EP51 - Larae Mayo, Entrepreneur and Model

Greg Mills: Our guest today is an entrepreneur life coach model and mom. With over 17 years in business leadership, she has had several successful entrepreneurial endeavors in our lives so far that have taught her some of the most useful and meaningful business skills. Her businesses have run the gamut from providing portable oxygen, canisters dilemmas and valley services for a global clientele.

Greg Mills: She has the ability to cultivate success in a diverse set of business environments and enjoys meeting new people and helping them to overcome any barriers in their way to success. She lived in beautiful Aspen, Colorado, but after having gotten her two daughters off to college, she now calls Portsmouth New Hampshire home without further ado, Luray mayor.

Larae Mayo: Hi, Greg pleasure to be on the show. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate you recognizing my entrepreneurial endeavors over the last 20 years.

Greg Mills: It's my pleasure. Now Luray, can you take a few moments and fill in the gaps from that intro? Bring us up to speed with what's going on in your world today.

Larae Mayo: well, I'm actually at a really exciting and pivotal time in my life, and I'm really happy to share it because I feel like so often we get to. This point of what people consider to be middle age. And it's like, you know, oh my life's over. My kids are gone or, you know, I'm divorced or whatever else people tend to hold on to their past instead of embracing the opportunities that are there in front of them and recognizing.

Larae Mayo: So much more to do and explore and live. So I'm at that point in my life and really excited, um, just to put my two daughters off to college.

Greg Mills: Whew.

Larae Mayo: Yeah. That, that has been quite the fee and yes, I am very proud of myself and will give my self a pat on the back as a single mom for the last six years.

Greg Mills: Now, did you come from an entrepreneurial background at all? Did anybody in your family while you were growing up, have their own business?

Larae Mayo: well, yeah, it's interesting. So I'm here, as you mentioned back in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, after being out in Aspen, Colorado for the last, 17 years Now And, it's really exciting and new to be back here at this point. , And my life, but I am the fourth generation from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which I think is very rare for a, black family and the country.

Larae Mayo: Nevermind new England. Black or white to have your roots go back that far, for generations. So that's really exciting. , I actually feel very privileged to have, a memory of my great grandparents. And I mentioned them because those are my forefathers that did have, businesses of their own. my great-grandfather, he was a carpenter and he also, Would preach as well, on the side.

Larae Mayo: So for many years, my family, generationally yes. Have had small businesses of all different capacities. so although I don't feel like. It was modeled directly to me. When I was growing up at that age, I might've been kind of taking all that in. I definitely do come from, a family of entrepreneurs that have made their way and stake their claim generationally to take advantage of, I guess, what we consider the American dream.

Larae Mayo: Right.

Greg Mills: Now you went to Northeastern university and studying and pre law. How did you parlay that into becoming a successful business?

Larae Mayo: Well, you know, again, it's the whole new England is saying I, grew up here in new England with very high expectations from my family, , about. Advocate and just, , you know, education and how we navigated, through the world. And, , I guess I don't feel like I really had adequate counseling at that point in my life when it was time to go off to school.

Larae Mayo: So in an effort to please my family, like so many of us do, I decided to go into law. It was either. To be successful, recognized, appreciated you went into law or you got your doctorate in a certain area. And, I just kind of went in blind for law. Not really having a full understanding of my gifts at the time.

Larae Mayo: Just because I do have a passion and the sense that, I seek justice and everything in life. And I think that comes from again, another generational thing growing up in new England, I watched my grandfather, growing up, , he was in the Navy for 22 years and every time that he was home, he was fighting for his kids' rights and, and filing papers much.

Larae Mayo: I'm half black and half white, half Irish. And I grew up with my mother's side of the family, my black side of the family. So I always saw my grandfather on my mom's side coming home. , and. Taking the steps to seek justice for the injustices that were upon his family at that time, because my family, the male family was one of the first black families really established in this area in Portsmouth to, buy homes and land and so forth.

Larae Mayo: So, I'd have to say I saw him fighting and that. Sparked that interest, but ultimately I don't think it was what I needed or wanted to do as a career. I just went into it just because, and, that backfire, like, things often do in life when we go and kind of unprepared. I think I made it through my sophomore year and realized I couldn't sustain, my education at Northeastern financially, and also a lot just wasn't grabbing me enough to want to do what I had to do as an individual, to move forward.

