FELLOW SPOTLIGHT: EVA SCARANO
After six years of corporate work, Eva decided to move forward and focus on her purpose driving her emerging venture around the complex yet vastly overlooked issue of Lyme disease. Leveraging on creativity and innovation, and as part of the community being served, Eva’s work challenges conventions while ultimately making impact in the space.
Anything worth having means high highs, low lows, high risk, and high reward.
Tell us about your venture/work.
Our team is working on a venture, likely a 501c3, to raise awareness and funds for Lyme disease and tick-borne illnesses. A domestic epidemic, Lyme+ is lacking accurate diagnostics, effective treatment, and a cure. We hope to re-brand the misunderstood disease and increase the market size of donations by layering strategic marketing on top of systems and design thinking.
How did you decide to tackle this particular issue?
As someone with multiple chronic illnesses, including Lyme+, I knew that I wanted to do something to serve a community that is often left behind. To intimately understand community needs, I wanted to further segment my focus and, transparently, needed help getting healthy. Once I started researching and connecting with the community, the whitespace of a less conventional approach emerged. With a marketing and design background, the intersection of need and skillset created our approach to combine storytelling, strategy, and systems toward change.
How did you find out you wanted to take an entrepreneurial path?
Growing up around a family business, entrepreneurship was present in my life from the very beginning. I loved how creativity and innovation were used to push boundaries and the hands-on opportunity to implement change. With a non-technical business background, I wanted a foundational skillset before I felt like I could start something of my own. After 6 corporate years, I built that initial foundation and felt ready to go build something. Strategic design and the Impact Entrepreneurship Initiative Fellowship felt like the right toolkit and environment to get things off the ground.
What do you enjoy most about being an impact entrepreneur? What are the main challenges?
Being personally tied to a cause that is in need of change means that every day, every task feels directly tied to purpose and impact. That was something I wasn’t satiated by the seemingly empty CSR initiatives in the corporate world. The pro is also the con: it is really, really hard to confront the under-resourced state of the space every day, especially while struggling to find the right treatment for my Lyme. The sense of duty to my community is also heavy; I want to succeed for us! Anything worth having means high highs, low lows, high risk, and high reward.
Being personally tied to a cause that is in need of change means that every day, every task feels directly tied to purpose and impact.
How do you navigate the space of being a founder and also being a POC/woman/non-binary person?
Interestingly, many sources note that more women have Lyme than men and are more likely to have chronic vs. acute illness. With primary symptoms being invisible and controversy around the disease, I believe that the gender piece perpetuates the “hysterical woman” narrative and further disenfranchisement. I often read articles that make me doubt my own experiences and beliefs… I try to stay grounded in my truth and surround myself with people outside the direct Lyme+ community, strong allies despite less personal ties.
What advice do you have for early-stage impact entrepreneurs about using their time and relationships to prepare for this kind of career?
Don’t be too attached to any one thing – be open-minded and adaptable. Emergent strategy is powerful in community-based work. Your ideas, perspective, and servitude will evolve drastically as you listen. That’s the other thing, listening is above all. Prioritize relationships where you can learn from not just the community but also impact entrepreneurs outside your community to inspire and guide you.
Your ideas, perspective, and servitude will evolve drastically as you listen.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
If you’re interested in learning more about our venture, or even joining the cause, our lean team’s doors are open!