She holds academic credentials in liberal arts, fine art, art therapy, art history, and entrepreneurial studies from Seton Hill University; a graduate degree in museum studies from Johns Hopkins University; and a continuing education certificate in Leadership and Administration in History Organizations from the American Association for State and Local History. Before relocating from central Pennsylvania to Indiana, Lauren worked for nearly a decade in youth camps, academic and public libraries, historical societies, galleries, and collections at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.

For the past six years, she has served as a manager on the Education and Engagement team at the Indiana Historical Society and as chair of the bi-annual Midwestern Roots family history conference. Lauren is the creator of the IN 4D sensory-based research method, which enhances experiential research and storytelling. She teaches family historians, law students, and museum professionals through the Indiana Historical Society, the Illinois State Genealogical Society Conference, the Ohio Genealogical Society Conference, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, and the History Leadership Institute of the American Association for State and Local History.