11 Nonprofit, COO
What is it Like Being a Nonprofit COO
On this episode of the Unboxing Careers Podcast, we unbox the career of a nonprofit COO with Lauren Gardner.
Guest: Lauren Gardner is the COO of the Emily K Center, based in Durham, North Carolina. Lauren began her career at the Emily K Center as an intern and moved into the role of Chief Operating Officer in 2006. She earned her B.S. from Georgetown University and her MBA from Duke University.
The Emily Krzyzewski Center implements four distinct programs designed to build on the academic, career, and leadership potential of students who are traditionally underrepresented in higher education. Collectively, our programs serve students from elementary school through college and equip them with the skills necessary to successfully complete higher education, connect to promising careers, and become agents of change within their communities.
Connect with Lauren:
Listen: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music
What We Discuss:
Introduction to the Emily K Center and the Role of a COO
Dispelling Misconceptions about Working in Nonprofits
Integrating Social Impact into Any Career
Gaining Experience and Making an Impact through Nonprofit Internships
Using Social Media to Showcase Passion for Social Impact
Key Nonprofit Career Takeaways:
The role of a COO in a nonprofit organization involves overseeing the operations, including finance, maintenance, legal, and HR.
Having both hard skills and a passion for the mission is important in the nonprofit industry.
Working in a nonprofit does not mean being broke for life; there are opportunities for competitive salaries.
It is possible to integrate social impact into any career by finding ways to contribute to nonprofits or support social causes.
Misconceptions about nonprofits include the belief that they are all small organizations and that prior nonprofit experience is necessary to work in the sector.
Full Interview:
Greg
Welcome everyone to the Unboxing Careers podcast where we shed light on what different careers are really like so you can choose a career you'll really love. Today we are unboxing the career of a COO working in the nonprofit sector.
But before we do, let’s talk briefly about unboxing thoughtful gifts. At ThoughtfulCollection.com you can shop from a wide selection of curated products you can feel good about, helping you express friendship, gratitude, and love.
The next time you need to, don't just gift. Gift thoughtfully at www.ThoughtfulCollection.com.
Greg
I'd like to welcome to show Lauren Gardner, Chief Operating Officer at the Emily K Center. Lauren, welcome to the Unboxing Careers Podcast. Thanks for being here.
Lauren Gardner
Thanks, glad to be here.
Greg
All right, let's start with this. We're talking about nonprofits, so as opposed to saying like a bank or something like that, why don't you first tell us what the Emily K Center is and does?
Lauren Gardner
Yeah, so we're a nonprofit here in Durham, North Carolina, and our mission is to help students thrive. So we work with students, many of whom will be the first in their family to go to college or to pursue post -secondary opportunities and helping them get the resources and the skills and tools and work with them and alongside them to achieve that. So we have four programs that span all the way from, we work with students as young as first grade and as old as graduating from college.
And we've got some programs that students enroll in and stay for long periods of time. And we also have a open access program that any student in Durham in high school can drop in and get advising and post -secondary opportunities. So it's a robust post -secondary access program, also held in a facility that looks a lot like a community center. And we work with a lot of other community nonprofits that also use the facility.
Greg
Very good. Pretty sweet gym there too, I've to say. I've been
Lauren Gardner
Yep, actual floor from the 2001 NCAA Final Four. So it's a special floor.
Greg
There you go. And you are the chief operating officer. You've been there for a long time. So tell us what exactly does a COO do?
What Does a Nonprofit COO Do?
Lauren Gardner
That's a great question. It depends on what day. Yeah, I think, you if you're not as familiar with kind of the nonprofit organizational structure, nonprofits are broken into really three big pieces. There's the folks that do the programs that really implement the mission. There's the folks that do development, which is the fundraising and the communications. And really anything that doesn't fall into either of those two categories falls under operations.
That can be the finance, the maintenance of the building, the liability and risk side, legal side, HR, really anything that makes the engine run behind the scenes for those other two groups to be able to do the really important work and the mission work falls under operations.
