S1, E26: Urban Solutions to Climate Challenges: Insights from a City-Focused Venture Capitalist

Laura: [00:00:00] I was from Chicago and the south side and took me 90 minutes to get to high school every day. So I’ve thought a lot about transportation in the past. The south side is totally inequitable when you look at kind of resource given to the north side of the city. So did a lot of thinking about what makes places great.

Georgi: Did you know the average person will work 90,000 hours in their lifetime? What if you could use those hours to find fulfillment and become a disruptor for good? Welcome to the Work That’s Worth It. Podcast. I’m Georgi Enthoven, and I’m here to demonstrate that an ambitious, meaningful, and rewarding career is not just a dream, it’s achievable.

Each episode we’ll dive into conversations with global change makers who crack the code on. Finding income and impact. If you’ve ever felt like you were torn between a paycheck and your purpose, or maybe you simply yearn for more purpose, you’re going to be exposed to the ambitious humans who have done it themselves ready to make your work worth it.

Let’s get started.[00:01:00]

One of the things I love most about hosting this podcast is the opportunity to speak with such a diverse array of guests who’ve all found their own unique ways to make meaningful contributions through their careers. A few of my guests have chosen career paths where the rewards are primarily non-monetary, finding fulfillment through their impact.

However, by design, most have demonstrated that with intention and strategy, it’s entirely possible to create a positive impact while building financial stability or even success. I have deliberately sought out these types of stories for you because I want you to know it’s achievable. Today’s guest, Laura Fox, has masterfully crafted a career where purpose and prosperity reinforce each other rather than compete.

She is the co-founder and managing partner of Street Life Ventures, a seed stage venture fund, investing in urban climate solutions that transform sectors [00:02:00] including mobility, buildings, energy, waste, and water. What makes her story particularly compelling is that this balance wasn’t handed to her on a silver platter.

It’s something that she has thoughtfully and deliberately built throughout her career journey. Laura has an impressive track record of turning urban challenges into scalable solutions. Before launching Streetlight Ventures, she was the GM of Citi Bike at Lyft, where she transformed it into a hundred million annual revenue business and one of the country’s largest transportation systems.

Her experience spans from leading diligence on urban climate tech companies at Sidewalk Labs to launching new mobility products with Boston Consulting group’s digital ventures team, and advising Bloomberg Philanthropies on their urban investment strategy beyond her operational investment work. Laura shares her expertise teaching MBA strategy courses at NYU Stern.

And there’s something that doesn’t surprise me at all. Laura’s friends call [00:03:00] her 20 questions since she loves getting to the heart of a good idea. So much so that she’s even given a Ted talk on the topic. I can’t wait to dive into Laura’s journey from the south side of Chicago to becoming a leader in urban climate solutions and to explore how her curiosity has shaped her approach to building a career that truly balances personal success with meaningful impact.

Hi Laura. I’m so excited to have you on the work that’s worth it. Podcast. Thank you for being here. Thank you so much for

Laura: having me. Excited for our conversation.

Georgi: So special to have you and to explore all the different kinds of work that you have done, which so much of it has been work that’s worth it for you and worthwhile.

And I was wondering if we could just start, if you can share a little about your journey and how you’ve managed to combine financial success with meaningful impact.

Laura: Yeah, of course. And for context, you know where my path has taken me today is I’m the co-founder and managing partner of a venture [00:04:00] capital fund that focuses on the intersection of cities and climate.

So we focus on very early stage companies that have a B2B go to market across five main sectors, mobility, logistics, buildings, energy, waste, and water. Adaptation. Uh, so focusing on both the mitigation and adaptation sides of climate within dense cities and I, when I look back, probably would’ve been able to predict that cities were somehow involved, but never would’ve predicted that I would be running a venture capital fund.

I wouldn’t have known what that was. Yeah. But thought that I was crazy. And so the early part of my journey, you know, I graduated from. Undergrad and, and happy to talk even in the future about like what the decision was even to where to have my first job. But I had a day job after doing a lot of different things in, in undergrad that was at Morningstar, was learning a lot of product management, kind of growth marketing and great skill sets like that.

But outside of work, I was reading a lot about what makes cities great. [00:05:00] I was from Chicago and the south side and took me 90 minutes to get to high school every day. So I’ve thought a lot about transportation in the past. The south side is totally inequitable when you look at kind of resource given to the north side of the city.

