S2 Ep40. From Japan to Justice: Navigating Life’s Journey with Laura Lundin

Welcome to another enriching episode of ABWilson's Heart of the Matter podcast, where optimism, perseverance and practical wisdom come alive through the inspiring story of Laura Lundin. Laura joins host Aderonke Bademosi Wilson to share her journey marked by vibrant optimism, enthusiasm and grounded practicality.

In this episode, Laura reveals surprising facets of her life, from her childhood dreams of becoming a diplomat despite humble beginnings, to her adventures living in Japan where she became conversationally fluent in Japanese. She takes listeners through the realities behind cold-calling public servants in Washington DC to navigate her career path, emphasizing the value of bravery and vulnerability in creating opportunities.

Listeners will hear how Laura’s dedication to persistence propelled her through challenges to forging a successful path as a business owner during uncertain times. She shares poignant personal stories, such as a touching supermarket encounter that illuminated the power of kindness and feeling useful.

Laura also offers practical self-care strategies emphasizing grounding routines like yoga, walking and cultivating a tidy home environment with purposeful belongings. Her reflections on leadership and compassion draw from inspirational figures such as Jacinda Ardern and Victor Frankl, highlighting the importance of legacy through our responses to adversity.

Travel and human connection emerge as central themes that bring joy and meaning to Laura’s life. The episode closes with hopeful sights on future travels to Africa and a heartfelt appreciation for community and mentorship.

Join us for this warm and empowering conversation filled with lessons on courage, adaptability and the positive ripple effects of sharing our stories.

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Transcript

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (00:01.473)
 Welcome to another edition of ABWilson's Heart of the Matter, a podcast that uses overwhelmingly positive questions to learn about our guests, where every episode uncovers extraordinary stories of triumph, growth, and empowerment. Hi, I'm Aderonke Bademosi Wilson, and my guest on today's show is Laura Lundin. Laura is optimistic, enthusiastic, and practical. Laura, welcome to the show.

Laura Lundin, PCC (00:34.063)
 Thanks, Aderonke. I appreciate being here.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (00:37.623)
 So Laura, the three words that you've used to describe yourself, I'm gonna ask you to take me through each one and tell me what that means to you. So let's start with optimistic.

Laura Lundin, PCC (00:50.53)
 Yeah, optimistic. Anyone who knows me would agree that I'm definitely a glass half-full person. I really think that everything happens for a reason and there's something to learn from every situation, even in adversity. And that contributes to my optimism.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (01:09.929)
 And enthusiastic.

Laura Lundin, PCC (01:13.362)
 Enthusiastic. Yeah, this is also an eighth personality characteristic. There are very few things that I am not really excited about. There are things that I'm more excited about than less, but enthusiasm is part of my nature.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (01:32.423)
 Practical. What does that look like? Give me some examples.

Laura Lundin, PCC (01:36.218)
 My goodness, practicality. You know, I think for me, practicality is grounded in a realistic application of ideas, principles, thoughts, lessons. I always need there to be some sort of real-world expression of whatever it is we're thinking, learning, or doing.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (02:00.135)
 Hmm, thank you. So Laura, unlike our guests, our listeners rather, to learn a little bit more about you, please share three interesting things about yourself that our listeners may not know and your friends will be surprised to learn.

Laura Lundin, PCC (02:21.066)
 All right, three things. So depending on where you know me from in my life, these first two things might not be as surprising as maybe my last one is, which I don't know that I've ever shared publicly before. The first thing about me that many are surprised to know is that I grew up wanting to be a diplomat. So my...
 Mom was a toll taker on the Illinois State Tollway, and my stepdad is a truck driver, and that's how they met. And so when people knew me growing up, you know, becoming, working for the Foreign Service or becoming a diplomat going abroad, those were not things that were typically associated with aspirations of, you know, my family.
 Another thing that sometimes people are surprised to know is that I speak Japanese. I'm conversationally fluent. And that was because I started my career in Japan after I graduated from college. I moved there and thought I was going to stay a year and ended up being there five. And through the course of life, I learned the language and I tend to be voted person least likely to speak an Asian language, but in many circles, although it is becoming increasingly more common for people to do so.
 And then lastly, and the third thing, which again, like it's nothing I've ever talked publicly about—I was, it was recommended to my mom when I was in elementary school that I would be held back a grade.
 So when I was, which, you know, in retrospect, I look back and it's kind of funny, like I ended up going to Northwestern. I've worked for, you know, successfully in the world for, you know, small companies and major brands. And so to think back to that time, and I was just talking with my mom about it, which triggered the memory. We were growing up with my home life was pretty chaotic until I was around 10.

