About
A bit about the project and the person behind it.
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About the Project
The Approach
About the Guide
Training and Experience
Why This Work
About the Project
The Know Yourself Project exists to help people reconnect with clarity, purpose, and inner steadiness.
Most of us move through life faster than we can make sense of it. We sense that something needs to change, but we don’t always have the language, space, or support to name what that is, let alone act on it.
This project was created as a place to slow down, reflect honestly, and come back into alignment with what matters.
Not through pressure.
Not through performance.
But through awareness, grounded guidance, and real conversation.
Whether you’re engaging through reflections, email guidance, or 1:1 work, the Know Yourself Project is here to help you see your life more clearly and move forward from a place that feels true.
The Approach
At the heart of the Know Yourself Project are three movements:
Awareness.
Alignment.
Action.
Awareness is about seeing clearly – noticing what’s actually happening within and around you, without judgment or urgency.
Alignment is about coherence – bringing your thoughts, values, emotions, and actions into better relationship with one another and with yourself.
Action is about grounded movement – taking steps that reflect what you’ve come to understand, not what you feel pressured to do.
This work isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about returning to what’s already there – and learning how to live from it with steadiness and integrity.
About the Guide
I’m Shawn Strader – a father, husband, writer, musician, and certified life coach.
I’ve lived a life shaped by transition. I grew up moving constantly – different states, different cities, different schools. By the time I reached adulthood, change felt familiar, but rootedness did not.
That pattern continued into my adult life. I’ve lived across the U.S. and beyond. I spent years touring North America as a professional musician signed to Sony Records. I’ve built creative projects, co-founded a nonprofit, led communications and narrative strategy, and worked closely with people navigating personal and professional turning points.
Only recently – living in Puerto Rico with my family – have I come into a deeper sense of home. That experience of finally rooting after years of movement has profoundly shaped this work.
Alongside my creative and professional life, I’ve spent years studying how people change.
I hold a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Arizona State University, with a focus on analytic philosophy – training that sharpened how I think, question, and make meaning. I later completed Newfield Network’s Coaching for Personal and Professional Mastery program, a rigorous, ICF-accredited coach training grounded in ontological learning, emotional literacy, language, and embodied awareness.
Over the years, I’ve logged hundreds of hours of 1:1 coaching with paid clients supporting people through transitions, identity shifts, creative crossroads, burnout, grief, and periods where life no longer makes sense the way it used to.
I’m not interested in fixing people. I’m interested in helping people see clearly, regain trust in themselves, and move forward with integrity.
The Know Yourself Project grew out of my own lived experience and out of years of sitting with others as they navigate uncertainty, change, and the desire for a life that feels more honest and aligned.
This work is not about optimization or performance. It’s about presence, clarity, and choosing how to live when autopilot no longer works.
Training and Experience
My work is grounded in both lived experience and formal training.
Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy (analytic focus), Arizona State University
Certified Life Coach, Newfield Network
Coaching for Personal and Professional Mastery (ICF-accredited)Hundreds of hours of paid 1:1 coaching experience
Professional background spanning creative work, nonprofit leadership, communications, and narrative strategy
Years of working closely with individuals navigating transition, identity shifts, and periods of deep reassessment
I bring structure where it’s useful, openness where it’s needed, and honesty throughout.
Why This Work
At some point, many of us reach a moment where the life we’ve been living no longer fits.
The roles still function.
The habits still run.
But something inside asks for attention.
The Know Yourself Project exists for that moment.
It’s a place to pause.
To tell the truth.
To reconnect with yourself without having to perform, explain, or rush.
Whether you’re here to reflect quietly, receive guidance, or explore working together more directly, this project is meant to meet you where you are – and walk with you toward what’s next.
If you’re ready to move from fog to focus,
let’s begin.
No pressure. No commitments.
Just a chance to talk through what you’re looking for.