So it’s a lot of thinking about what make places great. And I started to get really interested in the role of arts and culture in creating great places that connected people and community. And that took me when I was 24 to move to Qatar in the Middle East to work for their museums after doing some writing and policy pieces in Chicago outside of my day job for local publications and things like that.

You know, when you moved to entirely new country one, you’re taking a big step forward. I didn’t grow up traveling at all as a kid, and you know, had done traveling abroad for the first time in undergrad. Traveled a bit after that, but had never been to the Middle East, never been to the country I was moving towards, so I.

There was an incredible amount of great learning for me there both professionally. I was managing a team of 10 people when I was 24 to lead digital [00:06:00] strategy for those museums, and thinking about both interactivity within the museums, placemaking within the city. But as a person, I was walking around Doha, the capital city of Qatar, where I was living.

And was noticing that there weren’t sidewalks and there wasn’t public transportation at the time, no affordable housing. Most of our water was from desalination plants. There was extreme heat, and so I just started to have a transformational moment in my career where I was like, I gotta get back to the things that kind of brought me to my passion for cities, which is focusing on these built environment topics like.

Mobility buildings, uh, sustainability and all of this core stuff. I call it like moving down Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Right? So went to Bangladesh for a bit after that to work on an urban strategy there. Then I went to NYU for business school because I had an urbanization project and embedded in the business school, which.

It was an incredible experience that I could talk an entire podcast episode about, but essentially got to do live projects with cities, real estate firms and others [00:07:00] to kind of deploy that MBA toolkit live while I was there, which was great. And then I went to the Boston Consulting Group to work for their digital ventures group.

Again, focused on building startups for corporates and within the built environment. So a lot of stuff in real estate, a lot of stuff in mobility. Then went to Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Google Focus on Future of Cities, hearing a theme, and then went and ran Citi bike at Lyft for four years as their general manager ran the p and l and grew that from, you know, a 30 million revenue business to over 120 million revenue.

Business turned around the business like. Really fun and exciting. But I think one of the things you probably hear in my journey, you know, and you know, after City Bike started the fund here in my journey is that there is no straight path for me. One of my very good friends from my time at Sidewalk Labs oftentimes calls a.

My story versus her story, a particular kind of language and framework. She jokes that her story is a straight path through the forest and that she’s done progressive roles in real estate. You know, right [00:08:00] after undergrad, real estate, investment banking, went to business school for real estate. Now has done a ton of asset management within real estate, was working on real estate when we worked together.

And then, you know, my story is like the forest that surrounds the path, I guess, which I’m complimented by is a metaphor and that I’m really curious in. How this interest in places and cities evidences itself and where I can be best positioned to drive financial value and impact throughout that.

Georgi: Yeah, what a beautiful story.

And you have so many opportunities that you have had that each one alone would be a fantastic podcast. And I’m thinking about, one of the chapters that I have in my book is on contribution. And on contribution. It’s sort of what is the thread that you can pull through all different aspects of your career that you can make sense of.

So it can either be one word. Mm-hmm. Like. Transportation or environment and transportation or urban planning. And I notice that for you, it all made sense. Even if somebody else, it felt like it [00:09:00] was sort of around the forest or like in and out of the forest. Yeah. But for you, each step was fulfilling a curiosity or a part of your adventure to getting closer to your contribution.

Laura: Yeah, I’m a very curious person just by nature, which you can, yeah, as you said, you can see in my path and I would feel very bored and constrained to be on the straight line because I’d be like, what is this for? Right? And just getting to that like. Next run of promotion and things like that has never been my big motivator.

Although I’ve had a lot of successes in my careers. It’s all been about what is this big, exciting idea that like I can participate in earlier in my career. I can lead at this point in my career, right, and really be pushing forward a unique way. And I love constantly learning, and I love the idea that. 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to predict where I am today and 10 years in the future.

I won’t be able to predict that either.

Georgi: Yeah.

Laura: Maybe one [00:10:00] anecdote on this, ’cause I know many of your listeners are in college. Just out of college, I had a major career crisis, I would say when I was 22 or 23. LinkedIn had just come out at the time and I probably messaged 50 people who were early on LinkedIn and asked for a 15 minute coffee in Chicago.

I remember one of the handful of people who was so thoughtful and kind enough to respond to that was a woman who ran the Chicago Community Trust at the time. And when we showed up for coffee, I am 23. This is like someone who would basically occupy hero status to me at that time. And I think the first question after like issuing a hurried hello that I gave to her was something like, how have you figured it all out?

