Lauren (Abby) Stansell, a fifth-generation Auburn student, will represent the Harbert College of Business as its 2024 summer graduation marshal, and she has already put her college education to good use. A prestigious honor, marshals are selected for their leadership, citizenship, character and promise of professional ability.

Stansell, with the help of Harbert College, has a business venture of her own, Focus Friends, which offers an app-based solution for individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

She praised Auburn and her family for a successful start to her career.

“My connection to Auburn was strong even before I arrived,” she said, having grown up in Auburn. “My time at Auburn only deepened my love for the school... Auburn will always be home to me.”

A pivot from social work to Harbert

Stansell is a dancer and artist who says she has harnessed her passion for creativity with strategic thinking.

“My aspiration to make the world a better place initially led me to consider a career in a field like social work. However, I soon discovered the immense potential the business world holds for societal impact,” she said. “The ability to leverage business for good, combined with my passion for creative thinking, leadership and entrepreneurship, inspired me to pursue a degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on Entrepreneurship.”

While at Auburn, Stansell developed her new business under the guidance of the New Venture Accelerator's entrepreneurs-in-residence program.

“I actively participated in pitch competitions organized by the Harbert College of Business, such as Ideas Jam, the Halloween Pitch Competition, and Tiger Cage, where I placed fourth and won the [2024] social impact award of $10,000.”

Additionally, she was a member of the Auburn Women’s Entrepreneurship Collaborative, which empowers female business owners. She also joined the Auburn Abroad consulting program, studying in Madrid, Spain, and Milan, Italy, while working on a consulting project for a local business.

Beyond academics, Stansell served as a community group leader at her local church and was a member of the Auburn University Swing Dance Association.

Helping those ‘struggling alone’

A deeply personal experience made a profound influence on Stansell during her collegiate days.

“I was diagnosed with ADHD in college, after spending my entire life misdiagnosed with anxiety and other mental health disorders,” she said. “I actually sought out professional testing after hearing other people’s experiences on social media, and realizing the differences in how ADHD presents in boys versus girls, and how many girls are misdiagnosed with anxiety when it is really ADHD.”

Soon, she found herself thinking about how she could apply her business skills to a social need she saw all too well.

“Because social media was the first tool that helped me realize I may want to look into ADHD, I decided to take to social media to share my own experiences. My first three videos amassed over 1.3 million views,” Stansell said. “Since then, I have grown my following to nearly 70,000 people.

“I have seen thousands of comments of people who said something along the lines of ‘I really thought I was the only one.’ From then on, I repeatedly saw common issues and barriers,” she said. “ADHD is often misunderstood, and people are struggling alone and have a lot of shame.”

She added: “Many people are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Their peers don’t know the extent of their struggles, resources are limited, there's a nationwide stimulant shortage, there’s a shortage of therapists equipped to treat ADHD, it can take years to get a diagnosis, and people have nowhere to turn to in the meantime.

 “This is what inspired me to pitch a new business, and to do something to solve this issue and give community to people who are struggling alone.”

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