Pivots, Transformation & Adversity: The Evolution of Lauren Cunningham and the 'So Can I' Revolution

Embark on a profound journey with Lauren Cunningham, a fearless soul who took the leap from the structured world of accounting into the healing embrace of health and wellness. Her story isn't just about change; it's about transformation through adversity, fueled by the challenges of Crohn's disease and a steadfast commitment to holistic self-care. Lauren's voice weaves a narrative that exemplifies the courage required to pursue what makes us truly thrive, even when it means abandoning the safety of the familiar.

As we chart Lauren's course from self-healing to her innovative contributions to a fitness app, and now as a marketing maestro, the episode serves as a beacon for anyone contemplating a career pivot. It’s not merely about changing lanes; it's about finding the intersection where passion and talent collide. Lauren's candid recount of embracing her multifaceted expertise reminds us that the path to fulfillment is often paved with the stones of our diverse abilities, and success is far from a monolithic concept.

In the latter part of our discussion, we lift the curtain on the "So Can I" podcast's genesis, celebrating the unique trails blazed by female founders who dared to dream big. The episode culminates with an invigorating exploration of personal growth, the richness of mentorship, and the undying quest for joy in both our professional and personal lives. Whether you're seeking a nudge to pivot or simply a dash of inspiration, Lauren's tale is a heartening reminder that life's truest achievements are often discovered along the most scenic routes.

https://laurencunningham.co/so-can-i-podcast

Go check out all of our episodes on our website: https://womeninthearena.net/


If you are ready to tell your story or want to refer someone, please email me at audra@womeninthearena.net

***Last thing- I'd love to interview the following women:

• Joan Jett
• Dolly Parton
• Viola Davis
• Ina Garten

Maybe you can help me get there****


Thank you all for supporting this show and all of the Women in the Arena!!

Transcript

Audra: 0:34

Welcome in everyone and thank you so much for joining me again this week. This week, I have quite the young woman with me this week. She is brave, she is strong and she loves to push the boundaries. My guest this week is Lauren Cunningham. She is an amazing testament to having the ability to stretch herself and grow and discover what else you can do. She is a native of Tennessee, she lives on a lovely farm with her family and she has a degree in accounting, but all of those things are the least interesting things about her. She is an entrepreneur. She's also a fellow podcaster, which I am so excited to talk to her about, and she is an explorer. She is an explorer of what she can do and also helping other women to discover what else they can do as well. It is my pleasure and my honor to introduce to you Lauren. Lauren, thank you so much for being here and welcome to the show.

Lauren: 1:36

Wow, thank you. That was such a great intro. I'm so happy to be here.

Audra: 1:40

I am really excited for you to be here. I have said many, many times that I am such an admirer of young women millennials, Gen Zs because you have this ability to be fearless without questioning yourselves and without being burdened with gosh. I should do this because I think I'm supposed to, and you just go for it. And you're a great example of that, because you studied something that people would think, oh, this was such a smart move. That was so smart because who's not going to need that? So you have a degree in accounting and that is really where your journey started, with this accounting degree, doing what you thought you had to do.

Lauren: 2:33

Yeah, definitely. I mean, I for sure thought that I should do accounting because there was always going to be a job out there for me. You know, that's what I was told and it's true, and there's not at all knocking accounting. I have a lot of my friends are still working in accounting and they're having thriving careers and they love it, so it's not a bad career. It also taught me a lot because I know a lot more about business than the average person just because I'm an accounting major and I worked in accounting for a little bit.

Lauren: 2:58

But yeah, I think my story kind of starts a little bit before that because in college I was plagued with a lot of health problems and so I actually had to drop out one semester. And I think that was when I was like I just need to hurry up and pick a major, because I had already missed a semester and I didn't want to be even further behind and so which is such a silly mindset Like it doesn't matter if you graduate in four years, but it did at the time to me, and so I, you know, just hurried up and picked a major and just went with it and I enjoyed it. I liked it during school. But yeah, that is definitely not what I'm doing now.

Audra: 3:31

You were brave enough to go and discover other things that you might be good at, and it was because of your struggles with your health that encouraged you to step out of what the mindset of this is what I think I'm supposed to do to what else can I do? What do I want to do? So how did you start that next step? I mean, you graduated. You're like I have this shiny new degree, I'm an accountant Yay, and you go out and you start with accounting and you go. This may not be for me.

Lauren: 4:06

Well, I think again, it kind of starts a little bit before that because I had always been interested in health and wellness, because I have Crohn's disease, and so I was diagnosed my senior year, right before I graduated high school, with Crohn's disease and I had been having stomach problems before that. I would just have weird stomach aches and nobody really knew what the map what was wrong, and so finally was diagnosed after probably about two years of being undiagnosed and just not knowing what was wrong. And then college started. I was in the hospital, kind of in and out of the hospital that first semester, and then ended up dropping out that second semester to have two surgeries and I was on IV nutrition at my house and I was, I think I was in the hospital for like two months.