And a small, how do I do that question? Yeah. Small question. And she out laughing, which like I completely agree with at this point in my career, right? That life and careers are a journey of figuring it out. Continuously, right? [00:11:00] If you maintain that curiosity and maintain this north star where you’re going, but aren’t adherent to a specific path.

Georgi: Yeah. And before this interview, I listened to your TED Talk and you were very inspired by your grandmother and Oh so inspired. I would love you to share that story. I related so much to it because one of the things that I have found that I’ve really stepped into, and it gives me such a sense of freedom, is to be a beginner.

Yeah. And I related to your TED talk very much. Yeah. Please share a little bit sort of the, the highlights of your talk and your relationship with your grandmother and what she set in motion for you.

Laura: Yeah. Yeah. My relationship with my grandmother was so special. She and my great aunt essentially raised my twin brother and I, so we had a day-to-day relationship with ’em that was so warm and touching.

And my grandmother, you know, grew up in a generation of women who didn’t have a lot of opportunities. And so she kind of finished high school. Maybe you could say that she did really didn’t, but was a voracious reader. [00:12:00] Like read two newspapers a day, was constantly reading novels like. Watching the news.

So it’s like constantly taking in information and really engage, you know, at this big level, but also at this just like appreciation of the day to day that I think is so easy to let go and let go of delight. And so I. The thing I talk about in the TED Talk that has always stuck with me is, you know, after the rain in Chicago, be like immediately after she’d be like, put on your shoes, or we’re gonna miss ’em.

Like these worms that would crawl out and be on the sidewalk and just watching them, right? As little children like you gain this appreciation not only for this big picture, but also for kinda noticing the small details and kind of existing in the present, which I think as an adult. I appreciate even more that she was like that, right?

’cause it’s so easy to get wrapped up and kind of existential what’s next. Only thinking about the future, never being kind of present or satisfied in the present. And I think that she was emblematic of that and I think she, [00:13:00] you know, without having that formal education, which we can, you know, so many circles really prioritize, like where people went to school, what kinds of degrees they got.

She asked questions. She was constantly eager and open to learn. She never felt like saying she didn’t know was a bad thing for her. It was an opportunity for like an adventure and that beginner mindset that you mentioned. And so I think that that’s something I’ve really taken with me across my career and.

I mentioned I was a golf caddy and, and that TED talk, which like really you put to, to work those skill sets because you have nothing in common. Yeah. With these men who are 40, 50 years older than yourself.

Georgi: I actually love that piece. ’cause you mentioned something about what you thought the job was and what it actually was is really different and I think that is relevant for any job that you have.

But why don’t you share a little bit about what you thought it would be and what it ended up. Yeah. Having to be.

Laura: Yeah. Yeah, so I was a golf caddy for seven summers as a kid. I’m sure a lot of people listening [00:14:00] had summer jobs of different kinds. I started when I was 12 until I was 19 or so in the summers.

And you know, I’d heard about it from someone I went to grade school with. And I basically thought the job was like carrying around a golf bag for someone who was golfing, right? Or running alongside of a car was like basically the premise I played. Basketball and volleyball and baseball and soccer and swimming and like all these sports, I knew very little about golf, but when I showed up, I realized that the relationship that I had with the golfer was actually fundamentally different.

Like, yes, I was carrying their clubs, but I was also meant to be this companion over the course of a nine holes, 18 holes. And I think as someone who at that point in life had very little life experience, that felt very intimidating to me. You know, the people I was cadding for, I come from very little money.

They had lots of money. They were in very fancy roles. I knew no one that was like a lawyer or a doctor or important in business Growing up, I grew up in a [00:15:00] neighborhood that was very much like blue collar workers and city workers and things like that. And so. I didn’t feel like I could be this like entertainer, but what I did feel like I could do was learn from them and the set of life experiences that I thought could be really interesting.

And so I learned, I think, from my grandmother to start like the foundation of that, but as a caddy, the like. Entryway to learning something completely different than you thought that you would on any single day by starting a conversation with questions and learning from someone who you think at first is completely different than you, but might actually be different, but bring forward incredible stories and life experiences.

