LET'S TALK ABOUT:

• Marketing automation & systems alignment

• People-first leadership

• Choosing the right agency

• Hubspot + Salesforce integration

--

Lauren’s superpower is empowering those around her to discover and pursue their passions. As a young girl, Lauren lived in a small town in southern Virginia. Every day she would eagerly attend her classes and absorb as much information as possible before heading to her grandparent's house for the evening. After dinner, Lauren’s mother would pick her up on her way home from her restaurant, and they would share stories from their day. Lauren lived an idyllic childhood until August of 2004, when her granddad passed away suddenly. Stricken with grief, Lauren struggled to manage life as a ten-year-old entering a new school in a new state. When the funeral came the following March, the family flew to a small town on the River Clyde in Scotland to celebrate her granddad’s life. That trip transformed Lauren’s worldview in ways she has only recently come to understand.

As she sat in the front pew of the small church, she heard the familiar sound of a herd of people entering the room, much like the cafeteria during lunch. As it was an intimate gathering, she was surprised to look up and discover hundreds of strangers had taken every possible space in the pews and the standing room around them. The door remained ajar as more people flowed out the door to stand outside the building. That day Lauren heard story after story from people who had traveled across the globe to honor her granddad’s memory. The man who purchased a new Lisa Frank journal for her every week before grabbing Chinese at a local buffet transformed into the most inspiring leader she has ever known before her eyes. The people before her shared stories about how her granddad had quietly found ways to impact the trajectory of their lives. He supported them as they secured promotions, struggled to afford necessities, and faced impossible family situations. Her granddad never shared these acts of kindness with the family as he was incredibly humble. That day forever changed the trajectory of Lauren’s life.

Inspired by her granddad, Lauren is on a mission to continue his legacy of putting people first, leading with compassion, and practicing humility. Uninspired by the leadership she encountered early in her career, Lauren resigned in March of 2021 and filed for an LLC the following day. Nurturing her passion for marketing automation and leveraging her niche specialty in managing the HubSpot Salesforce integration, Lauren founded Coastal Consulting. Without a business plan, outside funding, management experience, or debt, Lauren has defied all odds, and cash flowed a strong business that is projected to generate just under $1M in revenue in the first 12 months (as of now).

While her business thrives by traditional measures, her true focus is on the people she employs and serves. Lauren is innovating the agency space by taking a people-first approach to all that she does.

Culture is far more than a buzzword at Coastal Consulting. Lauren seeks to employ strong individuals with an intense desire to learn and contribute something meaningful to the B2B marketing space. Lauren’s ‘no degree required’ hiring philosophy fuels her business with raw talent and motivated individuals that do not fit the traditional mold set in corporate America for an ‘ideal employee.’ Her team is empowered to continue their education in the area they’re most passionate about via a monthly education budget, dedicated learning days every Friday, and 1:1 career coaching to achieve their personal growth goals. To support her team as holistic individuals, Lauren also offers above-market compensation, fully employer-paid health insurance, a 4% 401k match, and actively seeks out opportunities for employee recognition and surprise gifts.

When it comes to clients, Coastal Consulting is incredibly selective about which contracts they accept. While a potential client may have a need that is the ideal fit for their offering, Lauren’s team preserves their culture above all else. If a potential client speaks poorly of current or previous team members, shows little interest in building a collaborative strategy, or setting tangible goals for the partnership, Coastal Consulting politely removes themselves from consideration. Clients that partner with Coastal Consulting genuinely value the team’s culture code and continuously share how unique their experience is compared to past agency relationships.

In Coastal Consulting’s short history, the team has:

- joined the HubSpot Partner Program and quickly moved up in the ranks at a growth rate in the top 1% of agency partners

- acquired customers completely organically via answering questions for others on online communities with no intent on selling

- built a reputation in the marketplace of people-first leadership and collaborative partnerships

- earned several podcast features and a feature in Authority Magazine regarding the leadership philosophy behind Coastal Consulting

- grown from $6k to $100k MRR and one team member to 5 in 8 months