Lauren: 4:47

At one point I had a secondary situation pop up. It was not good, and so I went back to school and, like I said earlier, just kind of wanted to be normal and just pick a major and just do college and everything to be back to normal. And so then when I graduated my health wasn't great but it wasn't as bad as it was, but I was having some flare ups and I just always been interested in health and wellness and I remember like on my lunch break when I was working in accounting, I would just search, like certifications that I could get. You know, or what can I do with? You know, I don't want to go back to college, but I would if I had to and so like, what can I do? Now I have an accounting degree, what is the next step? And so I would just constantly search, you know, different things that I could do, different avenues that I could take with health, and finally I landed on the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and it was honestly the perfect timing.

Lauren: 5:36

I felt like people don't usually say that COVID was perfect timing, but it was for me, because my immune system is suppressed and when COVID hit, my doctor was like you need to stay home and the accounting firm I worked for couldn't really let me work from home, and so I ended up just quitting because I was getting my MBA and I had just started my health coaching school, literally the day that the country had shut down. So it all happened all at once and I was like I'll just be a student again for a little while while the world works itself out. With COVID, that's kind of when my interest in health really peaked, because I mean, I had always been interested in it. I'd always done like essential oils and some holistic things but the Institute for Integrative Nutrition was such a great place for me to just explore and experiment with different health techniques and learn more than I had ever learned before about health.

Audra: 6:27

So I have actually also said that COVID was a gift. It didn't look like it at the time, but there's definitely some silver lining there, and it gave you an opportunity to rest. Number one it gave you an opportunity to come home and isolate yourself, since you were immunosuppressed. But two also go and explore some things that you may not have done had you had to go to work every day. But from being in that Institute, what did that lead you to next? I mean, you have a fascinating journey of going from a road that is well traveled to this adventure that is most definitely off the beaten path but most assuredly more fulfilling than anything that you had experienced before.

Lauren: 7:15

So the program was one year long, so I knew I had a year to kind of figure out what I wanted to do with it and, to be quite honest, I really just started there to see if I could heal myself. I was able to do a lot of healing. I ended up going into remission, which was the first time I had gone into remission non-surgically, and so I was like I feel like I'm on to something, like I have to share this with people. And so about six months into the program I think they tell you, create a website, start seeing if you want to take on clients. And so I did that. I kind of followed their instructions on that and I had a website and I started posting recipes and I started creating recipe eBooks and it was very fun.

Lauren: 7:55

But I could never really figure out. And obviously, looking back, it's so much clearer now that I just really didn't want to do it. But I could never figure out how to take on one-on-one clients. And I think it was just because I truly didn't want to do that and that model just didn't work for me. And it's funny because I just interviewed a holistic. She actually went to the same school I did. She's a holistic health coach and she does take on one-on-one clients and it's so cool how you can do such different things and still have gone to the same school and have the same certification, and so it does work for some people, but for me, I just didn't love that model and, being in East Tennessee, it's not the most health conscious. It's not like we're in LA, you know, like. We're still in a very rural area. You're just limited with local patients that you could take on or local clients, and so I ended up deciding that I was just going to try the recipe development thing for a little bit.

Lauren: 8:45

I was creating eBooks and I ended up sending out an eBook that I created. It was like a spring meal plan and I think it had like 45 recipes in it and I sent it out to like probably 50 different influencers like, hoping that one of them would just share it or talk about it or use it or enjoy it, you know, and obviously got a lot of no replies. And I got some replies saying thank you so much, you know like, but no one shared it, except one girl did email me back and say, hey, thanks for sending this. Would you want to develop recipes for my fitness app and I was like, well, okay, I guess this seems kind of in line with what I'm doing, and so that was kind of the start of that part of my life.

Lauren: 9:29

I ended up developing recipes for about a year and a half and that was like all I did, and so I got to just be in the kitchen all day. It was a lot of fun, and then obviously I'm not doing that anymore. I got a little bit bored. I tend to get a little bit bored sometimes with things. I don't stay in the same place for too long. But yeah, so that was kind of what I did with that health coaching certification. And it's funny because, like I said, you can have the same certification as someone and do totally different things, and that is something they preached with. That certification was like you can do anything with this. You know some people are going to go on and not use this as a career and they're just going to use it in their families, you know, and in their homes, and so that's kind of why I chose that program to begin with. But yeah, I developed recipes for a while.

Audra: 10:11

First of all, that's mind blowing because it's completely the opposite side of the brain. You go from something that's extremely structured, very linear, to something that is totally creative. You're creating it out of a space of all possibilities and you made it something that was marketable. Somebody wanted it. But what I also think is interesting is that you had this creative journey, had a lot of fun with it, and then you knew when it was done. And then you knew that you're like okay, this was fun, but what else can I do? And then you took a step that many would be like how in the world did those two correlate? But you did. You took a step towards wellness, but in a completely different capacity.

Lauren: 11:04

Well, it's funny you mentioned that like doing something completely opposite, and I think often times we have a tendency to almost over correct, and so I think that's what I was doing with. This was like Okay, I'm in a career that's very analytical and I didn't love it and I really wanted somewhere to channel my creativity, and so then I just went the Totally separate, you know, direction and then I realized that while I do enjoy creative work, also enjoy strategy and that analytical I mean I didn't major, I wasn't miserable while I was majoring in accounting like I liked it, you know. So I like the number side of things. And so I got the opportunity last year To be a social media director for a medical aesthetics company in Knoxville, which is where I'm from, and I thought, you know, this could be really good. I can do it Sort of part time. And I was still developing recipes and I was like I think I can, maybe this could progress into something more, maybe I'll take on other clients, maybe I'll get promoted in the company, who knows?

