2020 40 Under 40 Lauren Kwedar Cockerell

LAUREN KWEDAR COCKERELL Photo by Amber Shumake

LAUREN KWEDAR COCKERELL, 38

PRESIDENT, KWEDAR PR

Lauren Kwedar Cockerell has been an active member of the Fort Worth public relations and marketing business community for almost 20 years, beginning as an intern with Paige Hendricks Public Relations Inc., where she quickly rose to vice president within a few years.

After a decade with PHPR, she departed to provide in-house public relations counsel for one of her clients, a local IT and hosting company, where she worked for more than four years before launching her own firm, Kwedar PR in late 2017.

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“There isn’t room enough here for my laudatory comments about her, though I do love to share how wonderful she is,” said Paige Kelly Hendricks Russey, owner of Paige Hendricks Public Relations Inc., one of several nominators.

Cockerell has the courage, ingenuity, pragmatism, wherewithal and dedication it takes to make something work for the long haul, Russey said.

Her civic involvement includes the Foundation for the Young Women’s Leadership Academy of Fort Worth, First Tee of Fort Worth, co-chair of 20th anniversary Kathy Whitworth Invitational Junior Girls’ Golf Tournament benefiting Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County, Lena Pope, the Van Cliburn Foundation Cliburn 180s and PRSA Greater Fort Worth.

She graduated from Rhodes College with a bachelor of arts degree in business administration with emphases in marketing, finance and English literature. She played on the women’s varsity golf team in college, was an NCAA championship competitor and an Academic All-American.

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Oh, and she launched Kwedar PR when she was eight months pregnant with her second child.

– Paul K. Harral

Where did your first paycheck come from?

After a brief stint as an enthusiastic-but-failed neighborhood babysitter, I spent my summers filing at my dad’s insurance agency.

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What movie, TV series, play or video game influenced you growing up?

From the moment I could read on my own, my parents shuttled me back and forth to the library, where I would check out the maximum number of books and then gorge myself on them. My love of reading and zeal for learning are some of the greatest gifts my parents gave me. Some of my favorite authors were Roald Dahl and Shel Silverstein, which – looking back – explains a lot about my sense of humor.

What other profession would you like to try?

I would like to write a children’s book one day and spark another child’s love for reading. But honestly, there’s nothing I can imagine doing that I’d love better than what I’m doing now. I’m living my dream.

Tell us about an influential person in your life, how they influenced you and why he or she was important.

I’m so thankful to have wonderful, loving, hard-working parents, who sacrificed more than I’ll ever understand so that my brother and I could have every opportunity we desired. The safety and security I felt growing up gave me the confidence to pursue so many dreams, from traveling abroad alone to starting my company. My mom gave me my first journal when I was 6, and I was instantly hooked on writing. My dad gave me my love of stories, my obsession for the perfect word to describe something, and the lesson that “it’s better to shoot for the moon and barely clear the roof, than to shoot for the roof and smash your face on the front porch.”

What is your favorite song?

Roar, Katy Perry. Cheesy? Yes. But I absolutely love to hear my 5-year-old daughter belt out “I am a champion, and you’re gonna hear me roar!” so this one’s for her.

Tell us about your photo shoot prop.

I’m holding a family heirloom – a Parker pen that my dad handed down to me that once belonged to his father, and that I’ll pass down to my children one day. The pen symbolizes a family belief in clear, honest communication, that words have meaning, and that we must choose them wisely. Also, life is too short for inferior writing implements.