James Lawrence

President/Founder

Power Automedia

CEO of Digital Media company in the Automotive Aftermarket.

Chief Executive Officer

Happy Companies

In the new era of work, building effective teams is more important than ever to organizational performance. Happy enhances organizational culture, communication and manager effectiveness at scale – making your people your competitive advantage. Happy is a coaching platform that uses behavioral science & AI to build a user manual for your entire team in less than 10 minutes.

CEO & Cofounder

Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA)

As SEMA's Chairman of the board, I worked with the SEMA Board of Directors, provide leadership to the SEMA's CEO and SEMA Executive Management team, and helped lead the SEMA Association toward the future. SEMA is the #1 automotive aftermarket association in the world representing more than $50B of revenue.

SEMA Chairman of the Board

SpeedVideo

CEO of subscription-based Live Streaming Motorsports Network. Sold to FloSports in 2021.

Select Council Leadership, FLN/Young Executives Network (YEN) at SEMA. Responsible for helping lead the Young Executive Network/FLN within SEMA along with the select council and Chairman.

Select Council Leadership, SEMA Future Leader Network

ProMedia Publishing LLC

Founder of event production/media business. Also I was responsible for charting the strategic direction for the company, new business development, acquisitions, financial operations, marketing including digital, print, radio, TV; and also oversaw media/publishing/content.

MotorTrend Group

As an editor for the Ford Media Group within Petersen Publishing (now TEN/Discovery/Motor Trend). I planned, coordinated, and developed a wide array of content.

Editor

I believe in PEOPLE.. and believe a great TEAM is the most important competitive advantage.

🌟 I'm focused on reinventing the future of work and how technology and people can work together to improve organizational culture. 🌟

I'm currently the Cofounder of Happy, a coaching platform that enhances organizational culture, communication and manager effectiveness at scale – making people a true competitive advantage. Happy uses behavioral science & AI to build a user manual for your entire team in less than 10 minutes.

💌 Want to chat? Send me a message or reach out to me at james@happycompanies.com

My journey to leadership wasn't straightforward. Early in my career, I learned the hard way that authority doesn't come from a title; it comes from genuinely understanding and connecting with your team. 

I've got an interesting background:
-launched four startups
-former CEO of Power Automedia
-former Chairman of the Specialty Equipment Manufacturing Association
-Earned two national championships in auto racing
-Earned two youth football championships as a head coach

I'm married to my amazing wife Melissa, and father to three kids–Bradley, Jordan and Taylor. 

When I'm not leading our team at Happy or spending time with my family, you'll find me:

-coaching youth football
-driving a race car faster than 200 mph
-diving into one of my favorite books, which range from "The Hard Thing About Hard Things" by Ben Horowitz to "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey.

I love public speaking on topics like innovation, leadership, organizational culture, and technology. 

I believe the cornerstone of every successful organization is its people. 

My mission is to unlock the power of human connection and happiness at work, using disruptive technology and innovative thinking. I love the process of creating things and collaborating with entrepreneurs, executives, and visionaries to solve real problems and improve the quality of work relationships.

Fourthline

Senior Product Marketing Manager

ProductTank AMS

Organizer

TEDxWesterpark Live

Licensee

The Gradient

TEDxAmsterdamWomen

Head of Talent Night

VodafoneZiggo

Channel Marketing Manager

Altigee

Head Of Marketing

Rove.me

Helped to launch a new product in the travel industry, define product positioning and go-to-market strategy. 
Employed different research methods to understand user's needs and translate research findings into insights for marketing strategy and product designs.

Product Marketing Manager

Stanfy

Responsible for all company's online marketing activities in the US market,  including management and development of marketing and social media plans, brand, website content, copy-writing, PR & social media management.

Marketing Communications Manager

Happy Farm Business Incubator

Lead all the events including demo days and large tech conference in SF. 
Managed all aspects of marketing strategy.
Worked on business development, including partnerships with leading tech companies and industry players.

Marketing, Business Development & Events

Senior Marketing Manager | TEDxAmsterdam Women | ProductTank Amsterdam | 🇺🇦

I’m passionate about building tech products, understanding why people hire products, and creating coherent marketing strategies based on customer insights.

15+ years of experience in product marketing, content marketing, user research, partnerships, branding, events, and community building.

I’ve been an organizer of large tech conferences, hackathons, meetups, and TEDx events. Currently fostering product community in Amsterdam via ProductTank.

taplio

The Battle

James Lawrence

Aleksandra Smelianska

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