WEBVTT - Laura Coe: When Pivoting is the Only Option 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.120 And I think it's important that when we go through 0:00:02.160 --> 0:00:05.080 struggles in life that you never know what doors are 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:08.000 going to open after those struggles. 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:16.520 Welcome back to She Pivots, the podcast where we talk 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:19.120 with women who have dared to pivot out of one 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:23.400 career and into something new and explore how their personal 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:28.479 lives impacted these decisions. I'm your host, Emily Tish Sussman. 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:35.879 Last year, I wrote a piece in Marie Cleric titled 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:40.120 Let's make Sensitive the new Strong. It was inspired by 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:42.879 my son, who was five but has the soul of 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:46.479 an eighty year old man. He is quiet and empathetic 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:50.640 and deeply sensitive. And I didn't see any representation in 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.760 the media actually celebrating that. I only ever saw books 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:59.360 and shows where the character overcame being sensitive. It's something 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:01.600 I still feel like true. So when I heard about 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:06.319 Laura's company, Snapology, I was immediately drawn to it. Her 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:08.920 story stuck with me because she was inspired to create 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:11.480 a company after her son had little interest in like 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:16.560 the usual after school activities like football or soccer. Snapology 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:20.320 is now a hugely successful program that focuses on steam education. 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:23.399 What started off as a side hustle now has one 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:27.600 hundred and seventy franchise locations across the United States. And 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:30.440 although I love Laura's vision to create more after school 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:34.280 options for kids, I have to be honest that Laura's 0:01:34.280 --> 0:01:39.800 interview was actually a complete and happy accident. We get 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:43.480 a lot of pitches, especially from communications or PR people, 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:46.960 into our inbox of founders. Basically, we get like a 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:50.160 lot of pitches of founders, and when we're looking at 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:53.440 how we put this season together, the most important piece 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:56.440 for me is that we have diversity from every aspect, 0:01:56.520 --> 0:02:00.360 like from industry, from background. But the actual most important 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:02.760 piece for me is that there is diversity in what 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:05.800 I call like the intervening life event, like the personal 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:10.280 reason that changed someone's perspective. So for that reason, when 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:12.960 we get a lot of pitches of a lot of founders, 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:15.680 sometimes it ends up feeling like we get pitched the 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:18.840 same story over and over. So as I was looking 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.240 through our inbox of pitches, I was actually trying to 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:26.160 filter out the founders. When I said yes to Laura Coe, 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:30.120 our guest today, I actually confused her with a different 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:33.160 Laura that we had been pitched. So we booked it, 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:35.400 we went through it. When I started looking at our prep, 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:37.040 I thought, wait a second, I didn't realize that I 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:39.720 had pitched another founder, and I wasn't sure we were 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:41.720 going to end up airing this episode. I thought, you know, 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:44.120 she seems nice, we'll do the interview. I wasn't sure 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:46.720 we're going to end up airing it. But once we 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:52.280 actually had the conversation, her perspective was so interesting and different, 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:55.359 and in particular, what I loved that she came back 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:58.760 to is that we often talk about how we're afraid 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:02.359 of jumping into something new, and so staying the same 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:06.880 is what's safe. But Laura actually really challenges that when 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:09.519 staying the same was the least safe option for her 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:13.040 and she was forced to try something new. So I'm 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:14.240 excited to get into Laura. 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:20.560 My name is Laura co and I am the brand president, CEO, 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:22.359 and founder of Snapology. 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:26.320 Did you always see yourself as starting a business, being 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:27.079 an entrepreneur. 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:30.639 Well, you know, it's interesting my parents owned a business. 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:33.280 They started a business in my teenage years, so I 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:35.720 think that's where I kind of started to maybe think 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:37.760 that might be something I wanted to do. But I 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:40.600 took a very traditional route, went to college, had a 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:44.040 nice career, as an actuary. Always kind of in the 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:45.600 back of my head, I think I wanted to do that, 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:48.480 but I don't know, does anybody really know that's what 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:50.480 they're going to do. Maybe they do, but for me, 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:53.440 I don't know if it was accidental or things just 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:54.560 kind of fell into place. 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.000 Being good at math and numbers took her down a 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:02.440 mathematics path, studied accounting in college, and went on to 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:03.720 become an actuary. 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:06.560 In kind of, Once an actuary, always an actuary. 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:10.880 And if you're wondering what an actuary does right now, 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:12.040 so is I. 