Laura Lundin, PCC (04:41.102)
 And so I missed a lot of school, elementary school, and for a variety of reasons. And when I would go to school, I think the way that I thought about things was perhaps atypical from your typical six or seven-year-old. And so by the time I got into third grade, it was recommended to my mom that I be held back. And...
 You know, because of our relationship, she talked about it at the time. And my mom was a very strong woman. And she's like, you know, I basically told them where they could go with their recommendation and that everything was going to be fine. And, you know, all's well that ends well. But it taught me so much about our education system, the strength of being a woman. My mom was a single mom until she remarried. So...
 Anyway, it, yeah, that's something that I think, no, nobody, I can vouch other than my mom and I. Nobody knew.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (05:43.987)
 And I just want to go back to you being a diplomat. When you were in college, did you try—I'm not even sure, is that the State Department or some other Peace Corps? Did you try to get into an international arm of anything?

Laura Lundin, PCC (06:07.19)
 I did, I did. So when I was a political science and international relations major in undergrad, and when I moved to Japan and worked there specifically to get international experience to see if I liked working abroad before I decided to move forward with the application process. And when I came back to the States, it was about five years later; I came back to the States, I moved to DC. I got a job in the private sector while I was going through the Foreign Service application process. And I just started—I went to a library; at the time, there were phone books in the libraries in DC that were full of phone numbers for public servants, like anyone who worked in government. So I needed, I wanted to learn more about what it was like to work for the Foreign Service or just how to get a job in the State Department generally.
 So I started cold calling people from the phone book. And it was interesting. I had to get my pitch out early, like really quickly, like who I am, what I wanted. It was like, "I am Laura. I want to work for the State Department, but I have no idea how to do that. Can you help me understand more? How did you get your start?" Some people were very generous in their shares. Other people just hung up on me, which is... understandable.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (07:34.305)
 So, Laura, let me just understand this. So you went to the library, you picked up some phone books for the, I guess, DC area.

Laura Lundin, PCC (07:43.693)
 Yeah.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (07:44.973)
 And you just called. And what prompted you to go that route? Like, I'm not even sure how else you would have done it, but I'm sure like, you go and knock on doors, other than, you know, but what made you do it like that?

Laura Lundin, PCC (07:46.723)
 Mm-hmm.

Laura Lundin, PCC (08:04.14)
 My goodness. I mean, it was, again, like I did not come from a connected family in that way. I was the first in my family to go to college and certainly the first to live abroad. And so when I moved to DC, not knowing anyone, now, in retrospect, I probably could have gone through my alumni network or looked up people who I had more of a direct connection with. Maybe I should have included stubborn in my three words. But it kind of didn't occur to me to go that route. And I was like, well, I was in this resource library for the federal government. And there was just this stack of phone books and, you know, with everybody's number. And I think that is one of my strengths. Maybe it was my optimistic enthusiasm was like, surely, like in this big book of people, someone's going to want to talk to me and share the secret. And I did. You know, it was also the beginning of my consulting career, I think, because it's like information gathering, due diligence, you know, all of that. And some key themes did emerge. And so it was fascinating.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (09:27.099)
 So tell me about the things, what did you learn?

Laura Lundin, PCC (09:30.274)
 My goodness, the key themes. So I will tell you that the number one way that everybody got their job, who I talked to in the State Department, was through a program. I don't even know if it's around anymore, the Presidential Management Intern, PMI. And it was for master's candidates who wanted to work for the government.
 I'm not sure if they were recruited or they applied, but it was like a feeder program from secondary, like post-secondary education. After I got my bachelor's degree, I was pretty much done with any secondary education. So, yeah, it was, so that was really interesting. The other thing, like there were, anytime I talked to a young woman, she was more than willing to share.
 So that's something—there were several women that not only after I got out my pitch, they kindly stayed on the phone and were very grateful. And looking back, it was kind of the first in my long history of female mentorship.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (10:39.341)
 Thank you for sharing that story. I think that's fascinating. And it would have been really cool if you had gotten in, right? Because then you could have been the Jason Bourne equivalent, if that's what they do.

Laura Lundin, PCC (10:46.446)
 Bye.

