How Suman Kanuganti Was Able To Build Personal.AI By Serving The Needs of Individual People

[00:00:00] Lauren: being able to take vacation and step away. I have notoriously been very bad about taking time off and unplugging. but I'm doing a better job of saying, okay, you know, just like I'm sharing things about my family or, you know, things that are making me show up differently.

[00:00:14] Lauren: , I'm also trying to say when I'm on vacation, I'm on vacation because I expect my employees to do the same thing

[00:00:22] Lauren: Welcome back to The Rising Leader Podcast, and if this is your first time joining the podcast, thank you so much for joining us.

[00:00:31] Lauren: , we are joined here by one of my great and longtime friends, Ms. Lauren Marrano. And she is the founder and c e o of Xenia. And I would also say she is one of my, how long have we known each other now, Lauren? Probably 10, 11 years. 10 years. Yeah, 11 years. Something like that. Something along those lines.

[00:00:51] Lauren: And I'm excited to be diving deep into, , our history and just what we have been doing here together. But let me give a little background on you first before we dive in here. So Xia, , you started Xia about a year, maybe a year and a half ago. It is an Atlanta Ventures backed company and the first software enabled corporate event planner, which seamlessly helps provide and curate customized experiences, handling everything from logistics to high impact agendas and content for team leadership.

[00:01:21] Lauren: As well as client types of events. , Lauren, you also have, I mean every single time I look at your resume, it keeps on getting better and better and better.

[00:01:30] Lauren: Has previous experience as the former c e o and c e O at ary. She is also a former enterprise account executive from Salesforce, where she was a strategic engagement manager, , at Microsoft, where she helped global nonprofits further their mission through the use of transformative Microsoft technology.

[00:01:49] Lauren: On a personal note, like I said, I've known Lauren for 10 years now. We both started at Microsoft as a Microsoft Academy of Collegiate hires, , group right there. And I still remember us joining Microsoft wide-eyed right out of college, , not knowing what the hell we are doing, but also looking at you and talking.

[00:02:12] Lauren: You'd be like, man, this girl Lauren is about to bust out and make a massive difference on the world. So first off, Lauren, how did I do on your intro and second off, welcome to the show. Crushed it, and thank you for having me on the show. , it's actually really funny looking back and being like, we started as mock hires when we were 21 years old and had no idea what the heck we were doing, and here we are now and you're crushing it, doing big things, so.

[00:02:37] Lauren: I was just trying to keep up with you at this point. , it's funny, I was trying to think of like, what else have we done together And I thought back to when you had a whole bunch of us out to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and we had our first, what did we do where we boiled all the crawfish.

[00:02:51] Lauren: We had a crawfish boiled my backyard when I was living in New Orleans. Yep. And probably spent a few too many hours at, uh, some of the Mardi GRA parades, but . We did it all. We did it all. So that was, that was absolutely wonderful. So, , I will start out with this. Lauren, you have, , moved from the enterprise world of Microsoft as well as Salesforce.

[00:03:14] Lauren: Now you are on your second startup where you are. The c e O is really starting to take off, I guess. , , let's go back a little bit. Like, did you always know that you were going to get experience at this well run corporate type of organization and then jump to a startup? Did this just kind of happen, like how did all of this unfold and occur to where you are now?

[00:03:36] Lauren: It's so funny you asked that I, my parents asked me that same kind of question over the holidays and they were like, is this like always something you wanted? And I think the answer is no. I, I thought realistically, like when we started at Microsoft, I thought I'd be there forever. I thought I was going to do something awesome.

[00:03:53] Lauren: I remember Amy Hood walking on stage and being like, I want to be her someday. I'm gonna stay here forever. And then looking back though, it's funny cuz I was like doing all these little side projects, launching my own nonprofit, launching CIO gives back within Microsoft, joining the women at Microsoft Board.

[00:04:11] Lauren: And I was doing all these, like you could say like. Studio, entrepreneurial things there, and then do the same thing when I left for Salesforce and I just realized that, you know, my favorite part of my job every single day was the opportunities to build something from the ground up, or, , do something without a playbook and, test my own skills and see how it, you know, where it would go.

