I help nonprofits and purpose-driven organizations reduce friction in how they grow.

As Founder & CEO of Lake One, I lead a team of Digital Outfitters helping nonprofits, B Corps, and purpose-led businesses build sustainable growth systems built on HubSpot. Our work sits at the intersection of strategy, technology, and stewardship, connecting marketing, sales, and support so organizations can serve people better, not just scale faster.

Since 2014, I’ve partnered with founders and operators across nonprofit, healthcare, manufacturing, and technology, guiding them through the real work of digital transformation: aligning people, process, and platforms around a clear point of view.

My career began behind a microphone, as a DJ and later a reporter, where I learned how clarity and storytelling create trust. That experience still shapes how I lead today: designing systems that support humans, reduce friction, and enable better decisions over time.

I’m also a childhood cancer survivor and advocate. That experience deeply shaped how I think about stewardship, resilience, and the long view, and why I care so much about building systems that support people when things get hard, not just when they’re growing.

Outside of Lake One, you’ll usually find me rewilding my Minnesota yard, exploring trails, or supporting conservation and community efforts, reminders that growth only matters when it’s grounded in purpose.

Ryan Ruud

👋 I’m Laura King - mom, wife, people connector, executive recruiter, author, speaker, facilitator, coach, trusted advisor, mentor, mentee, lifelong learner, mover and shaker - yes, I am a lot of things. 

🔥 Join my Friday Peak of the Week, where we explore what it means to have career alignment, lead authentically, and build a life that feels as good as it looks.  https://www.lauraeking.com/peak-of-the-week

Award-winning executive recruiter (specializing in marketing) placing 500+ professionals since 2006. 30,000 interviews later, I can assess with precision extraordinary from ordinary. 

Founder of Marketers’ Community, drawing on decades of recruiting marketers, we bring together the best of the best marketer pros for learning, growth, and connection.

Executive Recruiter at SkyWater, where I conduct Sr-level marketing searches & am part of the DREAM TEAM of marketing & creative recruiters that know the best of the best in town. Seriously, try us. 

Author of Shine Brighter, published in July 2025 after 2.5 years clawing my way out of the darkness…

  what's the book about ??

  >>> through my 4 A's Framework (Awareness, Attitude, Action, Alignment) and the concept of "awakening," I guide you to reconnect with yourself. Most high achievers (including me) have built their entire sense of worth around being "human doings" rather than human beings. Transformation requires recognizing that you are not your achievements, your job title, or your last performance review. 

And yes, I’m *also* a coach/trusted advisor to execs that want to align their professional career for maximum impact, joy, and legacy. 

---

Personal interests: Walking in sunlight every chance I get, sauna and cold plunges every day, lifting heavy weights, meditation, spirituality, personal development, neuroscience (I love to read), gathering awesome people for live events, dancing, music, and playing with my 4 boys (ages 6, 8, 10, 13) and supporting my husband in the pursuit of our dreams…He made the leap from corporate to small business ownership with the opening of Rock U Music School in Woodbury, MN after our 4th son was born (yes, we were and still are kinda crazy)

LET'S CONNECT.

I love working with smart and interesting people on a mission to do good in this world!

If you have an immediate need for talent, ping me at lking@skywatersearch.com

If you want to get aligned in your career, find my accelerator program at lauraeking.com

Looking for the most energetic speaker for your next event? I’d LOVE to talk! More info on my website or DM me.

Laura King

April 2020. The world was shutting down, Brian looked at me and said…
What if we opened a music school????

In the middle of a pandemic...3 months after baby #4 had arrived...when everything felt uncertain. When logic said, "Probably not the best idea...." 

Well....good thing we didn’t listen to logic. 

In June 2021, Rock U Music School opened its doors in Woodbury. Today:
 🎸 300 students
 🎹 Guitar, piano, voice, DJ lessons
 🎤 Kids finding confidence
 🎶 Families finding community

It has been one of the hardest things, yet also one of the most meaningful (business owners, you know this)

Now Rock U Music School has been nominated for Woodbury Magazine’s “Best of Woodbury 2026” — Best Music School.

If Rock U (or myself, or Brian King) has impacted your family…
And if you believe in supporting small businesses chasing big dreams…
Or maybe you simply want to help two slightly crazy dreamers who started a school during COVID…

👉 Would you take one minute and vote for us?

Vote here:
https://lnkd.in/gAus9z5X

New this year >>> you can vote once per day between now and February 28th, so if you want to help us rack up votes… come back anytime! 

Thank you for supporting Rock U!!

And tell me in the comments: what’s a dream you started when the timing didn’t make sense?

Let’s celebrate bold beginnings 🎶

Executive Recruiter | Author & Speaker | Mom x4 | Closing the Gap Between Who Leaders Are & How They Show Up | SHINE BRIGHTER

We’re in a big moment for leadership!

I was re-reading the Go-Giver (yes, for the 4th time) over the weekend.

Don’t know the Go-Giver? Bob Burg wrote this incredible book about shifting your focus from getting to giving is the most radical thing you can do.

AND -I’ve seen the givers out on display SO MUCH in 2026...

People going out of their way for others. People connecting with people out the goodness of their hearts...

The connector who makes an introduction just because she can.
The friend who sends you a voice memo saying “I see you” and “I’m proud of you”
The cheerleader in the comments when no one else is clapping.

The Go-Givers. Because we are in a leadership moment. A BIG one. And people are watching how we show up…

Are we hoarding? Or are we pouring out?
Are we protecting our little corner? Or are we expanding the table?

