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  On September 9, WISE Twin Cities hosted a Member Spotlight on Instagram Live. WISE Founder and Vice President of Finance and Memberships, Anne Doepner, spoke with Laura Brown, owner and former player with the Minnesota Vixen.

Top-line Facts

• Laura Brown
• Owner, Former Player, Minnesota Vixen
• WISE member since 2019
• “I was looking for something that would help support me, where I could connect with other women. I was looking around at different organizations that were available to me. I stumbled across WISE and thought, this is perfect. This fits me exactly. I wanted to be able to connect with other women in the Twin Cities areas that were involved in organizations just like I was – focused on sports and focused on female leadership in our roles. One of the things I was hoping to get out of it was to exchange ideas and encourage growth of one another. In the short time I have been a member, I’ve met a ton of women in the Twin Cities area who are from all kinds of different organizations and it’s been so great to connect with them. Having those one on one conversations with them has been so empowering and energizing to hear what’s going on in their organizations. Where they’re growing, what they’re doing and it’s something that I really look forward to all of the different WISE events.”

Spotlight Notes

• Laura’s current role and her favorite part of what she does:
  • The people – whether it’s players, coaches, other owners or the board leadership at a national level. Being able to cross paths with such a diverse organization of people has been an incredible experience.
  • Football allows women to gain self-confidence. It teaches teamwork and how to handle big moments under stress. It’s inspiring to see these women grow, see the team grow and witness how much everyone gains from being involved with the organization.
  • Laura truly appreciates that the Minnesota Vixen is a women’s sports organization and it’s largely run by women; whether it be team owners, board members or commissioners.
• Laura’s tips for challenging yourself no matter where you’re at in your career:
  • It’s never too late to reinvent yourself. Don’t close yourself off to new experiences or ideas because anything that you listen to might reveal that opportunity that was right around the corner for you. The role that you thought you were going to have might not be the role that you’re going to have in the future, and that’s okay.
  • The best piece of advice Laura has gotten was from her aunt, who told her, “you’re going to be 40-years old in a few years whether you have your degree or not. But, you’re going to be 40. So, you might as well start putting the work in now, because time is not going to stop for you.”
• How can you be a part of the Minnesota Vixen and help support the organization?
  • Laura was 40-years old in her rookie season and was always told “football wasn’t for girls,” until she heard about the Vixen. One of her main goals with the Minnesota Vixen is to let people know they’re here and raise the awareness of the organization. She wants to give women the same opportunity she had, so others can experience football on the actual gridiron, too.
  • The Minnesota Vixen are holding open tryouts on Saturday, September 19^th, 2020.
• To watch the Instagram Live, click here.
• Connect with Laura here.