Lauren Maillian Bias
Founder and CEO
Luxury Market Branding
Who inspires you?
Ariana Huffington
Why have you decided to become an entrepreneur?
Because I believe in creating your own vision for a future that works best for you. Sometimes that means innovating, trailblazing, supporting or bringing a new approach to an overlooked area.
Where do you see your company in the next five years?
I see Luxury Market Branding having a presence in cities with phenomenal talent and style.
How is your company different from other marketing and branding companies?
We bring a fresh yet entrepreneurial approach to strategic marketing and branding. We help brands carve out future partnerships and actually negotiate them on our clients behalf, then we help market them.
What was a defining moment in your career?
Selling my first business to start Luxury Market Branding. It was like taking the entrepreneurial plunge all over again with no time to catch my breath (literally)
What is your next step within your career?
A book is somewhere in my professional future.
How did you finance your business when it was at the early stage? (Self-funded, crowd-funded, Angel Investor, VC)
To-date, I have self-funded all of my businesses, though that may change one day!
Tell me something about yourself that we don’t know already.
I was an equestrian and competed extensively for 15 years.
What is your favorite color?
Purple, though I love to wear black- I’m a New Yorker!
What is your guilty pleasure? (Real Housewives, Chocolate, 50 shades of Grey, etc)
Reflexology.
Who is your celebrity crush?
Hmmm… Does their intellect count?!
How do you define success?
I am still figuring that one out myself, but for right now, I’d define success by being able to comfortably do what you love.
If you had one year that you could say was the best year of your life what year would it be? Why? How old were you?
2012 has been the most amazing year of my life. At 27, 2012 has shown me freedom, love, joy, success, and how strong I truly am.
Describe a time you failed. What did you learn from that experience?
I failed miserably in 2009, but I learned that sometimes we discredit our ability to persevere without a partner- what we may view as misfortunes in a moment, may actually turn out to be the greatest gift you’ll ever receive.
What do you for fun?
Travel and hang out with my little ones.
Do you have a hidden talent?
The ability to pick the best wines on a phenomenal wine list!
What is your favorite mobile app?
Mapquest- why pay for a navigation system when you travel?!
What do you do to help focus?
I try to keep a healthy workout regimen that involves lots of yoga.
Cool Kid or Nerd in High school?
I was probably considered the nerd in school- sshhh!
Keep up with Lauren Maillian Bias on LM Branding and Twitter
Lauren’s Interview conducted by WIM intern, Tonya Nelson