Taking the entrepreneurial path requires taking risks. And the rewards we'll encounter are never certain.

The choices we make create real consequences for our livelihood. And it can be hard to get over the feeling that we're imposters as we face the uncertainty over whether we've made the right ones.

This episode features an enlightening story – the personal and entrepreneurial journey of Sam Conniff, author and founder of Uncertainty Experts.

As someone who previously struggled with imposter syndrome, today he stands as a passionate advocate for embracing and mastering uncertainty.

This episode follows Sam's journey of building a startup, learn how he studied a global need – the universal discomfort with uncertainty – and created a lucrative business out of it.

• Join the conversation live
• Become a member of the Happy Startup School
• Join the next Vision 20/20 cohort

Ever felt like there was more that you could do but didn’t know what to commit to?

You're not alone.

When it comes to thinking about meaning, Laurence and Carlos found the book The Map of Meaning by Lani Morris and Marjolein Lips-Wiersma really helpful.

They talk about working with meaning as working with the tension between being and doing, and self and others.

The work is to be aware when we’re off balance and to know what to do to redress it.

Understanding how to do good whilst staying happy is all part of leading a meaningful life.

When it comes to doing good you might ponder

• What does impact actually mean to me?
• How much impact do I want to make?
• And what’s my story of impact?

And when it comes to being happy:

• How do I want to feel when making an impact?
• Which needs are being met by making an impact?
• Where do these needs come from?

On this episode, Laurence and Carlos explore their own perspectives on these questions, and through their own reflections and answers to questions from the live virtual audience, you’ll hopefully find your own insights.

What if we all made a positive impact in the way that matched our energies and motivations?What would that mean for the world? Hopefully a lot of good and happiness.

While we can’t avoid the inevitable, we can still find agency. When we’re navigating a professional or personal transition, it may seem like we’re living in chaos, and there’s nothing we can do that can make things better.

In his book At Work in the Ruins, Dougald Hine asks a question about the climate crisis: how did we find ourselves in this trouble? Is it simply a piece of bad luck with atmospheric chemistry, or might it be a consequence of the way we have been approaching the world?

This conversation aims to create a little campfire alongside the big path of life to sit with the questions and the uncertainty together. You don’t have to go through it on your own, and not knowing how to act is ok.

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• Join the next Vision 20/20 cohort

When people join the Happy Startup School’s Vision 20/20 program and talk about what they want to do, one phrase pops up again and again:

“I just want to be paid for being me.”

But it’s not always easy to get to this point. Sometimes it takes a circuitous route, as we get more and more used to showing up as our full selves and discovering what it is we truly want to do.

One such alumnus of our program who’s taken the long way around is creativity coach Mark Steadman. As someone who’s able to do it all, from coding to design to writing, he’s become a legend in our community for his ability to “ship” - to transform ideas into reality and get them out into the world.

But he’s tired of constantly cranking out new projects and hustling all of the time. He wants to take a break from constantly “doing” and allow himself to “be” more instead.

He now wants to use his knowledge, experience, and skills to help other creative people unlock their own creativity. He’s realised that that's the thing that brings him the most joy.

But to do that, he needs to put other projects to rest. And that’s tough. To make this change, he needs to give himself permission.

Carlos and Laurence talk to Mark about what it’s like to be a “relentless creative” who has constantly made and shelved projects while he’s discovered what he really wants to do now.

They discuss what it’s like to constantly put out new projects while you try and find “your thing”, and what that's meant in terms of finding his purpose. And they explore whether it’s possible to be paid for just being ourselves.

They also ask him how he feels about putting all of his different creative endeavours in one place, under his own name for the first time, so that he’s finally embracing his role as a creativity coach.

If you want to empower others to act and not just fill their heads with facts, Crowdcast is a platform that can help you do that. It was founded by Sai Hossain who got the idea in 2013 while at a retreat in Costa Rica.

Laurence and Carlos started using Crowdcast in March 2020 which was the time the platform exploded from 500,000 users per month to 2.5 million.

On this episode, you’ll hear more about how Crowdcast came about, Sai’s personal journey as a founder, and his thoughts about what it takes to build a community as well as a business.

If you want to make a living sharing your knowledge and experience, or you’re curious about growing your business using live video, you’ll definitely get something from this conversation.

• Join the conversation live
• Become a member of the Happy Startup School
• Join the next Vision 20/20 cohort

John Pritchard was the founder of Pala, a brand driven by purpose. The mission was to produce high quality, long-lasting eyewear whilst making a commitment to minimise the impact on the planet and maximise positive social impact on people.

Longevity of product was important to minimise resource usage, but that makes for a very different approach to business.

The Pala strapline was “see the world better”, which enabled him to go into numerous directions around how to help others “see the world better”.

However, after 9 years, the mission took its toll and earlier this year John had to make the decision to close down the business.

He now needs to take a pause, but feels conflicted about that.

His sense of purpose was strong but he also needed to pause to look after himself.

He feels the tension between doing stuff and not doing stuff with conflicting stories about being of service to others but also needing to look after himself.

Now that the business is winding down he’s a lot less busy and t’s something that’s going to take some getting used to. Some internal rewiring is needing to happen.

John is now entering a time of transition where he’s pondering how to change the world while also changing his world.

In this episode, Carlos and Laurence learn about what it took to start, grow and run Pala and the lessons he’s learned about purposeful business and about himself.

You’ll learn about the questions he’s now having to ask himself about how to fit purpose into his future work alongside making a commitment to his own wellbeing.

• Join the conversation live
• Become a member of the Happy Startup School
• Join the next Vision 20/20 cohort

Professional women are under overwhelming pressure to achieve it all – career, kids and caring partner.And to do it with an effortless smile.But it isn’t that easy.

It doesn’t mean that you can’t have it all, but according to Emma Draper, award-winning retail entrepreneur, property developer and mother, “we need to release ourselves of the guilt and just do the best we can”.

On the outside Emma is an amazing role model for female entrepreneurs. Over 23 years she’s built a multi-million pound business, had three kids and truly loves her work. But it didn’t come easy. She had to work damned hard to make it allwork.Patience, purpose and persistence have been key.

In this episode, Emma joins Carlos and Laurence to share what she’s learned about business, and more importantly, about herself over the past 23 years.

They cover leadership, culture and positioning as well as more personal topics like motherhood, personal growth and finding your why.

If you’re a female entrepreneur at the start of your journey or you’ve been in business for a few years but now feel stuck… and overwhelmed… this episode is for you.

It’s OK to want it all. Just give yourself some slack if it doesn’t come as easily as Instagram says it should.

• Join the conversation live
• Become a member of the Happy Startup School
• Join the next Vision 20/20 cohort

It’s hard to put into words what happens at Summercamp. And that was never truer than in 2023.

There’s an enormous amount of love, growth and connection that happens; and the openness and vulnerability that takes place in a field near Hastings every year is astounding.

In this special episode, you’ll hear from Laurence and Carlos about what the event brings them, and a little of what it requires. Plus you’ll hear from some of the attendees who experienced life-changing moments last September.

• Bag one of the last remaining tickets to Summercamp 2024
• Find out more about Summercamp