We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauren Hasson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, what do you attribute your success to?
I favor action. I get started and keep the momentum going. This is the key to my own professional success and to the success of my brand, DevelopHer. I have built my platform to teach other women in tech how to take charge, jump start their careers, and build momentum to get ahead. I don’t take quantum leaps, instead I start before I feel I am ready and take small actionable steps and keep pushing forward. DevelopHer started as a podcast, then I built on this momentum to offer keynotes and webinars, and then scaled to offer corporate and higher education engagements. I consistently move DevelopHer forward with small, intentional steps. 

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I have learned a lot of lessons along my journey. Along the way, I have grown DevelopHer into an internationally recognized, award-winning platform to help professional women in tech get ahead, stand out, and earn more money. I have accomplished these things with DevelopHer with no outside investment, and all while working full-time as a successful software engineer myself. I have accomplished a lot and am proud of those accomplishments. When people look at the success of DevelopHer, they don’t see the work behind the scenes that created that success. I work every day to plan and prepare myself, so when opportunities present themselves, I am ready to act on them. I believe that my work and preparation allows me to see opportunities for what they are and take advantage of them. I make assumptions, challenge those assumptions, and test myself at every step along the way. At every new step, I prototype with a smaller idea as a test for moving forward. It allows me to fail fast and learn as I go. My first book, The DevelopHer Playbook, will be coming out soon. It is a step-by-step playbook on how I was able to get ahead, stand out, become truly visible, and earn more in my tech career. I want every woman in tech to have a copy of the book and use it. I also want higher education institutions and corporations to provide my book to their professional women in tech. DevelopHer programming is an integral part of education. Women in tech careers need to learn more than just technical skills. They need the soft skills offered through DevelopHer to get to the next level. My goal is for higher education institutions and corporations to look to DevelopHer as THE resource to credential their commitment to women.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in North Oak Cliff, so I would definitely take them to the Bishop Arts District. I am a huge foodie, so a restaurant tour would definitely be on the menu. I love the Salvadorian cuisine at Glorias where I love to dine on the patio. After dinner we could go to Kessler Theater and The Bishop Arts Theatre Center, or even The Texas Theatre if we wanted to take in classic movie. If we stayed uptown, I love brunch at the Henry. After brunch we could walk downtown to take in the Dallas skyline. If we were in the mood to be a little more active, we could go for a run on the Trinity Strand Trail or visit the famous Gilley’s for country and western dancing lessons. I would definitely try to schedule something special in advance, like a concert at the American Airlines Center, or a sporting event at Dallas Cowboys stadium.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to credit my partner, Kris, who believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself, and my parents, who instilled a great work ethic in me and encouraging me to truly believe I can do anything I put my mind to, and of course my amazing DevelopHer team for joining me in this incredible adventure. I have consistently focused my efforts on creating a success mindset and getting the game together in my head. The personal empowerment messages offered by Tony Robbins have been instrumental in helping me accomplish this. His approach to taking control of your life helped me establish a base for my success. There are many methods and paths to success. Learning from others and “standing on the shoulders of giants” has helped me learn from the successes and mistakes of others and propel me forward. Everyone teaches you something, whether the lesson is how to succeed or how to learn from failure.

Website: http://www.developher.com
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenhasson

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