At Blinkist, we’ve recently reached a pretty amazing milestone: we now have over one million users! That’s one million lifelong learners, dedicated to making reading a part of their everyday. From the foothills of the Colorado Rockies to the bustling streets of Dublin, Ireland, here are six stories of the people who are living and loving Blinkist.

Jason Sturgill, Illustrator, Portland, Oregon

An illustrator based in Portland, Oregon, we welcomed Jason Sturgill as our inaugural Artist-in-Residence at Blinkist HQ in Berlin earlier this year. Jason embodies much of what we cherish about our community: an unbridled eagerness for self-directed, lifelong learning; a genuine desire for a deeper understanding of himself and the greater world; and his insatiable curiosity and creativity. Check out the above video to learn more about his time in Berlin.

Ian Warner, Olympic athlete & Founder of FIXT, Phoenix, Arizona by way of Toronto, Canada

Ian’s no stranger to achievement and pushing himself to the limit. Before he was an entrepreneur, Ian competed in track and field at Iowa State and represented Canada at the London Olympics in 2012. The desire to continuously push himself to be the best he can be didn’t stop when he hung up his Iowa State jersey. He is determined to fit learning into his day-to-day and Blinkist helps him to realize this goal. Whether he cracks open a printed volume or tunes in to Blinkist while eating breakfast, reading is part of Ian’s cherished morning routine. He also moonlights in a sales job, and this can get tough. He’s found some wonderful guidance in the blinks to The Greatest Salesman in the World, by Og Mandino.

Sarah Schupp, Professor of Business & Entrepreneur, Boulder, Colorado

Sarah’s based in Boulder, Colorado, where she’s an adjunct business professor and also an entrepreneur, having founded UniversityParent.com. With this and being the mother of two young kids, there’s not as much time for reading as she’d like. So now, whenever she has a spare minute, e.g. between business meetings or on her commute, she turns to Blinkist instead of scrolling through social media channels. Sarah considers Blinkist an indispensable tool for book discovery and review. And what’s more, Sarah is bringing Blinkist into her university classroom. Most of her students don’t have a background in business studies, so, in order to quickly hammer home the fundamentals, she assigns them books-in-blinks to read.

Aidan McCullen, Former Irish Rugby player & Business Strategist, Dublin, Ireland

Aidan works as a Senior Strategy and Imagination Partner at Katawave, a business imagination studio in Dublin, Ireland. In a former life, he was a professional rugby player for Ireland and has also worked for RTE, Ireland’s television station. He likes to use Blinkist to get the essence of books and to figure out what books are worth purchasing and reading in full, as he puts it, “It’s a win-win-win for the publishers, Blinkist, and the reader!” But even former star athletes can’t escape the drudgery of everyday chores: Aidan listens to Blinkist while doing repetitive tasks, like cleaning the house. That way, the boring tasks take on a new shine.

Oula Farawati, Co-founder & CEO of Printati, Jordan

Like most working adults, especially those who are also parents, Jordan-based Oula juggles many different roles: entrepreneur, mother, friend. Faced with the hair-splitting pace of life, Oula found it difficult to find time to read. Now, Oula uses Blinkist to stay on top of the latest in business and entrepreneurship, parenting and health, and whatever else she fancies. The app fits into the quiet moments of her day and is a useful resource for her career as CEO of a busy printing company.

Adam Gries, Founder of okpanda, New York City, New York

A serial entrepreneur, Adam merged his knack for business and passion for education when he founded okpanda, a service to connect English language learners with teachers. Coming from a long line of teachers, books and learning have always played an important role in Adam’s life. So much so, that he has introduced Blinkist to his colleagues and integrated a weekly process to use the app as a cornerstone of his colleagues’ professional development. As he puts it, “I can’t realistically ask my employees to read a whole book and guarantee that everyone will read it. So once a week, there is a lunch discussion during which we discuss a book-in-blinks. No one can say that they didn’t have time. This helps the team build a common vocabulary and ensure the same frame of reference for working better, together.“

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