[00:04:30] Lauren: , so I don't think the answer is like, I've always wanted to do this, but over time I realize it's what I'm good at. Let's do it. . I love it. I mean, it is definitely inspiring and I do remember even from day one when we were like in our first networking event with different types of executives, I was kind of nervous like being there wanting to kind of say to myself, I didn't want to go and speak to the GMs or different types of executives.

[00:04:53] Lauren: And I think by the end of the each networking event, Everybody knew you by the first name, knew your background, knew everything about you. You were just that type of person who, is a, a networker. And I also do agree. You start things from scratch. You're not afraid to get your hands dirty. I think that you're being a little bit humble because I remember you going around and everybody knowing Alex.

[00:05:14] Lauren: So , don't, don't downplay yourself. So where did this start? I mean, is this just how you've been from a kid where you say, Hey, like, I'm hungry. I want to, , make a big impact in the world. I am very driven. Or is this that, , did you have a mentor that really allowed that to occur? How did you end up becoming, who Lauren is now?

[00:05:38] Lauren: so I was one of the kids that was in those, , like special higher need, not higher needs. . , I was in like the programs with the, , higher ability learning program is what they called it. And it was always one of those things where, I think they make the jokes that those are the kids that have really bad anxiety as adults.

[00:05:55] Lauren: But, , , I was definitely the one that was like, I always wanna be top of my class. I always wanna be doing these bigger things. , but I like specifically one story. My dad, when I was middle school, asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. And I was like, well, you know, like I wanna be a hairstylist. And my dad laughed at me and was like, oh, what kind of life do you wanna live?

[00:06:14] Lauren: And I, I said, well, you know, like I want, I want to have a nice house. I wanna be able to go on vacations. And he's like, yeah, you can't afford to do that with that job. And I said, well then I'll marry somebody that can. My dad said, well, what if nobody wants to marry you? and it like, it's such a vivid conversation in my mind that we had, and it was silly, you know, like it was obviously like my dad was being funny about the whole situation.

[00:06:39] Lauren: But I look back and I, I really do think that that was a catalyst of like, no, I am capable and I should be independent and be able to provide myself with a life that I want to live. And then I think just kind of through my journey, I had so many mentors that saw things in me before I saw them in myself and really helped kind of with my confidence and knowing that I should go after what I.

[00:06:59] Lauren: Well, I will tell you that you have some of the best hair in the game. So, uh, says, says the man with a flow. Okay. . I love that story though, especially of your dad really pushing you to be that. And, that's not easy. I'm assuming, moving into, , a role where now you are starting your company, and you are a female.

[00:07:22] Lauren: and, , you've been on, what did you mention you were on the board for, , and women at m. . Okay. I'm the president of Salesforce Women's Network in North Carolina. So, but who's counting? . Okay. I love it. So you've been a big supporter and driver for women and stepping into leadership and taking more ownership and having a greater impact.

[00:07:45] Lauren: I guess, what have you found through that journey and through, I'm assuming networking and rubbing shoulders with some incredible women within the workforce out there? What have you found as maybe not just some of the challenges that, , women face in doing that, but also some of the, competitive edges I guess, of women being within these leadership type of roles?

[00:08:04] Lauren: I mean, you know, I could speak all day about the experience they've had as a woman in tech and, they're good and they're bad, but I think one of the best parts about. , women in tech and women, female leaders is that good leaders watch out for other women and try to lift them up and we'll go out of their way to make sure that each other are successful, , especially in this field.

[00:08:27] Lauren: And so, I mean, there's a statistic that shows that 2.8% of VC funds like venture capital dollars in 2020 or 2021, went to female founders. So less than 3%. You know, institutional capital went to female founders and so it is an uphill battle. There's not enough of us out there. , but I do think that because there are not very many of us and we're trying to change that statistic, I have gotten extra, , help mentorship, support from female leaders that are, you know, maybe other founders.

[00:08:55] Lauren: Venture capital, partners. I mean, ultimately the partner that brought me into Atlanta Ventures is a female, and we connected and bonded over that specifically. So, There's goods and bads. It's just, , learning what we can do to change the narrative for, for women. So I grew with three older sisters.

