James Lawrence

President/Founder

Power Automedia

CEO of Digital Media company in the Automotive Aftermarket.

Chief Executive Officer

Happy Companies

In the new era of work, building effective teams is more important than ever to organizational performance. Happy enhances organizational culture, communication and manager effectiveness at scale – making your people your competitive advantage. Happy is a coaching platform that uses behavioral science & AI to build a user manual for your entire team in less than 10 minutes.

CEO & Cofounder

Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA)

As SEMA's Chairman of the board, I worked with the SEMA Board of Directors, provide leadership to the SEMA's CEO and SEMA Executive Management team, and helped lead the SEMA Association toward the future. SEMA is the #1 automotive aftermarket association in the world representing more than $50B of revenue.

SEMA Chairman of the Board

SpeedVideo

CEO of subscription-based Live Streaming Motorsports Network. Sold to FloSports in 2021.

Select Council Leadership, FLN/Young Executives Network (YEN) at SEMA. Responsible for helping lead the Young Executive Network/FLN within SEMA along with the select council and Chairman.

Select Council Leadership, SEMA Future Leader Network

ProMedia Publishing LLC

Founder of event production/media business. Also I was responsible for charting the strategic direction for the company, new business development, acquisitions, financial operations, marketing including digital, print, radio, TV; and also oversaw media/publishing/content.

MotorTrend Group

As an editor for the Ford Media Group within Petersen Publishing (now TEN/Discovery/Motor Trend). I planned, coordinated, and developed a wide array of content.

Editor

I believe in PEOPLE.. and believe a great TEAM is the most important competitive advantage.

🌟 I'm focused on reinventing the future of work and how technology and people can work together to improve organizational culture. 🌟

I'm currently the Cofounder of Happy, a coaching platform that enhances organizational culture, communication and manager effectiveness at scale – making people a true competitive advantage. Happy uses behavioral science & AI to build a user manual for your entire team in less than 10 minutes.

💌 Want to chat? Send me a message or reach out to me at james@happycompanies.com

My journey to leadership wasn't straightforward. Early in my career, I learned the hard way that authority doesn't come from a title; it comes from genuinely understanding and connecting with your team. 

I've got an interesting background:
-launched four startups
-former CEO of Power Automedia
-former Chairman of the Specialty Equipment Manufacturing Association
-Earned two national championships in auto racing
-Earned two youth football championships as a head coach

I'm married to my amazing wife Melissa, and father to three kids–Bradley, Jordan and Taylor. 

When I'm not leading our team at Happy or spending time with my family, you'll find me:

-coaching youth football
-driving a race car faster than 200 mph
-diving into one of my favorite books, which range from "The Hard Thing About Hard Things" by Ben Horowitz to "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey.

I love public speaking on topics like innovation, leadership, organizational culture, and technology. 

I believe the cornerstone of every successful organization is its people. 

My mission is to unlock the power of human connection and happiness at work, using disruptive technology and innovative thinking. I love the process of creating things and collaborating with entrepreneurs, executives, and visionaries to solve real problems and improve the quality of work relationships.

University of Southern California

- Manage content calendar, including creation of assets, copy and tracking link, leading to a YoY increase of 296.51% in website clicks over the past 6 months through all social channels.
- Oversee social media campaigns and content creation for all social channels aligned with brand objectives and marketing goals, leading to a YoY increase of 7.62% in engagement over the past 6 months through all social channels
- Prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual reports on the university’s social media engagement
- Manage and monitor USC’s online community of 1.4M+ followers on tagged posts, DMs and comments
- Created engaging Reels and short-form content that increased TikTok shares by 133% and engagement by 43.52%, Instagram engagement by 61% and views by 86% within 6 months, using trending formats to resonate with diverse audiences

Social Media Specialist

Wayfarer Studios

• Proficiently evaluate and provide detailed coverage for 10+ diverse projects, demonstrating keen insight in narrative structure, character development, and thematic resonance, contributing to the studio's dynamic project selection and greenlighting process.
• Actively participate in Wayfarer Studios' story development phase, offering constructive feedback and recommendations that shape the direction of projects, showcasing an ability to understand and amplify diverse voices and storytelling perspectives.

Script Reader

• Conceive influencer campaigns for the Man Enough podcast and create decks, resulting in a 40% increase in engagement from target audiences, driving substantial growth in podcast listenership and brand recognition
• Ideate innovative social concepts that effectively engaged digital audiences while adhering to brand guidelines, increasing followers by 22% on Instagram and TikTok
• Develop and execute comprehensive audience testing survey instruments for a tentpole movie, targeting a diverse sample of 500 participants to gather data and use it to develop the marketing strategy
• Derive and present actionable insights for marketing strategy by cleaning, tabulation and analysis of audience testing data through the use of advanced statistical techniques
• Build and deliver executive-level presentation decks, showcasing potential brand partnerships, resulting in successful high-value collaborations and enhanced brand visibility