Lauren: 12:04

So I just took the job because I was looking to get out of recipe development. I didn't have anything else lined up. It seemed like a great opportunity. The people were awesome to work for and I was like I think I can do this, like I have experience creating real. I have experience on social media, so why not try this and just see if I like it? And now I've been there a year and I absolutely love it and I've been promoted to director of marketing and so now it's more of a full time thing, which is so fun and I really love it and I love what I do and I love that I get to use the Sort of more analytical side with the strategy and all of that stuff that I learned like in my when I got my MBA. Then I'm also getting to use the creative side of my brain when I create social media stuff and graphics and come up with ideas for social media. So it's been a really fun transition.

Audra: 12:55

I think it's amazing transition and it was a strange way for you to get there at this long road of discovery, but you found a way to marry both your analytical side with your creative side and, as I said in the beginning, you were brave enough to lean into it because you could have just stayed in your lane, but you were brave enough to lean into. Well, what else can I try, what else can I do? And then you, you actually stepped out one more time out of your comfort zone and started a podcast, which I can attest is not an easy feat. When I started my podcast, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't even know how to put together a podcast. I had to ask my son how to do it, who is the same age as you.

Audra: 13:44

How do you put away, put together this podcast? But you took your creativity one more time and said I want to talk to other women, which you know is is near and dear to my heart. And you started a podcast called so can I. So what? First of all, what is so can I? And, second of all, what was the motivation to start this platform?

Lauren: 14:08

So so can I. Just a place where I interview female founders. Hopefully, my goal is that all of my guests listen to the episode, and when they finish listening they're like, oh my gosh, if she can do that, then so can I. And so that's kind of where the little tagline comes from. But as far as starting the podcast, you know, I think we said recipe development was the opposite of accounting. I think podcasting is actually the opposite of, because I had no idea what I was doing. I was, I mean, I didn't even know, I didn't knew nothing truly like no audio. I had no idea.

Lauren: 14:38

But what's funny is about, for I guess three or four years before that three years I guess when I was still in college I had told my friend I was like I think we should start a podcast, and she was like what? Like what in the world would we talk about? And I was like I don't know. I just I love podcast, I love listening to them. It's just a really cool Medium to communicate with people and I think we should start one. And obviously we did not start one, and I'm glad we didn't, because I'm sure it would have been awful, but I'm glad that I kind of waited and marinated on that idea for a couple more years, and even you know so I started it in June of 2022, so just last June. But even before that, in like the fall of 2021, I was thinking about starting one, and it was going to be more health focused, and While I was excited about the idea of having a podcast, I was not really lit up about the topic and I was just like I don't know, like I'm just not sure what I should talk about.

Lauren: 15:31

I don't. I definitely wanted it to be interview style, because I didn't want it to just be me blabbing and that's like my worst nightmare. So I was like I don't want to just be the one talking. So I'm like, well, I guess I could interview health professionals, people that I've met through the school that I attended, but I'm glad I kind of waited on that and just kind of thought what, what, who do I want to interview?

Lauren: 15:52

And so I ended up making a list and this was before, so can I was even the title. So I ended up making a list of women that I'd hope to interview and I'm like what do they all have in common? And for the most part, they were all founders either of blogs or businesses or whatever it was. And so I was like, wow, I think I want to do one that's more business focused but more and like a female aspect. And so I again sat on the idea probably for longer than I should have, and I read a quote and it was like, if she can do it, so can I. And I was like that's what I'll call it, and you know, I wanted it to be something that was a little bit catchy, but not too cheesy, and so I finally came up with the title and Waited again about four months because I was nervous, but then finally launched it in June of twenty twenty two, and it's been so much fun.

Audra: 16:37

Well, here's a here's a little hint into podcasting. Even though I've been able to do this now for three years, I actually waited six months before I launched it because I was nervous, because I was freaking out, thinking who's going to listen to me? Why would they listen to me? What do I have? What do I have to say? What if nobody wants to come on the show? All of this stuff just sort of Sat in me and percolated in me and then I thought, well, why not? I'll give it a shot, what's the worst that could happen? And the worst never happened.

Audra: 17:13

All of that was all in my head, but I love that you named it. So can I? Because you are? You're your first test case. You are absolutely your first test case because you went and tried all these things. You were brave enough to try the next thing and the next thing, and the next thing and that is that was what impressed me the most when I first met you is that you were so fearless and thinking, well, why not? Why not give it a shot? What's the worst that could happen? I find out that I don't like it. I find out and it doesn't work. I don't believe in failure, by the way. I only believe in learning opportunities. The only true failure is not trying. That's the only truth. That's the only way you can absolutely fail. Everything else is just learning all the ways not to do it Really. So I I will. Like I said, I love the name, so can I? I'm curious Are there any famous people on your list that you want to interview, because I have a couple on mine.

Lauren: 18:20

I mean gosh off the top of my head. So I'm a huge housewives fan. Love Bethany Frankel she's probably at the top of my list. I don't know why, but Jenna Bush Hager just came to mind. Don't know why, but that may be her gosh. Reese Witherspoon, I don't know.