[00:09:12] Lauren: I was the only boy in my family. And what's funny is my dad, he also had three sisters and he was the only boy. So I grew up with women surrounding me, within my family. And , one thing that I've found is that when women. Tapped in when they are, , , really owning their true. I'm gonna pick a woman 10 out of 10 times over anything

[00:09:37] Lauren: I mean, I truly think whether it be within leadership, whether it be within sales, there's something that y'all have that is not just about a drive, but also an emotional intelligence, an empathy, just an understanding to be able to see the world in a different type of way that. I only aspire to, and I don't think I will ever get there.

[00:09:58] Lauren: so I'll definitely say, I am full for that right there. Well, I've always been appreciative. You've always been a wonderful female ally, so cheers to your sisters for teaching you such. Yeah, yeah. Shout out to Elena. Le and Holly right there. . So I'm curious, as you started to, build out Xenia, you're, throwing events for corporations, for team offsites, for sales kickoffs, for leadership retreats, you're now also throwing offsites for customer events as well.

[00:10:31] Lauren: Where did that come from? Did this idea just kind of pop into your head and be like, man, wouldn't that be good if we did this? Did somebody else give you that? , where did kind of the idea of xia. Start. Start. Yeah. So after, , my last company, it was focused specifically on, , communities and creator economy.

[00:10:48] Lauren: Tangential to web three, I realized my passion around all of that is building community power of human connection. and the magic that really happens, , in the human experience. And so as I started navigating, I knew I wanted to launch another company. I just was trying to understand where, there were needs out there, but also what aligned to what I'm passionate about.

[00:11:09] Lauren: And I kept coming back to this future of work. I know when we started at Microsoft, you were in Seattle, but I was, basically remote. And so I never have had a career where I had to go in the office every day. And that never was really part. , my story. , but now more and more companies are feeling that and, , , it's like how do you continue to build culture?

[00:11:28] Lauren: How do you continue to build these human experiences, human relationships? , if you're all completely remote, And so I started looking at different, , things, what's on the market out there for future work and software that may be available. And it's a really saturated market. People know that this is , the future is how do you collaborate while you're remote, but there was nothing really out there for how do you bring your team back together to build those human connections, give that human experience and , ultimately build a culture within your company.

[00:11:55] Lauren: , and that's really where Zinia came to play. Hmm. So you are now, I mean, are you just planning the logistics of it or are you also supporting the overall content and like, essentially the outcomes that the offsite or, , whatever it is that they're actually driving for? Like what, are you actually doing for the organizations and planning these things?

[00:12:18] Lauren: Yeah, so every company has a little bit of different needs, but at the end of the day, we know that companies are investing a lot of dollars into coming together for an offsite, for a sales kickoff or a leadership retreat, and ultimately they need to have a. , a return on their investment and be able to actually track the KPIs that are important to them.

[00:12:37] Lauren: So for some of our customers, it's, Hey, we wanna send our whole team to Hawaii for a week and we just wanna relax and have a good time. So of course we make it the most memorable experience for them. , surprise them with things along the way. But there's others that are like, Hey, we just laid off half of our staff and we're coming together for the sales kickoff.

[00:12:55] Lauren: How do we actually motivate and encourage people to. , stay motivated to feel good about being part of this company and kind of get things going again. And that's really where , our team comes into play for some of that. In our organizational psychology type things. How do we actually build a, good team morale, all of that, and how do we build a schedule around, , you know, your goals to ensure that , it's a high impact event as well.

[00:13:18] Lauren: During Covid, I went a little bit crazy. I was definitely a person who liked to be in the office almost every single day and be surrounded by people I label myself as an introverted extrovert, right? Somebody who likes my alone time to really nourish myself. But at the end of the day, I love being around people.

[00:13:36] Lauren: and I loved it. And this is partially why I ended up joining Catalyst because they have an office here within New York City because I need to be around people. Mm-hmm. . But planning the offsites, whether it's a sales kickoff, whether it's a leadership retreat, , those are never easy to do, but it's, we're like the best.

