Create Your Life Series

CYLS 085: Efficient, Organized and Resilient + $250,000 with Lauren Washington


Listen Later

About our Guest:

Lauren Washington co-founded KeepUp in 2014 and as CEO is focused on the long-term vision and strategy of the company.  She co-founded Black Women Talk Tech in 2017 to help black women create billion-dollar tech companies. Ms. Washington received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a major in Journalism and Mass Communication and her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management with majors in Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Marketing, and Finance.  

Episode Summary:

Lauren talks with us about her app, KeepUp, and being selected out of 7,000 other companies to win the 2014 43North competition and $250,000. She also shares how listening to her market, and pivoting, to scale up has led to her success.

Insight from this episode:

  • Not thinking twice to move to Buffalo, NY after winning $250,000 and incubator space in the first class of the 43North Competition in the beginning stages of building the app
  • Path from teaching with Teach for America to online marketing to Founder & CEO and the turning point that said it was time to create her billion dollar idea
  • Lauren’s 3 personality traits of an entrepreneur: creative, organized, & flexible
  • Challenging aspects she has faced: managing financials, bringing in investors, & keeping the company afloat
  • Role model Jessica Matthews and Bozoma Saint John teaching Lauren that leadership can be different than what is the “norm” of what she consistently saw
  • Plans for keepUp app and Black Women Talk Tech
  • You’ll learn:

    • How to be open, and willing, to take a risk and finding opportunities to grow
  • Pivoting a business model to become a more sustainable business
  • Staying organized and communicating within a team while taking care of you
  • Building an app through considering it a business
  • Developing your peer groups and realizing who should not be a part of it
  • Not apologizing for who you are or what you look like
  • Guest Quotes:

    • “It’s not about taking a great title or figuring out where I’m going to make the most money. It’s where am I going to grow as a person and where am I going to grow my skill set?” Lauren Washington, Episode #85
  • “Follow the people who are saying that they need something and create a solution for it” Lauren Washington, Episode #85
  • “The people who are making the changes are the people that are going off the beaten path” - Lauren Washington Episode #85
  • “Humans are resilient. Keep going and in the end it’s all going to work out” Lauren Washington, Episode #85
  • Resources Mentioned:

    • http://www.43north.org/winners/keepup/
  • https://www.keepupapp.com/
  • https://www.blackwomentalktech.com/
  • Lauren’s Favorites

    Book: But What If We’re Wrong? By Chuck Klosterman

    Quote: “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end” John Lennon

    Lauren’s 3 keys to Create Your Best Life:

    1. Take a risk- don’t be afraid to go after your dream
  • Be true to yourself
  • Keep your eyes on the prize
  •  

    Stay Connected:

     Create Your Life Series:

    https://www.facebook.com/cylseries/

    https://www.instagram.com/cylseries/

    Kevin:

    www.kevinybrown.com

    www.instagram.com/kevinybrown

    www.twitter.com/kevinybrown

    www.facebook.com/kevbrown001

    Lauren:

    Instagram: @ldubs48

    Twitter: @ldubs48

    Facebook: laurenwashington48

     

    Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on iTunes, Google Podcast, Stitcher and Spotify.

     

     

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    Create Your Life SeriesBy Kevin Y. Brown

    • 5
    • 5
    • 5
    • 5
    • 5

    5

    77 ratings