About Lara's Entrepreneurial Journey
“Growing up as an immigrant, minority female, I have faced my fair share of overt and non-overt forms of discrimination and challenges. It is therefore no surprise I would face similar challenges in my endeavor as an entrepreneur. By the same token, I have been blessed with a great support network of friends and colleagues which I owe a debt of gratitude for any success I have had in life. It is all of these past experiences combined that have helped shape the “3 Ps”, the core values of my company: Passion, Perseverance, and Pumping it forward. I have dedicated my entire career to making a social and health impact on women and children, so Mila’s Keeper is truly a continuation of this very same passion. Perseverance comes from my experiences of simply never giving up despite many odds against me. Working in hardware, very much a man’s world, to invent our products was an uphill battle and often every step forward was two steps back. Not once however did I ever doubt my plan would come to fruition, nor do I doubt the future success of my company now. And finally, pumping it forward is the idea that no one does well alone in life. I have and am still given opportunities and support from others to succeed, so Mila’s Keeper will always value the importance of “pumping” it forward to help others from individual moms, to non-profits, and fellow entrepreneurs as well. I can’t wait to learn from and support my fellow community of minority female entrepreneurs with Minority Women Lead!”
About Lara's Pitch
The birth of our company started during my global health career, while working on a UNICEF project helping moms of a factory of 180,000 employees maintain their breastfeeding journey at work. When we resolved the usual workplace issues of break times, lactation space and breast pumps, we were baffled that we could not resolve the issue of lack of cold storage.
At the time, I was a working breastfeeding mom of two myself, so this hit home hard. Not only was the lack of cold storage directly detrimental to the moms ability to continue to breastfeed, it was an issue of massive scale. For that reason, I was determined to do better for moms, by inventing a patented, portable, 20-hour breast milk cold storage that is reusable as a water bottle. Adhering to our mission, we donate 5% of our revenue to non-profits dedicated to female empowerment and environmental protection.