Marketing Coordinator

Mighty Joy

- Support the development and management of affiliate marketing strategies and other creator initiatives 
- Lead creator sourcing and outreach efforts for multiple clients like Airalo, L’Oréal, Go Brewing and Rabbit Air, across multiple industries, handling budgets of up to $500k
- Maintain relationships with brands and creators ensuring the clear communication of key campaign initiatives
- Analyze performance data, contributing to the optimization and growth of campaigns, leading to a decrease in CAC by 30% for Airalo

Creator Coordinator

• Build, manage and maintain a content calendar to ensure timely and strategic publication across multiple social media platforms, particularly LinkedIn, to bolster online presence, engage with the target audience, drive traffic, and generate leads through compelling content and proactive community interaction
• Translate marketing strategies and consumer insights into compelling, creative concepts that resonate with the target consumer while remaining on brand
• Create and manage top-of-funnel content to build product awareness and support business objectives
• Partner with Sales, Product Marketing, and Engineering teams to leverage messages and orchestrate go-to-market strategies
• Work closely with outside agencies to build and execute media strategies
• Handle end-to-end marketing campaign executions, including media planning, campaign setup, and post-launch monitoring
• Analyze and report on campaign performance, providing insights and recommendations to leadership
• Conduct keyword research, ensure SEO optimization of online content, and incorporate analytics data into content development

Content Marketing Manager

AG Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

• Proactively monitored industry trends and crafted engaging social content for emerging platforms, resulting in a 32% increase in social media engagement
• Manage and maintain content calendar, including writing copy and creating assets, resulting in a 16% increase in followers
• Developed insight-driven social media activations, leading to a 50% increase in user engagement and a 30% uplift in follower growth.
• Advised on influencer strategies, boosting campaign reach by 70% and establishing relationships with 10 celebrity sports advocates.

Social Media Strategist

University of Southern California - Marshall School of Business

• Graduate teaching assistant to the Director of the M.S. in Marketing Program, Dr. Diane Badame, for two classes - 'Branding Strategy' and 'CMO on Shareholder Value'
• Grade academic papers and assignments for two classes of 70 students each, maintaining a consistent 100% on-time grading rate, contributing to timely feedback and student academic progress
• Provide dedicated support and guidance on thesis projects for 120+ students, resulting in students successfully meeting their project milestones and receiving positive evaluations

Graduate Teaching Assistant

- Author and publish over blog articles on topics of interest for international students, leading to a 35% increase in website traffic, enhancing student community interaction
- Spearhead the email marketing initiatives, crafting and sending bi-weekly newsletters to a community of 13,000 students, achieving an average open rate of 45%

Communications Editor

Fankind

• Strategize marketing campaigns using data for all social media platforms and conducted performance tracking against set KPIs, increasing conversions by 33%
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders through the lifecycle of content development for multiple celebrity projects, from strategy, positioning, content ideation, concepting, scripting, production, routing, and posting to delivery of approved assets across all social channels, increasing impressions by 52%
• Led copywriting efforts for compelling captions, stories and memes across digital media platforms, adhering to the brand personality and voice, increasing social engagement among Gen Z audience by 24%
• Brainstorm with cross-departmental teams to develop and execute unique, impactful campaigns across traditional and emerging platforms to deliver on fundraising targets, drove 27% increase in revenues

Brand Marketing Associate

My professional drive: When pondering my dream superpower, I'd sift through the usual suspects — flying, superhuman strength, invisibility — but would discard them all. Instead, I envisioned another alter ego, 'Story Girl'. She wouldn’t be out there saving the world, but she would hold the power of empathy. She would walk miles and miles in others’ shoes, understanding their experiences, aspirations, and challenges. I firmly believe that stories have the power to ignite love, foster understanding, and inspire the extraordinary. In my professional life, this is precisely what I strive to do. I step into the consumers' world, seeing through their eyes, feeling with their hearts. From this vantage point, I craft narratives that do more than just sell; they make people fall in love with brands.

In my role, I blend imaginative storytelling with data-driven insights. This approach helps me create content that people don’t just see and hear, but truly feel and remember. Every post and video is an opportunity to make a lasting connection. My goal is to elevate brands, transforming them from simple choices to indispensable elements in customers' lives. I thrive in teams that promote insight, imagination and a healthy disregard for the impossible. 

A little about myself: They say, “you’re the books you read, the films you watch, the music you listen to, the people you meet, the places you’ve been, the dreams you dream, and the conversations you have” - a motley of experiences have coloured my existence, and one of my biggest goals is to personify a name so unique that it sounds a bit like my parents created it from a bag of Scrabble tiles. I’m a cinephile, a history enthusiast, an empath, a Potterhead, a daughter, a believer, a conversationalist, a friend and a student – forever learning.

Skills: Asana, Notion, HubSpot, Sprinklr, Sprout Social, Google Ads, Canva, Adobe Creative Suite, Python, R, Google Analytics, Tableau, Lookr Studio

Specialties: Copywriting | Data Analytics | Data Visualization | Marketing Campaign Development | Business Development | Product Positioning | Product Launch | Go-to-Market Strategy | Social Media Marketing | Content Marketing | Market Research

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James Lawrence

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