We recently connected with Lauren Grogan and have shared our conversation below.

Lauren, appreciate you joining us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

Climbing Kilimanjaro. Several years ago, while working on an international travel documentary, I was sent out on an assignment to hike to the top of Africa’s highest mountain. It is the largest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, standing at 19,341 feet or 5,895 meters tall.

During the 5 day trek up, my team and I encountered many different amazing and unique environments; as the elevation changed, so did the terrain. The final day of trekking was one that I will never forget. As we awoke in the early hours of the morning (3 am to be exact) we began our climb to the top of the mountain summit only to find a blizzard was on our path. Although the weather was not working in our favor that morning, we were determined to reach the top of this giant mountain, so we proceeded through a blizzard that was not only difficult to trek through but also dangerous as well.

As we continued through the blizzard and up the mountain, both our faces and camera equipment began to freeze. Our eyebrows and eyelashes dripped with icicles. We continued forward. Although challenging and at moments thoughts of returning unaccomplished crept in, we pushed through and eventually reached the top of the mountain, summiting to Mount Kilimanjaro’s highest peak.

Later, we discovered that this was the rarest weather occurrence that had happened in over 30 years. Incurring a blizzard at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro was not common and the weather itself at the top of the mountain is extremely unpredictable as in many entrepreneur business related ventures. Today I can proudly say that because of the difficulties we faced up there on top of the mountain, I feel more accomplished. The drive to succeed along with the mental power to accomplish ones goals drove us all forward to success despite the unexpected situations thrown our way.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been a dreamer all my life, since I can remember. My two biggest life goals from a very young age were to travel and to own my own business. So naturally, becoming a business owner who could travel through business relations was natural.

I started my journey because of a love of travel and a will to see the world. I am proud to say that I have now traveled to over 80 countries and counting, along with the fact that I have visited all 7 continents around the world. I have been fortunate to meet and interview some very prominent people who have had major influences and impacts on history, evolution and the environment.

My 10 years of full time travel has brought me to learn about and know many different cultures, languages and environments. As you can imagine, there has been many adventures along the way which helped shaped me into the business entrepreneur woman I am today.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I have always been a saver. I knew what my goals were from a young age so I started to work as early as I could and I would save knowing that one day I would accomplish both my goals of traveling and owning my own business.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I’ve learned that sometimes you have to let go and failure, like missing a plane or having to reschedule and important interview that you’ve traveled across the world for, is a part of the process. I’ve had to accept that as much as we would all like to I’m sure, we can not always control a situation or the outcome. Without experiencing the failures in life, we wouldn’t have any room for growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.passportinspired.com
• Instagram: @laurenantoni
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/passportinspired
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/SocialLiveTravel

Image Credits
Lauren Antoni Grogan