How Jeanne Lim of Hanson Robotics makes time for yoga and holistic health
Lim has been involved in the development of ‘Sophia’, a human-like robot, described as ‘a personification of our dreams for the future of AI’, with the ability to display a wide range of complex and emotional expression
From a Western scientific viewpoint, time is an objective measurement, and progresses from the past to the present and the future in a linear, irreversible direction. Some Eastern cultures, however, see time as cyclical. “At a personal level,’’ says Jeanne Lim, CEO of Hanson Robotics, “I think time is also related to experience.”
Lim explains that the phrase “time flies when one is having fun” contains some truth when one is immersed in experiencing time, rather than measuring its passage. However, since assuming her role as CEO of Hanson Robotics in 2019, she has found it increasingly difficult to carve out time for herself.
“I used to have bigger blocks of time to do things outside work,” Lim says. “I love learning new things so I used to do at least one long trip every year to attend a retreat or a course, mostly related to yoga or holistic health. I am also an angel investor so I spend time meeting the start-ups I’m involved in.”
Lim’s interest in business only began after college. During her time there, she was involved in the arts and sports, and for reasons that remain a mystery to her, Lim found herself on an unplanned business career. “In the first decade of my working life, I pretty much just focused on climbing the corporate ladder, so to speak.”
After strenuous years in corporate, Lim took a couple of well-deserved career breaks and got into yoga, Eastern philosophy and energy medicine. “Serendipitously, when I was just about to retire from corporate life, I joined Hanson Robotics and had an unexpected opportunity to be involved in the arts again, as one of Sophia’s character writers and her first amateur photographer.”
‘Sophia’ is a Hanson Robotics creation. A human-like robot, described as “a personification of our dreams for the future of AI”, with the ability to display a wide range of complex and emotional expression, ‘Sophia’ was granted honorary citizenship by Saudi Arabia in 2017.
The CEO says she doesn’t have a family in the traditional sense of the word, but that does not detract from the quality of life she enjoys. “I don’t have children or a traditional family per se. Relatives and friends often find it strange that I have made this life choice but I really relish the mental and physical freedom,” she says.