[00:13:54] Lauren: Comes to play. Oh yeah. We had lots of fun over the years. Not plenty of our offsite. So , we went to a lot of offsites in the day. Uh, we did, and I'd almost describe it. , funny because , , both my father and my mother were, , motivational speakers back in the day and so I used to go to these conferences growing up and, , watch my mom and my dad get up there on stage and speak about a dream, speak about a vision, and it was powerful. My, takeaway was always, , you go to these events, you go to these offsites, for a mountaintop experience for being at the peak, so you can remember why you're doing it, right? That's why, , I run immersions, I run retreats, and that's one of the reasons why I love going to these things, so that when you are at that mountaintop experience, you can remember that so that when you are going.

[00:14:44] Lauren: Out into the field, you're going back into the valley, you're going to be struggling, you're going to be facing these massive challenges that, very few people can really get through. You're gonna be, ,, struggling through the mud at the end of the day. , and so I love that, , what you are doing is you're saying, Hey, these meetings are not just logistically challenging, but you are creating a formula.

[00:15:08] Lauren: To allow people to reach the outcomes, , to have that mountaintop experience and to create something powerful there. I think that's a powerful purpose within what Xia is doing. Well, thank you. , we believe so too. , , one of the things that. Gets me is after every offsite we kind of send out a survey, we get some feedback from the team that was planning and , , just better understand , how it went, what they got out of it, what they, , what could be improved, that type of thing.

[00:15:34] Lauren: But the types of comments we get of like, , I'm not one to be really loyal to a company or stick around, but after this offsite, I can't imagine ever leaving like these people have become my family. , like those are the type of things that, that keep us going and saying like, what we're doing is important, impactful.

[00:15:48] Lauren: So how do you learn about all this? Like , here's my thought process with this. You were at Microsoft, you were selling, , very powerful technology that organizations need to run on. And then you were at Salesforce, same sort of thing, right? Selling powerful technology that organizations need to run their day-to-day business on.

[00:16:08] Lauren: And then you go and start Xenia, right? And there was another startup in the middle of there. But then you start Xenia, and that's a little. Completely outside your purview, or at least completely outside your background that you have experience on. Let's say somebody is at a company right now and they have this incredible idea for a product or for a service or whatever it is, and they say, wouldn't this be great?

[00:16:29] Lauren: But they have no idea anything about the industry or anything about what that customer needs or, or whatever it might be. How do you actually go. understanding that , and at the end day becoming an expert within the field that you are selling into. Yeah, that's, , a lot of questions in one . , but ultimately, I think just a couple thoughts here.

[00:16:53] Lauren: One is that what I've learned through this process is that skills are transferrable. I was at Microsoft and I was selling, , Azure and, , cloud compute solutions, and I took those skills and I went to Salesforce where I was selling e. The only thing I knew about e-commerce at the time was that I liked online shopping, and that's, that's really about it.

[00:17:13] Lauren: , but what I learned is everything that I learned at Microsoft was completely transferrable. And at the end of the day, selling and building and all of this is just understanding needs of other people and how you can kind of, , serve them and how you can fix problems that they have. , so kind of taking that into the startup world.

[00:17:29] Lauren: The other thing is everybody here is just figuring it out along the way. Mm-hmm. , I spent so much time doing market research before we even launched an idea, came up with a name, anything. I literally just called as many people as possible in different roles and said, Hey, like, what keeps you up at night?

[00:17:45] Lauren: What's, what's stressing you out the most? How do you deal with employer retention? How do you deal with culture? And there's a great book out there called the Mom Test. So if you're. considering being a founder, read this book. It's like a hundred pages, but it's basically all about how do you do customer discovery without leaving somebody to the conclusion.

[00:18:02] Lauren: Because if you're calling your mom saying, I'm building this company, what do you think your mom's gonna go? Oh, great honey, that's wonderful. And so instead you should ask, , probing questions without. About giving away what you're thinking about. , and that kind of process is really what helped get me to, okay, this is what people need.

[00:18:20] Lauren: And then from there, Google is your friend. So much research on Google, somebody talking to other people in the future of workspace. , but everyone in the startup world is nothing but helpful and it wants to help other founders and other entrepreneurs. So just relying on your network. I love that right there.

[00:18:37] Lauren: Yeah. It's, the mom test. That is a good one. The mom test. . . The, the whole purpose is just to ask them questions without leading them to the answer. Almost like you were talking to your mom, just to get her perspective on what you're doing to get her true opinion on something without you saying. I am labeled as, as Ryan part of this.

