LIZ EDDY | CO-
FOUNDER, LANTERN
"Check your ego at the door. You don’t know everything and that’s ok. Spend more time listening than talking.”
How do you start your day?
On a good day: A bottle of water, a walk or work out and writing in my gratitude journal. On a rough day: sleep until last minute, lots of coffee and off to the races.
Who inspires you?
The strong community of women in my life (my grandmother and mother, my closest friends, my co-founder Alyssa (who is also one of my closest friends) and our team at Lantern) as well as the women I wish were in my community: Michelle Obama, Amy Poehler, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Maybe one day :)
What would you tell yourself as a teenager?
“This thing is not going to matter in a few years”
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
“Someone doesn’t have to lose for you to win” and from my mom (via her mom via a French author (??)) “Every pot has its lid”.
What do you need to get you through each day?
Positive, stimulating conversation.
What are you reading?
Typically I stick to one book at a time but you caught me at a funny time where I discovered the magic of Audible and now I’m in over my head. I’m “re-reading” a few via Audible (Becoming by Michelle Obama and The New Jim Crow) while also reading hard copies of Where the Crawdads Sing and The Gift by Hafiz. My boyfriend and I also listen to thrillers while we’re on long car rides. We have The Guest List by Lucy Foley going right now.
Briefly describe your business and inspiration for it.
Lantern provides step by step guidance on how to navigate life before and after a death. We aim to change the conversation around death while making logistics easier so you can focus on grieving. After my grandmother died, I was frantically searching for resources to navigate the end of life and death process. I kept coming up short with outdated articles and sites that addressed only a piece of the process. It felt absurd to me to have to do everything in person, manually or via 35 different websites. I went to my (now) co-founder, Alyssa, with this conundrum and now we have Lantern!
What made you decide to become an entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurship has always been a part of me. I grew up with a mother and grandmother who ran their own businesses. It never felt out of reach. I started my first business at 15 then worked at a startup for 7 years post college. But, I always knew I was going to go out on my own at some point. I just wanted to make sure it was the right idea before taking the leap.
What has been the key to your success?
Two things (plus a lot of other things--- do people really have one “key” to success?). First and foremost: surrounding myself with smart, passionate people. Lantern would not be here without the team that has built and dreamt it up from the ground up (Alyssa, Shae, Wendy, Ahmed and KD!) Second: prioritizing rest. When Alyssa and I started Lantern we promised each other that we wouldn’t sacrifice our health and wellbeing in the process. Sticking to this belief has helped us avoid burnout and continue to love the highs and lows of what we do. Plus, hard problems are much easier solved when you have a good night's sleep.
What lessons have you learned along the way that you wish you would have known at the beginning of your start-up career?
Understanding the price of things and when legal support is necessary. Over the years, I’ve spent more money than necessary on early paperwork and projects before the business concept was fully formed. In hindsight, I would’ve waited until I was certain I was diving in on the idea. In developing Lantern, we’ve learned to question if something is needed immediately or can wait. We always get multiple quotes before choosing a new vendor.
What is your biggest fear as an entrepreneur?
Not having enough time to show how meaningful and far reaching Lantern can be. VC investment puts you on an extremely tight timeline that isn’t always friendly to businesses that require time to build trust and a strong foundation with its customers.
Are there any go-to resources that you have found useful to run your business?
My co-founder got me hooked on Todoist. I was a written checklist kind of gal for many years and thought I couldn’t get the same satisfaction of crossing things off from a digital version. Todoist has cracked it. I get the same awesome feeling when I tick something off and it’s way less time consuming to maintain— the irony of the written checklist is the time it takes to make it! We also use Slack and Trello as a team to stay connected and track progress. This has been especially helpful as we all work from home.
What do you think the most important attribute a female entrepreneur/ business owner can possess?
I think this is true for all entrepreneurs, not just women: check your ego at the door. I say this for two reasons: (1) You don’t know everything and that’s ok. No one does and it’s way too much pressure to try to operate as though you do. (2) If you let ego get in the way you miss the best ideas. Your team, advisors, investors, and people outside your inner circle all have experiences and knowledge that you don’t. Spend more time listening than talking.
What do you do outside the office to help you stay creative/productive?
Alyssa and I are currently doing a 75 day challenge: ½ hour outside, 1 hour exercise, 2L water, 5 fruits/veggies, 8 hours of sleep with no snoozing and either 10 pages of reading or a half hour of something creative every day. We hold each other accountable daily in Slack and discuss what’s working/not working and ideas to make these habits more routine.
What would you say to another woman who asked you if they should take the leap and start their own business?
A few considerations when starting something: (1) don't start something unless you are so deeply passionate about it that it wakes you up at night. Starting a business is hard and you have to be completely obsessed with it even on the worst days in order to push through. (2) If it exists and it exists in a fantastic way, consider joining rather than duplicating. (3) If neither of the first two considerations trip you up then go for it!
In the age of COVID, how have you pivoted or what are you doing differently?
Personally, I am prioritizing health and loved ones more. Even while working in the end of life space, the finite nature of life sometimes slips from vision. COVID has reminded me daily to assess my priorities. Professionally, I am looking at our industry through different lenses. COVID has highlighted the inequities that exist in end of life and death care. Not everyone is afforded a good death. Our team spends a portion of most conversations discussing how Lantern can help solve this.