Audra: 18:33

Yeah, just throwing it out there, these are amazing female founders that have stepped out of comfort zones and had most definitely stepped out of pathways that they could have seen, but they didn't. And one of the things that that Lauren and I want to impress upon everybody is that just because you think it's not what you're supposed to do, or not what you studied, or not even what is in your job title, doesn't necessarily mean that it's not for you. And the other thing is that just because it already exists out in the world, it doesn't mean that you don't also have space to do it. Before Lauren and I came on the air, we discussed that we are both podcasters, both female podcasters, and we interview other females and the whole point behind it is to learn and empower and demonstrate that we're way more similar than we are different. We just do it in slightly different ways, but there's room for both of us, because there's only one, lauren Cunningham, and there's only one, audra Egan, and we do it in really different ways and we embrace each other.

Audra: 19:53

I love what Lauren is doing because it's such an amazing, beautiful journey that is so encouraging to me and I find it so fascinating and I want to be brave like Lauren. I want to be brave like her all the time, because I have a tendency to get in my head, and maybe Lauren wants to be more like me, where I am a little bit more regimented and linear, who knows? But we're both here to encourage each other. But we're also here to encourage you. That's the point of our interview today, and I had asked you who the famous people were on your list, because I want to share with you the famous people that are on my list. Maybe we can get them together, because you never know who's listening. So I'm going to share with you the ones that are on my list. The woman that's on the top of my list, the woman that I've been wanting to interview before I even thought of a podcast, was Viola Davis. What do you think of Viola?

Lauren: 20:58

Yeah, no, that would be awesome. I love her.

Audra: 21:01

And I have another one. She is from your home state, can you?

Lauren: 21:06

guess I'm going to go with Dolly Parton, dolly.

Audra: 21:10

Parton, because she's an amazing founder. She has created so many things. She's also created jobs. She's created charities, she's given away one million books around the world to kids that couldn't otherwise afford books. So she's on the top of my list as well. And then I have a couple others which are absolutely completely selfish on my part. One is Aina Garden, and I know you know who Aina Garden is because, I mean, it's Queen Aina. Yeah, absolutely.

Audra: 21:46

You were a recipe developer, you absolutely know who Aina Garden is and probably love her as much as I do. And the last one is Joan Jett, because she's as a teenager. She was one of the only female rock stars that I was able to see, because there weren't very many female rock stars in the early 80s. There just wasn't. There was just a handful of them, and she was fearless. She was absolutely fearless. At least she appeared to be fearless and was running her own race. So these are the four, because they all are doing the same thing. They're all running their own race. So if you had a chance to talk to any of the women that are on your list, what would you say to them? Let's take Reese Witherspoon, because I also adore her, because she's a wonderful founder, because she took a left turn. She's like acting's great. Why did? I created my own stuff, so let's start with her. What would you ask?

Lauren: 22:52

her. Oh my gosh. Well, you honestly probably touched on it a little bit because I love my podcast is all about, and it didn't mean to be this way in the beginning, but, taking that turn, most of my guests did not start out as the owners of a shoe company. They didn't start out that way, and so I think I just always love and I'm very fascinated with that. Just like, why did you do this? Why shoes, for instance, or why whatever? Why would you choose to do that? Even with Reese, I love her book club. I think that I'm fascinated by that and I know you and I share a love of books, so maybe something about her book club. I feel like that's such a cool thing. I think I would ask her how did you build that? Where did that idea come from? I'm just fascinated by people who do things outside of the box and do things differently and definitely take that step where you're like whoa. I didn't expect that from her, but I'm happy that she did it.

Audra: 23:49

And the way she did it was so brilliant because I've read an article about her that she's a book lover just like you and me, and she went out and she specifically looked for books that were written by women, and then the ones that she liked she optioned for movies or TV shows or whatnot, which was also brilliant because there weren't very many people that were out there specifically looking for female authors, that stories that you could tell somewhere on screen, whether it be the big screen or the small screen. And she was really smart and went and did that and now she is a billionaire up there with Oprah. She may not be making Oprah money yet, but she will. But you're right, she did it by stepping outside of the box and being a little fearless, because how many times do you think she was?

Lauren: 24:43

told no. I know I have a fascination with people that just do it their way and not in like a, you know, people who still stay humble and so not in like an egotistical thing, like oh, I'm just going to do it my way, but like people who don't really take no for an answer and think, well, I love this and I love what I'm doing and I want to do it this way, so I'm going to. And so I think she's definitely one of those people.

Audra: 25:05

How many times have you been told no, or that this is nuts, or what are you thinking? How many times does that happen?

Lauren: 25:12

Oh, a lot I actually have, and I hate that I just started this, but earlier this year I have a folder on my email and it's just called no and I just archive all of the responses that I get that are like no's or not right now's, and so I wish that I'd done that with recipe development, because I got so many no's with that. But it really doesn't matter if you get the few yeses. I mean, like when you're starting a career, you don't need a hundred yeses, you just, I mean you really just need one. But you know, two or three are good too, but you really just need that one yes.

