With a career of building brands from infancy with both startups and leading global suppliers, Lauren also has a gift of reinvigorating mature brands. Also an entrepreneur, she creates impact in hospitality education and job creation in emerging markets. Lauren excels in face paced, team-oriented environments, where she can innovate, collaborate and produce results.
Spending 10-years at Campari, Lauren’s diverse roles led her to live and work throughout the USA, giving her a national perspective for developing brands, as well as navigating the diversity across markets. Her extensive knowledge and success was built through her knowledge in sales, marketing, trade marketing, business development and strategic roles. She swiftly is able to cross channels in finance and operations to raise funds and gain recognition by other organizations.
During the last three years at Campari, Lauren was part of a team of three, building a new function focused on bridging the divide between sales and market. This new strategic trade marketing role encompasses developing the route to market strategies for 32 of Campari America's brands including; introducing the Aperol Spritz to the US market, developing, launching and creating the route to market for launching Espolon Tequila. It’s worth noting that Espolon Tequila went from infancy to a $1M case brand at the helm of Lauren's influence.
Even after being the ‘first woman to do… fill in the blank’ in her roles in the US, Lauren’s ambitions were global. With confidence in her skills, unwavering drive and the knowledge that these would translate anywhere, she traveled and made the leap to apply what she learned to developing markets. LMH Consulting was founded.
“With 20 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, I have worked across a variety of roles including strategy, business development, marketing and sales. My career has allowed me to build brands from infancy in both startups and leading global suppliers, but also as an entrepreneur impacting hospitality education and job creation in developing markets. I’m dedicated to supporting startups, providing strategic route to market road maps to thrive and expand, quickly.”
Over five years, she worked across 23 countries in the Middle East and Africa, bringing her entrepreneurial mindset to hotels, restaurants, wine and spirits companies including Remy Cointruea, Diageo and Gruppo Campari. During this time, she recognized current hospitality education was not efficient in a continent leading in digital technology. With this, Lauren identified the need for a mobile, customized, and accessible education solution. Hence, Garnish Global, a mobile EdTech company, was launched.
Upon returning to the US, Lauren aimed to apply what she learned abroad to start-ups and other entrepreneurs striving to accomplish their dreams. She joined the 86 Company, responsible for developing and executing the retail strategy for Fords Gin, and its positioning as The Gin for Cocktails. Additionally, Lauren led the pricing strategy, distributor management, programming and national accounts on premise. Fords Gin was successfully acquired by Brown Forman in 2019, where she continued as a consultant for Fords Gin, Old Forester Bourbon, Benriach and Glendronach Single Malt Scotches, creating retail strategies in regional and national accounts.
Lauren seeks to continue collaborating with like-minded brands and the people behind them, those change-makers challenging the norms, fighting to break through and daring to do it differently.