Meet Laura Segre | NexGen News CEO & Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Laura Segre and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Laura, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?

The idea for NexGen News was born in a 5th grade classroom. When I was in elementary school, current events education consisted of cutting a clipping out of a newspaper and summarizing it in front of the class. 20 years later, as a 5th grade teacher, I had a difficult time finding age-appropriate news sources that were actually engaging for students. I thought to myself, “If I’m teaching the next generation of learners and leaders, shouldn’t they stay up to date about the world around them? Don’t they deserve their own news source to stay informed about current events?” I noticed a gaping hole in current events education in the U.S., and I wanted to fill it, but how?

They say the best businesses are solutions to a problem. Well, I had a problem, now I needed to find a solution. Living in Los Angeles, I ultimately decided to leverage the film and TV industry and landed on creating a biweekly video newscast that brings news to young people, presented by young people and providing a ready-made curriculum for educators to teach current events. I got my 5th grade teaching partner, Michelle McGuire, on board and in April 2020 while teaching on Zoom during the pandemic, we hit the ground running. We found a studio in Burbank, hired a cinematographer and a video editor. We posted on a kids casting website to find our student anchors and got over 400 interested child actors! We ultimately chose three teens to be the face of NexGen News: Giovanna, Trenton, & Oscar. Michelle and I went from teachers to writers, producers, and directors. As of January 2022, we’ve released 28 NexGen News episodes, 122 individual video news clips, and 244 differentiated lessons for teachers. Our online current events platform also includes leveled articles, multiple choice quizzes, writing prompts, discussion questions, and independent student activities. Our goal is to make current events education engaging for students and easy for teachers! As of 2021, I am no longer teaching and am now working on NexGen News full time, as we sell our current events subscription platform to teachers, schools, districts, and families.

What should our readers know about your business?
What sets NexGen News apart is that it was created by educators, for educators and students. We believe that students cannot learn in a vacuum and that they must stay informed about the world around them so they can become contributing members of society. I’m proud that NexGen News is here to revolutionize current events education, but breaking into the education system has proven challenging so far.

As someone who taught during the pandemic, I know school communities are overwhelmed. As we started to push into schools during the 2021-2022 school year, it has been difficult to get schools to sign up for our free pilot program. Students are excessively absent, teachers are constantly needing to change plans on the spot, substitutes are harder to find than a four-leaf clover, and administrators are covering classes and trying to hold it all together. As a new educational product, this chaos has been challenging for us to break through, but we are remaining persistent. We know NexGen News and our online current events platform will be a helpful, versatile resource for both in-person and at home learning during the pandemic.

Probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned while starting my first company (during a global pandemic) is to be persistent yet patient. Things take time, and having huge growth expectations during the first year of starting a business is unrealistic. BUT taking persistent steps over time WILL lead to growth. When I take a step back and look at what we’ve accomplished in about 21 months of work, I’m proud of our persistence, and I’m willing to be patient and see what NexGen News can do in the next few years.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Welcome to Los Angeles! Where the only thing better than the weather is the plethora of things to do. Here’s Laura’s list of activities & restaurants:

Activities
• Griffith Park – I used to hike at Runyon Canyon, but Griffith Park is where it’s at! Just a little further east, this huge park offers beautiful views of the city skyline. Check out tons of hiking trails, or head up to the Griffith Observatory (only open Friday-Sunday).
• Venice canals & Abbot Kinney – Although not as spectacular as their Italian counterpart, the Venice canals are a fun place for an afternoon stroll followed by a walk down Abbott Kinney Street for some shopping & food.
• Melrose Ave – I don’t think I really understood loitering until I lived near Melrose Ave. People will spend all day on the street, and I kind of get it. Tons of shopping, great food, and phenomenal people watching. Certainly worth a visit!
• The beach! – Visiting the beach is a MUST DO when in LA! My favorite beach is Will Rogers State Beach. It’s not as far as Malibu or anywhere near as crowded as Santa Monica. Check it out!
• Downtown Museum hopping – If you’re into modern art, I highly recommend checking out the two MOCA museums and the Broad in Downtown LA. Then, perhaps have brunch at one of the many yummy restaurants in the Arts District.
• Arts District hangout – The Arts District near Downtown LA is great for a weekend day. Tons of great restaurants and breweries where you can hang with friends.

Food:
I’m a bit of a foodie, so please excuse the long list! From East to West:
• Manuela – Arts District, Downtown LA – Great outdoor restaurant for brunch
• Damian – Arts District, Downtown LA – Enrique Olvera’s LA restaurant (Chef of Pujol in CDMX)
• Bestia – Arts District, Downtown LA – Some of the best Italian food in LA
• Pine & Crane – Silver Lake – Phenomenal Taiwanese food – but gets busy and no reservations
• Jjukku Jjukku – Koreatown – My favorite Korean BBQ spot, but there are so many to choose from in Koreatown
• Republique – Beverly Grove – One of my favorite places for both brunch and dinner. Best to go for brunch on the weekday as the line will get long on the weekend. They also have a sister restaurant, Bicyclette, I’ve been wanting to try
• Jon & Vinny’s – Beverly Grove (& Brentwood) – A classic Italian standby. Hot take: their brunch is also to die for
• Madre – Culver City – Oaxacan restaurant that’s a must try!
• Fia – Santa Monica – Beautiful outdoor patio restaurant for a special occasion
• Milo & Olive – Santa Monica – Great Italian food. Must try their garlic knots!
• Felix Trattoria – Venice – Hot Italian spot that’s hard to get into – but worth it!
• Ospi – Venice – Another great Italian spot. Yes, my family is Italian hence the high number of Italian restaurants on this list!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are two main people that have been integral to getting NexGen News off the ground that I’d like to shoutout. The first is my mom, Linda Segre. She’s been a living, breathing example that women can do anything they want in business. My mom worked in management consulting at BCG in the 1980s, when it was still a man’s world. She went on to run the San Francisco office of BCG, hold various senior executive roles at private and public companies, and now sits on the board of directors at multiple companies. She’s paved the way for women like me to not think twice about starting a business or managing others. I’m not sure I would have ever started NexGen News if I didn’t grow up with my mom’s example. Thank you, Mom.

Secondly, I’d like to thank my teaching mentor and now business partner, Michelle McGuire. Michelle is a phenomenal mentor, and I mean that. She takes her mentoring roles seriously and takes pride in watching her mentees grow. She has mentored countless individuals over the years, but I’m lucky she has invested the most time in me. Michelle started mentoring me in 2015 when I was her student teacher, but she always knew that I wanted to start a business in education. In October 2019, after teaching for a few years in classrooms next to each other, Michelle asked me to coffee during recess. She said, “I know you said way back when that you wanted to start a business…I think it’s talk we talk it through.” At the time, Michelle asked me to coffee to be a sounding board for my ideas. Instead, she became my business partner and NexGen News was born.

Website: https://nexgennews.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nexgen.news/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nexgennews/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeAreNexGenNews

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkar4l4A8onKuA5s6DZvZyQ