Black History Month: Samantha Clarke
We're rounding up this week with a bit of happiness! Samantha Clarke is a happiness consultant and founder of the UK’s first online growth and happiness school. Growth & Happiness School is the UK’s first online school with courses & training programmes to help you find your own work happiness or create it for others!
Did you always know this was the career you wanted?
No not at all I just knew I wanted to help people and create transformation. I started out in Advertising and Branding and via footwear design, personal branding and styling and lots of deep dive into myself and further study I’m now in happiness consultancy.
What's something people would be surprised to learn about you?
I think raisins are evil... don’t they look like shrivelled heads? They scare the life out of me
What is the most fulfilling part of your work?
Helping companies and individuals create change in their work environments or their attitude towards work by supporting them to make changes, sharing new ideas and consulting on the best routes forwards when they feel stuck.
I love teaching and coaching people to take great leaps to either fall in love with their work or leave it for bigger and bolder paths
What are you currently working on?
A new project which I can’t discuss just yet which will create a new revolution around how we think about work happiness. I’m also developing some new products for the Growth and Happiness school some of which have a foodie slant.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Embrace your weird and own all of who you are. People want to see your greatness don’t deny them!
How did you come up for the idea for a growth and happiness school?
For a while I’d been working as a happiness consultant with companies consulting and in-house and delivering workshops for The School of Life and The Guardian.
Last year I suffered a really big set of health challenges and crisis with my Sickle cell. Bring in and out of hospitals knocked me out for a bit and I had to turn down a lot of work. I was frustrated because whilst my body wouldn’t play ball my head was brimming with ideas and I wanted to continue to support people. I needed to create more opportunities to continue to serve and help people even if I couldn't or didn’t have the strength to get up and be somewhere physically.
I always had emails from people who wanted to attend my sessions but lived abroad and also requests from individuals keen to learn how to create happiness at work for others. So the Growth and Happiness school was born to take my vision global and also give me the flexibility to balance online and in person work.
What was the best part about setting up your own company?
Doing what I love with people I adore and in places and spaces that bring me joy!