[00:18:56] Lauren: Yes, exactly. I love that.

[00:18:59] Lauren: now that you've been in, , this role here, what are some of the biggest challenges? One faces? I mean, you're now, , a venture backed company. Right. You're having to deal, , with venture capitalists coming in and giving you money and also having expectations to reach a return on your money.

[00:19:17] Lauren: You just hired Flora, which is one of our longtime friends who also worked, , at Microsoft with us to come be your director of sales, I believe. Yes. And now, you're continuing to build out your company. So as you're, doing this, what are some of. The things that you didn't expect, or the things that you're like, damn.

[00:19:40] Lauren: Is this worth it?

[00:19:42] Lauren: , , there's so many things I didn't expect along the way, and I had, I'm in an awesome entrepreneur group in Charlotte, , and we were having this conversation and I'm all about the power of vulnerability and just being open. And like one day I was like, dang, like this is hard. Like this is hard.

[00:19:58] Lauren: There's, it's such a rollercoaster ride and. There's always something going wrong. We're building products from the ground up. Sometimes they break and all of your customers are like, what the heck? What's going on? , and sometimes you sign 10 customers in one day. It's a very up and down thing.

[00:20:14] Lauren: , but being in this group, I asked, like, have you guys ever wondered like, why am I doing this? Like, it'd be so much easier to go back to my corporate job. And everyone's like, yeah, yeah, of course. , Yeah, I mean, just the whole, the whole process itself is every single day I'm learning something new.

[00:20:30] Lauren: I'm learning about tax codes and legal agreements and , safe notes and how you do funding and how you work with investors and developers and all of this kind of stuff, or things that I've just had no idea about before. Yeah. It sounds like it's a constant challenge. I mean, you're the type of person who.

[00:20:50] Lauren: If there's an easy way or a hard way, I'm assuming you're going to take the hard way. Not for the purpose of necessarily it being hard, but just because there's something greater that can come from it. There's growth that can come from it. I will tell you that when I started Allovance, there was the daily, why am I doing this again?

[00:21:08] Lauren: Like, and, and even I'll give, give the example of creating a. and creating like the marketing sequence that when people subscribe to your newsletter, it's, , writing down what you are doing, 8,000 different types of ways, writing down why you are doing it in 8,000 different types of ways. Mm-hmm. , and it's a cost and like, , it would be a lot easier.

[00:21:35] Lauren: If I just went and got that kosher sales job, and I was an individual contributor for my mm-hmm. entire career, made a good living, had a good lifestyle and coasted. Yeah. You're choosing not do that. You're choosing to take the hard way. So I, I guess what I would love to understand is why do you take the hard way? Why do you choose to start your own companies and be the c e o? What is the purpose of all of it? What is the purpose of life? Alex, there's so many questions here, but I feel like one of the things that I've always really strive for is self-actualization.

[00:22:16] Lauren: And I know that I'm capable of more than what I was doing in corporate, and I'm more that I'm capable of what I'm doing now. And so what is it gonna take for me to learn more and reach my full potential? And. Reach self-actualization, if you will. And I don't believe I ever will, but I am a lifelong learner.

[00:22:33] Lauren: I love being challenged every day. , I love when people correct me or teach me something because it's like this is an opportunity for me to grow and, , get closer to, , doing everything that I really can. And that's, that's why I took this path. Hmm. Can we double click on that? Are you okay with that?

[00:22:50] Lauren: Yeah. Actualization. Tell me, what do you define as self-actualization? now we're really getting the hard stuff here, but defining self-actualization I really think is. Not only reaching your full potential, but understanding your full potential, , and the impact that you can have in the world. One of the things I always talk about is like my own personal motto is, leave every interaction better than you found it.

[00:23:18] Lauren: So leave the world better than you found it. Leave people better than you found it. But how can I reach my fullest potential in making that impact on other humans on the world, whatever it may be. , and I think part of self-actualization is realizing what that means. And what that looks like for you individually.

