CLARITY, STRUCTURE, IMPACT

A woman with curly dark hair and hoop earrings

LAUREN LESTER · STORY → SYSTEMS

Brand strategy, business systems, web design, and creative media production for nonprofits, small businesses, creatives, and community orgs in Portland, Oregon and beyond.

Person holding a tablet displaying a website against a textured white wall.
Illustration of a wine glass filled with red wine and the words 'good grapes' written next to it.
A black dropper bottle labeled 'elix Cycle Balance' with a purple circular logo, set against a light purple background.
A person using a smartphone outdoors in a wooded area, viewing a website about hammock rentals and outdoor destinations.
Coffee beans surrounding a black and white label with a goat's head, the text "Wandering Goat Coffee," and decorative elements.
A basket filled with yellow-green tennis balls and a smartphone placed on top, displaying a website or social media page.
A breakfast spread on a wooden table including a bowl of mandarin oranges with a leaf, several bowls of chickpeas, two glasses of apple juice, a cup of coffee, and a packet of Panda Puffs organic peanut butter cereal.
A laptop open on a green chair with a website for AMA PDX Agency displayed on the screen.
A box of Partake Cookie Butter cookies with a stack of ten cookies next to it and three cookies in front, set against a light blue background.
A person sitting on a light-colored sofa using a laptop with a colorful website on the screen.
Laptop displaying a website titled 'Chaotic Good Jazz' with blue background and yellow buttons, on a white surface against a light wall.
A table with a bowl of popcorn, a box of Powell's Books, a small bowl of Fruit Loops cereal, various soda cans, a bag of Pop-Tarts, a bowl of mixed candies, and some snack packages.
A hand holding a business card in front of large green tropical leaves. The card reads 'YOUR home ENERGY' and contains contact information for Audra White, an interior designer.
A jar of Chia Smash raspberry superfood jam with fresh raspberries around it, set against a blue background.
A woman sitting on red tiled stairs, looking at her smartphone, wearing beige pants and a beige jacket.
A can of Weird Tea with red packaging featuring an illustration of two cartoonish owls and text about herbal tea ingredients.
A decorative, vintage-style white vase illustration featuring a seated woman holding a torch, surrounded by leafy branches, with the words "Cultivated Space" written below.
Tablet on a bed displaying a website for Transplant House of Southern California, featuring apartments for healing.
A pink bag of Urly dried sliced peaches with fresh peaches and peach slices arranged below it.
A white card with the text "RE:VIBE" in bold black letters, featuring a green triangle and a green parallelogram, placed on a dark green background.
A bottle of white wine and a glass of wine on a wooden dock by a body of water, with a hat nearby and trees in the background.
Laptop, glass of water, and plant pot on a wooden desk, with sunlight casting shadows.

DESIGN & SYSTEMS ARE HOW STORIES FIND THEIR PEOPLE

Behind every smooth-running business or org is a simple system that holds the story, the site, and the operations together — not just a logo or pretty website. I partner with nonprofits and community orgs, Portland small businesses, and creatives to build brand foundations and websites that are clear, accessible, and built to scale with you. If media production is needed, well I have that covered too.

We start by naming who you serve and what you offer in plain language. Then we turn that into a lean design system, clean information architecture, and a site your team can edit without a developer on speed dial. I connect the pieces behind the scenes — forms and automations, e-commerce functionality, CRM/email, SEO and analytics — so people can find you, trust you, and donate, volunteer, buy, or book with ease.

If you’re past the duct-tape stage (or never built the bones in the first place…or your bones are on their way to osteoporosis), I’ll help you build a clear brand, operations structure and website that’s easy to run. You’ll get reliable guidance and a clean handoff so your team can keep things consistent as you grow. 

Ready to get started? Tell me what you’re building.
Smiling woman with curly hair in three poses against different background colors
BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL

WEB DESIGN / BRAND STRATEGY / COPYWRITING / VISUAL IDENTITY & GRAPHIC DESIGN / BUSINESS SYSTEM WORKFLOWS / CONTENT STRATEGY / SEO & ANALYTICS / CREATIVE MEDIA PRODUCTION / FUNDRAISING & DONOR STRATEGY
/ FULL-STACK MARKETING CONSULTING

WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER, at a glance.

