was not ‘tuscan-y.’ But, I didn't
know that. So, we moved
over. I quit my GS14 job at the
White House, which was fairly
high level. I was 30 years old.
I was looking at all the SES
(Senior Executive Service) job
offers, all these big roles. And
I got there and they were like,
'you can be a
secretary.'"
My heart
sank and my
jaw dropped
as I listened
to Lauren
tell her story.
"They told
me, 'You’re
30-years old,
you just got
married, you're
going to have
babies soon
and you aren't
going to be a
professional
for that much longer. But,
your welcome to a secretarial
position.'" Lauren went home
and told her husband that she
was going back to D.C. He
could stay there as long as he
wanted, but she was going
back.
L
uckily for her husband,
Lauren met Donna
Huneycutt, her present-
day business partner and
COO, just a few weeks after
arriving in Naples. Donna, a
former corporate attorney,
was also a military spouse who
was stationed in Italy. Lauren
reached out
to Donna to
share her her
frustrations,
"Donna said,
'Look, let me set
up a company
for you so that
you can contract
work from
the states.'"
Lauren abruptly
declares,
"This was not
supposed to
be... I am not
supposed
to be an
Entrepreneur. This was not the
plan by any shape or form. I
was supposed to stay in the
government. I was supposed
to make SES and get a political
appointment at some point --
go through the path."
Lauren clearly accepted
“...Nothing
was
handed
to us, or
dropped in
our lap...”