The "Daaaaaaamn" Effect with Lawren Sample

Your purpose might be closer than you think.

Lawren Sample is the co-founder of Partlow and Cuatro Mamas. She’s also a stylist, a mother, and a million other things. A modern woman, if you will.

During our conversation this week, she lit up talking about the moment someone puts on a pair of Partlow boots and stands a little taller. Or sees themselves in an outfit they couldn’t imagine feeling so good in. Or the first bite of that chili crisp that gets an involuntary, “Daaaaaaamn.”

Those are the moments that make it all worth it. It’s not the sale or the win or the revenue. It’s about how something you made made someone else feel.

We don’t talk enough about this part of creating. We talk about growth and success and scale. And sure, we need those metrics to keep the lights on. But underneath it all, I think most of us are chasing these tiny moments of connection.

The chef wants to see the table go quiet after the first bite.

The musician is waiting to hear the crowd sing it back.

The writer lives for the text that says, “Were you inside my brain?!”

The real estate agent finds someone the dream home they never thought was possible.

The world gives us plenty of ways to measure success. But the moments that give our work meaning are much smaller. We all want that involuntary “daaaaaaaaamn.” And what if that were enough?

Purpose doesn’t have to be some grand thing waiting to be discovered. In fact, maybe you already have it. And maybe the best question we can ask ourselves isn’t, “What am I here to do?” Maybe it’s as simple as, “How do I want people to feel?”

I have a feeling most of us already know the answer. We just don’t give it enough weight.