Women Who Reign: Laura Gao

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Tell us a little about yourself along with a fun fact.
I’m a designer and entrepreneur aspiring to bridge the universal information gap for the unconnected. I’m currently a junior at the University of Pennsylvania studying New Product Development and spend most of my time running three ventures: a design company called Draw Street Journal, a publication called The Sign.al, which encourages students to explore unique careers through interviews with inspirational people, and a space-software startup. I love playing pickup basketball, flaming at NBA games I’m watching on TV (it is quite cathartic), watching horror movies, and experimenting with my digital drawing tablet.

Ah jeez, self-proclaimed “fun” facts are never fun. Earlier this year, during a Wharton Tech Trek in San Francisco, I was left stranded on LinkedIn’s HQ in Mountain View. Somehow, I was able to pose as a new employee and talk my way into riding the LinkedIn bus back to our hotel in SF proper.