From the time she was a teenager in Coral Springs, Fla., Lindsay Kuhn recognized the power of storytelling. Throughout her career, that power has assumed many forms.
“I was 18 and looking at colleges. I asked myself, ‘What’s a balanced curriculum for me?’ ” she said. “I loved writing and language. My dad encouraged me to go into math and science. At one point, he taught biology and would take me to class with him.”
Fast forward and that unlikely combination of a love for writing plus an engineering background has led Kuhn to launch Wingspans Inc., a Providence web-based career platform that introduces young people and job hunters to role models and potential professions through storytelling videos and interviews.
“We help students and adult learners achieve fulfilling and sustainable careers, and help employers attract talent and meet their DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] initiatives,” Kuhn said.
As Kuhn learned firsthand, career paths aren’t always linear. She decided not to follow her family into health care – her mom’s a nurse and her dad is an OB-GYN.
“Medicine is a great field, but I’ve always gone my own way,” she said.
Instead, she opted for New York and a five-year program, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing from Barnard College.
After graduating, Kuhn moved to Southern California and took a job at the Boeing Satellite Development Center, a major business unit of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, a division of the Boeing Co. It was an accelerated program that exposed her to many areas. She analyzed spacecraft components and determined temperature requirements for conditions in space. She also designed a centerline landing gear door for a future C-17, a large military transport airplane.
“It was my first full-time job, and it was interesting being a young woman in that space,” Kuhn said. “It was challenging because I didn’t have role models. The women I knew at Boeing were mainly in HR [human resources].”
Boeing was proactive in making women feel included, Kuhn says.
“But there was no one to show me what successful role models are like,” she said. “I was confused for being a secretary there. It’s one reason I started Wingspans.”
On the other hand, there was a fun side to living in Los Angeles. She found paying gigs that satisfied her love of writing about the entertainment world, which had started in college. She’d work a full day at Boeing, then spend evenings writing freelance pieces for outlets such as the Malibu Times and E! Networks.
After six years, Kuhn left the aerospace industry.
“At Boeing, everything is compartmentalized. You’re a very small piece in a large entity,” she said. “I wanted to work on something where I made a difference.”
Kuhn opted for a career in sustainable energy, which brought her to Providence and a doctorate program at Brown University. That’s when she knew it was time to launch Wingspans.
“I had a fellowship to teach at Nathan Bishop Middle School in Providence,” she said. “I realized there’s a career opportunity gap for students in the city.”
While she was working on her doctorate, initial funding from the National Science Foundation, along with additional grants from the R.I. Department of Education and others, helped underwrite the debut of her business, originally called Inventing Heron.
In 2021, she relaunched, rebranded and renamed the company. Through MassChallenge, a startup accelerator, she found mentors who taught her about business-to-business sales and lead generation.
“I sent out 2,000 emails a day to schools around the country – it worked. I got my first clients, including in Arizona and California,” she said.
Today, Wingspans is a two-sided marketplace serving employers and educators, sharing career stories to help and inspire students and job seekers. Users can watch videos of more than 700 interviews with professionals in the trades, the arts, technology and business sectors.
Wingspans’ approach is inspired by Studs Terkel, a writer who told oral histories of regular Americans, Kuhn says.
“His authenticity combined with the power of storytelling [helped] people shift ideas of what’s possible for them,” she said. “We’ve been growing steadily. In 2022, we worked with seven community colleges, and high schools. In 2024, we have more than 40 partnerships, including schools and organizations across the U.S.”
Kuhn says she’s excited about growing a partnership with the micro-nanotech workforce.
“We want to give people expectations of what they can do,” she said.
Working with a chief technology officer and a team of journalists, educators and advisers, Kuhn spends her day doing demonstrations for future clients, holding meetings and following up on emails. She breaks for dinner, then may go back to work editing videos in the evening.
“At Wingspans, we work on a shoestring budget,” she said. “We’re doing a lot.”