Greg
So I'm gonna guess you get some of the good stuff, you get a lot of the leftover not so good stuff that trickles down to you, right? Someone if they're borderline, they're gonna be like, Lauren will take that, right? Is that a fair assumption?
Lauren Gardner
Yes. And I think, you know, I started at the organization where it was really a few man organization and that happened a lot more in the early days. We really built up a good team and a strong organization where that happens a little less these days, but it's definitely part of the operations mindset is you have to be able to jump in and troubleshoot and deal with whatever the issue of the day is.
Greg
Very good. And you've been there for a long time. So if I'm not mistaken, based on LinkedIn, about 19 years, is that a good assumption? Okay.
Lauren Gardner
Yeah, 18 years full time and did an internship was where I really first got involved. So 19 years since that first internship.
Greg
Okay, so have you always wanted to work in a nonprofit or services type industry? Or was it something that just kind of happenstance for you? Kind of walk us through the evolution of how you got into the nonprofit world.
Lauren Gardner
Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't say that I was not sitting at 16 saying I want to be a nonprofit manager, but that kind of through line of wanting my job to be more than just a paycheck has something that has been early on. I worked one summer at a bank after my freshman year of college and decided corporate America was not for me and really wanted to be in the service.
I looked through my trajectory to get where I am today. I looked at government work, I looked at corporate work that had a social mission, and I looked at nonprofits. So, kind of within that genre of more meaning than just a paycheck, but wasn't always kind of for sure that nonprofit was the way I want to do that, but that has been how it's worked
Greg
Okay, so there wasn't something like I would look at that and go, okay, well, government, we've got little more stability in a career, you've got a pension, things like this. I, some people go the safe route, I say safe route, but some people love it. But they go that way. And then you have which we'll talk about kind of misconceptions later. But the standard kind of, I don't know, maybe it's a misconception, but the standard operating procedure of a nonprofit is, you're gonna work there, but you're gonna be poor the rest of your life, right? Working there.
Like what what you said it kind of worked out that way but there had to have been something in there that kind of drew you like leaned you that way versus the other. Is there something there you might be able to spell for the audience?
Lauren Gardner
Yeah, I would say probably there were two kind of decision point moments in my trajectory. One was so coming out of undergrad, I was an international economics major, so kind of big picture economics development of developing countries and thought I was going to go kind of that government route, international development route. And in order to try to pursue that, I did the Peace Corps for two years and that experience I was in the Eastern Caribbean, I was working with NGOs there and I got on the ground and I found out two things. One that I really enjoyed the on the ground work. and two that I didn't really, you know, economics prepared me in some ways, but I really needed to know how to like do the books or like HR or some basic real, real skills, that could be useful in that field.
So, that's really what led me grad school and pursuing an MBA to try to get some of those skills. But at that point, I was still looking at, I want to go into a big international consulting or do I want to go into kind of a small on the ground nonprofit? And some of this stuff is very well planned out and strategic and some of it happens. I did the internship and I really thought I was going to be at the center for this really awesome two year startup experience where I got.
You know, really got to get my hands dirty. And that's really what I thought I was like, I need experience. need as much, need to do as many things as possible. So let me do this and really build up my skillset. And then, you know, maybe I'll look at a bigger corporate thing. but how it worked out the organization kind of grew at the same time that I was growing. the job title didn't change, but the, the complexity and the roles and the responsibilities and the, energy and interest of it kind of grew with it.
I wouldn't have predicted that I kind of stayed that whole time, but that's really how it played out. And I think I would have been happily working at an international consulting firm too. And that could be in the future too, but just kind of how I wanted to get on the ground and get some experience fast. And that's what led me to this experience.
Greg
Very good. That wasn't a two week notice by the way, was it? That wasn't a two week notice, right? You're not jumping ship.
Lauren Gardner
What's that? No, no, no, you're good. You're good. Please do not. Nope, I am. I'm happily at center.
