Work From The Inside Out 126: Put Yourself with Interesting People & Opportunities with Laura Gassner Otting
When Laura Gassner Otting was in fourth grade, her teacher said, “you’re pretty argumentative… you should become a lawyer.” Laura says she was a serious young person. At only nine years old, she would watch the news every night and with righteous indignation, make a mark on a pad each day the hostages were still in Iran. Determined, she decided that she would have to solve all the problems. Laura reasoned that politicians were charged with problem-solving and since most politicians were lawyers, then she knew what she had to do.
Fast forward, Laura goes to law school. Immediately, she realizes it was a mistake. Laura had no interest in the classes nor in being there. A month later she heard about this “dude” running for President named Bill Clinton. Laura volunteered for the campaign and a few weeks later, she helped to organize a rally that drew 36,000 people. Soon after, Laura dropped out of law school and headed out on the campaign trail. Everyone told her she was making a terrible mistake. Laura disagreed. Clinton ended up in the White House, and so did Laura.
As a presidential appointee during Bill Clinton’s first term in the White House, Laura helped to shape the AmeriCorps program. She moved on to the nonprofit search firm, Isaacson, Miller to expand the startup ExecSearches.com. Laura then founded and ran the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group, which partnered with mission-driven nonprofit executives. In 2015, Laura sold NPAG to the team that helped her build it, to pursue her next chapter, and to serve on Hillary Clinton’s National Finance Committee. Today, she speaks, coaches, and inspires entrepreneurs, investors, leaders, and donors to get them past the doubt and indecision to seek new ways of leading, managing and mentoring others.
In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Laura’s journey:
- Laura has spoken across the United States and internationally to universities, companies, conferences, accelerators, TEDx, and the US Military.
- She is the author of the Washington Post Best Seller Limitless: How to Ignore Everybody, Carve Your Own Path, and Live Your Best Life (2019) and Mission-Driven: Moving from Profit to Purpose (2015).
Learn more and connect with Laura here:
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