多年来，她一直负责菜单策略和创新，以及麦当劳外卖业务. 如果你喜欢麦香脆三明治, 酪乳脆皮, or any of the new Burger recipes over the past five years, 你得感谢劳伦和她的团队. 晋升为总经理, she was recently promoted to Field Vice President for the Columbus Field Office. 她现在负责1,整个俄亥俄州有200家餐厅, 宾夕法尼亚州西部, 西维吉尼亚州, 肯塔基和田纳西, 管理着公司40亿美元的销售额，监督着从运营、营销到人事和慈善事业的方方面面.

Lauren, who came to Ellis for her 上学校 years, earned a B.A. in art history in 2004 and an MBA in 2009, both from the University of Notre Dame. 去年10月，她会见了澳门新葡新京官方大学的营销和传播总监以及校友协调员，谈论了她是如何塑造自己的职业生涯的, and how Ellis gave her the confidence to go for it.

Everybody’s got a childhood memory of the brand. That core truth and what it meant to me was an initial draw, 尤其是在那个时候, the brand had lost relevance and resonance with my generation. And I liked the idea of being a problem solver within such a big company. I had also worked in fine dining in Pittsburgh and I love food, 我喜欢热情好客, 我喜欢服务业的活力. 在商学院，我的学位是市场营销, 在我们项目的第一年，(麦当劳的)首席策略师和首席营销官对开心乐园餐的业务做了一个案例研究. 我的同事们就如何扭转企业的下滑轨迹提出了建议, 一切进展顺利. 我找到了首席战略师，他是圣母大学校友，我说‘我需要在麦当劳找份工作. 我怎样才能迈出第一步呢?’ I was incredibly thankful that the Notre Dame alumni network kicked in. Plus, the McDonald's system has a very family centric culture and value system. He opened up his network and let me interview throughout the company.

Ultimately I was hired by [Ronald McDonald House Charities]. My goal was to stay there for a year and then to move on to the brand side, 但我喜欢这份工作和这个团队. 我很快就升职了. 我在那里待了四年. 在这一点上, 我想我在美国企业政治中获得了一些悟性，说出了我真正想做的事情, which was to work closer to the food and closer to the brand. I got a job on the menu team managing the burger category. 菜单方面是业务的核心，我当时正在做菜单策略和开发工作. I’ve had my fingerprints all over a lot of food innovation in the past five years. For instance, the chicken sandwich is a billion-dollar business in the U.S., so to say that you’ve had that kind of scale to your work is cool.

菜单是一个通用的管理功能. 你需要做大量的消费者情报来告诉你下一步你想玩什么，我们可以扩展到14,在美国有1000家餐馆.S. 然后，你要在我们的设计团队和供应商网络中找出你是否真的能把这个想法变成现实. 然后，我认为真正有趣的是，你如何在餐馆里把它变成现实. You’re really seeing and steering the whole business on menu: the supplying of it, 它的融资, 它的操作化, 还有加盟商对它的背书.

在2021-2022年，我需要做出一个决定，我是想成为公司的一名营销官，还是想留在现在的位置. 我想做更多的综合管理工作, 所以我参加了加速运营项目，从餐厅层面学习我们的业务是如何运作的. Then I got placed here [in Pittsburgh] about a year ago as an Operations Officer. 我一开始是该地区的首席运营官，后来他们把我提升为现场副总裁. 在这个角色中, 我监督大约1人,该地区有200家餐厅, 约150家加盟商, and a big team that ensures we are getting the most out of the business. 这就像坐过山车一样.

Our company has a five value system built into it; Serve and Community are two of those core values. It’s an expectation that everyone at the company, 我们的供应商和所有的特许经销商, 遵守这些价值观. Community service takes all sorts of shapes and forms throughout the company. 我们是一家全球性企业，所以任何时候，只要有与天气有关的重大需求, 我们立即保证向红十字会提供支持. 我们还有一辆移动卡车，在自然灾害情况下运送食物和水.

麦当劳之家慈善机构是该组织的慈善选择，所以我们从公司和特许经营商那里做的很多慈善都是针对这个的. Our franchisees do their own community work as well. 我们知道拱门更亮, 可以这么说, when we’re very entrenched in the communities we serve. 许多特许经营商在他们的餐厅举办“麦克老师之夜”活动，通过收益筹集资金回馈学校. 许多人还向青少年体育项目捐款. 还有一些经营者为癌症事业筹集资金，因为他们的某位员工可能正在与某种癌症作斗争. 

