Her Story
About Lauren
I've been working as an Executive Assistant for close to 7 years now. My career began with nannying, which I did through college for about 10 years, starting with my mom's daycare. I then transitioned into personal assistant work before deciding to move into a team environment. I worked at a startup for about three and a half years, which gave me valuable experience on the startup side. From there, I moved to Menlo Ventures where I spent close to 4 years supporting multiple different executives and helping with events, which was interesting because I got to see the other side of startups and who actually backs them. Today is actually my last day at Menlo Ventures, and I'm moving on to another startup where I'll be supporting a CEO at a company that works hand-in-hand with AI and simulations. My main area of expertise is communication and scheduling. I feel like I'm a scheduling master, like playing a game of Tetris. It just comes easily to me, and a lot of people tell me that. A typical day for me involves getting up and checking my messages to see if there was anything urgent that came through, then scheduling and checking calendars months out to make sure there are no conflicts, scheduling board meetings and in-person events. I work mostly remote in a hybrid setup, currently in the office 2 days a week.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Lauren
01What do you attribute your success to?
My drive is to always be a better person than who I was yesterday. Growing up, some teachers didn't see that I could succeed and thought maybe I was behind, but I've always wanted to prove them wrong. I may not have been an excellent kid in their eyes, but everywhere I've worked, people don't see that at all. Even my husband says, 'What were they talking about? You're very smart.' For a long time, I doubted myself and would think, 'I don't know if I should move to the next job, I don't think I actually have it,' but then I realize, no, I actually do have it. What am I talking about? I continue to strive for something better, and even when I'm worried about whether I can actually do something, I actually do do it. When I was a nanny, I was making a lot less, and now I have grown so much to where I'm in a different bracket. Growing up, I may not have thought I could be where I'm at today, but I just keep going with the support I have from friends and family who tell me, 'No, you're actually very smart, you can do this.'
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Be yourself and be a good communicator. I know it's hard to put into words, but honestly, for me, it's just about being yourself. Don't try to be someone you're not. Just be genuine and authentic in who you are, because you have what it takes.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
AI is something that a lot of EAs talk about and how it's going to affect our future. It is kind of scary for a lot of people because there's concern about it taking jobs. But I also think of AI, at least for me right now, as very helpful. I use it for a lot of things I do at work, like helping create event blocks or hotel blocks for different things. So while I can see it being a little scary and challenging in terms of potentially taking jobs, right now I kind of just work with it and use it as a tool.
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