Hi, I'm Lauren!
Fractional CMO, AI-powered marketing strategist, trainer, and speaker.
I help businesses grow through strategic marketing leadership, and people are often curious how I got here. The short version: I have always chased the things where I can measure the results.
How I got here.
"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards."
Ballet
At 2.5 years old I saw a local ballet performance and fell in love. For the next 22 years I put 40+ hours a week into it, and learned to track my progress daily.
Spanish
A high school teacher encouraged me, and I majored in Spanish in college, including a full year studying in Spain and a summer job in Costa Rica. I measured progress by how well I could talk with locals.
A trilingual MBA
My love of languages led to an MBA program in Europe, and then to Brussels, where I worked in sales and marketing for a medical device company.
Burnout at 24
After three years of 60 to 70 hour weeks, I hit peak burnout on a train home to Brussels on my 24th birthday. This eventually led to me starting my own business, after I quit my short-lived corporate career.
London, UK
I trained for six months at a digital marketing agency, working with large global brands, and fell for fast-paced, results-driven digital marketing.
Denver, Colorado
I moved to Colorado for my husband's job and got really into hiking. I started summiting 14ers (14,000 ft mountains) solo, pushing myself a little higher each time and tracking every climb.
Long Covid
In 2020 I got really sick with Covid and entered a club I never wanted to be part of: long Covid. I leaned on my athletic background to rehab, tracking my progress one measurable step at a time, all while running a business. Eventually, I even started attempting 14er summits again.
Sundog Condo
I purchased my first short-term rental property, Sundog Condo, and enjoyed helping other people experience Colorado adventures, while running the marketing and customer experience from start to finish. I'm still working on expanding my Airbnb empire (so far it is one very cozy condo, but a girl can dream!).
AI training for marketing teams
I created the AI-Powered Marketing Department to fill a need I kept seeing with my clients. They wanted to put AI to work across their marketing, but needed training on how to do it with a clear strategy, a repeatable process, and measurable results. Today I train marketing leaders and their teams to do exactly that.
Neighborhood communication & social committee
I own properties in two areas where the communities felt disconnected, so I became the unofficial communication and social committee for both, putting my marketing skills to work. I spearheaded community websites, newsletters, and WhatsApp groups, and I organize regular social events.
Results I can track & improve.
Ballet, Spanish, marketing, 14ers, Airbnb, a long Covid recovery, and community building look like very different paths. Each one came down to the same thing: getting a result I could measure, and pushing myself a little further. That is the outcome I build for my clients too: marketing results they can see, and the momentum to keep growing.
Lauren Pawell helps businesses achieve breakthrough growth through strategic marketing leadership. As a Fractional CMO and AI-powered marketing strategist, she works with marketing leaders and their teams to build high-impact strategies that drive real results.
She has been featured in Copyblogger and has appeared as a guest expert for 90 Day Year Live, Freshbooks, and LeadPages. She has also served as guest faculty at the Laguna College of Art and Design and YoSan University.
Why AI-powered marketing?
After years as a Fractional CMO, the pattern is clear. The businesses that put their resources into strategic marketing initiatives, instead of surface-level tactics, are the ones that grow.
AI is no different. It works when it sits inside a strategy, a repeatable process, and a way to measure results. That is the idea behind the AI-Powered Marketing Department, where I train marketing leaders and their teams to turn AI into results they can measure.
Beyond marketing…
Outdoors
I have called Colorado home for over a decade, and I explore it almost every weekend. Hiking, camping, and new places with my husband and our two dogs. The cat holds down the fort at home.
Giving back
I have mentored with Big Brothers Big Sisters and Colorado Hosting Asylum Network. Showing up for people, listening, and helping them get where they want to go is some of the most meaningful work I have done outside of marketing.
Hosting
I have been an Airbnb Superhost for 12+ years, welcoming guests to Sundog Condo in Granby Ranch, Colorado. My goal is to help guests experience the Colorado I know and love, and to give them a 5-star stay they will want to come back to again and again.