Georgi: Yeah, what a great way to frame that. And I noticed in your career you’ve tried all sorts of different types of organizations and different from very corporate to probably what you’re doing right now, which is pretty entrepreneurial. And I wonder also this mindset of curiosity and openness is allowed you to hop from these very different environments and succeed in all of them.

Laura: Yeah. [00:16:00] Yeah. I generally tend to be excited by a challenge. This is something I talk to friends about often in that, you know, when you do something that is related but not the exact thing, like, you know, so for example, my immediate role before this general manager of Citi Bike, I was managing a team of a thousand.

Easy Next step for me would’ve been COO, right? Of another organization that had a technology product, had an interesting operational profile. I still think that that would be a really interesting role, but I was interested in doing something different and as part of those transitions, like you put yourself in a position where there’s a lot of new stuff you have to learn, right?

Yeah. You know, I’d been an angel investor, but being in a more institutional investor, taking the skills that I had from being a p and l owner to supporting kind of startups and scaling the advisory work that had been doing before, there’s just lots of things to be curious and interested in. I think having the mindset of being excited.

Right. And curious, rather than allowing [00:17:00] ourselves to fall into negative emotion patterns like overwhelm, frustration, fear, right. Can be such a big differential between the type of experience that you have. Yeah. As a result. And so it’s something I talk to people about a lot. It’s like, can you put yourself in the curiosity seat rather than the fear seat?

Georgi: Yeah. And it seems like without a challenge. You might lose motivation, like you are really drawn to something that is challenging, and this is something I hear a lot from people who, yeah, find work that’s worth it. It’s the scope of the challenge that’s sometimes so invigorating for people who are intelligent and ambitious like yourself.

Laura: Yeah, that’s right. I have wondered at times like, you know, could you take the easy, having a step where I coast a little bit more would probably be a good idea, but every part of me enjoys the challenge. So yeah, I think I’m just that kind of person. And it’s okay to accept that

Georgi: you, you’re accepting it.

Yes. Yeah. I wonder if you can tell us more about, so you took this pivot to setting up your own VC fund, what [00:18:00] that’s actually like when in your career you can do something like this. And maybe a little bit about the types of companies that you invest in.

Laura: Yeah, completely. So I think maybe I’ll start with the like, win in your life.

It makes sense to set up a VC fund and then what it’s like in types of companies like to set up, there’s this, you know, running phrase that like being in venture in general is the slowest way to get rich. And I think so often when I talk to people, they think that being in venture, it’s like you’re making a ton of money in the day to day.

Right? And like it’s very immediate and that’s the opposite. This is kind of a, a 10 year game. As part of setting up a firm related to that, right? Like you go without a salary for a period of time when you’re starting the fund and doing your own fundraise to bring in money right before you gain capital, to start paying yourself to plan into companies and things like that.

And so I really advise people that doing something, like starting a VC fund, I think is best for when you’re. Later in your career, you have enough financial buffer that [00:19:00] going without a salary for a period of time is okay with you. Making less than you could in a kind of other type of employment is okay with you, right?

Because you’re excited about the content, you’re excited about kind of the long-term financial and impact outcomes of the fund. And so I would say that, and then second piece I would really emphasize is that I don’t think I could do what I do now if I didn’t have the set of life experiences that I had previously.

Founders want to work with us because we bring really pragmatic experience to them, right? And so we really focus on post-investment support. And that can be everything from like help on regulations, help on operations, business model, connecting them to customers that we’ve known across our careers, right?

And deep relationships, helping them understand how to like build the financial capital stack of their business, which is actually pretty challenging because you need to combine equity, debt, other products, you know, if you’re, especially if you’re a hardware company. Oftentimes that expertise comes across even in a first conversation because we’ll send questions in advance and at the end of a first call, like I can’t tell you how often it is that founders [00:20:00] are like, wow, this was like a really enjoyable call.

Like we got into like a level of detail that is really rare for me. And so I think that without the experiences that we had, not only would it be harder to diligence a company, but it would be really hard to get them excited about us and accept our money. Add value to them in the way that we want to add value and have the perspective of what we’ve seen work versus not work over time.

Georgi: Yeah. So it’s well beyond a transaction. You need a connection and you need to be able to be of value to them beyond your financial investment.

Laura: Yeah. Yeah. And I think just like one extra point there too is I often talk to folks who are in undergrad who are just thinking about first Step in their career and they wanna start their career in venture, and I would just really advise.

