Foundation was inspired by the life of Sharon Faye. Sharon’s unrelenting interest in humanity’s plight came from her own struggle to survive in an extremely harsh environment. As a child, Sharon was abandoned, abused, beaten and deemed retarded. As a teenager, she dropped out of school and lived on the streets.

Enduring years of struggle in the search for a better way of living, Sharon learned to move towards the pain rather than away from it. Determined to get an education, she put herself through university with four young children on welfare. This difficult journey led her to a build a successful professional services firm where Sharon works with leaders in corporate strategy and pioneering a way of engaging emotions for radical healing – Emotional Strength ^®. How she pulled herself out of the quagmire to pursue a different path is a testament to the Emotional Strength she has worked so hard to build. Building Emotional Strength saved Sharon’s life. Helping others to do the same has become her life mission.

‘Emotional Strength is the ability to respond in an open and vulnerable way in the face of intense emotional experience’. More than two decades of practical application in private practice has demonstrated that building Emotional Strength is life changing in all areas of business and in life. Grateful for the difference that Sharon’s work has made in their businesses and their lives, a number of Sharon’s clients asked how they could help in raising awareness of her work. The Foundation was born from their contributions.

The next chapter of Sharon’s vision is through the Foundation.
The Sharon Faye Foundation is committed to Emotion research in six areas within our community.

IDENTITY

FAMILY

EDUCATION

BUSINESS

LAW

POLITICS

For the Foundation, these six systems provide the infrastructure of our community and are regarded as pivotal to the health and well-being of humanity.

Purpose and strategic intent

Purpose

The Sharon Faye Foundation’s purpose is to conduct research into Emotion and demonstrate how Emotional Strength is essential to improve the health of our people, the education of our children, the quality of our leaders, the effectiveness of our law and the value of our economy. This purpose will drive the Foundation’s research and publishing activity in six key areas: identity, family, education, business, law and politics.

Strategic Intent

The Sharon Faye Foundation’s strategic intent is to:

Introduce the concept of Emotional Strength to the world
Educate various sectors about how Emotional Strength can be used to evolve humanity’s perception of negative emotion
Attract a team of skilled and competent researchers to test the validity of Emotional Strength
Raise the profile of the Sharon Faye Foundation and its humanitarian intent
Publish the findings of research on Emotional Strength in the six key areas of our society (identity, family, education, business, law, politics)
Demonstrate how Emotional Strength develops healthy culture
Publish quality research to demonstrate that developing Emotional Strength can heal the deepest wounds of humanity
Researchers to develop a map of the process of Building Emotional Strength
Demonstrate how Emotional Strength is essential to improve the health of our people, the education of our children, the quality of our leaders, the effectiveness of our law and the value of our economy.

Vision, Mission & Values

Vision

Healthy Emotion ~ Healthy World

Mission

Test the hypothesis that Emotional Strength is essential to improve the health of our people, the education of our children, the quality of our leaders, the effectiveness of our law and the value of our economy.

Values

Brave
Integrity
Growth
Care
Vitality

Sharon’s Influences

My four children, who believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.
The first psychologist Jenny, who told me I was highly intelligent.
My third grandchild Deikan, who taught me that I am lovable.
My clients, who inspire me.
Dr Sue Cruthers, who taught me persistence on a whole new level.
My staff, who are teaching me about a new experience of team.

Our Team

The Board brings a diversity of expertise and experience to the Sharon Faye Foundation.

All members of the wider team share Sharon’s passion for building Emotional Strength and its capacity to change lives for the better. Each member of the team has been personally and professionally touched by Sharon’s work.

We also acknowledge the late Dr Sue Cruthers, the Foundation’s founding patron and longstanding supporter. Sue’s hope was that Emotional Strength would one day become available to everyone worldwide and become part of cultural mainstream.

Sharon Faye
Founding Director, Creator of Emotional Strength®

BA (Psych); BPsych; MPsych (Org); DipClinHyp; EMBA (UWA); MFRT; MIACN

Sharon is the founder and Managing Director of Clear Perceptions with a wealth of organisational experience.