Greg
This is like the new baby shower. Yeah, this is the new baby shower way to quit. I love the detail. Thank you very much for that. All right. So CEO, your job responsibility now is based on the growth of the organization, much different than it was, although probably some comparable things from 15 plus years ago, but walk us through either what a typical day to day or week to week looks like for you. So really, what's the breakdown of how many meetings you're in, how much planning you're doing, how much kind of running around you're doing? But if you can give the audience a sense of that, that'd be great.
What is a typical day as a nonprofit COO like?
Lauren Gardner
Yeah. And I would say, you know, on an average week, I'd say about half of what I'm doing is very reactive and half is proactive. And it's one, one thing I like about the, the role. it's definitely, you know, half of my stuff is whatever gets brought to me that day with this isn't working. There's this, you know, new law that came out that we need to figure out how we're going to react to.
There's the new group that is dealing with this, the HVAC units down. we need a new phone system. need, you know, whatever the kind of comes to my door is about half of what I do. And then the other half is the more, you know, proactive let's look at the last couple of years, we've gone through a big revamp of our accounting procedures and policies and a lot of policy development, a lot of staff training, kind of how do you roll out those policies? How do you implement? How do you make sure everyone's on board with those? So really a split of both and kind of with that is also, I'd say pretty much a 50 -50 split of, you working by myself in an Excel spreadsheet or working on a policy writing and 50 % in meetings, checking in on people, of walk in the building, that kind of thing. So pretty good divide between those two items.
Greg
Which aspect of those two do you like better?
Lauren Gardner
great question. I mean, I definitely like that I have both in a given day. And if I start to, if I start to spend too much to one direction or the other, I don't like that. I, I, it's really a nice balance. like the, I really like a lot of the training pieces, least at this point in my career, like the, we've got a problem. We've got to think through. like actually, designing and figuring out something that would be a good solution and then having the opportunity to kind of share that and walk people through and get people up and running on it. So I think that kind of project is one of my favorite ones because it really combines both the people part and the independent work
Greg
Very good. And this is going to be a little more of a traditional job, right? So you go into an office, things like this. So I mean, you think about like the nine to five or whatever, but you also have, you know, you have students come again. So they're in school all day and then do an afterschool with you guys. So hours might be a little bit later. Talk us, walk us through the work-life balance a little bit if you can for not only your role, but just for some of the other people there as well.
What is the work-life balance when working for a nonprofit?
Lauren Gardner
Yeah. And it is, I would say the nonprofit world, it's an area, it's an industry where you have to worry about your work -life balance because less so because of organizational structures trying to make you work too much, but more so if you're in this industry, it's because you're passionate about something. I'm passionate about educational access for kids in Durham. And so if there is something that I can do to forward one of that or to help my staff being able to forward that, it's hard to shut down and say,
I'm gonna take my time. So that part is a challenge and there is real burnout in this kind of industry, but there's also a lot of personal fulfillment as well. So those kind of bounce each other out. And that is something that you need to know as you go into it. I think in some ways it's because it's a, the organization is open 8 a to 8 p and on Saturdays. That gives you in some ways a lot of flexibility and that like if I need to have an appointment or if I need to have a morning off, it's no big deal.
I just have a morning off and I work later or I've shift my schedule around and it's fine. But, you know, I also am the one that when the fire alarm goes off at 2 a and somebody's got to deal with the fire department and figure it out, like I get those calls too. So it's you know, there is that and in a lot of it also just has your like what your personality is.
Yeah, it's not a nine to five if you're in the operations side or if in your or if you're indirect like client support, usually our client support folks run into that as well. But like most things, you know, if you set appropriate boundaries and you know, it is a industry that likes to take care of their people as
Greg
Very good, and you mentioned there's chance of burnout. You get that pretty much with any job, right? If you're doing monotonous things over and over again. Any tips you might be able to share with people that have worked for you, have you figured out over time to kind of keep things fresh or to slow the burnout or to kind of push to rejuvenate you?
Lauren Gardner
Yeah, I mean, we benefit a little bit from a youth serving organization has some natural annual flows. so making sure that, you know, after the big push of May and graduation and celebrating the students, like, how do we make time as a, as a staff to come together to have a little more flexibility in those kinds of down times. And then really just figuring out how to, you know, a lot of the burnout in this industry, especially on the programmatic side you're dealing with really tough issues in most cases in nonprofits. You're dealing with families and people that are struggling.
