Meet Laura

Laura and her husband Doug moved to Upper Arlington in 2013 and have been putting down roots in their chosen community since.

Laura grew up in rural Northwest Ohio in the small town of Ottawa, Ohio. She was surrounded by farms and knowledgeable relatives more than happy to teach her the importance of taking good care of the land in return for all the land gave to them.

Laura graduated from Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism in 2004 and adventured to Chicago to pursue comedy writing. After years in Chicago, she and her husband Doug landed in central Ohio and chose Upper Arlington as their home in 2013. Their daughter Violet was born in 2015 and is now a fourth grader in Barrington Elementary School’s informal program.

Laura started her digital marketing business Starburst Media in 2009 and her sustainability business Return to Sender in 2022. In 2024 she became a partner in Circular Thrift and launched a platform to operationalize reuse at a hyperlocal level. In 2024 Laura and her daughter Violet also launched their natural, sustainable deodorant company, Cherry Pits.

After more than a decade of volunteering with local organizations and working with businesses, municipalities and non-profits throughout the Upper Arlington area and beyond, Laura has a strong grasp on what makes communities successful. She will bring her decades of experience in community and connection building to enact policy that preserves the places and spaces that make Upper Arlington a community of choice. With creative problem solving and big, bold ideas, Upper Arlington can continue to grow as a pioneer in climate resilience while ensuring that all residents feel like they’ve found a welcoming community where they belong.

Fun facts about Laura

She adores writing, performed sketch comedy for years, and her background in improv drives her to “Yes, and” into all sorts of adventures
She loves cooking paella, especially over a fire with her paella pan
She ran a short-lived comedy column with Tribune Media called The Interrobang, which she named after her favorite punctuation‽
She featured a German happy hour at her wedding with a polka band, and she’d hire the Village Idiots on the spot for a campaign event if they were still willing to travel
She jumped into Lake Michigan every year to support Special Olympics Chicago before “cold plunges” were A Thing
She bartended and waited tables throughout her 20s and fantasizes that someday spending time in the service industry will be a required part of the American educational curriculum
She played softball for 12 years and then coached for a few more years after that, and she loves teaching her old softball pitching tricks and drills to her daughter Violet