Greg Mills: I often think that we start a little bit too young to go off to college. Maybe a perfect world. Maybe we'd have a little bit more life experience for our S but there's such pressure to transition, going from high school to college

Larae Mayo: it's American culture, right? Because what I did find and college and Boston, at Northeastern, it was really wonderful because although it was, a little premature in terms of what I wanted to do or finding my gifts, what was opened up to me was a world wide. Community like it's his, as you may know, Boston is home or is the place where people come from all over the world to be educated.

Larae Mayo: It's a real college or a university town. So I met a lot of people from around the world and I realized that.

Larae Mayo: Europeans tend to go out and experience the world a little more and travel and they're not just pushed right into.

Greg Mills: Can you walk us through your career briefly?

Larae Mayo: Yeah. Like I said, I have been an entrepreneur for the last, 18, almost 20 years actually, before I even moved to Aspen, Colorado, I did small, business ventures, started with a portable oxygen Aspen air, that I developed, beginning to end as far as. The packaging trademark, et cetera.

Larae Mayo: So that was really a learning experience, a wonderful learning experience

Greg Mills: How did you know how to do that?

Larae Mayo: You know, again, I'm gonna attribute it to my new England upbringing and the discipline that I've had to have coming up. And, the way there's just always been an emphasis on. Business and having a certain order to the way that you do things in life. So, , a lot of research, you know, all my business endeavors, I am not classically, trained as in like a business degree.

Larae Mayo: But I've had some. Big amazing successful business ventures because of my commitment and level of discipline, I think is what has really been my saving grace and I, and I feel like I can attribute that to my upbringing. Definitely.

Greg Mills: Now were you married? And did you have children at that point

Larae Mayo: I did I actually, my two daughters, Johana is 18. My younger daughter and Nara, Bella is 19 soon to be 20, this next month. But they were young at the time. Yes. And, After they were born here in new England. We moved out west to Aspen shortly after. My ex-husband was, raised out west and Aspen and wanted our children to have the same.

Larae Mayo: Lifestyle as far as the outdoors lifestyle and appreciating that. And, just having that freedom of exploration, which I think, has been really, really wonderful, and helping my daughters freely, because. Who they are as far as their strength and ability and competence. I think their outdoor education over the years, which is a huge part of their, , education and the public school system is outdoor education from kindergarten up.

Larae Mayo: It kind of increases as they go up. And what I'm learning is it's quite unique because I speak to people about it and there. What your, your children I've gotten that in the public school system? Yeah.

Larae Mayo: so they, really got a sense of just, being capable, I think from the outdoors here.

Greg Mills: Now backing up just a little bit. How did you realize there was a demand for portable oxygen canisters

Larae Mayo: you know, when I moved to Aspen, I really didn't know what to expect. And I was just so overcome by the.

Larae Mayo: The general air out there. And when I say air, I mean it in a literal and physical and as well as, a conceptual way, the air, if you've ever been to the mountains up at eight oh 8,000 feet is just so crisp and clean and dry. And I was hiking with a girlfriend, the first friend of Matt there in Aspen.

Larae Mayo: And I was just on top of the mountains and just loving it so much because I'm remembering about the weather coming back into new England that it's, not exactly predictable and changes within a day often, but, out west, , you get 300 sunny days a year and, I just felt like it moved me on a whole nother level.

Larae Mayo: And I was like, wow, Aspen air. This Aspen air is amazing. And that's how my first business venture was born. I knew I needed to do something with my children because I had gone to Aspen to buy a business with my ex-husband. Um, but that felt through. And I was trying to figure out, you know, kind of what direction to go in and, um, how I could just make some money and start a business and through hiking and enjoying the air.

Larae Mayo: That's how my first business venture was born, Aspen arrows, portable oxygen. I was like, that's it. It's the Aspen air. And I also knew there was a need, of course, when we're doing business, right. We have to see where there's a need. And I noticed that people would come up to 8,000 feet. And they were often, , sick and couldn't deal with the altitude.

Larae Mayo: And it was too much. So there was a need for oxygen. There was a need for that to be supplemented for people. And then I was just moved by the beauty of my surroundings and it, it kind of came together that.

