Citizen, Solider & the Courage to Reinvent with Laura Lakin

Arianna Huffington once said, "Fearlessness is the mother of reinvention." Well, she might have been talking about Laura Lakin’s life and career. Laura stands as a model of how reinvention can be embraced and celebrated. This episode features a person who equally embodies bravery in her civilian life and her service as a citizen-soldier. Laura Lakin has served in the Massachusetts Army National Guard for 15 years, and is currently a Captain. Laura has been a Guardsman for most of these years, which means she has also worked a civilian job while upholding her military responsibilities.

Laura has worked for Massachusetts Army National Guard, helping run the state's Resilience Risk Reduction & Suicide Prevention program. She served as commander to the signal company, worked as a veteran's Outreach Coordinator for the Home Base organization out of Boston and shifted into clinical administration over the years, ultimately becoming the Director of Business Administration, and business analytics for the organization. Laura oversaw two significant projects during her time at Home Base, and we're going to talk about those in a little bit. Eight months ago, Laura left Home Base and began her work as a project manager managing at Suffolk Construction. Laura Lakin is a shining example of service, co-leading her veterans group at Suffolk as a member of the First Corps of Cadets Association in Boston, serving on the Red, White and Blue Alliance board for Home Base not to mention a deployment to Afghanistan. Laura holds her Bachelor's in political science and a master's degree in social work. If you are looking for a reinvention and invention and invention story, this is the episode you have been waiting for.

Highlights:
If you are considering changing your career, changing your hobbies, changing where you live, whatever it may be, even if you don't think that everything is perfectly lined up, that you're not perfectly qualified - it's never too late to make that change. It's never too early to make that change. You know, there's never going to be “the” perfect time. So if you find yourself revisiting something over and over again, it's probably a sign that you should make that jump and take that risk. And if you're willing to be open to asking questions, being humble about what you know, and what you don't know, then you'll be successful in whatever you do.

On women in leadership in the military and in business: There's all kinds of gender, you know, stereotypes, and we all know all about them. But for me, some of those are true, I can be a little bit more, wear my heart on my sleeve  - a little bit more emotional. When I was leading soldiers in the signal company, I would sometimes be close to tears talking to them, if I was addressing them at the end of the day, or at the end of the drill weekend, because I felt so passionately about them. And I wanted them to see - that to not being afraid to be who you are, whatever that may look like if it's stereotypical or not. And just having a little confidence that, yeah, you might be the only woman at that table. And people will say that you might have only gotten there because you're a woman and you're filling a quota or something. But regardless of what anyone says or thinks, you deserve to be there, and more women deserve to be there. And if that's a role that you want to play, you know, just be yourself and bring confidence every time.

For more information about our guest:
Suffolk: Our veterans, our family: Meet Laura Lakin
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