How Navan’s Field Marketing Manager Gets It Done

Since joining Navan in December 2021, Senior Field Marketing Manager Lauren Mallen has become an indispensable part of the team. Her passion for event management has brought thousands of colleagues and customers together.

After launching her career in marketing operations, Lauren swiftly transitioned into demand generation before finding her true calling in events and her current home at Navan. Her story illustrates the professional and personal growth, in addition to the adventures that await every Navan employee.

Before Navan

Lauren started her career in marketing operations, where she manually assigned incoming leads to account executives. 

“This was before the fancy software we have now, so I’d have to look at a spreadsheet with zip codes and then match where the lead came from to the account executive,” said Lauren. “I learned about Salesforce and Marketo early in my career, then moved into demand gen, which I liked but did not love.”

Lauren is an extroverted individual who thrives around her colleagues. She felt that the demand gen role was isolating, and digital projects usually didn’t come with a set end date, so she started assisting at events. And at the annual user conference for a previous employer, she realized how much she loved them.

She soon transitioned to the company’s events team. “It’s so exciting to see your planning come to life and interact with attendees in person.”

Dreamforce was the first big event she participated in as part of that event team. It took place only weeks after most of the team had left the company, but even shorthandedly, Lauren loved the experience. 

“I was sleeping less and working more, but once we were on-site, I loved it. I knew that I wanted to build my career in the events space,” said Lauren. Since then, the Bay Area local has found field marketing roles at technology companies — from small firms to Google — a natural fit.

She describes COVID-19 as a tough time in the events industry, but Lauren adapted and learned how to host digital events like webinars. She was making the best of a challenging situation at her previous company when a Navan colleague reached out about an open role. Lauren was familiar with Navan and eager to learn more.

Finding Navan

“I wasn’t looking to leave my previous company at the time, but I loved everyone I interviewed with at Navan, and it just felt meant to be,” said Lauren, who has been with Navan for nearly three years. 

Her role has grown and expanded during her time here. She started doing field events, typically smaller regional customer and prospect dinners. She has since been involved in more significant events like Navan’s annual user conference, President’s Club, Sales Kickoff, and trade shows like the GBTA Convention — the Global Business Travel Association’s showcase event. In her role, she works with hundreds of people throughout the organization, including sales, PR, and content teams. 

The company’s rebranding from TripActions to Navan in February 2023 was an inspiring time for her.

“I held one of the first printed pieces with the Navan logo at a customer event we hosted the night before publicly announcing the rebrand. I looked down at this giant Navan logo that I was carrying and thought, ‘It’s pretty cool that I’m carrying this, and no one knows about this yet.’”

Navan inspired her recent move from San Francisco to Austin. While initially in charge of hosting events on the West Coast, she repeatedly raised her hand for events in Austin, looking for any excuse to return to the city.

“I’m originally from the Bay Area, so San Francisco will always be home, but I was ready to try something different — and I love the Austin office,” she said. “When I went there to host events, everyone was always friendly and welcoming. I stayed for two weeks last summer to see if I really wanted to make a move, and even in 105-degree weather with humidity, I loved it!"

A Navan Super User

Today, Lauren is one of the most frequent travelers among Navan employees. While officially overseeing the central region, she travels nationwide to smaller field events and larger trade shows.

“I’ve gotten used to traveling and being on the road,” she said. “I have friends across the U.S., so if I am traveling to their city for business, I usually extend my trip or at least grab dinner and catch up..”

Navan makes it incredibly easy for Lauren to travel. She can easily extend business trips for personal reasons, change flights without contacting anyone, and receive notifications about delays and changes.

“I was once flying from San Francisco to San Diego for the GBTA Convention and experienced hours of delays,” she said. “With no flights out of San Francisco left that day, luckily, I could find a new flight out of San Jose and book it on a Sunday without waiting for anyone to review my flight before booking. Navan is always the first to notify me when there’s a change, even before the airline app or staff inside the airport.”

Navan Expense is also a massive time-saver for someone who travels as frequently as Lauren. The solution tracks receipts for her while traveling, so she’s automatically reimbursed for things like bottled water or Wi-Fi — small purchases that can quickly add up to high dollar amounts when traveling as often as she does.

“I felt like I was losing money at my previous roles because it was tough to keep track of every single receipt—especially buying little things like tape or scissors for events,” she said.

Lauren and the events team use Team Travel for every event. The tool allows the event team to set guidelines around travel bookings for attendees at Navan events while also gaining visibility into spend. The team also frequently uses Guest Invite, which allows company guests to book their own travel arrangements while giving event marketing leaders insights into travel patterns so they can accordingly plan each event.

A Passion for People

Lauren spends a lot of time with teams in all of Navan’s offices, and the company culture is one of her favorite things about her role here.

“Everyone is so willing to help and hop on a quick call to talk through whatever is happening. While the culture in every office is a little different, they’re all amazing,” she said. “What I love about Navan is how much the company values in-person connections.”

As part of the 2024 GBTA Convention, Lauren recently hosted more than 2,000 guests at Navan’s party at the World of Coke on July 22 - 24, 2024. She loves seeing all the hard work she and her teammates have done come to life.

“The GBTA Convention is the biggest trade show we sponsor, and there’s tons of work leading up to it,” she said. “I work with many different teams, so one of my favorite parts is to see the event come to life and spend that time with everyone in person.”

Lauren has had a front-row seat to corporate event trends over the past five years, and she’s bullish on the future of in-person connections and events as a way to drive value for businesses. 

Explore Navan’s open roles here.