And sometimes you're coming from a background where those may be things that mirrored your past and just finding ways to support and take care of yourself as you're supporting others is important. And it's all the same things that any other kind of mental health good advice of make sure to set time to time, make sure you have activities and hobbies and people in your life to support you in those things. But like I said, there's a lot of joy and personal fulfillment from, I don't walk out at the end of the day and think, I sold a bunch of Velveeta cheese today. I actually helped some kids today. So there is both sides of it.
Greg
So really good in every single interview I've had so far. Some these haven't published yet, but between lawyers, mental health, sports broadcasters, whatever it might be, they've all mentioned self -care for being a major component of their job. So it's good to hear you say that as well because it's one of these themes that keep coming out is take care of yourself. You need to. So I appreciate you saying that. All right, let's focus a little more on the school age folks now. Let's start with high school.
Put yourself back in high school now and anyone who's either studying because they want to go into the service, non -private world, something along that, like you said, it could be government side, but it's still some sort of service. Or maybe those who are flirting with it, thinking about it, but don't really know what they want to do. What advice might you be able to offer them for things they could be thinking or doing now while they're in high school? And that could be a skill to sharpen, maybe a class to take that kind of expands their horizon. It could really be anything.
Advice for students who want to explore the right career fit
Lauren Gardner
Yeah, I think, you know, one thing is more of a personal reflection that needs to happen in that high school and college age, which is unlike a lot of other industries, you've got to find a job role match and a mission match, and you've got to find both those things. so starting to figure out like what would actually make you want to work hard. For me, know, education is something that I've always really found interesting and really engaged with and, you know, and maybe,
I did some stuff with like environmentalism and I was like, yeah, you know, it's obviously important and I'm glad there's people that are passionate about it, but like that wasn't the niche that I wanted to be in. So finding out kind of what is your passion match and then what is your kind of hard skill match? and if you're thinking in operations, I mean, what is going to get you in the door is, you know, what hard skill can you bring to the table that are more lacking in nonprofits sometimes?
So, I mean, it's not specific classes, but any class that teaches you how to use Excel well and data management well is going to be something that nonprofits will bite at to have someone that can come in and help. If you really like kind of people stuff, you know, whether it's HR or finance, you know, find what your pieces of that are that you can really bring some hard skills to the table. And then just communication. mean, there's there, you've got to be able to read big documents, write well, speak to people in a way that they can learn. so, mean, those are skills, whether it's writing or speaking class or anything that gets those skills up versus, yeah, you can take an econ class or a finance course, but in high school, really just learn to be a good communicator and learn what you're passionate about is, I think, at that level, the most important thing.
Greg
Perfect, and let's then jump a couple years ahead. We're in college now, so most people will be studying going picking something before they go to school. doesn't mean they're sticking with it. They may change. They may pick something just to get into the school knowing they didn't transfer. But this is also the place to experiment with different things. You have elective classes and you have a lot more elective classes to choose from. You have clubs and organizations. What would you advise those college students to try dip their hands around and try to get a better feel for kind of going into the sector.
Advice for college students interested in a nonprofit career
Lauren Gardner
Yeah, I think you've got two, you've got kind of two options. you can go the specialist route and go, I want to become a great, you know, I want to become an accountant. I want to get my CPA and I want to then do that for a nonprofit or I want to really get good at facility management. And I want to do that for a nonprofit. or you can go the more generalist route, which is I want to get, know, anything in a business degree, a policy degree, any classes that again, teach you those kind of skills
how to problem solve, how to communicate information and data and how to make choices and communicate those are good. those I think would be the things. And then once you have those skills, trying to get your foot in the door with nonprofits.