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:18.640 Actuaries are basically mathematicians, statisticians. We have an expertise in 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:23.279 data analysis, statistics, finance, and those types of things. So 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:26.440 we're basically what we're doing is we're taking information that 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:29.279 happened in the past, kind of taking a look at it, 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:32.400 analyzing it, looking at what's going on in the present, 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:35.919 and then projecting it to the future. So it's a 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:38.360 lot of data, a lot of numbers, a lot of analysis. 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:40.760 For me, it was really kind of cool because it 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:42.880 wasn't just sort of looking in the rear view mirror. 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:47.040 It was actually taking that information and projecting it forward. 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:51.560 So I'm a healthcare actuary. So we are the loved 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:55.640 people who set premium rates at health insurance companies. So 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:58.440 when your premium rates are high, it's likely an actuary 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.679 that set that amount. And my specific expertise is actually 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:04.920 in prescription drugs, so looking at some of those high 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:07.440 cost drugs that come out, looking at you know, rare 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:09.480 diseases and things like that, and trying to figure out 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:12.360 how much does the insurance company have to charge today 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:14.600 to make sure that we can we can cover all 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:16.120 of your expenses in the next year. 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:20.480 Did you feel satisfied as a healthcare actuary. 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:22.760 I did enjoy being an actuary, to be honest with you. 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:25.359 I still dabble in it here and there, and so 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.680 I will never kind of get rid of that curiosity 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:31.560 piece and that intellectual stimulation that kind of comes along 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:35.040 with being an actuary. I want that challenge. I want that, 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:38.640 you know, sort of predicting the future, kind of looking ahead, 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:41.359 and in everything I do, I'm always looking behind me, 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:43.599 trying to figure out what happened, what went well didn't, 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:45.039 trying to figure out what we can do in the 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:46.159 future to make it better. 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:50.520 Using her keen math skills, Laura decided to take a 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:53.520 leap in her mid twenties and follow the path of 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:58.640 her entrepreneurial family. She carefully calculated and decided to make 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:02.640 her move an in home senior care franchise. 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:07.640 When I did the research and saw that we had 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:10.600 this huge population in Pittsburgh, I thought, well, I need 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:13.000 to do something with seniors. So I didn't have a 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:16.480 lot of capital at my fingertips, and I didn't have 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:18.520 a whole lot of credit yet either, right, you know, 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:22.000 just a typical twenty five twenty six year old at 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:24.840 the time, And so I chose a business that had 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:27.000 a low entry to get in and that I thought 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:29.279 would do well, that I thought would would make money. 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.039 It was completely against all of the advice that I 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:34.599 give everybody now and even give my own children. To 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:37.440 be honest with you, I don't necessarily have a passion 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:39.840 for that business, which is another reason why it wasn't 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:42.400 a great fit, because I didn't have that drive, that 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:44.520 desire to get up in the middle of the I 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:47.119 didn't I wasn't doing the business for the right reason. 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:50.080 Do what you love right, Do something you're passionate about. 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:52.800 If you do something you're passionate about, then you'll want 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:54.800 to work at it, you'll do well. You know, all 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:57.400 the things sort of come along with it when you 0:06:57.480 --> 0:06:59.800 do something that you love well. 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:03.960 Building her first business, she worked full time as an actuary, 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:08.120 a field that has been historically male dominated, especially at 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:09.000 that time. 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:11.880 When I first started as an actuary, back in the 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:16.200 early nineties, the women actuaries, women mathematicians. We were kind 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:19.720 of a rare breed. I grew up with a brother 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:22.160 who was less than a year older than me. We were, 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:24.800 you know, best friends, and you know, I always kind 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:26.600 of hung out with the boys. I was honestly a 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:28.640 little bit of a tomboy and myself, I was into 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:32.600 sports and so being around guys, being around men boys, 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:34.640 you know, never like I never even looked at it 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:37.280 that way. I never really thought about it. And I 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:40.720 was in a well respected profession. And I understand the 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:44.040 plight of some women sort of being held back because 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:47.560 they're a woman. I was very fortunate that early on 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:50.760 in my career I never really experienced that. So I 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:53.360 was the only woman a lot of times. But I 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:56.000 don't feel like, at least in the profession I was in, 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:59.200 that that really ever held me from being able to 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:00.480 do the things that I want to do. 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:07.200 What was that transition like to parenthood for you, Because 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:10.680 one of the challenges of being in really male dominated 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:13.360 fields is there's a less of an understanding about the 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:15.760 physical toll that it can take, the amount of leave 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:18.320 that you might actually need, and the fact that you 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:21.240 can actually do both your job and parent. So what 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:22.120 was that like for you? 