One. I think working at an early stage startup would actually be far better experience to start because. If you’re working in a growing company, you’re seeing what’s working, what’s not working, and you’re gaining a really specific skillset. So whether you go [00:21:00] into like a business development role, kind of a growth marketing role, operations role, whatever, right?

Like all of a sudden you bring a great lens and opportunity to start and can be more helpful to the founder after the investment profile too.

Georgi: Yeah. And tell us about some of the companies that you have invested in and even how you evaluate what you are going to invest in.

Laura: Yeah, I mean that’s the really fun part about venture, right?

And running a firm has like fun and less fun parts if we could talk about it in the future. But the thing that like gets me up excited every day, right, is getting to invest in companies that are creating this incredible impact while also building like a really successful and awesome business. And so some examples of companies in our portfolio, one I would call out is rso.

They are a company that sits at the intersection of our energy and adaptation verticals. I think folks may know this, who are listening to the podcast, but the rise of natural disasters driven by climate related [00:22:00] weather changes has grown about 500% in the last 10 years, and that’s starting to really impact government cities, but is increasingly impacting all sorts of infrastructure providers, corporates, and things like that.

One of the sectors that’s been hardest hit is one of the largest infrastructure providers, which are utilities. US has the largest number of power outages on a per capita basis of any developed country globally. Super embarrassing. Wow. Greater infrastructure is old. It’s a cane. We’re spending 60 billion just to replace stuff from the climate disaster side of the house.

And the forward looking ability to do that ongoing is really constrained. And so. Across the country, we’re seeing rolling power outages that feel more similar to like times when I lived in Bangladesh, right? Which is crazy. And so rise on maps out, climate risks exist today, projects in the future, and then maps, infrastructure assets onto that.

And then on the backend shows really clear cost benefit scenarios of, based on the type of natural disaster and climate risk, what would be the cost of upgrading that [00:23:00] infrastructure? It could be above ground, below ground, fortifying, substations, whatever that might be. And then what’s, you know, the weighted likely cost of that natural disaster actually occurring.

So you’re able to do really clear cost benefit analysis. They were the first company we’re ever invested in, and so you can’t have a favorite, but like in this game, I don’t think, but just have been really excited to follow their journey. They just had a great follow on round. And then maybe one of our most recent investments is in a company called Public Grid.

And Public Grid essentially targets a really big problem, which probably a lot of the folks listening to this are renters. Renters on average pay 10 to 15% more on their utility bills and owners, because they’re not able to do upgrades to a home like new windows, insulation, all the kind of stuff that can reduce that kind of energy loss.

So what public grid does is it delivers brokered energy, community, solar, and then what’s called virtual power plant solutions to reduce the cost of energy to renters by upwards of 20%. And it does it through moving cities and [00:24:00] a whole host of others. So. We love those types of solutions that just make sense from a cost perspective.

Right. And also our grain.

Georgi: Yeah. And I think part of what I write about in my book is understanding what is the problem that I am solving, and is that worth my valuable time? Yeah. And we talked about your grandma earlier, but how could you explain to your grandma that the problem that you’re solving and why it is worth.

The time that you’re investing in it. And I love these examples because it’s really clear what the problem is and what the solution is. Yeah. And that there’s a financial model that the more you grow, the more you’re helping solve this problem. So that is such a wonderful factor for success.

Laura: Yeah, and just like super quick anecdote there, I think to completely agree with and build on your point, knowing really what that pain point is, is so important.

Like what is the actual problem? What is the pain point that your customer is facing? Just an example [00:25:00] from my time at City Bike, you know when you look at riding a bike as part of a transportation, like set of options, right? Like transportation, largest source of emissions in the us, second largest within cities.

And riding a bike after walking is the best thing you can do for the environment, right? When you think about dropping that emissions profile. But that is not the reason at all why anyone rides a bike, right? Like maybe a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction. And so, you know, when I first started City Bike, we were kind of redoing all of our growth marketing and really thinking about how to get people excited about the product, become regular users, and ask a series of focus groups and quantitative surveys, others.

And really like interest in the environment was important to people, but it was like number 15, right? They’re like, it makes me feel good, right? To know that that’s an extra benefit. But the actual pain points were things like. It’s difficult for me to get there otherwise. So taking a bike saves me time.

Other modes of transportation are expensive, so it gets me there cheaper mental health, I get to be outside. Physical health, I’m moving, right? Like those kinds of [00:26:00] things that are really foundational to how someone acts. And so I’d really encourage people as they’re thinking about, if they’re thinking about a company or an idea like.

