LOCATION: Baltimore, MD

HOMETOWN: N. Kingstown, RI

PETS: Paul McCartney, terrier mix

SIGN: Sagittarius ♐

MYERS-BRIGGS: ENTJ

The whole story ⤵

I know, I know. Nobody likes reading the “About Me” section. I won’t be offended if you skip it. But just in case you’re wondering why someone with a degree in Wildlife Conservation is looking for a director-level marketing role, here’s the 3-minute version.

I grew up in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, then attended the University of Delaware. I double majored in Wildlife Conservation and Agriculture & Natural Resources, and double minored in Entomology and Journalism.

After college, I spent five years working as a field ornithologist. I studied Northern Spotted Owls in California, Cape Sable Seaside Sparrows in the Everglades, migratory shorebirds in Delaware, and Piping Plovers in Rhode Island; ran a food availability study for Northern Bobwhite in the Pine Barrens; and spent a season at a songbird banding station on Cape Cod.

Then, in January 2017, a new president took office and slashed funding for wildlife research and conservation. Almost overnight, my career path was plunged into uncertainty. Even as an employee of the federal government, it was clear that job security was no longer on the menu for conservation biologists.

I knew I needed to make a strategic pivot. And while I had some experience freelancing in PR, for the most part, my skill set consisted of capturing and banding wild birds. I’m a great writer, but let’s face it: my CV was a head-scratcher for most hiring managers.

I was living in Baltimore at the time, and went to the annual monument lighting downtown—a Christmas tradition in historic Mount Vernon. There are food vendors, musicians, and fireworks, and many of the offices in the neighborhood host cocktail parties you can pop in and out of.

At the first party, I happened to meet the CEO of a global publishing company. We had a great chat, but I didn’t think too much of it… until I ran into him at the second party, too. When I saw him at the third party, he said: “All right—this is a sign. Give me your contact info. We’re gonna get you a job.”

Two interviews later, I was officially employee #2 at Angels + Entrepreneurs, a not-yet-built online community for angel investors that would go on to become the biggest platform of its kind during my tenure.

My first day on the job, I learned that I already had a nickname at the office: Bird Girl. But despite my unconventional background, I moved up the ranks from editor, to managing editor, to editorial coordinator, to Director of Content. After three incredible years at A+E, I made the difficult but exciting decision to accept a role at Republic as their Director of Content Marketing. A year later, I made the move to DealMaker, where I was eventually promoted to Senior Marketing Director.

Over the years, I’ve had some incredibly unique experiences… Shooting an hour-long promo video alongside Shark Tank’s Daymond John. Ghostwriting content for famous influencers and VCs. Completely rebuilding a company’s broken, boring brand. Organizing and emceeing huge national conferences. Helping startups raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

Now it’s time for me to move on to my next adventure. I’m looking for a company with a clear mission, a strong identity, and a healthy, constructive, energizing culture. If that sounds like your company or one you know, please don’t hesitate to reach out. And if you’re an executive, founder, VC, angel investor, or influencer looking to level up your personal brand, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve built and executed viral thought leadership frameworks for dozens of online personalities, including Neil Patel, David Weisburd, and multiple Sharks.

So drop me a line. Let’s see what we can accomplish together.

Nice to meet you. 👋

“Laura and I worked together for several years beginning in 2019. She was actually the first employee hired to launch Angels & Entrepreneurs, which ended up being one of our most successful franchises at 120k+ front end subscribers.

Unlike other conventional publishing groups where no one actually cares if your subscribers invest in XYZ stock, Laura’s copy had to convince our readers to invest in companies where it really made a difference. Often a startup’s funding round depended on our members taking action, and we couldn’t lock in new founders for future content without a track record of results.

Laura collaborated with founders directly, learned about their business, visited them on-site, and wrote deal briefings for each funding launch… Laura had to dive deep into the startup itself – the entrepreneur, competitors, the market, the product fit, revenue projections, the dreaminess of being an angel investor, etc. The entire big picture of it all, and always a balance of the romance and the rational.

Laura was responsible for an incredibly high volume of both editorial and marketing content, both of which were some of the strongest I’d seen in my career.”

— Jessica Sheppard, Publishing Director

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