Sidney McLaurin, Jr. spent much of his childhood in the small city of Clinton, Mississippi. Clinton is a relatively suburban place, where quiet neighborhoods are full of decades-old Oak trees and freshly-cut St. Augustine grass. Most folks there are friendly and the seasons come and go without much ado. By and large, the city’s residents are well-educated and eschew the negative racial stereotypes of the South. Clinton was, and still is, a slow and comfortable place.

Today, McLaurin lives in Durham, NC and is an integral part of the team that is building Lime, a high growth tech company that offers inexpensive, environmentally-friendly mobility options for cities and campuses. He launched Lime’s first-ever market in 2017, shortly after graduating from Duke’s MEM/MBA program, and has since continued to help drive Lime’s rapid expansion to over 70 operations across the world. Although he’s geographically less than 1,000 miles away from his hometown, most people would regard the current point on his life journey as worlds away from the beginning.

Sidney often reflects that his story is probably more fit for a GEICO “surprising” commercial than a bio, and he’s grateful for all of the support and blessings that have made it possible. He credits the time in Mississippi for his love of the outdoors and he continues to be fueled each day by a desire to reduce humans’ impact on the environment through technological innovation.

You can find a few of Sidney’s career and educational milestones on LinkedIn and you can follow him via Twitter @sidmclaurin.

Let’s Go Duke!