Really ground yourself in that who is the customer and what is the real problem that they have, rather than finding something fun and trying to superimpose it onto a person or a company.

Georgi: Yeah, so being open to listening and not imposing what your value system and why you’ve come to the company on your customers, because that may be sort of the larger impact that the company is focused on, but it’s not necessarily what draws in the user.

Laura: I completely agree. Yeah. And one of my biggest turnoffs as an investor is when you know a founder is talking about their customers. If they’re really dumb and they’re a big and successful company and it’s like, okay, there’s probably a reason that they’re doing that. Like why? And like maybe this whole conversation will come back to like curiosity and asking questions to your point, but love to like have that nuanced understanding of what’s really [00:27:00] happening.

Georgi: Yeah. Yeah. If you were to think about that time at Citi Bikes, what are the skills and learning that you got there that would be important for somebody? Like if they wanted to work in an environment where they’re attached to a company having a meaningful contribution, but they’re not at a stage where they can run a company or start a venture capital fund?

Like what kind of work does something like city bikes involve?

Laura: Yeah, totally. So I would say I learned a ton. You know, I had been building towards that type of role for a long time over the course of my career, both in terms of even starting my career in like product and growth marketing related stuff.

Then the strategy and financial skillset from both business school and consulting and building products. But the big risk that, you know, my boss who hired me at the time, you know, took on me was that I’d never managed a major operation before. Right? And so like there is a big physical side of what Citi Bike does and an important piece of that.

And so had that [00:28:00] belief statement with me and me and I’m so grateful for that opportunity. It was really fun. We grew city bike to be the like 20th largest transportation service in the entire United States, which is cool. So for all the naysayers who say that no one’s ever gonna ride a bike, why don’t you move to Amsterdam is something I have actually heard.

Um, it was really fun to prove out that active transportation can be a real mode shift in a real way that people get around. So learn tons of things. I think as a PL owner, you are doing marketing, you’re managing all what’s called the top line. So like revenue growth. Revenue growth includes like managing marketing sponsorships in our cases, a relationship with the city, which kind of ties into public private policy and partnerships, which is also part of the team.

Then you have kind of a very strategic part of the role and then an operational part of the role, a product and engineering side of the role. Like it kind of goes on and on, and so. The types of roles that would be available for people who might be interested in that kind of business kind of range.

Similarly, right? So [00:29:00] things like growth, marketing, really critical, really important to growing a business, really knowing what stage in a funnel to focus efforts, how to best target people, how to get them excited about the product that you’re using. For folks who are more interested in like the public-private side of the thing, side of the house, policy roles are really critical in organizations like that.

We didn’t sell the government, but we had a public-private partnership with the government, which meant that we were in constant conversation. There were like many great things that came outta that relationship, but it needed to be constantly attended to right and looked after in addition to the broader landscape that we were dealing with.

Third big area you would say like strategy, business development type roles. In most companies, there isn’t a pure play strategy role unless they’re really big. And so in most operational organizations you have someone who’s playing kind of a couple different hats, and so often that can be a business development side of the house.

And next area are like operational skill sets. So that can be people who are managing ongoing operations. So like what are the key metrics? So typically those are folks that are really data oriented, like what are the [00:30:00] key metrics We’re tracking on a daily basis, weekly basis, monthly basis to know that we’re delivering a great service at a cost that works for us.

And then there’s folks who manage the operational side of the, it’s more like the urban planning side and that there’s like a bunch of physical stuff that needs to go Yeah. Go into the world. That must must

Georgi: be quite a challenge too, is like Yeah, where the bikes actually need to be at what

Laura: time? Yeah.

Yeah. That’s called rebalancing. That includes a ton of data scientists. There’s an entire kind of product and engineering layer to the house, both software and hardware. So it’s a great example of a business where you could operate in any of those seats and really contribute meaningfully right to the outcome of Citi Bike as a company and as a product,

Georgi: and gain a lot of skills in the meantime and gain a lot of skills.

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Yeah. You have probably interviewed a lot of people, especially in these last roles for jobs. What are you seeing that helps people stand out?

Laura: Hmm. That’s a great question. I think for me, I’m [00:31:00] looking for a couple different things. One is just like problem solving and insights, right?

