How do you build a business online? As the founder of Refoundry and Forge and Smith, Shawn Johnston’s job is to help you find out. Whether it is building an online store or simply building your web presence, he helps others simply do great work. Running this small business comes with risks and terrifying moments, but is something Shawn has grown over the years – gradually and steadily, until it turned into his full-time role.

“If you’re going to give yourself any job title in the world, you might as well make it a fun one.” That is why Ali Binazir turned his mental health therapy career into becoming a happiness engineer. This is an area that has fascinated him, living in affluent areas that are seemingly filled with miserable people. His research dives into how that happened and whether there is a physical or psychological reason for this. Despite having a small team, much of his work is done solo – and that is one of the biggest challenges to his success that he had to overcome.

How do you combine technology with business? This is an angle that Don Stickney wanted to explore with Playbook, his consultancy that advises on how to use technology as leverage for business. To him, his clients don’t simply want advice on how to succeed, but rather advice on how to be a thought leader. This is far cry from his beginnings as a hot tub salesperson but his ability to talk to others and fix their problems made him realize that he was in for a communications- and relations-related career.

Did you know there is a World Happiness Report? That is what John Helliwell devotes his professional life to, creating metrics and analyses to measure happiness around the world in order to influence decisions that promote personal wellbeing – a far cry from where he thought he would end up.