Lauren: 25:43

And I think that that's a little bit of what sets me apart and I don't know why I'm like this, but I really don't care to hear the word no, like I'm just like it doesn't bother me, and so I don't mind when people say, ah, you're not a good fit for this, or maybe later or not right now, or I'm not interested. And you know you, I get it a lot with my podcast, because I do reach out to people who probably would never come on my podcast, but it's like I don't care. If they're going to say no, that's fine, some of them have said yes, and so that you know that's kind of what makes it worth it.

Audra: 26:14

Yeah, the power of yes is is amazing and I think that, yeah, I think secretly, some people don't ask because they're afraid of being told yes. I don't think anybody's afraid of being told no because they kind of expect it. But then there's people that say yes and you're like, okay, no, no wait, what do I do? What they say yes, what do I know? I know I have got to show up and put my money where my mouth is. I think my personal opinion is I think more people are afraid of that.

Lauren: 26:44

I actually interviewed a confidence coach one time and she said that more people are afraid of success than of failure, and I totally see how that can be true. I mean it can be. You know, when I started the podcast, I know you had said you struggled with like, well, what if nobody listens? And it's like, well, yeah, that's what you struggle with. But then when you start it you're like, oh my gosh, what if people listen to this? And so it kind of flip flops and you're afraid almost of it being something. And so I think that's, you know, something that even to this day that I struggle with. I don't let it control me. But you know I'm like, oh my gosh. Well, you know, this episode got however many listens and it's like I can't believe that many people are listening to my voice. That's a little scary, and so it is scary. But I think having a healthy fear of it is good, but not letting it kind of like control you is the goal.

Audra: 27:30

It keeps your feet on the ground. That type of fear keeps your feet on the ground and keeps your head out of the clouds. That always gets me is the country count, because when you go to your dashboard and you look and see downloads and whatnot and that's always wonderful and exciting it's wonderful to see what people like to hear and what people are like eh, not so much, I mean, and there's all kinds of different things and there's all kinds of different people, which is why you gotta put everything out there and see what happens. But the countries is what I go oh my gosh. My voice is around the world. So I don't know if you've looked at how many countries that your voice is being heard in.

Audra: 28:16

When the last time I looked, which was probably earlier in the week, maybe last week, I can't recall it was 73 countries. I'm like oh my gosh, 73 countries. People are hearing my voice and hearing a message that I've shared with them and my guest's message. We've shared a piece of ourselves around the world. That blows my mind. What have you experienced when you look at this and go, oh my gosh, what am I doing?

Lauren: 28:48

Yeah, no, it's wild. I even remember, dating back to when that first episode came out, I was like I didn't even know a goal really to set because I'm like I have no idea who's gonna wanna listen to this. I mean, you and I are kind of we're normal people, like we didn't have a following beforehand. So you have people who have hundreds of thousands of followers and I'm sure they have huge, lofty goals when they start a podcast. But for me I was like, well, I don't know who's gonna listen to this, but we'll see. And I remember getting like I can't even remember like maybe 25 downloads of that first episode and even with that I was like 25 people listened to this. Like that is kind of crazy.

Lauren: 29:25

And so, yeah, the last time I really looked at the countries and states, I was wanting to make a map because I was like, oh, this will be cool, I'll make a map of the 50 states and color in when I get a listener from that state. So this was in March and so I had been. I guess I'd had the podcast for like almost 10 months, nine or 10 months and I was going through and like coloring and all of a sudden I'm like going through all this and I'm like there were only two states that there hadn't been people streaming the podcast in and I can't remember. I think it was like South Dakota and like Virginia. It was super random.

Audra: 30:01

Nobody lives in South Dakota anyway, sorry, I mean there's only like five.

Lauren: 30:05

I know, yeah, I know it made me want to drive through there and download an episode while I was in South Dakota, but and then I think I didn't look at the specific countries, but I remember that I was in every continent except for South America and then Antarctica obviously. But but yeah, that's wild that it spreads like that. And I remember talking to somebody beforehand and they were like you're going to hit a point where it's more like exponential growth and not just like that steady climb. And I feel kind of like that's what's happening. And a lot of people, I think, measure, you know, growth by like Instagram followers. And I just think with the podcast that's really hard because you're not going to get a lot of Instagram followers with your podcast. It's not going to correlate to downloads for sure.

Lauren: 30:47

And so I've seen where you know I'll look at my episodes and like, let's say, an episode of the week gets, I'll look on the dates out and it's gotten 200 downloads and then I'll see where. But my downloader was like 500 downloads. Who where are the other 300 coming from? And it's like people are binging the podcast and I'm like, oh so, like certain episodes will get almost every episode will get three downloads and I'm like these people. Somebody is downloading each episode of the podcast, which is a really cool thing to look at, and so, yeah, I don't look at my growth metrics too much because I have an obsessive personality and I feel like I'm going to like refresh all the time, but I do try to glance at it every week and it is fun to see it go up.

Audra: 31:30

It's. In the beginning, I looked at it all the time. Now it's just intimidating because it starts to. It starts to rob joy from the process, and I don't want it to rob joy from the process, and I because I don't want to get so caught up in the metrics that I forget the purpose, and the purpose is definitely not watching metrics at all. I've learned a lot by interviewing all of these women. They, in the last three years, I've grown a lot. I've changed a lot. I the things that I've been able to accomplish because of this, because of stepping outside of my comfort zone, has blown me away. What has surprised you about doing this, really out of the box, thinking of I'm going to just interview women, all as many women as I can. What has surprised you?

