GirlsLead is excited to continue our mission of recognizing exceptional women leaders in our community. In our latest installment of the Leading Ladies Spotlight series, we are honored to introduce Ms. Lauren Conaway, the Founder and CEO of InnovateHER KC. Ms. Conaway provides insightful details about her journey and advice about the challenges and achievements that come with being a woman in positions of leadership. Join us as we delve into an engaging conversation about her meaningful influence in our community.
Interview
Kripa Gauba:
To start off, can you describe the career path you've taken until today?
Lauren Conaway:
Most of my career has been in male-dominated industries. My roles have ranged from sales to marketing to operations. But I've worked in the aerospace industry for several years, I worked in the automotive industry for years, and I worked in the IT industry for a couple of years. And so, my love of gender equity and professional women and elevating them comes from my experience. I mean, you mentioned that in political arenas, it's still pretty male-dominant. And that's absolutely true. But there are a lot of male dominated industries out there. So that's my background, and it's what kind of powers my interest and my passion for InnovateHER.
KG:
That's awesome, so, did you always know that you wanted to be in this industry?
LC:
I did not. I was working for an IT consulting firm, and I had connected with the entrepreneurial community in Kansas City. I started by going to events, like 1 Million Cups, or Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), started attending those events, and then I started to volunteer for them. And, I did that long enough that I was finally offered a job at an organization called Kansas City Startup Foundation. They are now called Startland, and I was their Director of Operations for almost three years. And it is there that I learned about ecosystem development community building, and really how to empower communities, particularly marginalized communities, and historically excluded communities. And that is where I realized that I really, really liked doing this community building work, but I wanted to do it in a capacity that can help to amplify and champion women's specifically.
KG:
In terms of you as a leader, what do you think your leadership style is, and how did you establish that?
LC:
I like to empower, connect, and give agency and autonomy to the people around me, and then get out of their way. One of the things that I'm really conscious of, is what I'm good at, and what I'm not. And I'm perfectly comfortable doing the things that I'm good at. But one of the things that I always want to do is invite those different perspectives to the table, particularly folks who come from different backgrounds, or folks who maybe have different skill sets. So, I'm a pretty collaborative thinker. And I love to bring groups of people together and talk through ideas and talk through things like that. But one thing that I've tried to learn along the way is that sometimes you just have to find the expert, find the person who can help you and then get out of their way and let them do what they're best at, so that I can focus on what I'm best at. I'm not a super micromanager. I think that as far as leadership style, one of the things that I hear most consistently is that I'm a connector. I love putting people in touch with individuals, organizations and resources that can help them do their jobs and live their lives better. So that's a huge part of what I do as well.
KG:
Going off of that, would you say that delegation is an important skill for a good leader to have?
LC:
Oh, yes, absolutely. Delegation is hugely important, as is understanding that just because something is not done your way doesn't mean that it is not a perfectly valid way, and sometimes a better way. But then, the other piece of that is setting boundaries. One of the things that I really struggled with early on in my career was setting those boundaries around things like how I would be treated, or the tasks that I would do, or making sure that you're setting expectations and communicating what you have the capacity to do, what you are able to do, what you're willing to do, is huge part of that. And I think that you just have to be really careful to very clearly set those expectations and then manage them.
KG:
In general, what do you think nowadays are the main challenges for female leaders that are wanting to get involved or what is stopping them from doing so?
LC:
I think that there are internal barriers, and then there are external barriers. There's this statistic out there that on average, women require being asked three times to take on a leadership role, whether that's something like a promotion or being asked to run for office or something like that. Internally, we deal with a lot of impostor syndrome, we consistently receive negative messaging and socialization about our own failures, our own shortcomings, and I think that us women tend to internalize that, and accept it as truth. And that's really sad. Some of that is internally imposed, and it speaks to things like lack of confidence, but then some of it is also externally imposed - we're talking about the things that we are socialized to accept about ourselves. And that's things like, "Women are better off in the kitchen.", and "We're going to give you the kitchen toys when you're a little girl, not the science and chemistry kits.", things like that. And at every point along a woman's journey, you can find data that supports the fact that we tend to be undermined, we tend to be minimized. And so you have to have a very strong internal compass to overcome that constant barrage of of negativity, both from yourself and from the people around you.
KG:
That's definitely important for us to keep in mind, thank you. Earlier you mentioned that you started your career through male dominated industries, but were there any specific women who inspired you or were your mentors?
