# Why success is never linear with Claire Hughes Johnson

An episode of [Worklife with Molly Graham](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1346314086), 16 Jun 2026, 33 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/67585d9cc705e441796ddaf6/e/6a2c4da86cf76d774546d5b2/media.mp3

It’s easy to look at successful companies and other people’s successful careers and assume the path was obvious. The reality is that success feels messy. Claire Hughes Johnson, former COO of Stripe, joins Molly to explore how difficult moments distort our perspective and why some of the work we're proudest of often felt like failure while we were living it. Together they discuss resilience, uncertainty, leadership under pressure, and how to make decisions when you can't yet tell whether you're struggling or succeeding. For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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