Sharon developed the original concept of building Emotional Strength in business. Sharon’s vision for Clear Perceptions is Healthy Business ~ Healthy World. Sharon has been building Emotional Strength in business, with owners, partners and executives for over 20 years. Her work is based on her belief that whatever the leaders are experiencing in their business is a direct reflection of their internal world. The first step to developing healthy workplaces is for executives to become aware of their internal world and the unconscious drivers that influence their leadership style, decision making, communication, and workplace performance.

Leaders emerge from this process.

Sharon is also the Chair and founding Director of the Sharon Faye Foundation. The Foundation’s purpose is to conduct research into Emotion and demonstrate how Emotional Strength is essential to improve the education of our children, the health of our people, the quality of our leaders, the effectiveness of our law and the value of our economy. This purpose will drive the Foundation’s research and publishing activity in six key areas: family, education, business, law and politics.

Sharon’s dedication to improving the experience of being human originates from her own experience of recovering from severe childhood abuse. Sharon developed Emotional Strength within herself and has dedicated her life to building Emotional Strength in others. Emotional Strength is the ability to respond in an open and vulnerable way in the face of intense emotional experience.

Sharon was awarded a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology in 1994, a Bachelor of Psychology from Edith Cowan University in 1995 and a Master of Psychology (Org) with Distinction from Curtin University in 1998. Her research focused on testing the structure of affective well-being. Sharon went into consulting in 2000. In 2008 Sharon presented the concept of Emotional Strength at the International Congress of Psychology in Berlin. Sharon completed an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) from the University of Western Australia in 2011 and her research focused on building a sustainable business model in the private sector.

Sharon lives in beautiful Perth Western Australia, raised four children and has eight grandchildren; she runs marathons and loves good coffee.

Dr Joel Hooper
Non-Executive Director

BSc (Hons), PhD (University of London)

Dr Joel Hooper spent the early part of his career as a researcher in genetics and cell biology, working at the world-class research centres, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine & Dentistry and at the Chester Beatty Laboratories of the Institute of Cancer Research, University of London. The work focused on topics ranging from the molecular genetics of cardiovascular disease through to understanding how important proteins work during lymphocyte development, yielding publications in renowned medical journals such as The Lancet, EMBO Journal and Immunology.

In order to pursue broader interests, Joel then worked as a consultant to Sharon Faye at Clear Perceptions on a range of topics including defining with Sharon the new concept of Emotional Strength. Joel then worked for over eight years at IQVIA, a Fortune 500 company specialized in human data science in the healthcare and life sciences industries, with four years as a management consultant and four years in management roles in Business Operations. Over that time, Joel has led merger and acquisition integration programs and led the company’s operational Artificial Intelligence and Robotics efforts.

Joel was one of the founding directors of the Sharon Faye Foundation since its inception in 2015.

Joel was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Pathology and Pharmacology from the University of Western Australia in 2001, a PhD in Biology from the University of London in 2006, and in 2020 completed The Regenerative Practitioner development program with the Regenesis Institute for Regenerative Practice.

Joel has one (wonderful) daughter and is an avid student of modern art, design and literature, an amateur artist, writer, coffee lover and tennis enthusiast. He shares his time between London and Heidelberg, Germany.

Our Brand

Rationale

Harley Spick, Art Director, Milkable Brand Agency

The concept came from my own personal experience, where I found in that 1 hour meeting, Sharon was able to connect with me at a very deep emotional level. Sharon was able to identify what was holding me back, and through a deep feeling of love, I felt an overwhelming release of inner tension, and by doing so gained an experience of emotional strength.

The design concept uses the heart to symbolise love and the journey of life from birth and its pure state, through to the point where an individual learns how to deal with their inner self, and engage in life from a position of emotional strength to realise their full potential.

We have used the colour of purple in the brand, which is a colour that represents wisdom, peace and independence.

About Us