It’s really a hard thing to know what you want. It takes a lot of soul-searching and more than most of us want to admit, it also requires a lot of experience with things you don’t want. Claire Lew is one of those people who has traveled that journey of discovery. Her story is almost enchanting because as she tells it, you see the pieces that led toward her own sense of desire and purpose falling into place perfectly. On this episode of The Critical Shift, you’ll hear Claire tell about her journey in her own words and find out how she came to the point that she had no doubt about what she was meant to add to the world.

What happens when a child grows up with confidence that they are fully loved and supported?

Most of us have a pretty clear picture of what happens when a child is run down or berated as they grow up. But have you ever known somebody who grew up in exactly the opposite environment? Claire Lew is one of those people. She’s blessed to have had parents who told her that anything was possible and no matter how hair-brained or disjointed her plans may have seemed to them as she discovered her own sense of purpose, they were always there with encouragement, telling her that she could do anything she wanted to do. That’s what fuels her even today as she pursues her passion of making companies and employees true partners in purpose and direction.

Problem-solving is the purest form of entrepreneurship.

Claire Lew was a Sophomore in college when she realized that her path forward would be that of an entrepreneur. She loved solving problems - for friends, in class, for the student body - anywhere she could. When she enrolled in a course about entrepreneurship and saw that the basic job description of every entrepreneur is to solve problems - she was all in. Today as she leads “Know Your Company” she’s in her sweet spot, routinely working alongside companies to solve a problem that she’s experienced personally and is passionate to fix. You’ll enjoy her story as she shares it on this episode of The Critical Shift.

Knowing what you really want is paramount to fulfillment and impact.

It’s a lot of work to figure out what you really want. But when it happens, when you get clarity on what you want, all kinds of things open up to you. You begin to see opportunities that you didn’t notice before. You take steps of faith (risks) that you would never have taken before. You begin to learn from people and experiences like never before. Claire Law’s story demonstrates all of those things and you’ll be encouraged and challenged by it if you listen - so please do.

Do you know what you want?

If you’re going to figure out what you really want to do in the world it’s going to take a lot of work. You’ll have to make some hard choices, you’ll have to say “no” to many, many things, and you’ll have to take steps that seem like leaps of faith. But through it all you’ll discover things about yourself and what’s truly on your heart that you can’t know any other way. Listen to Claire Lew tell how she took that journey and the amazing results that have come from it, on this episode of The Critical Shift.

Outline of This Episode

• [0:22] Meet Claire Lew, CEO of “Know Your Company” and why she’s a guest on the show.
• [3:40] Why Claire was asked to take over a company the Basecamp team had created.
• [7:00] Constant moving because of her Dad’s job, constantly being the new kid.
• [9:52] Wanting to understand how to be happy at work, even as a kid.
• [16:40] True success: Living life on your own terms.
• [29:50] Leaving her first successful startup because of burnout.
• [36:20] The response of her parents when she quit her job to pursue her own business.
• [41:15] Building out her philosophy through case studies and connecting with the Basecamp team.

Resources & People Mentioned

• Know Your Company
• Jason Fried
• BaseCamp
• BOOK: What Should I Do With My Life?
• 37 Signals
• BOOK: Rework
• BOOK: Getting Real
• Groupon
• The Starter League
• BOOK: The Alchemist  

Connect With Tom and Launchpad Lab

• https://launchpadlab.com/
• On Instagram
• On Twitter
• On Facebook
• On LinkedIn