Lauren: 32:29

Well, I think that I started this because I do. I'm so multi-passionate and I think I thought like, oh, this will be a great avenue to kind of like get to hear other careers, but but no, it makes me want to start a shoe company, it makes me want to start a jewelry line. I'm like, oh well, if she can do it, so can I. And so after every episode I'm like maybe I should do that, you know, but no. So that has been surprising, cause I thought that that would almost curb my passions a little bit, but no, it's made it 10 times worse and I think that I could do everything now. But but no, I think that what has surprised me a lot with interviewing everybody is that everybody has the same pain points. Everybody has the same victories, everybody has the same fears. They're just a little bit different and tailored to the career that they're in, and that's been something, and I say it so many times on my podcast. But a guest will say something and I'm like that's a common theme on here. You know, everybody says that, and and so I think that's been the most surprising is just how similar everybody is, and I think people, even in the world today, just really crave community, and so you know, I think that's also been surprising.

Lauren: 33:33

Like I just emailed a lady today to be on the podcast and she was like I've binged all the episodes. She's like I went on a deep dive and I've binged them all and I just never thought that she would be a listener. I thought she was just gonna be a guest and so it turned out that she had already listened to the podcast and so I think they were just surprising things. All the time. I'm constantly surprised by the podcast. It's always unexpected I'll have technical problems. That has surprised me how hard it is to start a podcast and deal with technical issues. But no, I think there's just so many surprising things. I think so many common themes and and it's just been so fun to really realize how connected everybody really is.

Audra: 34:13

And this is a great medium to do it because, you know, covid demonstrated how separate we can get. But this is a medium to bridge all of those gaps and unify everybody in our similarities, which that is also what I've discovered. I have interviewed women all over the world and we all have very similar fears, similar goals, similar desires, similar insecurities, and they're all the same themes. And what I have been trying to impress upon everybody is a couple of things One step out of your comfort zone which is exactly why, lauren, you and I are having this conversation is stepping out of your comfort zone and going and exploring what else you can do.

Audra: 35:02

The other thing that I've been trying to communicate as best as I can is other women are your best assets. You don't have to like everybody, but you do have to recognize other women are going through similar struggles as you and they are not your competition at all. That is a big, giant lie. It isn't there because it's meant to distract us and separate us, because the reality is, if that was all gone and we all worked to have each other's backs, oh my gosh. But first of all, the world would be a much nicer place, but we would also be a whole lot happier too, because then we would have the knowledge that there's regardless, that there's someone else out there. There's another woman out there that knows exactly how I'm feeling, and she's got my back, and that is power.

Lauren: 36:02

Yeah, absolutely.

Lauren: 36:04

I had interviewed, like I said, a confidence coach and then also a business coach, and they both said similar things that their group programs were the ones that were the most successful and it was because they put a group and they only coached women in these group programs and they would put the women together and everybody had common fears or whatever, but everybody was able to encourage each other.

Lauren: 36:26

And so, yeah, I think that encouragement, which is really the reason that I started my podcast I wished that four years ago that someone was interviewing health professional that had been an accounting major and I could have listened to that and been like, oh wow, like I'm not different, or I am different, but not in a bad way. And so, yeah, that's kind of why I started. It was just for encouragement and to encourage people to, you know, not to just stop your career that you're in and do something different if you don't have a backup plan. But if you have an idea and you have a business that you really want to start, you know, just do it. And that's something that most of my guests say. I always ask for advice and they say just do it, you just have to do it, you just have to take that first step, and so, yeah, I think encouragement is just huge for women.

Audra: 37:12

Of all the guests that you have interviewed, who's made the biggest impression? Or, I should say, is there one that has stood out to you and went oh my gosh, my life has changed because I got to meet this woman.

Lauren: 37:26

Oh my gosh, that's a hard question because I feel like so many of my guests have made that impression on me. But I'm actually about to do for not next week, but the two weeks after that, which I don't know when this is going to come out, so this will probably have already happened, but I'm doing at the end of August, beginning of September, I'm taking a two week break from releasing episodes and I'm releasing or not releasing, but basically re-listening two episodes. I'm going to kind of like promote older episodes that were so good but just didn't get a ton of eyes on them because the podcast had just started and so I was actually going through all of my guests that I've had, and so I think I've done 68 episodes at this point and I honestly think and I feel like it's going to be cliche to say this, but episode one was with Stephanie May Wilson, and I don't know if you know Stephanie, but she lives in Nashville and she just was, and I think maybe the reason she made such an impression on me was because I had literally never interviewed anybody before and she was so just like easygoing, made me feel comfortable. She has a podcast, so I think that helped. She kind of knew how things worked, but I still think that that interview is one of my best and it was my first one, which is so crazy. But she made a huge impact on me because she's just such a great speaker and I actually felt very prepared and I asked a lot of what I thought were really good questions and then she gave me even better answers, and so I think that that's kind of why she left a lasting impact on me.

