Lauren Maillian is an unapologetic, giving, driven BAUCE woman who has been “figuring it out” since the age of 19. That’s the age she managed to start a successful Winery before she was even old enough to drink!
Since then, Lauren has managed to use her experience and knowledge to help brands and corporations create strategies and develop products. She has also played a pivotal part in advising entrepreneurs and start-ups throughout all stages of their respective journeys. As an author, she helps others understand their ability to both literally and figuratively redefine their own path in life in her book, “The Path Redefined.”
More recently, she has been named CEO of digitalundivided (DID), a start-up near and dear to her heart that she has had a remarkable relationship with since the beginning of their existence. Lauren Maillian sat down with us to not only discuss her excitement and plans within her new role but to also share her wealth of knowledge with women who are currently working on their journeys to becoming a BAUCE.
Congratulations on your new role as CEO of digitalundivided (DID)! What are you most excited about bringing to the table in your new position?
What I bring is a breath of multifaceted experience in the space from every angle that impacts our work,” and for her, that includes, “the entrepreneurial experience, the Black woman experience, the Black mama experience, and more.”
As someone who’s been a part of the DID organization from the very beginning, Lauren is thrilled to see and experience the fruits of their labor as a start-up who has been “really early in the work in identifying problems for women of color.”
The vision of DID is to create a world where women of color own their work. What does owning your work mean to you?
“Owning my work means owning my worth,” says Lauren, “when we enhanced our mission statement to creating a world where all women own their work it was because of how we look at net worth and how we look at that is always based upon how we look at our work or our assets.”
For her, this means being able to be in control of not only your financial destiny but your happiness as well. “When you’re in a position to own your work, you’re also in a position to determine what it is that you want to do.”
Her plans to help women own their work within her new role as CEO is to help DID do their part to educate, equip, resource, and highlight. “It’s a moment in time where highlighting the work, the profile, the services, and the businesses of women of color is going to be so important because we all know that people want what they see so the more visible we are the more powerful we are.”
“The more our voices are heard, the more our voices become voices that everyone wants and become accustomed to listening to.”
BAUCE Mag is the place to be for the self-made woman. Tell us, what did your BAUCE journey look like.
“The self-made journey for me is my path redefined. It is creating space, tools, networks, and resources to be able to seamlessly accomplish your goals.” Lauren relishes in the fact that she is always starting and there’s not one day that she feels as though she’s accomplished enough.
“It doesn’t mean that I am putting undue pressure on myself, “ she expresses, “it just means that I’m constantly striving for more and when I solve one problem, I’m actively looking for the next one to solve.” For her, being self-made is all about creating a life full of systems and networks that allow you to continue to achieve through leverage of what’s readily available to you to drive results.
You’ve been long committed to supporting other women by sharing your own experiences…what advice do you have for women that are currently on that journey to becoming a self-made BAUCE?
“Never give up,” she says, “trust your intuition over everything else. If it doesn’t feel good, don’t do it.” Lauren reveals that true BAUCE ladies have to realize the power of their uniqueness and voice, ultimately never forgetting that “you can always create your own version of the path redefined.”
Lauren doubles down on the fact that “no one else can define what success looks like in your life because only you can walk in your shoes.”
Tell us what success and legacy mean to you.
“It’s being able to do the work that I love, to be valued and compensated for the brilliance that I bring, and to be able to work alongside brilliant people of my choice to do incredible work.”
On legacy, Lauren Maillian imagines that continuing her ability to equip women to succeed and lead through professional and personal development and branding is what she was put on this earth to do. She hones in on her love for seeing women win. “So much of my legacy lies in how I can impact and shift culture along with cultural acceptance.
As a mother of two, Lauren expresses the gratification that comes with being able to give her children the multifaceted experience of perspective, specifically through her love of art. “I collect a lot of art from artists of color because most people don’t understand that the majority of black people’s wealth comes from art.” It is important for Lauren to allow her children not only to know the art in which she collects but for her children to have the opportunity to understand and learn from the artists and their respective careers as well.
For now, Lauren voices that this chapter of her life would be titled, “Grace, Generous, and Galvanizing.” For all the BAUCE women that are working to better themselves and be the best that they can be, Lauren Maillian revels in the fact that she can achieve everything she was set on this earth to do. Her main focus now? Continuing to figure out all the ways in which she can add to the success of other women on her way to the top.
