Hi, I’m Kyle Lawson, founder of Shift Shield™.
My story began before I was old enough to remember.
I was born prematurely, and from the very beginning, life was a fight. Shortly after I was born, my heart stopped, and the medical team was able to revive me. Because I arrived so early, I spent the next several months in the hospital in an incubator while doctors and nurses worked tirelessly to help me grow strong enough to go home.
When the day finally came for my dad to bring me home, the unimaginable happened—I flatlined a second time before ever leaving the hospital. Once again, the medical team saved my life.
Looking back, I realize my journey began with overcoming obstacles before I had even taken my first steps. Perseverance has been part of my story since day one.
I was blessed to be raised by two incredible parents who shaped the man I am today. Although I never really knew my biological mother, my stepmom became my mom in every way that matters. Together, she and my dad raised me with unconditional love, strong values, and a belief that hard work and integrity always matter.
My mom taught me compassion, patience, and how to care for others. My dad taught me creativity, problem-solving, and how to look at challenges as opportunities. Between the two of them, they gave me the foundation that made everything I’ve accomplished possible.
I started this business at 22 years old, but in many ways, the journey began long before that.
I come from a family of entrepreneurs, and from the time I was about 12 years old, I knew I wanted to build something of my own. I’ve always been fascinated by creating businesses, solving problems, and turning ideas into something real.
Like a lot of entrepreneurs, I started small.
In sixth grade, my friends and I sold fidget spinners around school, making small profits and sparking my passion for entrepreneurship. At 16, I started an online jewelry business that generated over $500 on its very first day of sales. At 17, I launched a clothing brand called After Hours, selling streetwear while also hosting a podcast that built an active audience between 2020 and 2022. Those experiences taught me firsthand about branding, marketing, customer service, and what it really takes to build something from the ground up.
While those businesses taught me valuable lessons, none of them felt like my true purpose.
Growing up in Las Vegas, I spent a lot of time helping my parents on construction jobs and mowing lawns around the neighborhood to earn extra money. Hard work wasn’t something I learned later in life—it was simply how I was raised.
After high school, I entered the landscaping industry, working for a small family-owned company. A couple of years later, we were acquired by Mid-Atlantic Property Maintenance, creating opportunities for everyone on the team to grow. At 20 years old, I became a landscaping foreman.
For years, I worked through blazing summer heat, freezing winters, rain, snow, mud, dust, gloves, tools, and everything the job could throw at me. Day after day, I dealt with dry, cracked, painful hands—the same problems countless workers accept as “just part of the job.”
I never believed they had to be.
At 22 years old, with about $200 in my pocket and a vision I couldn’t ignore, I founded Shift Shield™.
Every product we create starts with a real problem I’ve personally experienced in the field. Shift Shield wasn’t created in a boardroom—it was built from job sites, long shifts, sore hands, and the belief that workers deserve products designed specifically for the work they do every day.
This company means far more to me than selling a product.
Shift Shield represents every lesson I’ve learned, every business I’ve started, every failure that taught me something, and every goal I’ve chased since I was 12 years old. It’s the result of years of believing that if you’re going to build something, you should build it with purpose.
That’s why every formula, every label, every design, and every decision receives my full attention. I don’t believe in doing things halfway. If my name is on it, I want it to be something I’m proud to hand to another hardworking person.
When you support Shift Shield, you’re supporting a small business built by someone who understands exactly what it’s like to come home after a long day with cracked hands, sore muscles, and another early morning waiting.
Thank you for being part of this journey.
We’re just getting started.
— Kyle Lawson
Founder, Shift Shield™