Greg Mills: Okay. Now, how did you source, both the, canisters and also the oxygen to go into.

Larae Mayo: So again, it was quite the process, a lot of, research involved. Definitely a lot of, just questions talking to people before. What I learned, is a lot of this, these type of, things sold of that nature are from China and manufactured and produced over there. And so. For various reasons, I just didn't want to support that market.

Larae Mayo: And I wanted it to be here and the U S made and sourced in the whole thing. And, I found one manufacturer and the whole country, , in New Jersey. That could do that here. And actually the Denver post wrote an article at the time. I think it was called Aspen's air and water go for a high price.

Larae Mayo: So the focus was on my oxygen and another business that was selling, , bottled water at the time at a very high phrase, we weren't sure where that was. Sourced.

Greg Mills: What was your next business after that or that maybe even occurred in town?

Larae Mayo: I made the actual product and then I provided a service with concentrators for my oxygen. And in doing that. I met a lot of people and I really began to understand the service industry and Aspen, which is a very, very unique industry . A lot of people may not know Aspen basically caters to the less than 1% in the world.

Larae Mayo: So it's a very unique hub that way. And, Traditional measures don't necessarily, , work there. And so, and providing oxygen, I saw an opportunity for a limousine company. My ex-husband actually had experience in that area. He had done that before and, when we got into town?

Larae Mayo: he was actually driving a limousine for a friend of his who went to high school there.

Larae Mayo: With an Aspen and it just seemed, right to start a limousine company, because again, there was a need for it. And then I have a habit of morphing, one business into the other. I kind of liked to make sure that everything is cohesive and, Kind of copacetic and the way that one thing can kind of roll into the next and work together.

Larae Mayo: So with the oxygen, I figured, okay. If we have a limousine service, I can have my drivers also delivering concentrators as needed. So then that was born. , secondly, after my first business plan,

Greg Mills: Now, was there any issues as far as like, DOD regulations with, transporting oxygen?

Larae Mayo: so that actually came into play quite a bit with the limousines. With the oxygen, not so much oxygen still, currently is quite unregulated. I was dealing with the canisters, but as I said, I had the concentrators that only delivered about 80%. So not quite medical grade oxygen. And I think the key there, as in business in general is liability and, I, , basically made sure that everybody signed away waiver knowing, that this was for recreational purposes and not medical grade, because if you're catering to people that have existing, issues, elderly accepted Dre up at that altitude, you can run into some issues there.

Larae Mayo: So I didn't want. But, it made sense to morph into the limousine service and, that was a really and eye opening venture that. I saw then an opportunity with the limousine service for, my biggest venture, which was the private jet valet service.

Greg Mills: Now, what does that entail?

Greg Mills: Not part of the 1%.

Larae Mayo: It's interesting because that was my most rewarding and challenging business venture to date. I thought I had a full, vision and had done all my research. Like I said, a lot of my business ventures on my part have required a lot of research to make sure that I have success. I was the first and only private jet valet service in the country at that time. So, and going into that venture with Atlantic aviation is who I was contracted out by. They on the private airport, they're an Aspen, when I went to go shop around for insurance, no one had ever seen anything like that.

Larae Mayo: So I felt pretty defeated. I think I tried to get insured for. She's, it was almost three months when I was in the talks with the Atlantic. And like right before we had signed the paperwork for everything to move ahead and go, it was like, okay, you have to have insurance every which way they were changing an existing structure.

Larae Mayo: And ultimately they were contracting me out because they liked the order that I was presenting to eventually move the business. So they weren't dealing with, another party outside of Atlantic because Aspen , is a unique hub in that business had existed for 30 years yet. I was only the third owner ever, because of the unique structure of it.

Larae Mayo: I did manage to finally get insurance, through my lawyer in Aspen. And again, another thing I learned very quickly and Aspen in such a small, hub is. You have to build relationships and people, will help you out where you need it. But if you don't have that support from deep rooted community members there, it's hard to really get anywhere.

Larae Mayo: And, Yeah.

Larae Mayo: Get too far without it, unless you have a lot of money. I learned that rather quickly and my lawyer helps me, get insured by introducing me to a client of his actually. And everything moved from.

