Tiffany Lawrence, DEL, MBA

Senior Account Executive, Orion Strategies

By Brittany McClung

Being a young woman in the business and public affairs sectors has at times proven challenging for Tiffany Lawrence, senior account executive at Orion Strategies.

“As a young female, I learned I would need to work harder to prove my value to companies, organizations and teams,” she says.

Despite these challenges, Lawrence has proven time and time again the value of her strong work ethic and carefully cultivated skill sets. From an early age, she began proclaiming herself as a businesswoman in the making. It all began with her very first endeavor, Tiffany’s Treasures, a little corner of wares in her parent’s family-owned antique shop. While other children were playing with dolls or Legos, she was creating the footprints of her future without evening knowing it.

The spark for business that ignited during her adolescence led her to pursue bachelor’s degrees in both business administration and political science from Shepherd University. She went on to earn her MBA from Shenandoah University and recently completed her Doctorate of Executive Leadership at the University of Charleston.

In her first professional job after graduate school, Lawrence worked as the public relations administrator for Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. Since then, she has served in a variety of executive-level roles with the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle and Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

“That first job taught me to always model ethical behavior and how to network and build relationships,” she says. “I also learned that no job was too small or trivial to be done well and with pride and enthusiasm.”

Lawrence has used that same pride and enthusiasm to represent the state she loves in many capacities, including as Miss West Virginia 2006, during which she competed in the Miss America competition, and as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 2008-2014. Today, her role as the senior account executive at Orion Strategies combines the best of all these experiences.

“My outgoing nature and energy have helped me as a legislator, business leader and nonprofit director as well as in my current work as a strategic communications consultant for businesses, nonprofits and governmental entities,” she says. “I also strive to always see the good and value in everyone and often bring people together.”

Lawrence believes her greatest professional success has been serving in a variety of roles in multiple industries, and she feels her transition between industries has been mostly seamless thanks to the transferrable skills that have allowed her to intertwine all her passions into a productive career. An accomplished businesswoman and public servant, Lawrence has also made volunteerism a significant part of her life’s work.

She is a member of the Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital Women of Distinction Committee, Washington High School business education advisory council and Jefferson County Fair Association. She also sits on the board of directors for East Ridge Health Systems and the Charles Town Rotary Club and is an active member of the Jefferson County and Martinsburg-Berkeley County chambers of commerce.

Lawrence holds a personal connection with many of her service initiatives, including the West Virginia 4-H program and her alma mater. After being a camper and West Virginia 4-H All-Star for more than a decade, she has served as a volunteer club leader and camp counselor with Jefferson County 4-H for the last 16 years. She also created an annual scholarship award last spring at Shepherd University for freshman business majors.

“My mother has always said, ‘What you do comes back to you.’ If I have impacted one person for the better, then it will have all been worth it,” she says. “So many people have positively touched my life, and I feel compelled to return the blessings.”

Lawrence’s parents instilled pride and a sense of community in her that she hopes to pass on to her daughter and stepchildren. As the granddaughter of a West Virginia coal miner and a farmer, her roots run deep and have made her want to continue finding ways to move the state forward.