安全、自信. 澳门新葡新京官方是一个不像传统高中或电影高中那样受欢迎的地方. 就好像你取得的成绩越多，你就越聪明，你在学校里就越酷. 这给了你做自己的许可，让你感到最自信. I think that translated throughout my early career and up until now, 成为一个真实的人, 真正的, 你是独一无二的领导者. In this new role everyone keeps telling me, 'You’re a breath of fresh air. 你很好聊. 我们可以进行正确的对话.’ In the middle of that kind of interaction, you generally find solutions. I never tried to be somebody I wasn’t when I was at Ellis, and I think this place gave you full license and permission to do that. At Notre Dame I went through a bit of asking, 'do I need to fit in?你的班级从33个女生变成了2个女生,000人的男女同校环境, 你发现自己在问, “我需要成为不同的人吗??’ But at the end of the day you work through that, and the foundation I had [at Ellis] quickly came back.

When I was at Ellis I worked at La Charcuterie, which was a French deli on Ellsworth. 我是个保姆. 我是一名滑雪教练. 我来告诉你, 从小在客户服务部门工作中获得的街头智慧是无价的. I didn’t get where I am in my career because I was an academic. 我的好奇心是充满活力的——我确实喜欢挖掘更多的信息和见解——但在一天结束的时候，它是理解页面上的东西是如何从页面上出来并转化为我们的经济结构的. 麦当劳提供的食物相当于美国的一份.S. 每10天人口. 你为各行各业的顾客服务. 在匹兹堡东区长大, 在澳门新葡新京官方, you kind of are in a bubble of a certain socioeconomic status. 当你在麦当劳做市场营销的时候, 你很快就学会了如何上诉, 达到, and communicate to all—all different personalities, 收入水平, 克利多斯. 在餐厅层面，你也要这样做，像你希望被对待的那样对待每个人.

我在这里打长曲棍球和曲棍球, and I ended up playing lacrosse at Notre Dame as a scholarship athlete. 当你在一所小学校，你是获胜团队的一员，它带来了一定程度的声望. 这对我来说太棒了, to have that level of prowess and compete against other top athletes from Sewickley, 福克斯教堂, 和背阴面. 我喜欢成为这个网络的一部分. 我喜欢Genny Kozusko，她是当时的教练，以及她带给赛场的精神. But more than that, it was honestly the ability to do it all. 我是一名踢踏舞演员，我参加了所有的戏剧，我参加了欢乐合唱团，我做陶艺，我弹钢琴. 我尽了我所能. 这是一种允许，你可以把自己伸展到你想去的地方，尤其是在一个小的学校环境中. 每个人都参与进来，这最终让我对自己的能力有了信心，我可以努力做到这一切. My husband still gives me flack for trying to do it all. 我们有五个孩子. 我跑了五次马拉松. 我现在打网球. 这就是澳门新葡新京官方! 它是在这里培养的.

I actually really like the slogan "Where Girls Soar.“这就是你可以做任何事情的信念, and you have the support network giving you the push to do it and then 达到 higher. 一切都是那么的滋养. 我是天主教徒，在圣. Edmunds and [at Ellis] I think I was one of just a few practicing Catholics. 我从来没谈过我的信仰, 甚至是家庭价值体系, 但人们很自然地接受了, natural camaraderie that was akin to my belief systems. 确定, 有朋友群, 但大家都聚在一起，相处得很好, 尤其是到了大三和大四.

A lot of times I’m the only woman in a room at work. The voice I gained as part of being an Ellis student really made me confident. I was at the summit last week in Las Vegas for managers, 我们为女性操作员举办了一场活动, which is a minority—it’s probably 20% women owned. 我谈到了我是如何去一所女子学校的，以及女性支持女性的主题, 哪些仍然非常重要. I do have an almost completely women leadership team right now; my two operations officers, 我的人事主管, 我的营销主管都是女性.

做独一无二的你. Don’t be afraid to show up for who you are but also explore who you want to become. 我公司里成功的领导, 我想在任何地方, 是真实的, 真正的, 独特的个性. Playing the political game and fabricating who you are will only get you so far. 这就是我的建议.