Lauren Wittenberg Weiner: TEDx Credibility and Connection Through Thoughtful Authenticity
Lauren Wittenberg Weiner
Barrier-Breaking Entrepreneur, GovCon Expert, and Author of “Unruly”
- Sought-after speaker, known for her insight, expertise, and authentic and approachable style
- Grew and led WWC Global into one of the most successful woman-owned businesses in the federal contracting space, with $100 million in annual revenue
- Expert in government contracting, delivering insight on winning the largest contract ever awarded to a woman-owned business in U.S. Special Operations Command history
- Champion for work/life equilibrium and surviving the “panini generation”
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Lauren Wittenberg Weiner is an accidental entrepreneur who found unexpected success in the male-dominated field of military contracting by challenging (and changing) the rules of the game.
After leaving her White House job, Lauren started WWC Global when she could not get a job as a military-connected spouse stationed overseas. What started as a way for Lauren to do some part-time consulting work until she could move back to DC and re-start her career instead turned into one of the largest privately-held woman-owned government contracting firms.
Under Lauren’s leadership, WWC Global won the largest award ever to a woman-owned small business in US Special Operations Command Headquarters history, a $200m contract to provide training and military exercise support with Special Operators (Navy SEALs, Green Berets, and others) around the world.
Over the course of almost 20 years, she and her team built the company to almost $100 million in annual revenue before selling the company to the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (MPTN) in 2022. Lauren also co-founded the very first non-profit organization, In Gear Career, focused exclusively on military spouse employment at the professional levels, which merged with the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes program. Lauren also co-founded Homefront Rising, a program to train military spouses to engage in the political process as candidates and elected officials, political and policy staffers, and advocates.
Lauren’s book, Unruly: Deconstruct the Rules, Defy the Norms, and Define Your Success will be published in July of 2025.
Lauren has an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and a PhD in psychology from Dartmouth College. She lives in Tampa Bay with her family, where she sits on the board of multiple nonprofits, acts as primary caregiver for her aging parents, and is a loud and proud hockey mom.
See more at www.laurenwittenbergweiner.com.
Speaker Video
Lauren Wittenberg Weiner: Tampa Bay Chamber, Women of Influence Breakfast
Lauren Wittenberg Weiner: Synapse Innovation Summit
Government Contracting: As the founder and former CEO of one of the most successful woman-owned businesses in the federal space, there are a wide variety of topics within the GovCon space that can be covered, to include:
- Small Business success story, advice, and guidance—for those firms at various stages of growth from entry to large businesses
- GovCon M&A
- Specific topics on subcontracting, growth out of small business status, writing effective proposals, getting started in GovCon, etc.
Don’t Climb Every Mountain: Find your own authentic path to success at various life phases, rather than following the always-expected path that doesn’t satisfy your own needs
Navigating the Panini Generation: The “sandwich generation” concept is too quaint—today’s version is more like a Panini (forged with high heat and pressure into something entirely different than the components themselves). Navigating the pressures of work, kids, parents, spouses, community involvement and your own needs has become impossible, particularly post-COVID. Real talk, not silly life hacks, can help make it more manageable.
Gender in Male-Dominated Industries: As a woman-owned, woman-led firm that won the largest contract ever to a woman-owned business in Special Operations command—the headquarters command for the Navy SEALS and Army Green Berets, which were entirely closed to women until just recently—Lauren navigated the most male-dominated industry imaginable, and succeeded.
Thoughtful Authenticity (modified from TEDx): The balance between perfectly polished and curated public images on one hand, and showing the mess behind the curtain on the other, is where “Thoughtful Authenticity” lies. It brings credibility and connection. That balance can be struck with intention.
Unruly: Most people follow the rules—written and unwritten—and never find their own breakout success. But it doesn’t require breaking the rules to find success; knowing the rules better than anyone can give you opportunities to find your own authentic space within the rules in business and in life overall. Take the Unruly journey to learn how to leverage the rules for your own authentic success.
- Tailored to specific audiences—non-profit, entrepreneurs, leaders or emerging/upcoming leaders, politics/advocacy