LC:
Early in my career, I would say not. One of the things that I really struggled with is, you hear about those competitive spaces that women find themselves in, and I was working within pretty well known Fortune 500 companies. And in a lot of cases, there was this culture of competition. And so early on in my career, I found it really difficult to to find a significant mentor, someone who was willing to take time out of their busy day, trying to achieve what they needed to achieve, to pour into me. Now, later on in my career, and this is a piece of advice for your readers, I got really explicit and intentional with women that I wanted to be my mentors. And I would straight up ask them. We'll go out for coffee, I'll enjoy the conversation, I'll feel that they have a lot to offer and a lot that I could gain. But I would want to tell readers, don't be afraid to ask someone to be your mentor. The worst thing that they can say is no. And I've actually asked a lot of different women leaders over the course of my career "Have you ever been upset if somebody asked you like out to coffee, or if somebody asked you to mentor them?" And they all say, "No, you don't get upset, but you might sometimes you have to say no. But you don't really risk anything by asking." And so I would encourage everybody to identify the people that you want around you, the people that you think can help you and can provide value to you. Once you reach out to them and start to build that relationship, at some point, take the initiative and very explicitly ask, "Are you willing to be my mentor?" This is what that looks like, and I would imagine that more often than not, if the person has time that they're going to be willing to help you out.
KG:
One thing about GirlsLead Co.'s mission is to not only give girls the training on different skills, but also introducing them to how they can support each other and create a supportive environment for each other. We want girls to feel like there's always going to be someone who has their back and that they're not alone. With that in mind, what do you think are some other ways that women can support other women in leadership?
LC:
One of the things that we talk a lot about in InnovateHER KC, is what I would like to see more of is intentional championship. Some people call it sponsorship or cheerleading, but there are a lot of ways that you can elevate the women around you. It can be calling a woman that has meant something to you on your journey and telling her that. Or, one of my big things is give your people flowers while they're here. Make sure that you're granting time and space to say, "Thank you, this is what I value about you, I appreciate your role in my life." One of the things that we talk about a lot is shopping local. We at InnovateHER have a foundational value that we do not hire vendors and suppliers that are not women-owned, or women-led. We're very intentional about making that choice to shop local, and shopping with women-owned businesses. Another piece of that championship bid is referrals - if you know somebody who's looking for a resource or an asset, and you know a woman who can satisfy that need, then share it. I always heard that mentorship is something that happens in private between you and another person. But championship is something that happens when you're not even in the room. And what you want to do is you want to set up champions in your life, the people who are going to refer you buy from you share your story. Just getting really intentional about putting those people's names in your mouth and then just sharing them all over the place.
KG:
What do you think is the greatest risk that you've taken throughout your professional career?
LC:
Starting InnovateHER KC. I had a good paying job that I really liked. I loved working in Startland. When I talk about the Genesis story of InnovateHER KC, people are always like, "InnovateHER was such a great idea!", and I just think, it was barely an idea. It was essentially the universe smacking me in the face and saying, "This thing that you're doing, this thing that you've started, it has traction, and it has teeth, and people want to be involved in it." We had we had a week where we went from 400 members to 600, over a three day period. And I sat down, and I thought, "If this is what's happening with 10% of my attention, what would we be able to do if I was able to put 100% of my attention on it?" Clearly, it was resonating with people and it was something that people wanted. But then I thought, "If I leave this very secure, very fun, very challenging, great gig that I have, I'm not gonna make a paycheck for a while. I'm gonna have to build something from scratch, and I'm gonna have to find ways to fill my time." That was a huge risk for me. And I was petrified. But, I genuinely think that if you are not just a little bit scared as a leader, then you're doing it wrong, because that means that you're complacent. But a little bit of fear can motivate you.
KG:
Absolutely. To close things out, you've given a lot of great advice today, but do you think that there's one thing that young women who are just starting their leadership journeys should take away?
LC:
To quote Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation, "Find your people." The greatest skill that I have is being a connector and someone who loves people. I have been very fortunate, but I am also very intentional about surrounding myself with people who are smarter than me in different ways, and people have who have varied and interesting perspectives. And then it comes to asking them, "How do you feel? What do you think? What would you like to see with InnovateHER?" And so, my biggest piece of advice is, find those people that you trust. Find the people that are your biggest fans and your biggest advocates. Surround yourself with them, give respect to them, and do the reciprocity thing with them - be in their corner, too. But find that team and honor that. Some of my greatest accomplishments have come about as a result of my ability and my desire to connect with the people around me meaningfully.
KG:
That's really great. I love that. Well, thank you so much for speaking with me today. I look forward to getting to collaborate with you in the future!
LC:
Thanks so much. I was really honored when you reached out. You have a good one.
Closing
Leadership knows no boundaries. We encourage each of you to embrace your unique qualities and strengths, knowing that you, too, have the power to shape your community and create a lasting impact. GirlsLead looks forward to bringing you more inspiring stories and conversations that will continue to empower our leadership abilities.
About Lauren
Lauren Conaway is the Founder & CEO of InnovateHER KC and the Co-host at the Startup Hustle Podcast. She works to serve women leaders by supporting and amplifying their community impact. She is committed to developing supportive ecosystems for entrepreneurs and women in leadership.
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