Lauri Ellen Smith is the communications director for Main Street America, the parent company of Old Dominion Insurance, and works at their new corporate headquarters in Jacksonville.
A CHANCE
“I was humbled and thrilled to get this position,” she said. “It’s such a great opportunity. Together with the New Hampshire office, MSA serves 16 states along the Eastern Seaboard. With an organization of this size, we have a lot of corporate needs, both internal and external.”
She started about a month ago. It’s a new position for the company,
“I’m intrigued by the insurance industry,” she said. “Being an independent insurance agent is a great career to be in if you want to achieve the ‘American Dream’ because you’re essentially running your own business.”
WHERE WERE YOU BEFORE?
Smith spent the last nine years at Brooks Health System as the company’s public affairs officer and director of marketing and communications. She has been asked to be a member of the board of the Brooks Health Foundation.
“You always want to feel that you’ve contributed something to your place of employment, and it means a lot to me that the management at Brooks would want to continue to work with me,” she said.
WHAT ORGANIZATIONS ARE YOU INVOLVED IN?
Smith is a member of Public Relations Society of America and is on the advisory board of the University of Florida’s School of Journalism. A member of the Chamber of Commerce’s Governmental Affairs Committee, Smith helped organize the Chamber trip to Washington, D.C.
“I was very impressed with what I learned on that trip,” she said. “My Chamber involvement has been wonderful; it’s a way to always expand your network.”
She is a member of the Junior League and Leadership Jacksonville, and hopes to get involved in Leadership Florida.
“I think it is so important to give back to the community,” Smith said. “And I’m fortunate that MSA is so completely supportive about their management being involved. It’s just good corporate citizenship.”
She’s involved in politics, having done work at the advocacy, consulting and lobbying levels. She most recently worked on Sheriff-elect John Rutherford’s campaign.
WORDS TO LIVE BY
“I always try to remember words from the baseball great Satchel Paige who said ‘Work like you don’t need the money, dance like nobody is watching and love like you’ve never been hurt,’” said Smith.
NEXT STEPS
“Right now I’m focusing on what I can do to make this opportunity more exciting and challenging in the same way that after nine years at Brooks, my job was still stimulating. I think that change for change’s sake is unhealthy. I try to remain in learning mode constantly, so that work itself is a reward.”
WHEN SHE’S
NOT WORKING
A Lakewood area resident, Smith enjoys tennis, swimming and dinner parties and road trips with friends.
“I’m blessed with wonderful friends,” she said.
And she plays “Auntie Mame” to four nieces.
— by Bailey White