These people who've decided that when the world gets more divisive, it calls for more generosity, not less.
When the world contracts, Go-Givers EXPAND.

Who in your world is modeling this right now? Who's expanding when everything around them is contracting?

You don’t need to tag them. Rather, tell them. Send them a note to recognize them. Uplift them. Tell them you see what they’re doing and it matters.

Let's celebrate the leaders who are showing up in real life, not just when it’s for show.

Shoutout to Aaron Eggert and Stacey Stratton, two huge GO-GIVERs in this community. I am so lucky to learn from you both.

And to YOU - you the go-giver -- thank you for showing up!

Thank you for making us believe in a better future, one leader at a time 💛

I love searches like this one.

I'm partnering with the CEO of a well-established travel and experiences company to find a Head of Marketing who will help take the business to the next level.

Think:
• scaling demand
• expanding partnerships
• building a modern growth engine

This is a high-impact, highly visible leadership role with a lot of upside.

I'm looking for someone who operates well within small, entrepreneurial organizations, with high energy and a passion for the category.

If you're a growth-minded leader who loves turning great businesses into category leaders, let's talk.

(in-office culture, Twin Cities)

Job Description:
https://lnkd.in/gEmqQ8UT


Katy Thieman  Rachel Thrune  Andrea Anderson, SPHR  

Go Marketing!

Open article: Head of Marketing - SkyWater Search by skywatersearch.com

Are you changing and feeling scared? 

For the last 3 years, some people in my life thought I was a little…off track.

Sometimes I agreed with them. I was changing, and some days felt completely out of my mind.

I was following a nudge…a pull in a direction I had no roadmap for. And yet I also had a "you're exactly where you're supposed to be" feeling that made ZERO logical sense.

I remember how “old Laura” did things by forcing, exerting, and working from panic/anxiety. Huge imposter syndrome. Overthinking everything. Not confident. 

And “new Laura” doesn’t work from a feeling of lack and limitation anymore. I never, ever could have predicted all that’s unfolding today when this re-wiring began to occur. 

And here's what I want you to hear today…because I know you know the feeling….the breakdown that nearly broke me? It became the blueprint. What feels like the end of the world...my goodness its because it's launching you into something so wildly fantastic your brain can't begin to comprehend. 

In tomorrow's Peak of the Week, I'm sharing how "old Laura: became "new Laura", what cracked open during my "dark night of the soul" in 2023, and what's building now, making me more convinced than ever of the goodness of the future (for all choosing to grow)

It’s my most honest one yet.

→ Subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/gUGndFzi

 📷 "Women Who Lead" powerhouses Margaret Murphy Angie Andresen Jill Renslow Meredith Clause and a very terrified Laura King hosting this Marketers'​ Community event (bc my mentor taught me to "do it scared") - can anyone guess what year this is??? 

Two things can be true 🙂 The path forward rarely looks like you planned. And it's often better than you could have imagined.

After thousands of recruiting conversations, I noticed something.

The most expensive problems inside organizations are almost never the ones anybody talks about out loud.

They're the ones that stopped getting talked about at all.

The high performer who stopped offering ideas six months ago because the last time she did, nothing actually happened. 

The VP who's been "accountable" for a major initiative for two years but genuinely isn't sure if he has permission to make the final call.

The person who told me (and I will never forget this) -- I used to be so proud of my work here. Now I just… complete tasks.

Complete tasks.
That's what happens to someone who used to care deeply about what they were building.

I spent 15 years as a recruiter on the outside of organizations, collecting these conversations. I could fill another book. Probably multiple books full of these stories. 

And it's quite sad. How many good people leave because of all the dysfunction that never got acknowledged.  And could have...

And that gap is where millions of dollars in lost productivity quietly disappear every year.

This week's newsletter is about what those conversations actually taught me. 
And what leaders can start listening for before it's too late.

Join us 👇https://lnkd.in/gUGndFzi

I don't mean to be all doom and gloom, but it's time to wake up. Leaders - your people are your greatest asset. AI might be cool, but it's your people who are the heart of your business. 

We're at an important time in history... the leaders (imo) who show their human side... what they are personally struggling with... just being real and acknowledging "yes, we have some problems here, and we're committed to solving them, I'd really like your help" and actually mean it. 

Well, I think those companies will grow.

And these people.....THESE PEOPLE are some amazing people I know building companies and building movements that matter. 

Follow them, know them. I'll continue to highlight the leaders who make me want to be better and do better. And I encourage you to do the same. 

We can do so much better 💛  

Brian J. Adamek, CFP® Ryan Salsman Aramondo Davison Eric Jenson Andrea McMaster Ryan Burt Joe Dashow complements of Matt Beecher's space & Coalition9

Somewhere along the way, many adults decided:

“I’m not creative”

We labeled ourselves as analytical, operational, logical, responsible. 

But what if creativity isn’t the opposite of structure?
What if it’s the animating force inside it?

Think about the way you structure your calendar or design your morning routine.

The way you gather ingredients to make a meal or the way you encourage your child.

That’s all creative energy.

I’ve been sitting with this idea bc I just read Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act: A Way of Being at the same time watching my 10-year-old draw lately…the freedom to go into his imagination and complete lack of self-judgment with his creation. 

And it makes me wonder (myself included) when did we stop trusting that part of ourselves? 

What if creativity isn’t about becoming an artist…
What if it’s about just about the freedom to feel more alive?


📸Brody’s most recent drawing gotta love it

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The Battle

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Laura King's LinkedIn Performance

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