Comfort in the uncomfortable: Lauren L.’s journey of risk and reward

True growth begins where comfort ends—when you take a chance, ask the hard questions, or start saying a simple ‘yes’ to the things that scare you.

Lauren L. states that taking those kinds of risks is what marked a turning point in her career at Vanguard. Each career pivot challenged her to be more flexible, adapt, learn and lead in a different way. Keep reading to learn how these challenges helped Lauren push beyond what felt familiar and ultimately led to meaningful career growth.

The first leap  

I started at Vanguard as a rising senior in college through the College to Corporate Internship Program. I found out about Vanguard when I visited my university’s career fair, though I was unfamiliar with the company at the time. I saw their booth and recalled my mom telling me about how many people she knew who worked at Vanguard and had experienced long, successful careers.

Despite my limited knowledge, I put myself out there, and the recruiters decided to take a chance on me. I was delighted to join what was then Institutional Marketing for the summer. From there, I was offered a full-time position at graduation, and I never looked back!

Making courageous moves

All of my most significant career growth has stemmed from forcing myself to step out of my comfort zone and accept that it’s ok to be afraid! I’ve had a few career pivots that were significantly outside my comfort zone, but they allowed me to grow and flourish in ways I never could have imagined without taking a risk.

For example, after a few years in marketing, I applied for a project manager role in Human Resources (HR) Enterprise Performance Management. I was not an HR professional, but I had a passion for people and had project management skills that I thought I could bring to the role.

This role taught me so much about how to give meaningful feedback, support others’ development, embody competencies, and articulate a crew member’s—and my own—value.

During my first week in the role, they asked me if I enjoyed giving large presentations to leaders. I laughed. Lo and behold, months later, I was equipped with the tools, and an excellent teammate, to present to hundreds of leaders across the enterprise. The growth happens in the uncomfortable!

Building confidence through connection

I always say the best part of working at Vanguard is the people. Even if you don’t have a formal mentor, everyone is so willing to help, share their experiences, and root for you.

In my experience, I have had so many different people make a positive impact on my development through coffee chats, crew resource groups, and informal conversations. I’ve been amazed at all the great mentorship and support that can come out of showing up and being genuinely curious.

One of my favorite memories each year is connecting with my peers at the annual YouX Conference. The event itself is an amazing opportunity to learn, network, share advice, and celebrate wins in the Vanguard UX and creative community.

Turning insights into success

At Vanguard, I serve as the UX Content Strategy manager for Vanguard’s Core Journeys in Digital & Analytics—so, in human speak, I manage a team that simplifies complex topics for our clients on Vanguard’s website. We help our clients feel confident in their relationship with Vanguard, especially interacting with us digitally.

One of my favorite parts of my role is listening to client interviews. When we build digital experiences, we build it all around making life easier for our clients. We ask the questions, “How can we make it simpler? How can we instill confidence and trust? How can we nudge them towards beneficial behaviors?”

Not only do our amazing clients give us helpful feedback to help us improve these experiences, but it’s also rewarding getting to know the human behind the computer screen. It gives us that extra boost of motivation to make their experience with Vanguard better. And that’s what it’s all about!

-Lauren L.

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