This month's Order of the Tiger Spotlight features Lara Kilgore '10. After graduation, Kilgore took her talents to several organizations before starting, Beyond Education, a company that focuses on developing 1-on-1 mentorship connections with students in order to help them find success. During COVID-19, her company's unique and individualized approach has helped many students and their families tackle the challenges of distance learning and the ever changing landscape of education. We decided to get to know this Tiger entrepreneur a bit better by asking her some questions to see what has shaped her and her career. 

What is the best career advice you have ever received?
To trust myself. 

What has been the most rewarding moment of your career?
Being able to see individuals come into their fullest self. Whether that's an employee, a Beyond Mentor, or the students we work with, nothing brings me more joy than seeing someone realize just how strong, capable, and truly valuable they are.

What do you wish you had done earlier in your career? 
Going off of how I responded in Question 2, I wish I would have had the epiphany of just how strong, capable, and truly valuable I was a bit sooner. Although, I am very thankful for every experience I have had—good, bad, and difficult—I always wonder what the world might be like if each of us came into our identity sooner.

What is the hardest thing you have ever done professionally?
Resigning from my first job.

Favorite professor or class at Trinity?
Toss up between Shinkle's Plant Physiology and Livingston's genetics class.

What is your favorite Trinity memory?
Oof. This is tough. One of the most unexpected on campus moments was the flash raves organized by fellow classmates during final exams. It was ridiculous, wild, and everything a college student needed to stay sane in a high stress environment.

How has Trinity shaped you?
One of the most important skills came from my Genetics course with Dr. Livingston's who made the bold promise on the first day of class that he was not going to teach us just genetics, but more importantly how to research and analyze information. In today's world where everything can be Google'd and anyone can be an expert, I continue to fall back on my ability to research information and ask the bigger questions. This skill has continued to lend itself in my personal and professional decisions, and as I watch the next generation come up the ranks, I am reminded that knowing how to research is a learned skill not an innate one. 

What is on your desk right now?
Post-its with my daily to-do list, AirPods, iPhone, and mask (welcome to post-COVID reality)

What is one part of your daily routine you couldn't live without?
Workouts.

Who or what is a source of inspiration and strength in your life and why?
Any story of someone failing big but choosing to keep pushing forward. Look to Nike's founder Phil Knight, Spanx's founder Sarah Blakely, WWII POWs.

Who is your favorite author?
Can't name one, but I'm currently into WWII survival stories. That generation continues to blow my mind with their resilience. 

Words to live by?
"Just do it" (Nike it nailed this one!)