Lauren Kleinman
Founder & CEO, Dreamday
Co-founder of The Quality Edit
Lauren Kleinman is the founder of Dreamday, the first “Performance PR” agency of its kind with deep roots in publisher-based affiliate marketing and a focus on commerce and consumer PR. Lauren has blazed a new path for performance marketing that has set DTC brands like Fly by Jing, Brightland, Bearaby, Our Place, and more on fire with explosive growth.
Lauren is also the co-founder of The Quality Edit, a publication curating the web's best brands for today’s discerning consumer. The Quality Edit has worked with some of the fastest growing and most press-worthy brands in the DTC space including Bobbie, Our Place, and Coterie.
Prior to Dreamday, Lauren was part of the founding team at Ritual, the popular vitamin company, as their former VP of Marketing.
5 Things I Wish I Knew……
✶You must constantly keep with industry changes.
A few years ago, affiliate marketing was a term no one knew about and today, it is one of the most exciting areas of opportunity for our business and public relations as an industry. At Dreamday, we’ve helped brands who’ve had no affiliate experience generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue from affiliate partnerships.
✶Your reputation and relationships are everything.
PR, when done right, is incredibly rewarding but also incredibly taxing as you are only as good as the last hit(s) you’ve delivered to your client. Clients may come and go but the relationships you make with editors can last forever. Similarly, if something doesn’t work out with a client, don’t burn the bridge or take it personally. Their business may be going through a hard time and they may end up referring you to other companies down the line. Be respectful and kind in everything you do and all of your communication.
✶ When you do great work, the referrals will come.
At both Dreamday and The Quality Edit, referrals from current clients have been our only new client lead generation tactic. Our relationships and services are constantly expanding and iterating to become better every single day is extremely important to myself and my team. We work just as hard, if not harder, at year three with a brand as we did on day one. This has allowed us to continue to provide a best in class service through the years. Don’t spread yourself too thin and try to do less, better.
✶ Don’t let yourself burn out.
The story behind the name Dreamday is a bit cheesy. I thought as my own boss, I could create my ‘dream day’ every day (spend time with my kids, prioritize my wellness, etc.), which I soon realized was not always the case. When you become your own boss, you work 100 times harder than you ever thought you would. Some days I’d forget to eat lunch or use the bathroom, or just not have a minute to myself. Since leaving Ritual, I’ve gone on a journey of becoming successful with my business, being my own boss, and then having it take over my life in a negative way where there is zero work-life balance. I’ve done a lot to get myself back on track but most importantly, I’ve learned that I can’t go back to trying to do it all myself.
✶ Less is more.
My team and I are relentless, resourceful and care deeply about every brand we work with. We take a ‘less is more’ approach and only take on clients that we can’t say no to, versus the traditional agency ‘grow to grow’ model so we can focus on quality over quantity. If we’re unable to take on a brand, I still try to be helpful and refer them to another agency that we trust.