[00:23:34] Lauren: Have you heard of, the north node? I haven't. So this is how it was ascribed to me by a level three astrologer. Now, what a level three astrologer is, I do not know, but I'm assuming it's a very advanced astrologer. , A buddy. My name Jake Merriman. And can you describe me? A north node is the hardest.

[00:23:56] Lauren: For someone to figure out one of the hardest challenges for someone to face. But once someone does figure it out and gets through it, it's their quickest way to self-actualization or their quickest way to enlightenment. And I always just found that so profound is we're all put on earth here in different types of situations and different types of experiences and.

[00:24:23] Lauren: All aspiring for own level of self-actualization at the end of the day, and in my opinion, self-actualization is becoming the fullest version of yourself. Mm-hmm. , I definitely believe there is some sort of, I'm gonna get a little deep here, but like a, a karmic. Energy that you are faced with that comes from previous lives, , and that you'll prob probably face as you go into future lives.

[00:24:50] Lauren: At least that is my unique different perspective here and put on earth to. Figure out how to be with what these challenges are. , and certain people face, , depression, certain people face, , being put in tough societies, being put in tough situations, whatever it might be. , but to reach a certain sense of self, self-actualization to become one with the fullest version of yourself, to own your unique and authentic mm-hmm.

[00:25:19] Lauren: flavor. that's what it's all about. I mean, I would even say, , for me, like I've, especially over the past two or three years started to. Say, you know what? I'm definitely loving sales and I love leadership more than anything, but I'm spiritual , like I like to talk about Yeah. And God and all that sort of good stuff.

[00:25:41] Lauren: And use that as part of spirituality, , or use as part, excuse me, as , as sales and apply that to leadership. , absolutely. So I'm curious, what is your unique. Flavor of leadership, what is your unique flavor of just who you are that might be different than other people? Yes. Well, Alex, you're one of the most unique people I've ever met in the best way, which is why we've been friends for so long.

[00:26:08] Lauren: But, , no, when I think about the way that I show up as a leader and what I strive to be as a leader is unapologetically authentic. I wear my heart on my sleeve and have been told, , historically in male dominated workspaces, but that's maybe not the best thing. But I, feel conversely, I think being able to show up fully, authentically who you are as a person, but also who you are as a person today is extremely important for success in a workplace.

[00:26:36] Lauren: So as a leader, I think that that's really what I bring to the table. , I will be truly authentic , of who I am, where I am, and also the things that we need to accomplish together. So I think vulnerability and authenticity is, kind of my thing. . Vulnerability and authenticity. Are you open to sharing any examples?

[00:26:54] Lauren: Like , what makes you. Authentic . What is a unique thing about Lauren that is particularly unique that other people are like, damn, Lauren is different.

[00:27:06] Lauren: this is a really hard question. Alex on spot. Just feel like it's like I'm interviewing you for a job right now. I know. . Interviewing you to be my podcast co-host here. Okay, let's do it. It'd be fun. It'd be really fun. I don't know that I have an answer to that. I mean,

[00:27:22] Lauren: I think for me, just like showing up authentically at work means bringing my whole self to work and knowing that, I, in vulnerability with that, I have parents with health problems and , I know that I'm not a robot, so I can't just compartmentalize. My parents' health issues or anything going on in my family, it's something that I show up at work with and I'm vulnerable with my team and say like, Hey, , my mom's going through a treatment today, so I may be in and out of pocket, but being able to come to the table and be vulnerable and share those type of things allows me to be more at peace at.

[00:27:59] Lauren: And be able to not have to, , be stressed about, you know, hiding something or that I'm not performing at full cap capability because I'm showing up as a whole person and expect, , , my employees to show up as a whole person as well. yeah. What I'm hearing from you is not being afraid to tell what it is.

[00:28:18] Lauren: not having to put on this front. I feel like so often in leadership, many people, myself included, think that when we're in leadership, we have to be perfect. We have to put on this image like we know all the answers. And it's people like to say, Hey, I'm vulnerable. Hey, I'm authentic. But the actual doing of it, the action of it and the communication of it, , Definitely not easy.

[00:28:44] Lauren: Like I still even remember, , when I was at Outreach, , our C E o Manny Medina, it was in like the heart of Covid and we had an all hands call and , he got on and the first thing he said is, Hey guys, I just want to tell everybody I'm struggling. , this whole working from home thing. I think he, his daughter was like two years old at the time.