Like how good is someone at walking me through showing me their ability to solve a tech problem? And that can be how do they break it down? What are the pieces of work that they did related to that? How do they bring other people on board, right? Like that whole package. And I think that that ties pretty closely to.

What in consulting terms is called an ownership mindset in quotes, but I think of now probably as like agency, right? And kind of self-determination. So someone who’s able to kind of run through that process thoroughly, likes to be a leader themselves, right? And push that forward. Other critical things can be things like just communication.

So how are they describing the work, communicating what they’ve done, how it’s being done, what that looks like, and the cadence that they’re creating around that. Yeah, those are some of the big ones. And then it comes down to like a lot of hard skills, right? So outside of the personality side of it, right?

Yeah. Depending on the type of role, right? If [00:32:00] it’s a marketing role, how good is someone at breaking down a channel strategy? Knowing exactly which tools to execute, how to manage cost, right? And, and bring someone through effectively. If it’s a operational role, it’s incredibly quantitative, right? And so look to someone at creating KPIs, identifying which ones are the biggest drivers.

That those go well. ’cause then they’re taking all those numbers and then like managing people and physical operations to like make change happen. So there’s both like a.

Data scientist writes specific like tools that they’ve done. And so I, I would say like, I don’t wanna go through like every single product, but I would say like it’s a bit of that like person like core kind of personality side of the house and kind of broader skillset and then hyper-specific skillset space on the role too.

Georgi: Yeah. Can we quickly touch on business school? You made the decision to go and you shared a little bit about the program and why that was such a good fit for you, but what would you have people think about when considering getting an MBA. [00:33:00]

Laura: And I’ve taught back at Stern now the last six years too, in different classes.

Usually just like one class a semester or so. But I get this question asked a lot, ’cause business school is expensive, right? And it’s a time away from doing the next step in your career. And so for me it made a lot of sense because I wanted to do a pivot, right? And so, you know, I was going from having a growth marketing kind of product D background.

I had recognized that I felt like I was at the end of the decision making chain, and I wanted to be the front of the decision making chain. And in order to do that, I realized I needed to have much better financial and strategic skillset. And so, to me, business school would make a big pivot there. And to my transformational moment, right of like going down Maslow hierarchy of needs.

I realized that in order to work on the things I really wanted to and urban issues, that it needed to be things that had a lot more kind of hard skills, kind of industry knowledge and things like that, which is why Stern’s [00:34:00] urbanization project was such a great way to kind of experiment and prototype that interest.

So it made a lot of sense for me. I think for folks who are interested in doing that big pivot, I think it makes a lot of sense. And really encourage that as you know, a door opening in a way, and skillsets being kind of amplified very quickly in a way that can make a lot of sense. I think for folks who are really interested in what they’re doing now and wanna stay in the same industry, maybe just get a promotion in their current job, like, I would say that I don’t think that business school is necessary, right?

In a lot of ways. Like, and you’re not looking to change function, right? So I think it’s really dependent on the person, right? I, I think that this is something that I did not realize. Earlier in my career career, but I find it be like fundamentally true now, which is that anyone who gives you advice, like hopefully they caveat it by saying, this worked for me in my experience a hundred percent and here’s why.

Yes. So often I feel like people declare their own experience on high is like the best option for anyone to have taken. And I disagree with that. So I think if [00:35:00] you’re in a position where you’re happy where you’re at, you just wanna go to the next position, you’re considering business school, just ’cause your friends are going.

Don’t have to do that. Right? There are some industries where maybe there’s like a ceiling unless you do something like business school or an advanced degree, and I think you can kind of ask around, talk to people more senior to understand if that’s really the case. If this is the path you really wanna go down, then maybe it does make sense, but you know, it’s not for everyone and it doesn’t need to be for everyone.

Georgi: Yeah. I have a deep question that I am wondering if you could share, is you’ve really lived the American dream

Laura: from

Georgi: where you started being raised by your grandmother and great aunt and on the south side of Chicago looking for worms in the rain, and you’ve been able to achieve so much with your career, like financial success, impact success.

And what would you attribute that to? That you’ve taken a huge leap.

Laura: Ooh, yeah. Ooh, that’s such a great question. I don’t know. I love the question. I think for me, I’ll say, I don’t know. Um, just, [00:36:00] but if I, I were to yet, I dunno yet. If I were to pull at the threads, I would say like, I’ve always just been interested in like the.

