Black History Month One-On-One: Lauren Maillian Bias
Anchored By 1010 WINS' Larry Mullins
Produced for 1010 WINS Radio by Sharon Barnes-Waters
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Best-selling author, model, mom, and entrepreneur are just a few of the hats 2015 Black History Month honoree Lauren Maillian Bias wears.
Maillian Bias is also the founder and CEO of Luxury Market Branding, which advises, guides and grows other people's businesses.
Maillian Bias said she owes much of what she has become to her parents.
"My mother and my father have had a lot to do with my drive, my tenacity, my resilience," she said.
Maillian Bias' entrepreneurial streak started young. At just 19 years old she started a vineyard in Monticello, Virginia that went on to become an award-winning winery.
"It made me the youngest self-made winery owner in the country," Maillian Bias said. "It was one of less than 10 black-owned wineries in the country; the only one on the East Coast."
More: Black History Month Photo Gallery | Larry's Blog: Lauren Maillian Bias
Now, Maillian Bias has taken what she was able to successfully achieve and is passing it along to others through her marketing company and new book "The Path Redefined."
"The subtitle is 'Getting To The Top On Your Own Terms' because I believe that we should all be able to do it," she said. "And 'The Path Redefined' is about just that. It's about how to define and attain success on your own terms, how to leverage and embrace what makes you unique in order to get where you want to go in life and in your career..."
As someone who does a lot of mentoring, Maillian Bias said she truly believes in giving back to the community.
"I don't feel as though we have enough people -- young people, accomplished people, people of color -- who really stop and take a moment in their own success to pull somebody forward or to create a platform to allow other people to shine."
Web Extra: Laurenmbias.com | Full Interview With Lauren Maillian Bias
In 2011, Maillian Bias was honored at the White House as one of the elite "100 Promising Entrepreneurs Under 30."
She also has board associations in New York with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York and National Urban League, and was a 2014 "Young Leadership" recipient.
But when asked how much energy she has left and how much farther it will take her, Maillian Bias said she believes she'll always be on this journey.
"I don't even think that Bill Gates wakes up and thinks that there's not more that he can do. I don't think Mark Zuckerberg wakes up and thinks that there's not more that they can do...even though they're all incredibly accomplished," she said. "I think that's what makes people successful, is feeling as though you've never truly arrived and that there's always more that you can do..."
