I (Lana) grew up in the midwest and the beginnings of my intolerance for poor-performing, good-ol-boy norms sprouted up from personal experiences. I have always been fueled by solving problems and empowering others. I worked in traditional economic development focused primarily on manufacturing and agriculture for ten years before transitioning to entrepreneurial ecosystem building. Since then, I’ve worked on three continents with hundreds of businesses, educational organizations, governments and entrepreneurs to expedite change. I love discovering root problems/opportunities and working for strategic and long-lasting, holistic change.

Mitchell Robertson, my husband and partner in LevelUp Economy and in all things, has spent his career building and growing companies that bring about systemic change. Throughout his childhood, he witnessed firsthand how economic and social barriers can cause generational poverty and stagnant economies. This experience not only gave him great determination to change his own life, it also gave him the motivation to build businesses that remove these barriers for others. He has worked in private business within multiple industry sectors across the U.S., Middle-East, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Africa and Europe to bring innovation, economic growth and sustainability to local communities.

When we aren’t working — and when we can incorporate one or more of these into our work — we are traveling, enjoying music, running for fun and competition, and exploring local food/drink and the outdoors. Check out the World Food Tour we went on via cooking during our COVID-19 quarantine. Click each location to see the food we made and let us know if you’d like recipe notes!

Team