Greg Mills: Now, what did that business actually do? I'm still a little bit vague

Larae Mayo: You're not the only one. People are typically quite confused, so it was quite the operation. Again, like I said, much more than I anticipated because my clients weren't just the jet setters. It was. The jet setters, every limousine company and town, every hotel in town, every property management company in town.

Larae Mayo: So basically before anybody went, over the tarmac to their jet, Air, regardless of what services they were using in town, whether it was a hotel, their own, driver, whatever it was, they had to have one of my valleys. And I usually, had anywhere from eight to 12 valets on at any given time, they had to use one of my valleys for an escort.

Larae Mayo: To get from the gate to their jet. And my valets are the only ones that handled their luggage, contractually. And, my valleys would then take their cars from the jet and park it into a lot that I also. , maintained and, controlled, there at Atlantic aviation. So I had a parking lot for jet setters when they would come and go as well as the rental car agencies that had cars for people that were flying in visiting.

Larae Mayo: If they were flying in private, to and from their home or property managers, would drop the cars as well for jetsetters coming in. So, that was another aspect of it. And then, the moving part that I had to kind of develop over the years and where, I was able to see a little more, cashflow from what were the services that I provided the jets headers.

Larae Mayo: So of course, my company is the first contact they have coming into Aspen and leaving Aspen, which I feel is very important and impacting. On the visitors. So, then I developed a digital platform actually, beginning to end, and, we developed, services to be offered and we were then able to offer them.

Larae Mayo: Jack side, at people's planes. So if they were leaving and my valets were taking the car away, they could say, Okay.

Larae Mayo: well, I'm gone. I'm going to need, my car detailed. I'm going to need an oil change, that type of thing. And they could then pay for it on the spot as well. So I developed a platform to make everything a little more fluid that way.

Greg Mills: Now, do you think that's a business that could be duplicated at any airport or is it just certain airports

Larae Mayo: absolutely. I I've actually had people that have asked me, to start private jet valet services for them, they've offered to contract me out and I'm actually, entertaining. I couple of, offers right now. So it's something that I may move forward and really. Enjoy it because it's a very, fast, unpredictable pace, Andy, for a wealth of reasons.

Larae Mayo: I work really well under pressure. I'm not wearing it as a badge as that's what we should do. But because of my experience, I just do. I work really well under pressure in a fast paced environment I find. And, I liked that excitement. I liked not knowing what's gonna come next. Most of all, I really enjoy putting a smile on people's face and in those most challenging.

Larae Mayo: So I think it's something that I made dabble. And again, as an entrepreneur, I'm always open to. Making money and taken an advantage of opportunities that come my way. I never completely write something off and say, that's it I'm done. I believe that would be a waste of our experience and intellect and.

Larae Mayo: Just general path in life. If we say, Okay. I'm through that, I'm not going back to it. You know, you never know what 10 open up from tapping into knowledge.

Greg Mills: You had several of these businesses running at the same time, you had a family. How are you able to juggle all these, you must have like excellent time management skills.

Larae Mayo: It's funny that you say that because my schedule is a lot looser now as a, we'll I mean, our model and I have some smaller businesses. Going on that I don't have to kind of show up and be onsite for, but, it took a lot of scheduling. I was talking to a friend actually last night and she also has a small, a young child.

Larae Mayo: And she said to me, Luray, you hide your children's so scheduled. And the best possible way that you would. I felt like a bad parent, because like I would ask you what the kids were up to and you literally had every moment of their summer scheduled. I had to do that and especially towards the end, as a single parent, I feel like it was really important for them to spend their time doing recreational.

Larae Mayo: Things and I'm learning new skills. Again, Aspen is such a unique hub. I feel very fortunate and lucky to be, to have been a single mom and business owner there in Aspen. The last six years I was there. I was a single mom and kind of, operated on my own and took care of my family. In the absence of families, all my.

Larae Mayo: Is here on the east coast. So, it definitely had its challenges. But, having raised the children there and Aspen, I had a really wonderful community of people that, knew me and knew my family and I could rely on and kind of trade services and trade children when we needed to, as the saying goes, it takes a village.

Larae Mayo: When the children were younger, there were other parents that kinda stepped up and, we traded our time.