Lauren: 38:58

But someone else as well. Her name's Emily Landers and she has a podcast called How'd she Do that, and she was one of the first people that I reached out to. I think she was episode like five or seven or somewhere in the beginning there, and she has left just a lasting impact on me. We still keep in touch and so, you know, it's just nice to have like mentors in that space. So I look at her as more of a mentor in just in the podcasting space. We're very similar and so, yeah, but I mean all of my guests, I feel like I've had such a. I've just been privileged to interview so many amazing women.

Audra: 39:30

Has this collective of interviewing these amazing women and it is absolutely a privilege to be able to tell these women's stories. That is that it humbles me all the time that I get to do this. But this collective that you have amassed with your guests, how do you think it is impacting you with your desire to continue to grow and expand and be fearless in discovering your gifts and who you are and what you want to do and, more importantly, what you don't?

Lauren: 40:10

Yeah, no, I mean, I think it impacts me every day. I look at the community that I've built and even on the days where it's hard, I'm like, well, I can't stop now. I mean there's no way that I can. Like, you know, I've already interviewed all these amazing women and and it's funny because there have been times where I'll have an interview lined up and I, to be honest, won't be that excited about it and I'm like I don't know if she's going to be a good fit and then it ends up being like an amazing interview, not because of me but because of her. And you know, it's just times like that where I'm like, wow, there are so many people out there that you know so many women out there that have businesses that are just waiting to talk about them. You know, everybody loves to talk about themselves and that's why I think people love to come on podcasts and so.

Lauren: 40:52

But yeah, I mean I think that hearing their stories because all of my guests are extremely brave and I know you've said that about me and I so appreciate you saying that but I think I get a lot of that bravery now just from hearing the stories of moms starting businesses while they have a two year old on their lap during COVID. I mean like it's crazy stories where it's like there's no way that person will succeed, and then they defy all the odds and they succeed anyways, and so I think that that is kind of just the driving force in keeping this going. But I also think that I do have an amazing collective of guests and I'm so privileged to know them and still keep in touch with a lot of them. But I have a lot of great listeners too that I don't. I still don't know why they listen to me. Sometimes I'm like I don't know why you're listening to every episode. But thank you, and you know they'll message me after each episode and they're like this was such a great one, so enjoyed it. And it's just little messages like that that are such a game changer and it's like, oh, all that work was not for nothing, somebody got something out of it, and so, yeah, I think those are kind of the things that keep me going.

Audra: 41:54

It's funny that you say that you question yourself of should I keep doing this? Is this thing on, does this even matter? Is there a point to continue to do this? And because I have all those feelings too, all the time and every time at least for me, every single time where I started experiencing all these feelings and emotions, somebody reaches out to me, every single time that says thank you so much for doing this. It meant a lot to me. Or even more so is that I started out as an audience member.

Audra: 42:32

Will you consider me as a guest? Those are the ones that keep me going, because it is a gift. Like Lauren, you're giving me a gift of your story. You're giving me the gift of being able to share it and hopefully encourage one woman or band, because I do have a few brave men in the audience that can hear it and go. This young woman was brave enough to lean into, having enough faith in herself that she has the ability to do more than what she went to school for. And if she can do it, maybe I can, or maybe they listen and they are motivated to go listen to your show.

Audra: 43:20

And then there's a woman that they hear that did something to the title of your show, so Can I. And they think, well, if she can do it, so Can I. Nothing stopped her, so there's nothing that stops me. And or maybe they hear the stories of there's, like I made the point before, there's multiple of us doing similar things, but we're doing it in unique ways because it's absolutely impossible for us to do the same thing, exactly the same as I.

Audra: 43:49

Just as one of my previous guests have said, we are one in a trillion chance. You are one in a trillion person, as am I, and if this, what we do, helps one person listening, then all of this is worth it. Every single bit of it is worth it. And here's another secret I have no idea where it's going. No clue. I have never dreamed that I would be here. I have no idea where it's going. That's also the exciting part too, because it's kind of a mirror of life is that I had all these plans. None of them worked, but some of the things that did happen were even better than what I could have dreamed for myself.

Lauren: 44:38

I love it. No, I totally agree. I think you know I mean you didn't ask me where the podcast is going, but I'm going to tell you, and you know me, because I mean I don't know, like who knows where it's going to go. I think that that's the exciting part about it and you know, I want to do so many different things with it. You know, some days I'm like, oh, it would be cool to have merch or, you know, to have some sort of. You know, because I do interview, I do interview a lot of women who have clothing lines or shoe lines or jewelry lines or whatever, and I'm like it would be really cool to kind of have like a so can I not a store, but not like a storefront, but you know, an online place where people can shop my guests, you know and like just a collective of everything that they've done the books, the just all of that stuff that they have done. And so, yeah, I mean I, I don't know, I really feel like the sky's the limit, but I'm also okay with where it's at right now. You know, I'm trying not to get too far ahead of it and just know that like I'm in it for the long game. I don't want to get too fatigued or tire myself out by trying to do too much right now, and so just kind of letting it grow and continuing to get it in other people's ears and, you know, continue to have great guests on.

