At Exterior Medics, values, attitude, and potential will get you hired over experience any day, and our approach has been a significant part of our success as a company. Lauren Edwards, one of our home-grown achievers, worked her way up the ranks with energy, enthusiasm, and a will to achieve. After a year of taking on new responsibilities centered around the role of human resources, we finally landed on a title that fits the position she has grown into. Lauren is our Head of Culture and Organizational Strategy!
From Hawaii to Heavy Traffic
Lauren came to us from a job in the hospitality industry. We wouldn’t be honest if we didn’t admit that we’re a little jealous of the time she spent bartending on the beaches of Hawaii. But family and a more office-based career called her to Northern Virginia, and we were lucky enough to interview her eight years ago for the position of production assistant. Lauren wasn’t a good fit for that position, but we were so impressed with her that we offered her a job as an administrative assistant, and she joined our team in 2013.
“Not very often do I cross paths with someone who has such an earnest and affectionate demeanor. Lauren's vivacity immediately prompted us to find room at our company for her. Eight years later, we could not be happier!”
- Mark Watson, Co-Owner at Exterior Medics
Not Afraid of the New
From the outset, Lauren demonstrated the spirit we love to see in our team – helpful, curious, willing to learn, improve and take on new challenges. She worked her way up to Sales Coordinator, which she handled with absolute professionalism, leading her team to year-over-year growth. In 2019, it became clear that a returning team member, Josie Hanna, would be an excellent fit for the sales coordinator team’s leadership. We asked Lauren to help transition Josie into that role and take on new responsibilities with the company. Lauren loved the unique opportunity. She started working with our General Manager, Ricardo Castillo, learning the ropes of human resources and other management duties.
Lauren has been focusing on the employee experience throughout their time with Exterior Medics, from the interview to onboarding, development, promotion, and retention. Her goal is to make the experience positive and consistent with the company’s core values. For Lauren, good communication and connection are crucial to success. She has been working hard to make sure all the team feels integrated and involved in the company culture. This big picture view helps her with another responsibility – the company CRM (customer relationship manager) program, which she manages—intending to leverage its cross-productivity and consistency tools across departments.
Great Leadership Births New Leaders
For Lauren, her role has been an extraordinary chance to acquire new skills and stretch herself. She appreciated having input into finding the right name for her title and shaping the job to fit the needs of the company. For her, the process has been a perfect example of how the company brings its people along, giving them the chance to grow, which, in turn, helps the company move forward. According to Lauren, “I’m encouraged to be the best version of myself. Joe and Mark are open to change which lets people grow and helps move the company forward. They reward achievement and also accept mistakes and help me learn from them because they trust that I want to improve.”
“The pleasure I've had to work beside Lauren for going on eight years has been a ride. We are pleased to have her in the role of Head of Culture and Organizational Strategy. I see our company going to the moon very soon with her at the helm.”
- Joe Levecchi, Co-Owner at Exterior Medics
Never Be Ashamed of Who You Are
Originally from northern New Jersey, Lauren lives in Woodbridge, VA, and loves to cook. She adores her dog, Sasha the husky, who takes her on adventures every weekend. A water lover, Lauren loves fishing and boating as well. In the car, she listens to true crime podcasts, about which she tells us she is not ashamed. We can’t imagine any reason for Lauren to be ashamed given her outstanding development on the Exterior Medics team, and we are so excited to see what she does in her new role.
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