Greg Mills: Okay. Now you're currently not, running, either the valet service or the, oxygen concentrating services that correct, or

Larae Mayo: Ashley Aspen air is still alive and well, I do rent out concentrators. I don't manufacture the portable oxygen oxygen product that I had on the shelf, but I have offered, oxygen from concentrators for quite some time now, uh, door to door service. But my main focus lately has been on modeling and acting, which has been really wonderful.

Greg Mills: Now, how did you get started in that?

Larae Mayo: It's a funny story. You know, like a lot of young women, young girls, it's something I wanted to explore when I was younger and, the opportunity just never came after I went into school as explained I started my family pretty young. I had a little bit of time where I worked in the arts and then started a family and, , dove and to these different.

Larae Mayo: Kind of entrepreneurial endeavors.

Larae Mayo: So during COVID, my. Oh, this daughter, she wanted to model and, being the recovering control freak that I am, I had set the whole thing up and, plan to sit on in, on her meeting, but she was about to go off to college, to California Lutheran university and, agency. Didn't think the timing was right.

Larae Mayo: But they were like, actually we love to sign. You know, it was like, what really? And like I said, we had just gone into COVID. So everything was being, conducted differently and online. Whereas if it weren't for COVID, I probably would have never had the opportunity because Denver is four hours from Aspen, Aspen.

Larae Mayo: In the middle of nowhere. So unless you're flying in and out, things aren't easily accessible. So I was happy to be in front of the agency and delighted to sign at the time I'm home with my children and, I never really saw it as an opportunity to have a career or a career path, but as I pursued it and took it more seriously and, started to treat it as a business as it is, because with.

Larae Mayo: The direction that marketing has gone in right now, everything is social media platforms and online and, uh, the direction of everything, the timing was just. So perfect. And so many opportunities opened up and, now I'm really excited to have the opportunity to expand, the Willow Manor brand here to the east coast will immuno New York has, um, offered to let me test for them next month.

Larae Mayo: So I'm super excited about that. Because I just, I want to continue with it for sure.

Greg Mills: Now, what advice do you have for somebody that's looking to pursue a modeling career and they're in later in life. And I hate to say that like, we're no geriatric, but for the.

Larae Mayo: Well, you know,

Greg Mills: purposes

Larae Mayo: it's.

Greg Mills: the past, and I'm just digging a deeper hole here.

Larae Mayo: Well, I don't think that you really are digging a hole. I think that you're speaking a truth because this has been, what, that, that, that industry has projected, historically, and, what I would suggest is being unapologetically you, and I think we're all learning that at this point, I think COVID really gave us all the opportunity to stop, pause, um, reflect and look a little deeper within ourselves and, through.

Larae Mayo: Looking at myself, loving myself more appreciating. who I am, the accomplishments have held what I've done with two children. I was married for, 16 years, all these different things. I've finally been able to not wait for society to tell me that I'm on any right path or fit in a box, but I've had the chance to really, Discover who I am.

Larae Mayo: The strongest parts of me that have allowed me to do these things that have brought me where I am now. And through that, I find the confidence to be in front of the camera. What has surprised me the most. You look at an industry like modeling, that seems very, external and maybe a somewhat shallow, and I'm not gonna lie.

Larae Mayo: I struggle to getting into it at this age because of that. And because I come from such a conservative family, but what I've learned is to. Bring something extra to the camera and truly be in a place where you're taking good pictures and you're relaxed in front of the camera. It takes so much self-reflection, it takes so much digging within.

Larae Mayo: Of course, I've done a lot of that as a life coach. I'm a certified life coach, so. I started to do that. And I thought I had done so much work until I had to look at all these images of myself and what I was holding on my countenance. I've lived 48 years as you know, I'm not a 20 year old.

Larae Mayo: I'm not a 25 year old. I'm at a different point in my life. So I was learned to have a self-awareness and. And not hold on to things to mindfully release things so that I am not carrying those things upon me. When I go to work, when I represent these brands, , I think a lot of the reason that these companies want to work with younger people because they are so carefree, they're not carrying these crosses and these stern looks on their faces.

Larae Mayo: So I've really had to make a conscious effort to keep digging in deeper, to release what I see on the outside from looking at all the images of myself that I often have to look at.

Greg Mills: Okay. I can imagine that would be interesting to say the least as far as, oh, what was I thinking there? Might've had indigestion in that one. I don't know.

