Article by MaryAnn Robinson, Senior Program Manager for the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs at the U.S. Department of State
[Kazakhstan, September 2023] When Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) ExchangeAlumni Laura Lau was in high school in Kazakhstan, she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. Though she was grateful that she was free to choose her own path, she felt overwhelmed by all of her options and did not know where to turn for guidance. So she decided to do something about it.
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Lau participated in Mission Kazakhstan’s 2nd edition of AWE (Photo courtesy of Laura Lau)
In Kazakhstan, 60% of university graduates do not work in their field of study, and many parents don’t necessarily know about market trends or how to help their children decide on a career path. Before attending Turan University in Almaty, Lau saw this uncertainty over career choices first-hand with her fellow students, and did not feel like there was much career guidance being offered in her school, which did not have a traditional career counselor.
“Before I went to university, I had no idea what I wanted to do or who I wanted to become, or what hidden talents I had. My parents gave me complete freedom of choice, but I had no idea about the future,” Lau said.
Now, Lau understands that only a small percentage of students know what they want to be when they grow up — and she has made it her mission to help the majority of students who don’t.
Lau designed and launched a professional counseling business called TeenWin in 2022, with a platform that will allow students to go through career choice courses to help them identify their interests, learn about different career paths and university selection criteria, as well as grants and other tuition funding opportunities that will give them a successful start in their desired field. Students can also sign up for specific career counselors that suit their needs and receive advice from them.
In the future, her plan is to develop virtual reality (VR) technology that will allow high schoolers to experience different professions by immersing themselves in a VR environment that replicates what it might be like to work in a specific field or job. Real locations will be filmed with special cameras; then the footage will be turned into VR content to be viewed on VR headsets or projected on walls in immersive classrooms. Lau hopes to eventually provide this technology to schools in Kazakhstan.
“Many families didn’t know that there are people who can help guide students to the right university or career,” Lau said. “That’s why I decided to do this, to help students like me.”
Though she had the business idea, Lau said she initially lacked the practical business background to really get things moving. That’s when she heard about AWE, a U.S. Department of State exchange program providing women in Kazakhstan and around the world with business training specifically geared towards helping women entrepreneurs launch and scale small businesses.
Lau decided to apply for AWE in 2022 and was one of the 100 Kazakh women accepted into the program, which was implemented by the Astana International Finance Center (AIFC) that year. From language skills to mentorship opportunities, Lau said her time in AWE allowed her to grow as an entrepreneur in many different ways.
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Lau plans to sell her VR technology to individuals and schools. (Photo courtesy of Laura Lau)
“We started by improving our business English and listening to different speakers from various industries,” Lau said, adding that the program helped her to refine her business plan. “Before AWE, I had a dream of a career guidance platform, but the path wasn’t clear exactly how it would help. With the AWE training, I realized exactly how I could help Kazakh teenagers choose a profession."
The AWE program utilizes DreamBuilder, an online learning platform which was developed by Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and Freeport-McMoRan Foundation. This educational component coupled with localized experts helped Lau to understand the exact steps she needed to take to launch a successful business in Kazakhstan.
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Lau at the AWE graduation earlier this year. (Photo courtesy of AIFC)
“I didn’t have a lot of business skills before AWE - school doesn’t teach you how to make money, or about contracts and taxes,” Lau said. “But DreamBuilder taught me those skills.”
Lau said she received advice and recommendations from program facilitators as well as other AWE participants, most of whom were mothers, which she found incredibly helpful because they offered a different perspective for her business and showed her that it’s possible to have both a professional and personal life. Together, they identified important topics for students and parents that she later integrated into TeenWin.
“While studying through AWE, I heard stories of women entrepreneurs who could - who did it. It was really amazing and inspiring.”
While a lot of entrepreneurs are afraid of failing, ironically Lau said her biggest worry was actually that she would succeed, and that life as she knew it would change quickly. Her participation in AWE helped her to build personal confidence, and to realize that being a successful business woman, especially in the tech world, does not mean you won’t have a personal life.
She said she realized that if other women were succeeding while balancing additional responsibilities, such as raising a family, that means she could too. And succeed she has – Lau was one of 10 participants in her cohort to win $1,000 in seed funding from Coca-Cola at the end of her AWE program.
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Lau at the AWE graduation receiving seed funding from Coca-Cola. (Photo courtesy of AIFC)
Even before she knew what she wanted to do with her life, Lau said she had always imagined that she would create something of her own. She said AWE helped her finally make that dream a reality.
“I always knew I would do some kind of entrepreneur business,” Lau said. “I was really into this because it makes me feel driven and helpful. I gained confidence - [now] I feel like I am powerful.”
In just over a year, TeenWin has grown to a team of six employees and is connecting experienced career counselors with students ages 14 to 16 who advise them about different career options to help them to choose the most suitable one. Students who enroll in TeenWin (for 30,000 KZT or $68) are required to take the course on choosing a profession, which will help them to better understand their interests and the career opportunities that align with them.
Lau hopes that in the future, students will have the option to use the VR to test different jobs and will sell these services on the TeenWin platform, which is still in the process of being developed. For now, Lau and her team are using social media and word of mouth to advertise services.
When asked how she felt at the end of her AWE program, Lau said, “100% inspired! I gained confidence - I feel like I am powerful. If other women have succeeded, that means I can succeed too!”
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AWE Kazakhstan 2022 participants with Ambassador Rosenblum. (Photo courtesy of AIFC)
The Academy for Women Entrepreneurs, a U.S. Department of State exchange program, gives thousands of women like Lau the knowledge, networks, and access they need to launch and expand successful businesses. Since 2019, AWE has used DreamBuilder, which was developed by Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and Freeport-McMoRan Foundation, to empower more than 25,000 women entrepreneurs in 100 countries to follow their dreams of owning their own business. AWE has operated in Kazakhstan since 2021, reaching 130 Kazakh women entrepreneurs. Beyond Kazakhstan, AWE operates in five other countries in South Central Asia to help women grow their businesses and reach their full economic potential.