This is definitely changing, but there is a large range of nonprofits out there and some are more pro -business skills, some are more...nervous about bringing in kind some of those business skills and being able to have on your resume. I worked on a project for a nonprofit. There are small nonprofits that would love to have college students even serve as, you even on their board or on a committee or really get involved in those levels. So anything you can do to kind of build up that experience with Project BASE, because you will likely get a lot more experience volunteering at a nonprofit or interning at a nonprofit than you would in a corporate thing because they're going to want to throw things at you. So even people that want to go into the corporate world, finding internships and nonprofits, I think is a great way to be, you may get thrown here, come up with this entire plan for our organization. If you start finding like some of these smaller medium sized nonprofits.
Greg
So you mentioned that some nonprofits don't like the, I forget what you said, it the hard skill type stuff or like the specialties?
Lauren Gardner
I would say, and this definitely has changed over my career, but nonprofits traditionally have tight budgets and funders want to pay for direct service. So they have traditionally been underfunded in areas like HR, finance, facilities, things like that tend to be areas where they have not had the opportunity necessarily, smaller nonprofits to have that expertise. So they both value it, but maybe it don't have, you're not gonna have 20 job descriptions sitting out there saying we're looking to hire five operations manager specialists.
But if you say, come to a nonprofit with, have these skills. mean, I know many people that get hired under these. interesting job, you special projects title, or, you know, they do a volunteer project or they do a consulting project and they make their value known and then are able to build those into other opportunities from
Greg
Excellent. Thanks for the clarification. So I was wondering if it was gonna be a red flag or something, but makes total sense. Yep. Okay, so you answered some of this already. I'm gonna ask the question anyways, because there might be something you can elaborate on here, but you already answered some of this with your previous answer, people coming out of college, right? You've got one person to hire, you have 10 resumes in front of you. How are you choosing the ones to interview from that point? Is there something that you look for specifically?
Tips when interviewing for a nonprofit
Lauren Gardner
Yeah, I think, and again, it depends a little bit on operations titles can mean all like the job description under an operation title can look very different. Generally speaking, I would look for someone that had a skill that at least one of the skill sets that stood out that they could walk in the door and do. So this person's done a lot of data management and I know they could walk in and I could hand them Excel or this person has done some basic bookkeeping and I know they could walk in the door and I could hand them a QuickBooks file and they'd figure it out.
Or this person has done, know, knows facilities and knows how HVAC systems work and knows how to do event planning or, you know, there's different kinds of things. So not being an expert in all of it, but someone that has a demonstrated, they've have a focused area that they have built some expertise or some experience in. And then really, you know, understanding the kind of nonprofit culture. someone that has
The culture match is just so important and that wouldn't necessarily show up in the, maybe in the cover letter a little bit, but really in the interview. It's pretty quick to see, you know, where there's a passion match and where there's a real culture match for that. that comes across more in interviews, I think, than that, making that come across that, know, nonprofits are really where you want to build and where you want to have a career
Greg
Is there anything specific in the interviews that you look for? it personalities or something the candidate does that is extra appealing to you?
Lauren Gardner
Yeah, I mean, I think really, if you are going to be in operations at a nonprofit, you have to have a certain level of humility about the work. you have to know that, the important work of the nonprofit isn't our accounting software, but you have to have the accounting software for the other stuff to work well. And so someone that really sees themselves as a problem solver and someone that's going to make the work of the mission smoother.
You know, I like when I hear people say, you know, even if they've been in the industry for 20 or 30 years, they're like, yeah, when there's a big event, I'm the one that's picking up chairs or when there's, you know, when there's something going on, I don't mind rolling up my sleeves and jumping in or, know, if, I am working on some, a project and someone comes in with a problem, yeah, I'm going to prioritize that. I mean, that's really the, the mindset I think to be a operations person in a nonprofit is you're there to be in a supportive role. And if you have any ego about it, it's, it's not going to work well.
Greg
I've got to imagine HVAC experience is super appealing for you. I just kind of have to imagine
Lauren Gardner
Currently, yes, in a building that is 18 years old, if you do the math, it is very appealing.
