I
learned about Lauren
Weiner through a
family member and was
immediately intrigued.
She's the CEO of
Wittenberg Weiner Consulting
(WWC), a firm that specializes
in filling the contracting and
operational management
needs of US government
agencies like the Department
of Defense, Department of
State, and the U.S. Agency for
International Development. All
of which are traditionally and
historically run by men. Hence
the reason for my intrigue
and the reason why I knew
she would be perfect for the
Power Issue.
I sat in a crowded restaurant
waiting for Lauren to arrive
for our interview. Just me,
my photographer and my
thoughts. What if she's high
strung or hard to talk to? I
imagined a woman who was
a cross between Meryl Streep
in "The Devil Wears Prada"
and the actress who plays Dr.
Miranda Bailey on "Grey’s
Anatomy." I imagined her to
be hard around the edges --
boy was I wrong.
Lauren walked into our
lunch vibrant and full of
energy. Her smile was
infectious, and her greeting
was warm. My worries
instantly vanished and we
began. Within minutes Lauren
confessed, "I wasn't supposed
to be an Entrepreneur."
Lauren smiled, "From
the time that I was two until
the time I was in college, I
was going to be a doctor --
specifically a pediatrician."
She went to college with the
plan of becoming a medical
doctor but realized halfway
through becoming a doctor
that it was no longer her
passion. However, she would
attend graduate school. "All
of my friends were going
off to jobs where they wore
suits," Lauren didn't want that
either. "So, I went to grad
school and got a Ph.D. in
psychology."
hree years into her
four-year program
she realized, "This
is training me to
become a professor,
and I don't necessarily want
to be a professor, either. So,
I came out of grad school
and didn't know what the
heck I wanted to do." Lauren
decided to sit down with a
T