Real Lives. Real Work. Real Adversity.
Areté’s foundation is shaped by our lived experiences: years spent in environments that demanded resilience, humility, and clarity under pressure.
Both our founders, Shawn Hassel and Grant Lyon, come from backgrounds where hard work carries real weight. Those early lessons formed a belief that meaningful leadership begins with respect for the individuals carrying the load, and that empathy is an essential quality to doing work that matters. They saw how strength of character, self-awareness, and the ability to learn from failure define leaders who can move companies through their most critical moments.
This worldview now shapes how the firm approaches every engagement, and how its people show up when clients need clarity, steadiness, and judgment they can trust.
Why We Built Areté
Our founders saw how leaders can become paralyzed at the exact moment they’re asked to make the hardest decisions of their careers—moments where good judgment matters as much as strategy.
We exist to deliver clarity, authority, and disciplined action in moments when time is short, information is imperfect, and outcomes truly matter.
How We Choose to Lead
Our philosophy values action over posture, ownership over observation, and decisions grounded in good judgment and empathy. We believe our work isn’t merely analytical; it’s profoundly human. The ability to sit with someone in a moment of uncertainty and help them truly see beyond failure is central.
We believe in moving quickly, thinking pragmatically, and aligning fully with the people we serve. We believe judgment comes from experience, trust comes from consistency, and real value is created only when the work has tangible impact.
Areté hires people with resilience, humility, and the drive to solve problems without waiting for perfect conditions. Our culture rewards initiative, clear thinking, and the willingness to shoulder responsibility. And at the center of it all is a simple belief: the people closest to the work deserve our utmost respect. Their effort, discipline, and integrity are what carry an organization through its hardest moments, and our leadership begins with honoring that.