Greg
In the middle of summer as well. Yes down here Very good. How about personality traits? So people can have different personalities multiple personalities can be successful at a job Are there any particular personalities or traits that you think someone working in a service industry? Needs to have to find happiness in long -term career success
Lauren Gardner
Yeah, I mean, I think kind of as I spoke to how the job really is a balance, can't have, if you're too far on the introversion or extroversion extreme, you probably won't enjoy it because you're gonna have to be quickly put in positions where you have to be extroverted and where you have to be introverted. And I'm introverted, but I can put myself in positions where I am comfortable being extroverted. And so I can walk that balance. But if that's something where being able to switch back and forth quickly,
And to be able to multitask. Like if you're someone that needs to be able to focus on a project through completion and not have interruptions, operations is not the world for you to join. But I mean, other than that, I've had, you know, folks in operations that are very outgoing and they're very shy. Some of them are very customer service focused. Some of are more cerebral. I think you really can find your own style within it. I think it's a broad enough industry that there's one type that would only work for this.
Greg
Very good. And this is completely a subjective question, but it's one I started asking now. So giving advice on social profiles. So we're talking to people who are growing up in a social environment. It's just part of their life. Right? So I've got to imagine for a nonprofit or a service industry that people are going to look.
They're going to figure it out. How would you advise younger people to kind of treat their social profiles knowing that someone might be looking at them?
Lauren Gardner
Yeah, I mean, there's kind of the, you know, the one extreme of don't put something out there that you don't want your future employer to see because it does not go away. But I think especially in the nonprofit industry, there are plenty of ways to signal really positively in your social. I mean, if you are involved in, you know, if you care about the environment passionately and your social shows.
yeah, for the last five years, all through high school, this student was posting about issues and was engaging in conversations and things like that. mean, that is a positive. So mean, you can use it as a tool to show those passions and that you're exploring those passions. And I also think it is a, there tends to be a familial culture in many nonprofits
So not, you I wouldn't say that you should have a completely, you know, buttoned up professional, you know, social media presence. You know, your personality can come out. You know, I enjoy working with people that have all sorts of different interests and hobbies. And that I think is all, you know, respected within the industry. But yeah, I mean, I think really specifically in the nonprofit, you can show the sincerity of your passion for the work and your interest in service.
in social media in a way that maybe it's hard to have like some other industries, it would be harder to show that necessarily.
Greg
Yep. That's great advice. Normally people are like, yeah, just button it up, shut it down, right? Hide it, do something with it. And then like there's always areas there. I love it. Love it. All right. So Lauren, how about some misconceptions about your job? I mentioned one earlier, right? It's you're to be broke the rest of your life. You can correct me if I'm wrong on that or whatever, but how about some misconceptions about your job or industry?
Misconceptions about working in the nonprofit industry
Lauren Gardner
Yeah, you don't have to be broke your whole life. There are plenty of nonprofits and service oriented organizations that pay competitively. Now, do I make the same that my fellow MBAs have? No, but am I able to comfortably make a good living? Can you find industry where you can make a comfortable good living? Yes, definitely.
It can be your profession for life. I think another misconception that sometimes and is changing a little bit is that you have to have some kind of non -nonprofit experience before you can be in nonprofit kind of operations or things like that. know, historically, a lot of folks would early retire into their nonprofit career versus start into the nonprofit career.
That's still a great way to do it. And I encourage some people it does, it is a great match to go work in the corporate sector and come over, but it's not a requirement anymore. I think you really can develop in the field. So I think those are probably two misconceptions that jump out. And then just the misconception that, know, when someone thinks nonprofit, they think often, you know, the five person organization, the 10 person organization.
you know, our universities are the biggest, the private universities here in town are the biggest nonprofits, the hospitals are nonprofits. There are nationwide nonprofits that are more complicated than any corporate structure. So I always say nonprofit work is, can be like a business with all these sometimes fun, sometimes stressful additions that make them more complicated and interesting. it really, you know,
Don't be kind of taken by the stereotype of, a nonprofit means that five person organization or volunteer run organization. You can have a nonprofit career where you're at a company that's one of the biggest, you know, biggest in the world, you know.
