Meet Lauren Cunningham

We were lucky to catch up with Lauren Cunningham recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren , great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.

I think that taking calculated risks is just a part of life. Everything you want is on the other side of fear, and in order to get those things, you must take risks. It was risky to start my first business at the age of 23 and then to start my podcast a few years later, but overcoming that fear and taking a risk is why I am where I am today. I think that taking small risks when you are younger will prepare you to take bigger risks as they present themselves.

I think another part of taking risks is learning how to deal with failure. You aren’t going to bat 1,000. There will be failures along the way, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Growing up, it was never a dream of mine to have my own business. However, I had always been very entrepreneurial. It wasn’t until I graduated college with a degree in accounting and got my first job that I realized I wanted to work for myself. I went back to school and got my MBA and then started my first business. I loved the idea of building a career that I loved. A few years later, I started my podcast. The So Can I podcast is a podcast that explores entrepreneurship from the viewpoint of female founders. Each week, I interview a different female founder about how she started her business. My hope is that my listeners leave each episode thinking “If she can do it, So Can I.” We just celebrated our 2 year anniversary & I am very excited to see where year 3 takes us!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I think that grit and determination are two of the most important qualities as an entrepreneur. There are going to be hard days and you are going to hear a lot of “no’s” but you have to keep pushing through. With that being said, I also think you have to learn the art of the pivot. You have to know when to shift or change if things are not working out. You cannot be stubborn.

I would tell people who are starting their entrepreneurial journey to get comfortable with hearing the word “no.” It is not easy at first, but it definitely gets easier! Also, being able to separate your ego from your business & assess if things are truly working is a lesson I had to learn the hard way. However, once I was able to do that, I began to pivot & shift and saw true success.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

My parents never complained about their jobs. My mom was a second grade teacher for 5 years before she had me & then she was a stay-at-home mom. She always had such amazing stories about her time as a teacher, but she was also extremely content as a stay-at-home mom. It showed me that you be passionate about multiple things & that sometimes our passions and priorities shift as life changes.

My dad is a lawyer turned banker and had a very high stress job, but he never complained. In fact, he enjoyed the stress and problem-solving nature of his job. I know there were hard days, but he never showed it when he got home. Instead, he spoke about his career and job as if it was fun. His attitude showed me that you can have an important job and still have fun with it.

Both of my parents always spoke about work and their careers in such a positive way. I never dreaded growing up and getting a job because of the way they approached talking about it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://laurencunningham.co
• Instagram: @socanipodcast
• Other: tiktok: @so.can.i.podcast

Image Credits

Mckenzie Thompson Photography