Larae Mayo: Well for me, I think, um, trying to prove myself as a woman, as a woman of color, As a mother, I carried myself, I think very seriously and, sometimes sternly , to move through things and get things done and accomplish things. But now I'm, I've learned, other tactics to move through things.

Larae Mayo: And I have learned to release that sternness and release my jaw and my face and kind of be, more inviting and, inclusive because ultimately. And everybody wants to feel like they're seen and heard and included. Right. I learned that in such a big way with the airport as well, having that business.

Larae Mayo: And I was going through a divorce at the time that I had it and had to deal with the public. I didn't really anticipate running that business on the level that I did. And for various reasons, I had to us kind of front and center and going through So.

Larae Mayo: much. That was again, another lesson of. How we carry things, how we project, how we come across to people.

Larae Mayo: I really had to take a step back and recognize, how I dealt with people. And, that, that was really wonderful. You know, it opened up a lot to me and it a lot, a lot manifested from those realizations.

Greg Mills: Let me ask you this. What's next for Loray.

Larae Mayo: Like I said, even with this modeling, I never ever saw it coming. I'm definitely focused on. Uh, career and acting and modeling and speaking at this point, that's, the advocate part of me that I was explaining earlier, seeks justice that I can fulfill that way. The academic, the intellect, can be fulfilled by sharing good information.

Larae Mayo: I really. The leads that education is one of the most important focuses in our, uh, society on a whole, I feel like so many people are misinformed and deprived of information, therefore suffer. And I think for those of us, I do have good information and access. It's very important that we share that information.

Larae Mayo: I'm really looking forward to moving into the public speaking platform now, aside from modeling and acting and, kind of perfecting that craft right.

Greg Mills: Let's get ready to wrap this up. Is there a book that you currently recommend to move someone to either start their business? Or, you know, to even pursue modeling if that was what they were interested in.

Larae Mayo: you know, I am a little bit of a, Unique entrepreneur that way. I definitely listen to a lot of entrepreneurs, listen to a lot of podcasts and I tend to take a little bit from everywhere. I don't know. Really get my mind set in.

Larae Mayo: one direction to my church and one type of doctrine, too much. I like taking bits and pieces that I find interesting.

Larae Mayo: And so podcasts allows me to do that a little more. Freely. And I honestly, think that the balance of mind, body and soul, um, makes you a better entrepreneur and human in general, it's easy to function as an entrepreneur. I focus on the mind, the body and the soul collectively, and I take in and I read what I can, but my greatest book today.

Larae Mayo: And I always say it's still just my Bible. I'm such a like simple, easy person. I'm real, just traditional and. Simple as far as, my practices that way, you know, I believe that different strokes for different folks, but I encourage people to really, Dive into what sets their soul on fire, you know, what moves them personally.

Greg Mills: Okay. What's the best way for someone to contact you or check you out?

Larae Mayo: The best way right now, I'm actually purposefully, , coming into modeling and out of all of the business ventures I did, I've really, just downsized everything and all my different streams of social media and interaction, just because I've been in a certain growing phase, I think. I G you know, Dre, my name is Lorraine mail on IgG Luray glows, and, just shoot me a DM I'm on Wilamena Denver's website as well for work.

Larae Mayo: So we'll, I mean, a.com backslash Denver, Luray can TA Luray can Tav on there. That's my married name, but on, Instagram, you can find me Lorraine mail at three glows.

Greg Mills: Okay. Lastly, I guess what's the number one piece of advice that you can give for our listeners?

Larae Mayo: The one piece of advice that I would say. Has been entered mental to my growth as an entrepreneur and probably as a person in general, feeling like I'm growing and learning and experiences more, experiencing more is to keep an open mind. We all grow up in a certain set of circumstances that kind of form us and.

Larae Mayo: I don't think we realize how much our circumstances impact, our mindset. And I think, as we get older, we tend to get more and more stuck in that mindset. So. I try to remind myself every single day to think differently or take a different action that I wouldn't ordinarily take, or, just let my mind to go with a different thought process that I might not even have.

Larae Mayo: And that has been really a game changer for me. I feel like I've grown leaps and bounds through that process.

Greg Mills: Okay, well, that's a wrap. Thank you, Laura, for being a guest on entrepreneurs over.

Larae Mayo: Thank you for having me. It was a pleasure.