Greg
Yeah, that's great. Final question about, what do you wish you knew sooner about your industry?
Lauren Gardner
Hmm, wow, that's a tough one. What do I know I wish I knew sooner? I guess I kind of wish I had figured out a little earlier how important some of those hard skills are. I loved my economics degree for how it taught me how to think, but I would have loved at 22 to have Excel skills and accounting skills and a lot of other kind of really hard skills ready to go. And I think that I've learned by doing over the last 18 years a lot of those skills that I wish I'd kind of committed to a little bit earlier on. But that's again, just my path. don't think there's a wrong way to do that.
Greg
Are you a pivot table master now?
Lauren Gardner
I should be, I've done, I in theory can. I am more of a make Excel work, know, keep it simple at the simplest level that it can work effectively. And I find that often that's even more simple than a pivot table.
Greg
Very good. I used to hate pivot tables and then I started loving them. I'm like, these things are the best. What can I do with this? And I haven't used them in years and I do miss them every now and like, I used to do these things with them. So fun. So Lauren, what did I neglect to ask you today? Because I know I forgot something here, but what do you think? Is there anything on top of your mind that maybe I neglected to ask you that you feel would be important for the audience to know.
Lauren Gardner
Yeah, I mean, think the only thing I'd say is, you know, I know this podcast is very focused on careers and that's kind of most people would think, hey, that's my primary career trajectory. But I've always encouraged folks to think about social entrepreneurship, social mission as being a part of whatever career you pursue. So that can mean I work at IBM, but I serve on a board and that's one of my commitments. It can mean that I work in a corporate sector,
And then later in life, I pursue that as a second career. It means I can be a donor and a supporter of nonprofits. I think there are ways that you can integrate social impact into any company you're at, any career you pursue. And you may decide to kind of go the, am a nonprofit professional route, but I just encourage everyone to find that social impact niche in whatever career you end up actually landing in.
Greg
It's actually that's so that's phenomenal advice because you I'm sure there's people out there that Choose going into the field because they want to do something and they wind up hitting the field But they're in it, right? So they just kind of plug through and plow and I think that's a great way to look at it too is if you're not finding your passion You're not finding your interest there, but you want to do it It's a good recommendation for how to stay in it without being totally invested in it Thank you for that.
Lauren Gardner
Yeah, no problem.
Greg
You're out of the service industry whatsoever. Have to choose a different career. What do you choose and why?
Lauren Gardner
I think strangely one of the areas that I would have really enjoyed would be actually to go to IT and some kind of on the hardware side. I think it has a similar balance of problem solving and communicating to people and kind of training up as you go. So the little exposure that I've had when I've had to kind of deal with IT stuff, I've kind of been like, I think I could
I could have trained up in this. think I could have done this. If I went a totally different direction, I think that's strangely the direction I would have gone.
Greg
I'm not sure anyone will answer that question the same way you just did. So you might get a prize one these days. We've got some gardeners, we've got another fields. No one's gone to IT though. So that's awesome. Hey, maybe so yeah. Well, see everyone's out of their field now. They're gonna need an IT person to start doing stuff for them. So that's awesome.
Lauren Gardner
Fair enough. Maybe I should listen to the IT podcast and then answer that question.
Yes.
Greg
All right, Lauren, thank you very much for time today. It was a pleasure having you. If someone wants to reach out, ask you questions, find out more about the MLK Center. Is there good way to get a hold of you?
Lauren Gardner
Yeah. Yeah. Feel free to, EmilyK.org is our organizational website and my email's right there on it. I'm happy to speak to folks and learn about kind of wherever you are in your career trajectory. So feel free to reach
Greg
Very good and we'll link that stuff in the show description as well. Lauren Gardner everyone CEO at the Emily K Center. Hope you enjoyed today's episode. I hope everyone enjoyed today's episode If you'd like to unbox your career with us, we'd love to have you Please visit the website to find out more, and until next time, be kind of one.
(Interview transcription provided by Riverside.fm. May not be 100% accurate.)
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