Laura Lundin, PCC (10:54.414)
 Yeah, no. And that was the other thing. It was like, tell me what a day in your life is like. I was like that stereotypical, you know, just keep going. Just tell me what to do. And, you know, they were very, they're like, look, I got to be honest with you, kid: like, it's not so glamorous. It's actually pretty boring. And I was like, do you get to meet with the ambassador? Like...
 I ended up, incidentally, going through the Foreign Service application process and made it about halfway through. That cold calling information gathering experience, coupled with my firsthand experience of going through the process and meeting career Foreign Service officers, pretty much sealed the deal in that I was not meant to be for the government, at least at that time. Yeah, that's fine. We amicably parted ways.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (11:55.489)
 Hahaha!
 So I thank you for sharing that really cool story. So tell us about a recent accomplishment or success that you're particularly proud of.

Laura Lundin, PCC (12:11.878)
 I think a recent success that I'm proud of is one that comes from my business. I started my own business just before the pandemic, not knowing that a pandemic was going to happen. I left my job after seven years at my company and a 20-year career more formally in corporate America and abroad.
 And I recently celebrated five years in business and, Aderonke, like the blood, sweat, and tears—mostly tears—that went into that effort cannot be understated. And I look back on it with such pride and amazement that I actually made it this far. I wasn’t quite sure that I would.
 And each day is still a new adventure, but it's something that I'm extremely, extremely proud of. Thinking back to the clients that we've served and the change that I have personally made in the lives of some people—that's really why I started this business.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (13:33.535)
 Laura, congratulations. Five years is a huge milestone. Congratulations.

Laura Lundin, PCC (13:35.534)
 Thank you. Thank you.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (13:41.719)
 Please tell us about a time when you made a difference in another’s life. What were the circumstances? Please paint a picture for me.

Laura Lundin, PCC (13:49.294)
 Let's see. Think, well, like I just said, I feel like I’m in the business of changing lives. So I'm going to invoke a personal experience, something that just recently happened to me. My grocery store of choice is Trader Joe’s. And Trader Joe’s is notorious for having densely packed, kind of slim aisles so that when it's super crowded, the aisles can be difficult to navigate. They have to stack their food or their groceries relatively high in order to fit them all in. So I went to TJ’s looking for a specific product, and I went to the spot where it usually is at and I didn’t see it.
 And, of course, like, it sends you into a panic when you come for that specific thing and it's like, no. And I looked, looked, looked, looked, looked. And I noticed that it had been moved to the very top of the row of shelves in the aisle I was standing in. And it looked empty.
 And I was like, that can’t be all there is. Maybe persistent too—that should have been one of my words.
 And so I was looking around for somebody to ask if they had more product in the back or what have you. And I think people could feel the weight of my stare, as Madonna would say, and I was just kind of avoiding my gaze. And then I saw this older man come around the corner.
 And by older, I’m going to guess late 70s, early 80s older. And he was tall, Aderonke, he was tall. I am, you know, just slightly over five foot. And so when this tall man came around the corner, I was like, my gosh. And he was looking at something right near where I needed—his sight line. And I asked him. At first I approached him, was like, “Excuse me, sir.”

Laura Lundin, PCC (16:15.628)
 And he immediately stepped back and got out of my way. And it was clear to me in that moment that he thought that I was gonna ask him to move. And you know, that initial awareness like, my God, this is a guy who probably gets asked to get out of the way all the time.
 And so I was like, no, no, no, I don’t need you to move. I actually need your help. And like his eyes got super big and he’s like, “You need my help?” I was like, yeah.
 I need whatever product is on that top shelf. And I really thought about climbing the shelf myself to get it, but I didn’t think that was a safe idea. And he looked and in one swoop, he grabbed a package of what I needed and he’s like, “They were way in the back. You wouldn’t have seen it.” And he handed it to me and I was like, “Thank you so much. You really saved me an international incident here climbing the shelves of TJ’s.”
 And I noticed that he started to tear up. And I was like, “Thank you.” And he’s like, “I get emotional just like thinking back to it.” And he’s like, “No, thank you. You helped an old guy feel useful. My wife just passed away and I always used to have to get stuff off the top shelf for her.”

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (17:38.812)

Laura Lundin, PCC (17:41.222)
 So, you know, it was such a good lesson for me, a reminder that, like, you know, when you think you’re being a bother or when you think you’re a burden to somebody, it could just—I mean, being useful is maybe exactly what they need in that moment. You know, then the number of people who averted my gaze before, like in order to help me, like they weren’t the right people to help me. He was the right person.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (18:06.827)
 Yeah. And it sounds like you were put in the same aisle at the same time for a lot of different reasons. Thanks for sharing that story. And I hope the gentleman wherever he is gets to hear your side of the story.

