OnMilwaukee's The Future Is Female series is brought to you by Alverno College and features some of the most interesting, innovative and intelligent women in the city.
Anna Lardinois is the author of "Milwaukee Ghosts and Legends," "Storied and Scandalous Wisconsin," "Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes" and numerous other historically-accurate spooktacular reads.
After providing tours of haunted Milwaukee buildings for a decade, she hung up her cape to tell less-scary stories. Earlier this year, she began telling stories of local startup businesses and the people behind them.
Love a story of self-reinvention? Enjoy this Q&A with Anna Lardinois.
OnMilwaukee: What do you do professionally and how does this connect with who you are personally?
Anna Lardinois: I am the Startup Storyteller for MKEStartup.News. I cover the stories of scalable startup businesses in the Milwaukee area. I get to spend my days meeting the founders and funders in the Milwaukee startup ecosystem.
I love my job! It allows me to interact with so many people who are passionate about what they do. As a person who is enthusiastic about her work and enjoys working outside the box, I truly like the people I write about.
If you had a magic wand, what is one thing you would instantly change about Milwaukee?
The city’s economic crisis. There does not seem to be a clear resolution and the financial failure of Milwaukee will impact the entire state, not just those of us who live in the city. There are no easy solutions, but I hope politicians will find the will to put partisanship aside to solve the problem without destroying the economic powerhouse of the region.
How do you fight the patriarchy in your own way?
Startup entrepreneurship is a field dominated by white men. Women receive about 2 percent of the available venture capital funding, and BIPOC business founders receive even less.
While I can’t do anything about the disparity in funding opportunities, I can certainly help amplify the voices of underrepresented business founders and I am grateful that I have the opportunity to shine a light on startup founders outside the traditional mode through my work with MKEStartup.News.
If you made a soundtrack for your life, what would a few of the songs be?
Jock jams. I am a writer and naturally a little awkward, so I have to really psych myself up to talk to people I don’t know. Arena classics like “Get Ready for This,” work every time!
What is your secret (or not-so-secret) superpower?
I can always find the bright side of any situation. It might take me a beat or two to find it, but I always do. This quality keeps me hopeful.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
