our team
We are a small-but-mighty team, helping our clients make a difference while achieving their goals. Get to know us!
Laura McDonald
President
Laura McDonald has over 16 years of experience as a marketing and event leader. After managing marketing, event and training efforts for an international company for eight years, Laura began utilizing her skills to support both nonprofit and for-profit organizations as owner and operator of Impressions Marketing and Events. She has managed the planning and execution phases of over 130 events, and supported marketing efforts for more than 40 organizations.
At Impressions, Laura has led teams to success utilizing various marketing mediums, including digital outlets, print, television, billboard and radio. Her focus is on helping clients provide an integrated approach to their marketing efforts, ensuring a consistent message across mediums. She enjoys building relationships with her clients, providing reliable, responsive service. Laura is proud of the fact that Impressions is recognized as a certified Women Owned Business in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Laura’s experience and educational background have led her to help train the next generation of marketers and event planners. She has taught event planning, advertising and public relations through Georgetown College, and helped West Virginia University design two online event planning courses through their Event Management minor.
Lauren Gawthrop
Director of Marketing & Communications
Lauren Gawthrop brings 16 years of combined communications, media and marketing experience to Impressions. With a desire to make a difference with her career, Lauren spent a decade in TV newsrooms, starting as a production assistant in Cincinnati and soon moving for on-air opportunities in Iowa, then North Dakota and finally back to her "home away from home" in Lexington where she spent five years anchoring the morning, midday and noon newscasts at ABC 36.
Looking for ways to get even more involved in the community and further her impact, Lauren took her talents to Good Foods Co-op to serve as their Marketing Manager, leading all communications, PR, promotions, events and outreach for over five years. She relished the opportunity to work with the local farmers and producers that supply the Co-op, as well as the Co-op's many nonprofit partners, and she brings that same concern for small businesses, community organizations and people to Impressions.
When she's not helping folks develop impactful messaging strategies, Lauren volunteers her time serving on the board of RADIOLEX, volunteering for environmental causes and growing the community-building organization she helped found, The Lexington Huddle.
Jessica Pace
Graphic Designer
Jessica Pace has a life-long love for the education and literacy sectors, with a background of 12+ years as a teacher, tutor and volunteer. Her second career began with a stint as a graphic designer for her college’s student-led newspaper, where she was awarded multiple state-level honors for her illustrations, infographic series and monthly book reviews. Her five years of design experience also includes time volunteering as a publication designer for children’s literacy non-profit 826michigan.
At Impressions, Jessica has designed and illustrated a wide range of projects and publications from tiny two-inch stickers to full-sized billboard and vehicle wraps. Careful application of art and design principles together with thoughtful consideration of the client’s needs are hallmarks of her design philosophy, along with clear communication and an openness to feedback that promote a truly collaborative design process. Jessica’s special love for all things reading and early childhood has shown in her design work for Lexington organizations such as Destination Kindergarten, the Lexington Public Library, Fayette County Public Schools and First 5 Lex. Promoting access to literacy and education for everyone is close to Jessica’s heart and she loves when something she designs helps a young person get curious, messy and excited about learning and creating.
Raven Scott
Graphic Designer
Raven Scott's portfolio was awarded best of her graduating class by the administration of The Art Institute of Atlanta. Over the next several years she has teamed up with small business doing graphic design work for many multi billion-dollar companies, small businesses and nonprofits including but not limited to UPS, Invesco, Novelis, Georgia Pacific, Sykes, Hilton Garden Inn and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
Raven has utilized her passion for design in a broad spectrum of media such as illustration, print, social media, web design, motion graphics and infographics. She brings value to Impressions with her artistic ability and commitment to problem solving so our clients' projects can come to life swiftly and effectively.
Outside of work, Raven continues to hone her skills. She is continuously learning and regularly volunteers her time doing children's face painting for local non-profits as well as encouraging the youth to partake in the arts.
Kathryn Dickens
Social Media Manager
Kathryn Dickens brings a wide variety of professional experiences to Impressions. Most recently, she served as Owner Services and Outreach Coordinator at Good Foods Co-op, where she managed their Give Where You Live register round-up program and had the privilege of working closely with several non-profit community partners. At Good Foods, Kathryn also gained over two years of valuable social media marketing experience – honing her copywriting and content creation skills. Before that, she obtained bachelor's degrees in Dietetics from the University of Kentucky (BS, 2015) and Arts & Humanities with a minor in Marketing from Kentucky Christian University (BA, 2008).
One of Kathryn’s proudest achievements was obtaining her registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) credential in 2017. She used that expertise as the Store Dietitian at Good Foods. She is passionate about healthy food access and helping folks improve their relationships with food and their bodies. Whether nutrition or marketing, Kathryn wants to help her community prosper and is thrilled to work with a team that shares that goal.
Ellen Soileau
Marketing Administrative Assistant
After a career in newspapers and in television, Ellen Soileau began her latest chapter as a communicator at Impressions in January. Her experience ranges across many platforms – as an award-winning newspaper journalist – as well as a television writer and associate producer, where her words brought life to documentaries, educational series, and public affairs and entertaining series such as Kentucky Life.
In marketing and public relations, she edited Kentucky Educational Television’s monthly magazine, and wrote features about educators, funders, policymakers and others positively affected by KET. Both KET and PBS benefitted from her commitment to excellence both on the page and on the screen.
Whether as a community journalist or volunteer, Ellen has always focused on education and service. She served two terms as board member of the Kentucky Women Writers Conference, which was held in Lexington for more than 30 years, and as a literacy tutor and as a local neighborhood association board and school volunteer. Curious, enthusiastic and outgoing, Ellen’s personality is a natural fit with Impressions’ mission of dynamic and client-driven mission.