When Carrot’s Sales team starts conversations with HR leaders, not everyone is familiar with fertility care and the impact coverage can have on employees. That’s one reason Account Executive Lauren Schindel often talks about her own fertility journey during sales calls.
When she’s not talking about what makes Carrot so impactful, you might find her meeting with our LGBTQ+ Employee Community Group, Rainbow Carrots, where she helps to foster a space of community and advocacy for LGBTQ+ employees.
We sat down with Lauren to learn a bit more about her experiences, her favorite parts of working at Carrot, and how she uses her Carrot benefits. And if you’re looking to join employees like Lauren on our creative, passionate team, we’re hiring.
When did you join Carrot?
I started in August 2020.
What is your team’s role?
The Sales team partners with HR leaders to help bring fertility and family-forming benefits to employees. By offering this inclusive benefit, we help employers attract and retain top talent, achieve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals, and lower healthcare costs.
What is the best thing about your job?
Easily, the best part about my job is that I get to share my own fertility journey with HR teams and that it opens the door for open and honest conversations. When I talk about family forming, with anyone, including employers, I have an added passion for what I’m sharing. Because of the Carrot benefit, I was able to freeze my eggs, which gave me space and time to make the right decisions about what I might want my family to look like in the future. Not only was the financial burden removed, but because of all the other support that my benefit offered, I was able to explore my own options for forming a family. I found that even if I was overwhelmed with questions, I had support and access to answers when I needed them.
As a gay woman, I wasn’t sure what my family might look like, and it has often felt overwhelming to figure it out on my own. The questions are endless: should I use a known donor or an anonymous donor? How much will it cost? What if I want to have a child without a partner? Through the support and guidance I received from the many Carrot Experts I connected with, I finally came to the realization that I have choices — choices in how I form my family, and even the choice not to have children. Knowing that the work I do brings that experience to others, especially LGBTQ+ employees, is incredibly meaningful to me.
Why did you join Carrot?
I joined Carrot because I felt drawn to the mission of being able to support large groups of people who are often left out of the conversation around fertility and family forming.
What is your favorite perk about working at Carrot?
I can definitely say the doors that the Carrot benefit has opened for me, allowing me to pursue my own fertility journey, has been my favorite perk. I also appreciate the flexibility of taking the time off I needed while going through my egg freezing cycle. It is often overlooked in many workplaces and came so naturally to the team who supported me. That combined with working from home meant I could make it to my appointments at the fertility clinic and still be effective at work. Additionally, because of our unlimited PTO, I could take a few days off after my retrieval to just relax and take the time to care for myself.
How would you describe Carrot’s culture?
I appreciate how open the team at Carrot is about receiving feedback. Whether it’s feedback from members, or from fellow Carrot peers, I can see that voices are being heard. There will always be more work to do, especially around inclusivity and belonging, but knowing that I work for a company that is interested and willing to evolve and grow helps me know I’m in the right place.
What do you appreciate the most about working at Carrot?
In a workplace, especially remote workplaces, it can be hard to find a sense of belonging or to feel like you’re making a difference in the spaces that matter to you. Being a member of Rainbow Carrots, an employee community group for LGBTQ+ employees, has given me that. The mission of Rainbow Carrots is to foster a space of community and advocacy for LGBTQ+ employees, and we are working hard to create just that. Not only are we invested in advancing workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees but we also use our diverse roles to make the benefit itself more welcoming, equitable, and accessible to LGBTQ+ members. I am so proud of the work we have done as a group to impact Carrot and love being an active part of the queer community in our workplace.
Want to join our team? Check out open roles at Carrot.
