Interview by Carey-Lee Dixon

Lauren McGoodwin is the Founder and CEO of Career Contessa, which facilitates conversations about women's personal and professional lives and helps them find the path to loving their careers while living fulfilling lives. 

Lauren created the concept of Career Contessa as a creative outlet that aligned with her passion for career fulfilment. She shares how her 9-5 life inspired her business, the importance of believing in your vision, the lessons she took with her to build Career Contessa and the lessons you should take with you to create your brand.

Share with us your journey to becoming a full-time entrepreneur

I started Career Contessa (CC) while I was still working full-time as a recruiter at Hulu. My intention with CC, in the beginning, was to have a creative outlet that aligned with my passion for career fulfilment and also shared my personal experience of job-hunting.

After 1.5 years of doing both jobs, I started to think about my next career move. Whenever I think about a potential job, I compare it to CC. Ultimately, I talked to other entrepreneurs and decided to leap into entrepreneurship. So, I saved up money and started to create a business plan. Once I felt like my ducks were in a row, I gave my notice at Hulu and have been pushing forward with CC ever since.

How did your 9-5 prepare you for this new chapter in your life as an entrepreneur?

I’m lucky that my 9-5 before CC was at a startup. Hulu’s environment moved fast and was constantly in a state of “building.” That experience taught me a lot about working and running a startup. I learned about managing others in a less structured environment, setting goals, and how to build a product/program from the grown-up. I owe a lot of my experience at Hulu to my success at CC.

What would you say is the biggest risk you took to launch Career Contessa?

The biggest risk was leaving the comfort of a steady job I loved.

I was working in recruiting for a company that was a huge success. I was well-paid, loved my coworkers and work environment, and I had the resources of a big company to support whatever project I was working on. When you leave that for your own, unknown startup it’s a difficult shift. You no longer have the guarantee of a steady paycheck of the “wow” factor at working at a brand name. Of course, there are plenty of positives that come with CC that I never got a Hulu, too, so it’s always a tradeoff.

I like to say, “The grass is never greener. It’s just different grass.”

In your interview with Meg Biram, you shared some of the challenges encountered in building your business, which included growing your team.

How have obstacles and setbacks helped you to be a better entrepreneur?

Setbacks and obstacles are a natural part of entrepreneurship. If you don’t think you’ll have any, I can guarantee you’re wrong.  But what makes you a better entrepreneur is how you learn to adapt and find a solution to those setbacks.

The first time you experience a setback, you might get knocked off your course but after successfully navigating through a few tough moments you get better at not allowing anything to knock you off.

My way of working through setbacks is to  have a community of women entrepreneurs I can turn to for advice and sometimes, just to vent. I’ve found that community so valuable throughout this process.

What has joining forces with Refinery 29 for content partnership taught you about believing in your brand's vision and selling your idea to others?

It’s taught me that other people also believe in my brand’s vision! It’s given me some added confidence that the direction I’m headed, the brand I’m building, and the services we offer matter. I’m not saying you need a big name like Refinery 29 to believe in your vision, but entrepreneurship can be lonely at times, and I’d be lying if I said validation from a brand I admire didn’t help motivate me on some days.

As women, we are often hard on ourselves when we make mistakes. What is your best mistake, and what did you learn from it?

My biggest mistake was trying to sell something before I had a loyal following. When I first left Hulu, I had grand plans to develop and see online services but I didn’t really have a loyal following. After spending 6+ months developing ideas, I had to hit the breaks on all of it. Instead, I decided to just focus on one thing: amazing content. When I decided to focus on one thing it also became easier to know where I was headed and set goals.

We’ve invested more of the last 2 years at CC to creating content, growing our readership, and defining our brand’s messaging. It’s been a lot of work, but we’re really seeing the outcome of this work with our readers, increased brand awareness, and the fact that we’re often regarded as a top resource for working women.  

Who would you say had the greatest influence in helping you to create your business, especially in moments of doubt?

My fiancé is an incredible support system for me— especially in moments of doubt. He works in finance so it’s great to get his analytical thinking involved with my creativeness. It’s also nice that he brings a unique perspective to CC that allows me to think outside the box.

What is one thing every woman should take from her 9-5 that will help her in building her business?

Managing people, projects, money, deadlines, etc. is really, really hard. Learn from your managers and the managers within your company on how they successfully keep moving the team forward. Also, your network is everything so start creating strong relationships with people on your team and in other departments within your company. They will some of your greatest allies when you launch your own company.

What's one lesson you have learned from your 9-5 that you will take with you through life?