Lauren: 45:51

I'm booked out through pretty much through the holidays at this point, and so it's like I I mean, I don't know. I don't know where it's going to go. I'm excited, though I you know it's only been a little over a year, and so I look at people. My mentor, like I mentioned, emily Landers. She's been at it for over three years now, and so it's fun to look at her show because we have very similar audience audiences, and so it's fun to look at her show and just see what she's done and be like, oh well, if she can do it, then so can I, and so I I'm just excited to see where it goes.

Audra: 46:23

I, helen, I'm excited for you because that's the fun part. You have no idea, you have no clue, but it's the fun journey along the way and that is what I have learned specifically in the last three years is to enjoy the ride. I had one of my dearest friends who was one of my very first guests. I actually, I think she was the first guest after I put out the very first show. She very gently says to me Audrey, be, remember to enjoy the ride. And I looked at her and I'm like you're crazy, I have, because I'm a type, a personality. I'm like I have this goal, I have this goal, I have this goal. I've got to get do this and this and this and this. And she's like that's not the point. I said what do you mean? That's not a point, that's never the point.

Audra: 47:11

The journey is always the point because the journey is all we've got and that's why it's fun to go take detours and go figure out what else you're good at and also be brave enough to walk away from things that aren't serving you. And, like I said, that is why you're such a encouragement for me, why you inspire me, because you figured it out early and really early. You are in your mid twenties and you have figured that lesson out very quickly. I am 52. I didn't figure that out until, honestly, until I have.

Audra: 47:54

These women that I've been able to interview have changed my life and I've been able to reshape my perspective and see what else I can do. So I want to, first of all, I want to thank you for being here and thank you for being an example of a woman that is brave, that is not afraid of trying new things, not afraid of doing things and it not working out the way that you planned and continuing to grow. So that's the first thing I want to do, is I want to thank you for doing all of that.

Lauren: 48:33

No, thank you so much. You're so kind with all of your words during this interview and, no, it's been such an honor to come on your show. I love your show and so getting to be a guest has been so fun. And, yeah, I hope that when people listen to this, they're hopefully inspired kind of by my tagline. If she can do it, so can I, because I truly do believe that and I want to be an encouragement to everyone.

Audra: 48:55

If people wanted to listen to your show or reach out to you. Do you have a website? Is there a platform? Where's the best place for them to reach you?

Lauren: 49:06

So my podcast is called so Can I, and we're on Instagram at so Can I podcast, which that's probably the best way. I do have a website. It's laurencunninghamco. It is still a health website. You can definitely reach me on there. So my email's on there it's hello at laurencunninghamco. That will hopefully be changing soon. I'll be updating it to kind of reflect more of what I'm doing now. It's just when you're the website developer. It takes a little bit of time to do that. I'm going to hopefully catch that up with kind of what I'm up to now. I think there is a podcast tab on the website though. So yeah, but find me at so Can I podcast on Instagram, and so that's kind of where I hang out on socials. But, yeah, please message me, email me, whatever I would love to connect with, with your listeners.

Audra: 49:53

This is the opportunity where I get the chance. This is part of the show where I get the chance to step back from the mic and give you an open forum to leave a final lasting message with the audience without me interrupting. So the floor is yours.

Lauren: 50:08

Oh my gosh. Well, thank you. No, this is like my worst nightmare. I told you I hate being at the center of attention, no, but wow, yeah, you have such a great show and I love that we got to kind of connect and hopefully we'll get to connect in the future on other things. And, yeah, I just hope that whoever's listening knows that if you are doing something that you are not happy with right now, or you're in a career where you feel stuck, you're definitely not stuck.

Lauren: 50:36

That's kind of how I felt years ago. That's even how I felt with recipe development a little bit, and so I think, just knowing that you have all of the tools and all of the power to do something different I mean, we live literally in the information age If you don't know how to do something, then it's kind of your own fault. Google it, look up a podcast I mean there's a YouTube video for everything and so don't use that I'm stuck mentality to stay somewhere where you don't want to be. So use the tools that are around you, use the people that are around you. People love it when you ask them for help. I mean, generally speaking, if you're an expert in something, they love it when you ask for help. I was asked just the other day by one of my mom's friends to help her with her social media, and it was flattering to me. I wasn't annoyed that she asked, and so ask for help and just really try to go after what it is that you feel passionate about, even if that's not a business.

Lauren: 51:32

It can be a side hustle. It doesn't even have to be a side hustle. Maybe it's just a hobby. Maybe podcasting will never make me a scent, it doesn't matter, I like it, I enjoy it, and that's how I feel like people should kind of frame what their next, next is. So you don't have to start something for it to be a job. It can truly just be a hobby, something you like to do. And so, yeah, hopefully that people who listened are a little bit inspired by you know that if she can do it, so can I, and hopefully you guys will listen. I have so many amazing women on my show that have come on and just blown me away, and so they've been so inspiring. So if I'm not inspiring, trust me and go listen to my show, because they are inspiring. So, but thank you, audra, for having me, and it's just been a pleasure getting to chat with you.

Audra: 52:18

It has been a pleasure and an honor to have you here, and thank you for doing the work that you do and putting a little bit more positivity out into the world, because the world needs more and there's not nearly enough. So thank you for doing the work that we all need. Thank you so much, and I want to thank all of you once again for listening and we'll see you again next time.