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:25.520 Yeah, I mean that is a real phenomenon, right, There 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:27.920 is a real and I honestly experienced that to some 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:31.040 extent still today. In the beginning, I kind of hid 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:33.520 some of that stuff from the people I worked with. Right, 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:35.840 A lot of the men didn't have the same struggles. 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:37.720 They weren't trying to, you know, make sure they were 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:39.400 home at a certain time to get their kid off 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:41.479 the bus, or they weren't. They weren't kind of experiencing 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:43.760 the same struggles that I had. And so I made 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:46.520 a lot of excuses when I was younger, and I 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:49.520 had a lot of doctor's appointments for myself that really 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:52.240 weren't for myself and those types of things. And it's 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:54.360 not really that I was embarrassed about it. It was 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:57.000 just that I didn't really feel like explaining it. I 0:08:57.160 --> 0:09:00.000 didn't become a parent until I was in my early thirties, 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:03.080 So I had a good ten years of the working 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:05.959 world before I had my first child, which I think 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:08.280 was a benefit because I was able to kind of 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:12.280 prove myself before I needed to have that flexible schedule. 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.760 But yeah, I mean it's tough for working moms. It 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:18.040 really is. You know. I was talking with somebody about 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:19.920 it the other day and kind of thinking about, like, 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:23.240 I think it's really hard for people who either don't 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:26.280 have children or aren't the primary caregiver to the children 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:29.120 to understand it. I mean, I'm basically working at least 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:31.480 two full time jobs every day, right, I've got my 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:34.760 job at Snapology, but then you go home and you've 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.880 got another whole full time job. Right, it's making time 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:39.439 in your data. And I think I've done a load 0:09:39.480 --> 0:09:42.719 of laundry every day for twenty years now, right, I mean, 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:45.199 it's how do you fit that in? It's like mixed 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:47.320 in with pouring a cup of coffee. I'm switching a 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:50.080 load of laundry and doing different things, and so it 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:52.920 is a struggle, but I think that it's a great struggle. 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:56.280 I wouldn't trade motherhood for anything in this world, and 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:58.960 so you find a way to balance it, you find 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:01.240 a way to make it work, because the reality is, 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:03.640 I'm not working a shorter day. I'm just working a 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.920 very different day, right I mean, I'd get up, get 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.760 my kids to school, then i'd work a regular day. 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:11.960 Sometimes I'd even be doing emails before i even woke 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:14.040 my kids up for school. Right then I'm waking my 0:10:14.120 --> 0:10:16.840 kids up, getting them ready, then I'm getting back to work. 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.040 Then I'm getting them taking a little break to get 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:20.680 them off the bus and get them a snack, and 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:23.080 then I'm going back to work again, right where everybody 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:25.640 else is probably done at that point. I'm still working 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:29.040 like these different shifts and juggling when I'm working and 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:31.160 when I'm doing stuff for the kids, and then I 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:32.599 put them to bed, and then I'm going to be 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:34.880 going back and checking my email again and doing stuff. 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:38.480 So it's a different lifestyle. I think that I didn't 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:41.280 really explain to people before at hand, but i think 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:43.520 people get it a little bit more now. But I'm 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:46.520 not afraid to say it because I've proven myself. They 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:48.960 know I'm working hard, but I'm not working the same 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:51.400 schedule that a lot of the men that are working 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:53.240 side by side with me are and that's okay. 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:58.560 Yeah, I find that pre wake up that time is 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:01.640 actually my most productive in many ways, like the clutter 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:04.160 of the day hasn't gotten to me. That's when I 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:06.640 find I can actually be more productive most of the time. 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:09.840 Yeah, I'm not sure that we're the poster children for wellness, 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:12.760 but I think we're definitely not in and alone. I 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:15.360 do envy. I've got a couple of coworkers that I 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:18.199 really respect that they get up and they walk right, 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:20.319 they clear their head and they walk and they start 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:22.520 their day. And I think to myself, man that I 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:25.520 would love to be able to do that, but I 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:29.080 just it's just not going to happen. So yeah, I 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.320 mean what works works and I've been successful with it. 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.640 I probably need a little more of those wellness have its, 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:38.280 But I don't know old dog new tricks. I'm not 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:39.640 sure it's in the cards for me. 