Interwoven | Episode 3: From Passion to Purpose: Founders Who Embraced Change

Entrepreneurship rarely begins with a perfect plan or a moment of clarity. For Linda Blanchette, the journey started with an unexpected invitation to the UK climate assembly. Previously immersed in customer service and a self-confessed avid shopper, she left with a new awareness of the fashion industry’s impact — and an urge to do something local and personal. Her business, Consciously Clothed, did not emerge overnight. By venturing into pre-loved clothing, she faced the challenge of redefining her relationship to both her work and her identity. The practical hurdles were many: building new skills in social media, working longer hours than ever before, and learning to ask for help from a community she once served as a peer.

For Tom West, change arrived via loss and the search for connection. Driven by competitiveness and curiosity, he moved across trades before finding meaning in building hospitable, collaborative spaces — first as a publican, later as founder of rental marketplace RentMy. Family circumstances, a desire for challenge, and an eye for underused resources shaped his thinking. Yet, each step brought fresh uncertainty: from buying a struggling pub to developing a technology platform years ahead of its time. Through both risk and experimentation, Tom West embraced the discomfort of starting over, relying on his people skills, his acceptance of failure, and his drive to solve problems he cared about.

As John Elikington reminds us, broad change depends on “surfing the waves” of new paradigms, not just holding an idea. These conversations reveal that becoming a founder is not about certainty or charisma; it is about noticing what matters, accepting risk as a companion, and staying curious enough to keep learning. For anyone wondering how to begin — or to begin again — this episode offers proof that meaningful transitions are built from questions, not finished answers.