[00:29:06] Lauren: He's like this whole, working from home, having a two-year-old daughter is really getting on me and I'm having to seriously take some time to myself because like my mind is going in tough places. And I remember when he shared that, all of a sudden I was just like, man, like I cannot be okay.

[00:29:23] Lauren: Like, it's okay to not be okay. Mm-hmm. . And I felt like that was such a powerful example of not just saying, Hey, I'm authentic, I'm vulnerable. But actually showing it the act of doing it is something that very few people, , are able to, to showcase. . Mm-hmm. , it's important to set example for your team.

[00:29:45] Lauren: I think it's the same thing with, being able to take vacation and step away. I have notoriously been very bad about taking time off and unplugging. but I'm doing a better job of saying, okay, you know, just like I'm sharing things about my family or, you know, things that are making me show up differently.

[00:30:01] Lauren: , I'm also trying to say when I'm on vacation, I'm on vacation because I expect my employees to do the same thing. ? . Hell yeah. . it was, um, this past Friday, I actually had a team meeting, , and I'm about a month into my new job and one of the things I said at the very beginning, it's like, you know, guys, I gotta be honest.

[00:30:19] Lauren: Like one of my things that I'm really trying to work through here is. I just want you guys to like me . Like, I hate to say it like I know as a leader like you, it's okay to not be liked and sometimes you gotta make tough decisions. But at the end of the day, like I do receive a lot of validation and a lot of like, I'm okay by feeling like you guys like me.

[00:30:43] Lauren: I feel that in my soul, . Yeah. So it, it felt good to share that and it felt good also to be received by my team once I shared that. And honestly, that statement right there, it broke the ice. Yeah. All of a sudden, a whole bunch of other people started to be vulnerable and share things that they were working on, that they were, their, I'm trying to get people to like me, version of themselves.

[00:31:05] Lauren: I love that. It's a lot of guts. It does It's scary. It's super scary power vulnerability though. If you start opening up, people will too. now that you have this amazing up and coming startup, you are on your path to becoming. The future leader of the world, in my eyes. , what's next?

[00:31:27] Lauren: I guess, what, what is the, the light that you are working towards, , for Lauren? Are you just gonna continue to build this company and, and let it rip from there? Do you have a vision for yourself that you're really trying to be moving towards? Yeah. As I kind of look at what's next for me and on my path, and you know me, I'm so type A, I have plans, I have binders, I have checklists.

[00:31:48] Lauren: But when it really comes down to brass tacks, and the number one reason that I'm doing this and taking this journey is because I didn't see. Enough women on stage. I didn't see enough women leaders leading companies. And again, you know the statistic about less than 3% of venture capital funding going to females and about the same amount of unicorns or billion dollar companies out there are also led by females.

[00:32:13] Lauren: And so, you know, when going gets tough or when I look at like, why am I doing this? Or what am I working towards? Trying to change that narrative and trying to inspire other women that they're capable of anything and everything they set their mind to. So for me, I don't think I have like an end goal of I wanna sell my company for X amount, or I want an I P O.

[00:32:32] Lauren: I wanna build a big ass company and I wanna inspire women to do the same. So that's all I got. . That's awesome. That's a great guide light, I guess for all of our listeners here who. . well, let's first say for all the females that are listening right now, is there any piece of advice or any perspective that you would provide to them on how to, \ do what you're doing or , to hone the message that you're trying to represent?

[00:32:58] Lauren: I think the biggest advice for anyone, but specifically females, is that nobody out there actually knows what they're doing and everybody is just making it till they make it. I feel like I've had mentors who have had multiple successful exits and companies and people that are, , CEOs of giant companies right now, and I ask them, , how did you know how to do this?

[00:33:23] Lauren: Or how do you know how to do that? It's like, oh, I Googled it. We're like, oh, I don't actually know what I'm doing. And someone even recently said he sold a company previously, and he was like, Lauren, I doubted that my company was worth anything until the day that it's sold and sold for hundreds of millions of dollars.

