𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗠𝘆 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 (𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟴): linkedin.com/feed

Not everyone can say they've known a powerhouse CMO since before kindergarten. Lauren grew up 7 houses down on Farmington Lane. Through high school. College. The early days of our careers in Murray Hill. Until she left for HBS, we never lived more than 3 blocks apart.

And yet we've never actually worked together. Except for one small project her old linkedin.com/feed team hired my agency to do. She's now been CMO, U.S. & Americas at linkedin.com/feed for 6+ years.

So how did someone I've barely worked with -- and am not related to (though she was famously my first girlfriend for just under 24 hours in 4th grade) -- have such a profound impact on my OS?

Simple. Lauren is the standard.

Smart. Driven. Kind in ways the rest of us can only aspire to. She was great at everything. Flute. Tennis. Academics. She doesn't chase the spotlight or need a stage to validate her success. She just does the work. Exceptionally.

Consistently.

She is loyal. To friends. To colleagues. To her company. And her family -- her parents, her brother, her husband -- are, unsurprisingly, among the best people you'll ever meet.

Which is why it was one of the great honors of my life to officiate her wedding. Outdoors. On Valentine's Day. In 24 inches of snow. Because she's also a little bit crazy.

Unlike many of the CMOs I know, Lauren doesn't need the noise. She's not performing leadership. She's living it.

And despite her steadfast refusal to appear on the linkedin.com/feed (an injustice that will someday be rectified), she can always be counted on. No matter the situation. No matter the circumstance. Even if it's just to laugh at another one of my bad jokes.

That kind of person is rare.

Lauren didn't teach me how to build a career. She showed me how to build a life -- and carry yourself through it with grace, purpose, and no shortage of unassuming excellence.