Lauren Reed - Stepping Away To Lead Better: Lessons From an 18-Month Sabbatical

Lauren Reed is the Founding Partner of REED Public Relations, a full-service public relations and marketing agency. In her role, she leads strategy, business growth, and team development, drawing on expertise in communications, agency leadership, workplace culture, and cause marketing. Lauren also speaks and writes about entrepreneurship, burnout, and building a business that can thrive beyond its founder. In this episode… Some entrepreneurs have always known they would one day build a company. Others arrive there only after a decision forces them to trust themselves before the path is fully clear. What does it look like when an unplanned business becomes a catalyst for personal and professional growth? Communications strategist Lauren Reed began her career convinced entrepreneurship was too risky, shaped by what she saw growing up around the highs and lows of business ownership. When circumstances at her agency shifted, she left with no plan to start a company, only to find clients, mentors, and opportunities appearing almost immediately. Over time, Lauren moved from cautious founder to EO member, speaker, author, and leader willing to step away from the day-to-day so her team could rise. She maintains that building a sustainable company requires enough trust to stop being at the center of everything. In this episode of The Decision, Robert Hartline sits down with Lauren Reed, Founding Partner of REED Public Relations, to discuss stepping away from the business to rediscover her role as a leader. Lauren shares why a 90-day sabbatical became 18 months, how spiritual exploration shaped her next chapter, and what changed when she returned with deeper trust in her leadership team.