[00:33:40] Lauren: Hmm. And so I think the thing is, believing that you can do it and knowing that nobody out there knows everything, so just figure it out along. Hmm. We're all faking it till we make it . Isn't that the truth? It's an understatement. We all have imposter syndrome. I think I deal with imposter syndrome literally every second of my life, and it's all just a matter of being okay with it.

[00:34:05] Lauren: Mm-hmm. and hey, yeah, this is just part of who I am, part of me not, Being sure what I'm doing or where I'm going or why I'm doing it. I guess on the other side of that question, for all , , the males, the men out there who are listening to this, who are either leading women, who are being led by women, , what can we do to.

[00:34:28] Lauren: You know, your, goal here to support, the journey that you're trying to fight for, , females really owning their voice and, , stepping up into greater levels , of leadership. I love that you asked this question and the fact that you even thought to ask this question just says that you're doing, you're doing the work, you're doing it.

[00:34:44] Lauren: I think, , , there's historically been a very specific type of person to get senior leadership roles. They typically look the same. I don't even have to describe the, demographics of these people, but historically it's not females, it's not young females. , and so, , if you're looking to build a team, I would just say as male is the best thing, an all I can do is to continue to support and advocate for women to move into leadership roles and not question things like, oh, well, what if she wants to have kids someday?

[00:35:15] Lauren: Like those type of questions are counterintuitive to, , the greater story. So doing what you're doing is all I could ever ask . Yeah, just finding opportunities just to open up opportunities for them to step into or just. Mob be like, you got this. Is that Absolutely. Is that how to do it? Alright.

[00:35:35] Lauren: Yeah. Put on your cheerleader, you know, hat and get going. I like that. I like it. Well, I'll ask you this. This is one of my final questions for you, Lauren, is , as you know, we are going on this adventure of, the Rising Leader podcast and all that, whole goal is to. Really elevate the new wave of rising leadership in this world.

[00:35:57] Lauren: And the new wave of rising leadership, in my opinion, is really built on purpose, is built on creating connection, and community is built on. People growing, truly, truly growing, and oh, by the way, also achieving incredible results. That is definitely an important thing. But purpose, connection, growth, and results is really where I believe the new age of rising leadership is coming in this world.

[00:36:23] Lauren: Any thoughts or parting words of wisdom on what is leadership to. And how do you like to show up as a leader? And also how do you want to continue to double down on growing into the type of leader that you're wanting to be? I love that you're mentioning the future of leadership because that shows that it's evolving with the world and the times, and I think one of the biggest things that we've learned is that work and life have become so intertwined that's impossible to look at your career as a standalone.

[00:36:53] Lauren: , when you're working from home, your office is your kitchen or your kids' bedroom or wherever it may be, and. As we look at what it means to be leader now and in the future, I think it's just all of those elements that you mentioned, but really just allowing , your team, your people to show up as they are, who they are, and encompassing them as a whole person with every element of their life.

[00:37:17] Lauren: Aho to that focusing on developing the whole person. I love that it's, we're not just trying to develop great sales professionals. We're trying to develop fake great human beings that, oh, by the way, they can sell, but oh by the way, they believe in self-care. They're stepping more to their authenticity.

[00:37:36] Lauren: They're stepping more to the truest version of themselves. Like that's what it's about. So I love that message. Right. Yeah. I mean, people always say if you're happy at work, you're happier at home, but if you're happier at home, you're also happier at work. And it's, it's all intertwining. So the most we could do, the least we could do

[00:37:55] Lauren: Yes. Wonderful. Well, hey, Lauren, any other partying words of wisdom here before we log off? Believe in yourself and fake it till you make it. It's all I can ever say, and fake it till you make it. Well, I appreciate it and I just gotta acknowledge you, Lauren. It has been wonderful witnessing your path, , and just your drive and also your energy and your enthusiasm.

[00:38:17] Lauren: And I would also say your, truly wanna do good in this world. , , you're not just trying to get your own, you're trying to be. Having a larger impact on others. And that is unique. Flavor of leadership, in my opinion. , , . Thank you for, giving me the opportunity to be here. But more than anything, just have a conversation with an old friend. It's always nice. Of course, of course. And for all those listeners, thank you so much for attending and we can't wait to speak to you again on the next show. Have a good one.