Laura Lundin, PCC (18:15.436)
 Yeah. Yep. Yeah.

Laura Lundin, PCC (18:26.088)
 My goodness. Yeah, I’ve looked for him since, yeah, doubtful we would be able to pick each other out of a crowd. I mean, it was such a brief interaction, but it was so meaningful to me.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (18:38.881)
 What were the key strengths and qualities you relied on to make a difference in that instance?

Laura Lundin, PCC (18:45.39)
 Maybe it goes back to my cold calling days. And that was bravery and being vulnerable. It’s something that, you know, somebody told me a long time ago, it’s a very old success series quote, I think. You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. Wayne Gretzky.
 I think, and I’ve always used that. Even when it seemed like bravery was going to bear something that perhaps might be uncomfortable or make other people uncomfortable, but yeah, bravery.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (19:40.941)
 Can you recall a situation where you overcame a challenge that led to personal growth? What did you learn from that experience?

Laura Lundin, PCC (19:49.793)
 Hmm.
 Mm, mm, mm, mm. Which one to choose? Yeah, I don’t feel like you go into leadership development or executive coaching or anything without having done a lot of personal development work yourself. I really do feel like my family situation prepared me for the work that I’m doing now.
 Being able to put things in perspective for myself and others, really focusing in on what absolutely needs to happen, the facts of the situation separated from the emotion of the situation in order to be effective. The criteria of success that I have for myself is grounded in my upbringing. So, yeah, I...
 I know that’s a very general answer, but there is a lot that I think still continues to inform who I am and how I conduct myself, how I run my business, and also how I work with clients.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (21:16.649)
 Is there one story that comes to mind that helps you actually move forward when you think about the lessons that you’ve learned, when you think about the situation and how you made a difference for yourself?

Laura Lundin, PCC (21:41.45)
 Yeah, I think it’s...

Laura Lundin, PCC (21:51.63)
 I don’t know that there, again, I don’t know that there’s any one specific situation, but the difference has been around perseverance and really making sure that I continued to show up even when everything in my body was telling me not to or that it was hard or to play it safe.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (22:18.123)
 You are listening to A.B. Wilson's Heart of the Matter podcast.
 Welcome back to AB Wilson's Heart of the Matter. My guest today is Laura Lundin. Laura, we’ve talked about your perseverance, we’ve talked about your cold calls to the State Department, we’ve talked about you living in Japan and the fact that you speak conversational Japanese. What self-care practices or strategies help you to sustain your energy and motivation while navigating your journey?

Laura Lundin, PCC (22:53.518)
 Self-care, I think, is one of the most important components that people underestimate in modern life. And self-care for me is around these daily habits that are really imperative to maintaining grounding and structure and order in my life.
 I’m the type of person who can easily float away like a kite on ideas and thoughts and possibilities. So staying grounded is really important to keep my own self moving forward as well as creating compelling programs and experiences for my clients. So specifically, movement, daily movement is important.
 I prefer yoga, prefer slow-moving movement that really requires grounding and stillness while you are also being active. I love walking. I live right near an open park. So I walk usually twice a day for about half an hour each. Then, yeah, keeping a tidy home organization is really important to me. I consider that self-care.
 And surrounding myself with beauty is part of the tidy home-ness as well. I look around my home and I see a variety of things that remind me of from whence I’ve come or happy things.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (24:37.855)
 And how do you maintain tidiness? I often look around my, even just my desk, I’m like, I gotta get rid of that batch of papers. I gotta fix this. Like, how do you maintain that?

Laura Lundin, PCC (24:49.83)
 And that goes back to the daily habit part of things. Do—well, this is a little bit nitty gritty. I don’t know if this is really the level of detail you were hoping for, but I wash my dishes after each meal. I don’t let them sit in the sink and have a visceral reaction to that. My home, and I’m looking around my office right now, is...
 It doesn’t look like a museum. It definitely looks lived in. But everything has a place. And I don’t have a lot of useless items. The décor that I have is very meaningful. It’s like souvenirs from trips or useful things. And everything else has at least two functions. There are no unitaskers in my home.
 And so that really helps keep down on the amount of objects I have, the amount of stuff. And if something does not have a place, if it’s something that requires it to be thrown in a junk drawer or hid behind a closet door or something, it goes. You either need to have a place for it or it doesn’t belong in your home. That’s my philosophy.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (26:15.629)
 I like that. I like that a lot. Maybe I need to think about that for... as I quickly look around my office at UNITASKERS. I love that, UNITASKERS.

