Cliff Hakim

Author and Artisan Founder

Cliff Hakim is the author of the book and pioneer of the concept by the same name We Are All Self-Employed (Berrett-Koehler, 2003, 2nd edition). Cliff has guided executives, managers, specialists, and entrepreneurs using this concept through transition: to know themselves better, to explore their options, and to honor their passion by reaching for new meaningful goals.

Cliff Hakim has worn many different shoes, as a teacher, writer/author, career counselor, executive search consultant and coach, and artisan-entrepreneur. As the founder of an artisan business called Inspired Stones, he has been commissioned to create memorials benches that tell a loved one’s story, using natural stone and reclaimed iron. In the past few years, he has been experimenting with pen, brush, and ink. Cliff began painting shoes in 2018, and their soulful message inspired him to write and illustrate Walk in My Shoes: The Path to Empathy and Compassion, 2020—how we learn to be kinder by walking in the shoes of others and becoming more aware of how we walk in our own shoes."