Her Story
About Lauren
I've been in the digital marketing field for 5 years now, and I've been in my current position for 4 years. I run a full-service digital marketing agency where I service professional service firms, coaches, and consultants. I help their founders build personal brands and create founder-led content to promote their businesses and new launches. My career path started in retail and sales, then I moved into finance where I worked at a financial advising firm. They needed marketing, so I started doing it, and that became my career. I work from home and spend a lot of time working with my baby on my lap. My typical day can range from meetings all day to deep client work, video editing, copywriting, or internal management. One day I'm just focused on one task to make sure that one thing gets complete. I like to manage my responsibilities in batches. Today was client deliverables, making sure that a financial advising firm had a full content calendar for the next month. Every day's different.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Lauren
01What do you attribute your success to?
I definitely attribute my success to my environment. I think everyone's environment shapes them to be who they are, sometimes for the worst, sometimes for the better. I've been able to get both sides, and that just pushes me towards one goal. It makes me more driven, more goal-oriented. It's all of my life experiences and the people who have shaped me to be who I am.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received was from my business mentor who said, 'Don't treat your own marketing like the red-headed stepchild,' because that's what most marketers and marketing agencies do. They just don't market themselves, and that's something I've been trying to work on this year. I've been basing my business on referrals, but I'm a marketer, and I should be walking the walk. That was very influential to me this year, to get out there and market my business like one of my best-paying clients.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering the marketing industry is to build your personal brand, especially if you're just starting out. Doors that would never open will open once you step into the public eye. Understand that networking is everything. It really isn't about what you know, it's about who you know, and then to showcase your knowledge after that, once you get in the door.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
There are so many opportunities in my field, it's just about who has the wherewithal to do the things that are not comfortable, like outreach, sales, and being perceived in the public eye. I know a lot of marketers love to promote others, they love to promote other people's businesses, products, and services, and then stay behind the camera. That's very detrimental to their careers and prevents them from being in places that they need to be. As for challenges, I faced many throughout my career, especially when I was pursuing a career in finance. I was getting that 'oh, young lady, young woman' treatment in rooms full of men at big events. I realized it doesn't matter what room you're in, as long as you're staying true to who you are and what you want to do. That has allowed me to have the confidence to speak to certain people as equals, even though they would not speak to me as such.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me in both my work and personal life are respect, equality, and personal responsibility.
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