How This Founder Is Creating A Career Playbook For Women
When Lisa Skeete Tatum felt lost in her career path she spoke to other women and learned she wasn’t alone in feeling stuck and uncomfortable. “I knew what I didn’t want to do, but it wasn’t clear how I was going to marry my passion, interests and experience with my next step. Everyone — including myself — expected me to have all the answers and it was really uncomfortable,” she recalls. Tatum and her Harvard Business School classmate, Sheila Marcelo, cofounded Landit, a personalized career management resource for women, in 2014. “Landit was created to increase the success and engagement of women in the workplace, and to enable companies to attract, develop and retain high-potential diverse talent,” says Tatum. Tatum used her experience feeling stuck to help other women navigate their own career paths.
Elana Lyn Gross: What inspired you to start Landit? What was your career path?
Lisa Skeete Tatum: I cofounded Landit as a result of my own personal experience. I found myself at an inflection point after over a decade as a venture capitalist and found the process of trying to figure out what’s next to be really challenging. I knew what I didn’t want to do, but it wasn’t clear how I was going to marry my passion, interests and experience with my next step. Everyone — including myself — expected me to have all the answers and it was really uncomfortable.
The more I talked to women in all aspects of my life from fellow alumnae to friends at my sons’ school, I realized that I was not alone in feeling a bit stuck on where to start and how to figure out this next chapter. There are over 40 million women who will find themselves at an inflection point, whether they are looking to excel in their current role or company, feeling stuck and looking for a new opportunity or looking to re-engage in the formal workplace. They all face and ask the same question: Where do I start?
As we sit here today, we have the largest number of professional women not feeling fully engaged or valued in the workplace who want to be. The challenge is not one of motivation, capability, track record or skills — it’s uncertainty on where to begin the process. Specifically, there is really no place to turn where you can find a solution that is personalized for you and have a safe and trusted place to manage the continuum of your career. One of the biggest barriers we have is that we don’t want people to know we don’t have it all figured out or that we are feeling a little less than completely confident. Landit was created to increase the success and engagement of women in the workplace and to enable companies to attract, develop and retain high-potential diverse talent.