Laura Lundin, PCC (26:28.366)
 And I think it probably comes from starting my adult life in Japan, where you literally have like 100 square feet if you’re in the States or like eight tatami mats if you’re in Japan. And there is no room for you to hold on to a lot of stuff.
 And so I learned to really pare down. And like I said, we moved around a lot when I was a kid. And so there was always like a purge of stuff because it had to fit into a certain spot. So yeah, it doesn’t feel like work to me. In fact, when stuff does start to accumulate, because like, I mean, that is the thing that I just put in a pile. And when it starts to—when it gets like a couple of days in,
 That’s when like shred, shred, file, shred, file, file, shred.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (27:30.573)
 Well, thank you. Thank you for those tips. And how might sharing your experiences of success and growth create a positive ripple effect in your family, community, the world?

Laura Lundin, PCC (27:44.622)
 I keep going back to this idea of perseverance and persistence in the face of adversity and the idea that things can feel overwhelming, things can feel difficult, and there will be a way through. I think of...
 Victor Frankl, the Victor Frankl book, Man’s Search for Meaning. And that is very much a book that is close to my heart. And so the ripple effect comes from, I think, everybody realizing that they are the captain of their own ship. Sometimes everything that happens to us is out of our control. So that what you do with what happens to you is your legacy.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (29:08.557)
 Thank you for that. And what exciting opportunities do you see on the horizon? How do these opportunities align with your passions and aspirations?

Laura Lundin, PCC (29:18.964)
 My goodness. Well, some exciting opportunities on the horizon. I hope next year we take our first trip to Africa. That is a continent that has been on my list for a long time. And I’m excited that I might have the opportunity to go visit a country, Rwanda specifically.
 I know you are very involved in work on the continent and I have so admired and appreciated the example that you’ve set. And so I’m excited to potentially get to experience that next year. And I mean, my love of travel continues despite now being stateside for quite some time. I’m really excited about that opportunity.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (30:17.194)
 Laura, what brings you joy?

Laura Lundin, PCC (30:20.216)
 Traveling. Traveling and connecting with people. And traveling can just be taking the bus downtown. It does not have to be some international woman of mystery to her. That being said, I do love getting on a plane. I’m very at home in the airport. I’ve got my route, my routine. And I love it. And it’s because I get to connect with people.
 And I’m so curious about people and what makes them tick. So travel and connecting with people through travel, being in the world, really, really brings me joy.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (31:01.248)
 As we near the end of our conversation, I always like to ask what book recommendation or recommendations do you have? It can be books that you’ve read recently or something that has stayed with you over the years.

Laura Lundin, PCC (31:19.214)
 All right. I have two for you. Well, I guess three if you can consider Victor Frankl my first. That is a book that has stayed with me over the years and I treasure it. Two that I’ve read recently, which I’m super excited about. The first is Likable Badass by Alison Fragali.
 She is a researcher, academic out of North Carolina, and she wrote this book. It’s technically targeting women, but it really is good information for anyone. And it basically charts your effectiveness, your influence on—I love a good chart too—on like a four-box. And one axis is like ability.
 The other is assertiveness or badassery. And so I love the way that she breaks down these very scientific theories and her research in a way that so many of us can access and learn from. So that’s one. And it’s practical, going back to my word. And the other one, I am just in love with Jacinda Ardern.
 She is the former prime minister of New Zealand and her autobiography or a memoir, A Different Kind of Power, chronicles her experience leading, like moving up through the rungs of government, becoming prime minister during and leading during the pandemic and her subsequent journey. So I just think that she is
 the model for compassionate leadership, something that I am working to bring more of into our business culture in the States. And the fact that she rose to such a high level of power in the government, being who she is and unapologetically who she is, is truly inspiring.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (33:33.869)
 And I do appreciate her story and I remember seeing snippets of her during COVID. And the other thing that I totally admire about her, and I think I’m right, so if my information is incorrect, I stand to be corrected, but I think she’s the only world leader that gave birth in office.

Laura Lundin, PCC (33:58.808)
 I think you’re right about that. I think you’re right—we know of. How about that? That we know of.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (34:02.189)
 That we know of. And I’m like, and I remember people asking her, how are you going to do it? You know, reporters ask, well, how are you going to do it and continue to be leader? She says, “I’m going to take maternity leave. I’ve got a perfectly good vice president or prime minister, deputy prime minister.” And she took her maternity leave and she came back to work. Like, that for me, was like, OK, that makes sense.

