T
S
to come in and do some
analysis for me.' He was the
anti-terrorism force protection
officer for the region. I knew
nothing about anti-terrorism
force protection, but I was
bored out of my mind, so I
was like, 'Whatever you want
me to do, okay.'" Lauren got a
contract in place so she could
fulfill this work.
oon after, the officer
informed her that he
needed an additional
person to work part-
time on a database.
WWC grew from one contract
to two, as she enlisted Donna
for that part-time job. "Maybe
two weeks later, someone
turned around and said,
'Wait a second. How did
Tony get you? I want another
one of you.'" Lauren quickly
interjected, "If, by another
one of me, you mean a smart
military spouse, yes! There are
plenty of us here." Each time
Lauren filled a contract, she
would get a request for even
more people -- leading her to
place additional workers and
contract them through her
company. By the end of her
first year in business, she grew
from just her to seven people.
the whimsical trajectory
of her 20s, but in her 30s,
she had grown fond of her
government job and saw a
bright road ahead. Except
now, it was circumstance and
misogyny that was throwing
her a curveball, not her desire
to do something else. "So,
[Donna] set up the company.
We came up with the name
Wittenberg Weiner because
I was Wittenberg in DC,
that was my maiden name,
and I was Weiner in Naples
because everyone knew me
by my married name, and
it sounded bigger than it
was." Present date, Lauren
has several employees who
have been contracted to work
for government agencies
throughout the world, but in
the beginning, it was just her.
here was a housing
policy in Washington,
which became
available for Lauren
to work on. WWC
served as the instrument which
allowed her to be contracted
for such work. "That particular
job fell through. In the
meantime, one of the guys that
I met when I first got on base
said, 'I need a smart person