Laura Soundy
Behind the Idea
Zach Morrow always had a passion to serve and a knack for creating business ideas and from a young age he did just that. After starting school at Baylor University Zach’s entrepreneurial side began to thrive.After taking a break from all that for a while, he found his calling after attending a program about human flourishing in Austin hosted by the American Enterprise Institute. With creativity flowing, he along with another student created an app that would give college students the opportunity to easily donate money to nonprofits. He focused on the business and marketing aspects while his partner whipped up the technical parts of the app and Flourish was born.
After finishing school Zach took a leap of faith and decided to invest full time in this business that had quickly become his whole life. Laura Soundly came on board shortly after graduation as well and teamed up with him to make up the company by playing each of the different roles that are needed.
“I had to decide if I wanted do something I love and am passionate about, or if I wanted to do something comfortable,” Zach said about his decision.
Serving the Least of Us
Flourish focuses on serving the least of those among us and gives that opportunity to millennials who are only able to give a little while still helping someone else. Not only can these small acts make a larger impact on the community, but it helps to give millennials more knowledge about the world they live in.
“When it comes down to it it’s about purpose and creating something with my life,” Zach said about why he is so passionate about this work. “What excites me is making someone smile and providing them with a need.”
One of the reasons the two work so well together and Flourish has done so well is that they both see this business as something more than a way to make money. Zach grew up in Germany with his parents who served as missionaries and Laura not only has a passion for, but hopes to move into International Human Rights Law.For both of them their faith is a driving force along with being able to serve others in any way that they can.
“It really comes down to my faith I think we are called to serve the least of these … with the resources that I have like my family, education, it’s my call to advance that and give people the justice that they deserve because they are created in God’s image,” Laura said.
Getting Plugged In
Being such young entrepreneurs Zach and Laura were looking for a space where they could get plugged into Waco. They were able to do this in more ways than one when they joined Waco Work.
“I’m being motivated and have the flexibility to be here for however long I want, it’s the perspective of seeing people who have done well and are now helping other people,” Zach said of how Waco Work keeps him going.
Waco Work gives them the freedom and flexibility they were looking for by letting them follow their passions, their vocations and meeting their needs. They are also able to have more freedom than a regular 9-5 job and have a community unlike the anonymity one may find in a coffee shop.
Creating your own business straight out of college can be intimidating, but being around so many other people who have succeeded and made their own success motivates Zach and Laura in their own business. They not only can get advice from other people in their fields but even just broaden their own mindsets by listening to the stories and journeys of the people around them.
“Be passionate about what business you start, or work in... if you don't really care about it when it gets tough it will fall through. Failure is actually a really good thing,” Zach said about how to make sure your business does well.
Zach and Laura both are focused on their passions and advised other young entrepreneurs to do the same when starting a business.
“Don’t settle for the comfortable, work doesn't just have to be something you do to pay the bills,” Laura said.