Laura Lundin, PCC (34:05.058)
 Yes, we talked about that.

Laura Lundin, PCC (34:30.382)
 Right? Yeah, such an inspiration and truly a compassionate, unselfish, kind, and yet like badass woman. I’m all about this juxtaposition of like badassery and effectiveness.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (34:52.941)
 So Laura, I need you to do some work for me. If you meet her, put me in touch with her so that I can interview her on the podcast.

Laura Lundin, PCC (35:06.914)
 I will do my best, Aderonke. I did see her speak recently. She came through my city on her book tour. She was incredible in person. I tried to meet her. I was unsuccessful. Turns out government leaders travel, or even former government leaders travel with security. But I was like, but I’m a fan girl. They don’t care.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (35:07.744)
 You.

Laura Lundin, PCC (35:33.87)
 They don’t care, shockingly. But that’s cool. That’s cool.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (35:39.991)
 So if you get to do another, because as far as I know, she’s never been to Bermuda. But so if you get to see her again, just break through security and...

Laura Lundin, PCC (35:50.158)
 I... I wanted to be a diplomat, not like an international war crimes person. I didn’t want to go down in that kind of international infamy.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (36:04.589)
 You.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (36:10.701)
 Laura, thank you. Thank you so much for your time. Is there anything else? Do you have any final thoughts?

Laura Lundin, PCC (36:20.674)
 You know, I am just so grateful that there are people like you doing the important work that you’re doing and holding space for others of us who are trying to make a difference. So I want to say thank you to you in creating this space where you bring together people and ideas that might seem very disparate,
 but that we can share that we’re interested in sharing with others in the world in the hopes of creating that ripple effect that you asked me about previously.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (36:59.383)
 Laura, thank you. It’s always an honor for me when people say yes to being on the show, because having answered the questions myself, I know that they’re not the easiest questions, but I also recognize that it takes a level of courage to be open and vulnerable in a space that you don’t know where your voice will end up. You don’t know who will end up hearing you.
 And so I appreciate that. First of all, I appreciate you for saying yes. And I never take for granted the fact that people say yes to being on the show. And I learn so much. I’ve done, I don’t know, maybe about 80 conversations by now. And each is different. Each voice has...
 a unique perspective and a unique place in the world. And that is what fills me with joy. So thank you for saying yes. Thank you for being here. And I appreciate our friendship.

Laura Lundin, PCC (38:13.666)
 Catch ya.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (38:14.029)
 So Laura, three appreciation nuggets that I’m taking away from our talk today.
 I mentioned it already. This statement that you said, no unitaskers go in your home. That’s going to make me look around my house and say, “Okay, you’re just a fan. What else are you doing here?”

Laura Lundin, PCC (38:45.4)
 I’m ruthless. I am ruthless.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (38:49.229)
 That it makes you think about what each item is doing here. So thank you.
 What you do with what happens to you is your legacy. And it’s not a quote or anything, but your actions around trying to get into the foreign diplomatic service will go down in history as, “Wow, just pick up the phone and call people.” That is a serious appreciation. Now get that. I’m going to...
 I’m gonna think about more, because I don’t phone people as much anymore. And if you can’t say it in a text or email, then you’re forced to call. But maybe we should be calling people more often.

Laura Lundin, PCC (39:43.404)
 You know, I think about that a lot and it really depends on the age of the person because I want to caveat my actions were a good 25 years ago and when there were still like publicly available written phone books of things and you know the fact that you know nobody questioned why this 20-something woman was sitting cross-legged in the stacks with the phone book and her flip phone—or whatever the thing was—just like dialing for dollars essentially to try and learn like, what is the secret? How do I get to be where you are? Right? It was like, maybe it wasn’t the most efficient in retrospect, but I’m glad you appreciated the story.

Aderonke Bademosi Wilson (40:33.453)
 And as I’m taking away, make the call, make the call. Laura, I appreciate you taking the time to join me on A.B. Wilson’s Heart of the Matter, a podcast dedicated to asking overwhelmingly positive questions to uncover incredible stories and wisdom of people you may know. Laura Lundin, thank you for being here.

Laura Lundin, PCC (40:39.363)
 Make the—

Laura Lundin, PCC (40:58.926)
 Thank you, Aderonke. Thanks for having me.