Laurel Toney is an exceptional storyteller with a knack for taking tech companies from niche to mainstream through strategic communications programs.

Special skills: narrative and messaging development that cuts through the noise; high-impact strategies and programs that contribute to overall business goals; launching early-stage startups to fanfare; drumming up coverage when others said it couldn’t be done; breaking down complex tech for the masses; achieving the ever-elusive “steady drumbeat;” bylines that actually get placed; copy that won’t put you to sleep.

press narrative + key message development

launch and/or fundraise announcement strategy + execution

thought leadership (platform development, strategy + execution)

media relations (aka landing high-impact coverage)

spokesperson media training

byline development + ghostwriting

and more!

How I can help:

Highlight reel:

“A truly one-of-a-kind talent; Laurel is one of the best comms people I’ve ever worked with. Her nose for a story cannot be beat and she has the persistence and resourcefulness to make the unlikely real.”
— Eva Rijser, CMO @ Density, former VP of Brand @ Flexport

About Laurel:

She’s been building narratives and landing press for tech companies for more than a decade, and is currently a VP at boutique PR agency Six Eastern. Before that, Laurel was at KP-backed startup Density as the first and only comms hire (Director of Communications). In less than a year, she single-handedly doubled earned press coverage half-over-half, secured inclusion on Fast Company’s "Next Big Things in Tech" and "Most Innovative Companies" lists, landed Tier 1 product coverage, and locked in speaking opportunities for the CEO at WSJ Tech Live and SXSW.

Prior to Density, she was a VP at SBS (fka Strange Brew Strategies), driving strategic programs (incl. product comms, exec thought leadership, and crisis comms) for category leaders including Cloudflare, Plaid, Flexport and Twitter, raising the profile of emerging and category-defining companies like Bright Machines, Dataiku and OutSystems among target audiences, while also launching dozens of early stage startups out of stealth and managing fundraising announcements. She also helped build the agency from ~7 people to 30+, As part of the leadership team, she helped define the company’s growth trajectory, supported recruitment/hiring, account staffing decisions,  new business development, and planned team-building events (including a truly lovely offsite in Sonoma).

She’s also held roles at SoFi and The Hatch Agency in San Francisco, and spent some time in Berlin leading comms for a consumer mobile app based there.

Laurel is based in Denver, CO where she spends most of her free time outdoors with her vizsla, Fitz. The photo below roughly captures her sense of humor.