COVER STORY INNOVATORS
“ I have an innate art background. I’m able to pair that with the analytics part of online marketing. Creativity and analytics go really well together.”
A PASSION FOR ART MEETS A FLAIR FOR MARKETING LAUREN JOHNSON ’01
Lauren Johnson ’01 always knew that she wanted to start her own company — it was just a matter of what it would be and when it would happen.
the globe, most people have been forced to shop online due to store closures,” Johnson explains. “We essentially turned into a digital, paperless society overnight.”
In 2019, that lifelong ambition was realized when Johnson founded The Hyacinth Group, a Hudson Valley-based online marketing and branding agency, where she is both founder and CEO. “We turn browsers into buyers,” Johnson says. “Our mission is to engage online consumers. We do this by assisting brands in connecting to the digital consumer while enhancing the online customer experience by merging data analytics and creativity.”
This meant that online marketing experts, like Johnson, were needed more than ever, especially to help small businesses survive. She notes that last summer’s renewed focus on the Black Lives Matter movement and the importance of supporting Black entrepreneurs and Black-owned businesses afforded her the opportunity to “work with people who might not have been open to partnering and collaborating with me.”
The ability to be creative is an essential part of this alumna’s identity. “I’ve been painting and drawing my whole life,” she explains. In fact, she chose to attend Masters because of the School’s strong art program and won the Lynda Wyatt Chissell ’64 Art Award in her her senior year. “I have an innate art background,” Johnson explains. “I’m able to pair that with the analytics part of online marketing. Creativity and analytics go really well together.” After working for more than 10 years in the digital space with top brands such as Victoria’s Secret and Steve Madden and receiving a master’s degree in entrepreneurship from LIM College, Johnson decided several years ago that it was time to strike out on her own as a consultant. Soon after, she knew the time was right to start her business. The company’s name was inspired by her grandmother, whose name was Hyacinth. “It’s a very Jamaican name,” Johnson, whose full name is Lauren Rose-Marie Hyacinth Johnson, notes. “My legacy is my Jamaican roots.” Six months after The Hyancinth Group was founded, the COVID-19 pandemic struck. “As COVID-19 continues to sweep
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Johnson’s creative director is alumnus Perry Crosson ’02, whom she has known since middle school. And although Johnson, Crosson and her team work with companies around the globe, the founder and CEO is particularly proud of the local businesses that The Hyacinth Group has worked with, including A Little Beacon Blog, Farm2ChefsTable, and fellow Masters alumna and artist Charlotte Mouquin Voznesenskaya ’00. When explaining her team’s “unique ability to ‘think outside the box,’” Johnson expresses deep pride in the logo they created for A Little Beacon Blog’s Black-Owned Hudson Valley directory. The black and white logo is inspired by a building in Newburgh, New York, that was home to the Alsdorf Academy, a music and dance school founded by Professor Dubois Alsdorf, the son of a freed slave. Like the flower that bears its name, Johnson’s company continues to bloom, thanks in no small part to the entrepreneur’s creativity, pragmatism and drive. And, when asked what advice she would give to Masters students who are thinking about their future careers, her recommendation is simple: “Don’t be afraid to learn and grow. With innovation, you’re always learning and you always have to be open to it.”