Big idea and like embracing this bigness of life experience. Right? And so one small example, you know, I grew up with a twin brother and when we were looking at high schools, the high schools near us were like all boys, all girls. And you know, I went and shadowed him at the all boys school. Then we went to like the all girls school for like these open houses.

All boys school had like three times the number of AP classes and like labs and cool opportunities. And we went to the all girls school and we were just like, wait a second. They have a basketball team. Like I was a basketball player. That’s nice. But like, like the math classes aren’t very good. There’s like no, no prep.

Where’s the Makers

Georgi: lab?

Laura: Yeah, yeah. Kind of. Right. And so I ended up getting a scholarship. I was like, I can’t do this. It has to be fair. That like I get the same education as my brother. I think I’m just as [00:37:00] smart, and so I got a scholarship. To go to a high school downtown I think was really transformational for me in.

I did take a train, 90 minutes, door to door. But you know, I was with kids from all over the city who came from very different backgrounds than me. We joked that there was like the poor train coming from the south side of all of us, but you know, like learned from the life experiences of like other folks around me.

I aspired them to like wanna go to like a good university, right. And get a scholarship. I was like, I always like, I’m like a scholarship kid through and through. So it’s like, yeah, high school, college, business, school. I was like, I have to find a way of making this work. Like I really want to be open to that opportunity.

And so, yeah, I think that, and I felt very constrained by, you know, the context I grew up in and on the south side. Like my family lived in the same generation for neighborhood, like for generations. Yeah. So maybe I would say like, maybe getting back into curiosity is curiosity about going bigger, expanding your horizon, learning more.

Georgi: Yeah. What’s behind the curtain? Yeah, you were curious. Yeah.

Laura: Yeah. [00:38:00] It’s a great question though.

Georgi: Yeah. Maybe it points to ponder. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it’s been such a wonderful conversation and I’ve learned so much from you and feel incredibly inspired, and just thank you for taking time to be on the podcast and sharing your journey with us and how your work is worth it.

Laura: Yeah. Thanks so much, Georgi. I really appreciate the time. Yeah, thank you for such thoughtful questions and all that you’re doing to expose. You know, younger folks to these different career paths. ’cause it’s the number one thing when I look back on that. I wish that I had and I like love that you’re doing this work, so thank you.

Oh,

Georgi: that’s amazing. Yeah. Well, um, we’ll keep in touch and thank you really for sharing so much of your journey. Thanks Georgi. Let’s wrap up and focus on two important points that I wanted to place extra emphasis on. First, embracing curiosity as your career compass. Laura’s journey demonstrates how curiosity can transform your career trajectory.

She didn’t follow a straight path, but instead she pursued what she calls the forest surrounding the path, following her interest in city’s [00:39:00] sustainability and creating impact. What’s powerful about Laura’s story? Is that she shows us how taking the scenic route and embracing your natural curiosity can lead to more fulfilling opportunities than a predetermined career ladder.

Her life reminds us your starting circumstances don’t determine your destination. Your willingness to ask questions, explore new horizons and step into unfamiliar territory does. Next, I also wanna touch on the critical importance of your support system. A piece of advice Laura shared with me after our recording is the profound impact of finding a supportive partner who also has their own interests and ambitions.

She’s observed this as a make or break factor, particularly in many women’s careers needing a safety net aligned perfectly with what I discussed in my book work that’s worth it. In the chapter on connections where I introduce the concept of the safety net and the trampoline. Your safety net consists of those closest to you who provide emotional support, [00:40:00] encouragement, and a soft landing when you fall.

A supportive partner forms a crucial part of the safety net as someone you interact with daily. When your partner believes in your potential and your ambitions as much as their own, it creates the psychological safety needed to take risks and pursue challenging opportunities without fear of judgment or having to shoulder everything alone.

And that’s a wrap for today’s episode of Work That’s Worth It. Remember, every conversation we share is designed to empower you to build a career that’s truly worth your time and energy. There are future disruptors out there just like you, who would appreciate the conversations in this podcast. Please support me by spreading the word and sharing this episode with a friend or two, or visit my website.

At Georgienthoven.com. That’s spelled G-E-O-R-G-I-E-N-T-H-O-V-E-N.com. Until next time, ask yourself, what problems am I solving and are [00:41:00] they worth my valuable time? Your intentional choices today can lead to exponential impact tomorrow. Thanks for listening.