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:41.679 May Yeah, maybe we're not going to work it in 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:43.839 just yet. But I love this point that you made 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:47.760 about how you had proven yourself in your career and 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.880 then you were able to take whether it was flexibility 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:54.000 or some chances. I really felt like I didn't start 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:56.440 having kids until even later until my mid thirties, and 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:57.880 I felt like I had earned it, and I felt 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:00.360 like I still was able to get the respect of 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:02.920 my colleagues even if I was showing up to the 0:12:02.920 --> 0:12:06.200 office at different hours or in a different way, because 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:07.760 they knew what I was capable of and I had 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:09.080 banked all that time before me. 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:12.400 Yeah, I think that's absolutely true, right. That's what gives 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:16.280 you the confidence to be able to have a flexible 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:19.280 schedule is you're not worried. But even when you leave 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:21.679 to do something, you feel almost guilty, right because you're 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:24.840 leaving everybody behind and they're working so hard, and you're 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:28.640 leaving to do something, and you're wondering, Okay, do they understand? 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:30.440 You know, are they going to think less of me 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:32.640 because I'm leaving to do this kind of thing. I 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:35.320 feel bad for young mothers, right because they maybe haven't 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:39.679 banked that time, but they're yet still so productive. I'm 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:42.000 hopeful that society is changing a little bit, that we 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:44.800 maybe understand that a little bit more. So. 0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:49.080 You working as an actuary, had two kids sounds like 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:50.080 pretty close together. 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:53.680 I did. Yeah, my boys are seventeen months apart, but 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:58.160 it wasn't really until after I had the children I 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:02.680 was married, had children that I had sold that other business, 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:05.160 realized that it just wasn't a good fit for my lifestyle. 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:07.920 I just didn't have the support that I needed to 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:09.960 be able to do that type of business. And then 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:13.439 in my early thirties, actually bought a different franchise that 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:16.960 my husband at the then time that he ran, and 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:20.000 really watching him kind of start this business and kind 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:22.640 of help him from the side made me realize, I 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:25.560 really want a business of my own. I really want 0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:28.680 to do this on my own, do it full time. 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:32.800 So at this point I had sold the first franchise, 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:36.640 the Senior Citizen franchise I'd sold that. My husband was 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:40.360 running the cleaning business and doing his thing. I helped 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:45.040 him on the back end with pricing and financials and 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:48.280 some of the more technical things and a little behind 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:50.600 the scenes. At the time, my husband and I were 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:52.960 going through a divorce, so I was kind of itching 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:54.400 to do my own thing. 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:57.880 With the divorce and being a new mom of two 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:01.200 kids under five, she needed to adjust. 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:04.600 I needed more flexibility in my life. I wanted to 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:06.360 be there for my kids right I wanted to be 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:10.000 able to take them to activities my youngest was starting kindergarten, 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:11.360 and I wanted to be able to go to the 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:13.840 book fair, and I wanted to be able to do 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:18.320 some of those daytime things that moms do. Also kind 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:20.400 of needed to have a job that didn't require me 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:24.640 to travel. You want to find a motivated woman, Tell 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:26.680 her she might lose custody of her kids if she 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:29.520 doesn't change what she's doing in terms of travel, in 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:32.440 terms of her job, and so as I was sort 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:34.880 of all of that stuff happening at once, I needed 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:38.280 more flexibility. I needed not to be traveling. I needed 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:40.880 to kind of change my job, my role. I needed 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:43.040 to support these kids, now going through a divorce. Now 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:44.600 I was going to be a single mom. I needed 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:47.360 to be able to financially support these kids. How was 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:49.960 I going to do all that? That's really how Snapology 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:50.400 was born. 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:55.160 Kids, it's not just about building towers these days, thought Legos. 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:59.480 You can build some truly amazing things. So now your 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:02.600 kids can to learn how with the help of Snapology. 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:06.000 That's a traveling program that uses legos to teach science 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:09.560 and technology and engineering and arts and math. 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:10.360 Us. 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:13.080 But beyond the flexibility that she found in the work, 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:16.880 Laura finally found something that she was passionate about and 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:18.960 that was personal to her. 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:23.480 My older son, Sebastian is just a really really neat kid, 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:27.480 but just not interested in traditional activities for boys. He 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.840 just wasn't interested in sports, and I was having trouble 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:34.280 finding something that was kind of in his wheelhouse. Both 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:38.000 of my boys very academically inclined, and I needed something 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:41.000 to get them socialized. So I realized that the thing 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:43.720 that was going to bring me that flexibility was owning 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:45.480 my own business, and the thing that was going to 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:48.320 give my kids what they needed was owning a business 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:50.920 that was for my kids, right. So took the idea 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.560 of the Lego bricks and doing different things with legos, 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:55.520 did a ton of research on what was going on 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:59.640 around the country and found Lego Robotics. That was really 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:01.960 what what made me start it, and I went to 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:05.400 my sister, she lived four doors down. I walked down 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:07.400 the street and said, hey, you know, I really want 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:09.200 to do this. I need to do this for my kids. 