Lauren Fleischer W'11
What did you study at Penn, and when did you graduate?
I graduated from Wharton in 2011 and majored in both marketing and management.
How did you know you were interested in marketing?
For me, marketing provided the right combination of right-brained and left-brained thinking. I loved the idea of being able to think creatively while still getting to analyze data and learning how to manage a P&L. In my first few years at Wharton, I struggled to enjoy my classes until my second semester of sophomore year when I took Marketing 101. I feel like I was an entirely different student during the core classes my freshman and sophomore years vs. taking marketing classes my junior and senior years (and my grades reflected that!).
What were you involved with as an undergraduate?
As an undergraduate, I was primarily involved in Wharton Women and had the wonderful opportunity of serving as president in 2010. I was also in Soundworks Tap Factory, which was a really fun, creative outlet!
What was your favorite part of Penn/Wharton outside of classrooms and academics?
My favorite thing about Penn will always be the people. Even more than 10 years after graduating, many of my closest friendships are still the ones I formed at Penn. Being in a city like Philadelphia was also a highlight for me as I love to walk and Philly was a manageable and affordable city for a college student.
What advice do you wish you had known when you were an undergraduate?
Your time in college is fairly unstructured, which is so rare, and changes quickly when you graduate! Take advantage of this precious free time you have just to wander or hang with friends. It's easy, especially at Wharton, to feel like you need to be productive 24/7 and there's nothing wrong with some idle time. You'll miss it later!
What is your current career position, and where are you based?
I am currently based in the New York area and am an executive director of growth marketing in the Online division of The Estee Lauder Companies.
What past positions have you held throughout your career?
The first 10+ years of my career were spent in the food & beverage industry at companies like Kraft Foods, Mondelez International, and PepsiCo. I’ve been in a variety of marketing roles from traditional brand management to digital marketing. In 2015, as I saw eCommerce playing a bigger and bigger role in consumers’ lives (and my own), I pivoted into eCommerce marketing and haven’t looked back since. This past September, I joined the Online division of The Estee Lauder Companies and am excited to bring some of the lessons I’ve learned to a new industry.
What has been the proudest accomplishment of your career?
While I'm proud of the financial impact I've had on brands, I'm most proud of my work as a people manager. I really enjoy hiring new team members, coaching them, and helping them grow.
What has been the biggest challenge of your career?
Early in my career, I found it tough being the youngest person in the room. I looked very young (hopefully I still do!) and I found that people often incorrectly associated experience with intelligence. As a result, I often wasn't taken seriously. I once saw Ursula Burns, former CEO of Xerox, speak at the 92nd St Y in New York and she said something that stuck with me. When asked what bias or stereotype she felt impacted her most in her career, and I'm paraphrasing, she laughed and said that in the 80s, she was of course black, a woman, and an engineer… but you'd be surprised to discover that she felt most discriminated against because she was young.
Great ideas can come from anywhere and I'd encourage other young professionals to be resilient and proactive in sharing their creative ideas.
How has being a woman affected your career trajectory, if it has?
Being a woman has of course affected my career trajectory, in both positive and negative ways. On the plus side, I've had incredible female mentors who have provided endless guidance and support. Wharton Women was the start of female mentorship for me. Quick shout out to Randi Brosterman, W '81 and WG '88, and Grace McGregor, W' 10, who are two Wharton Women who have befriended and mentored me for almost 15 years!
How do you balance your personal life with your professional development?
I've found that COVID has been a cultural reset that has caused many people, myself included, to reevaluate their priorities. I am personally prioritizing my personal life in a way that I hadn't before. There have been so many downsides to being home, but I've also enjoyed not commuting and drastically reducing my business travel. I'm hopeful that new "hybrid" models will allow women to spend their time more efficiently and be able to be fully present in both their careers and their personal lives.
What is the best career advice you have received?
A mentor once told me I should ask myself 3 questions to evaluate any new opportunity.
Is this role strategically important to the company?
Am I going to learn in this role?
Will this role open up future opportunities for me?
I've often found that you can't predict when new opportunities will present themselves, so having these questions to help structure my decision-making has been invaluable.
Where do you see yourself in a few years?
I find myself feeling most fulfilled when I'm building something from the ground up. I enjoy building new marketing capabilities, whether that marketing is driven by new technology, new measurement, tools new talent skillsets, etc. Digital marketing is rapidly changing, so it's tough to say where I'll be, but I will certainly go back to those 3 questions (strategic importance, learning, future opportunities) when considering my next move.
What's your favorite thing to do for fun?
I like to experiment with at least one creative project at all times outside of work. Last year, it was interior design after buying a house and spending lots of time working from home. In prior years, I've had an email newsletter and taken improv classes.
What's your favorite food?
Tough to pick just one, but it likely involves some sort of carbs. Pasta, bagels, pizza, rice? I booked and later canceled a trip to Japan in 2020 that I had to cancel, but I'm hopeful I can finally go one day to go and eat sushi in Tokyo!
What's your favorite place you've ever traveled to?
I was fortunate to spend nearly 6 months in Rhode Island while working remotely in 2020. I felt so lucky to have such a beautiful, peaceful place to stay during a stressful year. I can’t wait to go back this summer!