The Professional Lauren Shipman
As SME Employee #2, Lauren has been with Luke and SME from the beginning. She is the glue, the grease, and the wizard behind the curtain for the company. As Luke puts it, “There would be no SME today without Lauren. Behind every visionary stands an operator—the person who makes the trains run and who turns the vision into day-to-day reality and success. That person is Lauren and it has been since it was just the two of us and especially now when we’re close to twenty.”
Among other areas, Lauren is responsible for all client services and SME personnel. “Growing as fast as we have in the last several years, that essentially means I’m not only overseeing production but building teams ideally suited for each client and project,” Lauren explains. “We’re always looking to add industry-leading designers, content producers, and customer service managers to our team. But they have to come through me first!”
Lauren has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of San Diego, with an emphasis on marketing and entrepreneurship. That proved to be great preparation for SME. “After graduating, I wanted to help build a business the right way, to be involved in marketing, PR, sales, program administration, and research. That’s exactly what I found at SME.”
The Essential Lauren Shipman
Lauren is high energy—anyone who meets or talks with her knows that. She describes herself as an adventure seeker and she loves to travel.
Lauren and her husband live in San Francisco—she slipped our grasp in 2014 but we’re still trying to get the couple to come back to Denver. “I do love Denver and the Colorado lifestyle…and I miss it! I wouldn’t rule out our coming back at some point.”
Lauren and her family run a not-for-profit foundation in New Mexico to support ALS research in memory of a member of the family.