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:11.680 What do you think about this Lego idea. We could 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:14.640 do birthday parties, we could have robotics, we could have 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:16.720 summer camps and stuff, you know. Would you want to 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.400 do it with me? And she was all in. She 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:21.240 didn't have kids at the time. She does now, but 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:23.480 she didn't have kids at the time, and she was like, 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:24.440 that's great. 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:28.200 Did it feel very risky or it felt natural? 0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:31.880 It was risky for sure, and it felt risky. I'm 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:34.400 very blessed to have. I mean, first off, my career 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:38.080 as an actuary is fairly lucrative, right, so I'd saved 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:39.880 a little bit of money. I had a little bit 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:42.160 of comfort and a little bit of a buffer there. 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:44.320 I went to my sister, to be honest with you, 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:48.560 because I needed that support. And not only that emotional support. Right, 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:52.000 I'm moving into, you know, single motherhood. I'm investing a 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:55.080 lot of my own money. To have her support on 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:58.800 the back end, both emotionally and financially, gave me that 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:01.760 little bit of extra comfort, right. But it was a risk. 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:04.440 It was a pretty big risk. I put it all 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:06.760 on the line, and you take all of your four 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:09.399 oh one k or you take all of your investments, 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:11.920 and you go all in with it. I think sometimes 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:14.600 the greater risk in what you're doing is by not 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:17.480 doing it. What happens if you don't do it? Didn't 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:20.080 have to choose being an entrepreneur. Didn't have to choose 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:23.280 setting out my own business. I had to stop traveling. 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:25.480 I was going to lose custody of my kids, or 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:27.040 there was at least a fear that I was going 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:29.720 to lose custody of my kids if I didn't change 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:33.000 what I was doing. So I had to change something, 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:37.400 and the fear of that if I didn't change anything 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:40.480 was not a scenario that I even would ever want 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:45.240 to consider, and so the fear of not doing it, honestly, 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:49.240 was a huge driver in what I did, and still 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:51.840 to this day, I make a lot of decisions out 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:55.000 of what happens if I don't do this. I think 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:59.239 it's something that's overlooked a lot sometimes is everybody's like, oh, 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:01.280 you took this big, you did this, you did all 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:04.919 these things, which yeah, was a huge risk, but the 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:08.280 risk of not doing it in some cases is actually 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:10.520 greater than the risk of actually doing it. 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:15.080 Another piece that you jumped into was moving into a 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:18.720 business and financial relationship with your sister, which I think 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:21.639 is also a risk. How did that play out for you? 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:24.639 Yeah, you know, it's funny. We still laugh about it 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:27.480 to this day when we first started the business. The 0:18:27.760 --> 0:18:31.840 huge story for Snapology was that two sisters and I'm 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:35.120 going to obviously exaggerate this could actually like each other 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:38.520 enough to go into business together. I mean it's not 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:40.960 the way it was pitched, but two women going into 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:43.359 business together. I think the story that were women obviously 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:46.720 is important, right because we're women in stem field. My 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:50.560 sister's a pharmacist, so she has very much a science background, 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:53.679 And for us, it wasn't hard. We're a very close family. 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:56.119 My brother and my sister are my best friends. My 0:18:56.200 --> 0:18:58.600 brother was actually involved in the business as well for 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:01.320 a long period of time, and I loved every day 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:04.040 being able to work with my brother and my sister. 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:07.760 But the reason that works, and I think this happens 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:11.159 too with unrelated partners, is you have to stay in 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:14.600 your lane. So my sister, Lisa and I we knew 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:17.720 our lanes, right. We're very very different people, which is 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:20.200 why I think we're able to get along so well. 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:24.560 I'm the finance, I'm operations, you know, kind of boots 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:27.600 on the ground getting stuff done. She's more of sort 0:19:27.640 --> 0:19:31.760 of the strategy and marketing and sales, and she's our 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:35.840 safety officer. So what's important to me, was never important 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:38.199 to her in it, and so she would yield. And 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:40.640 when we would get to an area where I knew 0:19:40.720 --> 0:19:45.560 Lisa was more educated, or more experienced, or more passionate about, 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:48.600 I would yield to her decision. But yeah, Lisa and 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:51.520 I have never had any problems working together. But I've 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:55.440