  • BRAND STRATEGY

    Often includes audience targeting, voice development, messaging, and brand direction if starting from scratch. If you’re in need of a brand refresh — color, typography, and logos — we’ll decide based on what’s actually useful for you where you are now, and were you want to go in the future.

  • WEB DESIGN & SEO

    Custom Squarespace sites that you control — no developer dependency, no bloated backends, no invoices for a site you can’t update. Projects can include structure, layout, copywriting, SEO setup, and all the tools you need to run your business in one place (forms, client docs, booking, payments, analytics, and more).

  • SYSTEMS

    Most clients don’t just need a website — they need infrastructure. I help you connect the dots behind the scenes: proposal templates, onboarding flows, digital file systems, invoicing tools, email sequences, automations, easy workflows for both you and your clients. Clean. Logical. Yours.

  • CONSULTING

    Strategic support across your entire marketing ecosystem — from content planning and campaign direction to analytics, advertising, and brand partnerships. Think of it as fractional leadership: bringing the breadth of an in-house marketing team without the overhead. M&A support also available.

  • MEDIA PRODUCTION

    Photography, video, and motion content that turn your mission into something people can see, trust, and connect with. From team headshots and event coverage to product shoots, short-form video, and campaign visuals, I create strategic, professional media that works across websites, fundraising, outreach, and marketing.

VIEW PORTFOLIOS & SERVICES

THE BACKSTORY

Table set for a social gathering with a bottle of Harken fermented Chardonnay, glasses of white wine, a bowl of mixed nuts, a bowl of popcorn, Playing cards, popcorn on the table, and a person's hand holding a glass of wine. 
My career started in college with Wicked Spatula, a digital recipe and lifestyle publication I founded while working at a local nonprofit.

What began as a creative outlet quickly grew into a thriving platform, leading me to launch my own agency, Healthful Creative, in 2015 — specializing in content development, branding, and photography for brands and independent publishers world-wide.

In 2017, my partner Alex and I founded Cast Iron Keto, scaling it to an audience of millions within months. That success led to a cookbook deal in 2020 and the eventual sale of both Wicked Spatula and Cast Iron Keto to investors. After those exits, I shifted my focus to helping others, working with clients across digital media, branding, and content strategy with a deep focus on small businesses and nonprofits.

Over the years, I’ve built and scaled businesses, consulted on multi-million-dollar acquisitions, and developed digital platforms that have shaped how brands and orgs connect with their audiences and missions. Today, I work with nonprofits, small businesses, creatives, and community-driven teams to bring clarity to their strategy, structure to their systems, and cohesion to how everything shows up in the world.

My work sits at the intersection of story, design, and operations — helping organizations move past a smorgasbord of tools and unclear messaging into systems that are practical, sustainable, and built to last. 

CONNECT WITH ME ON LINKEDIN
LEARN MORE ABOUT ME
  • Circle Member badge from Squarespace with a black circular logo and text.
  • Logo of the American Marketing Association with initials AMA and full name to the right.
  • Logo of The Vegan Society with a stylized lotus flower and green text.
  • Logo of the International Association of Culinary Professionals with overlapping circles and the hashtag #IACPCulinary.

PERSONAL PROJECTS

Art, food, and cultural storytelling are part of the ecosystem that fuels my work. Explore my personal projects below.
  • A can of tomato soup placed upside-down on a melted mess of ketchup on a metal surface with an outdoor background.

    FOOD ON THE STREET

    A series of food people left behind. Forgotten meals, broken takeout boxes, tiny urban moments. It’s part documentation, part “wtf?”

    SCROLL THE FEED

  • ABSTRACT PAINTING

    Painting is my meditation. It’s the place where logic drops and emotion takes over — bold, messy, unfiltered, a bit weird. It’s art after all.

    VIEW WORK
  • Close-up of five breaded and fried appetizers topped with a dollop of white sauce and topped with orange jam, served on a white plate with navy blue dotted pattern.

    SRSLY VEGAN

    [coming soon, but not too soon!] …A community cookbook for the vegan community + a place to share the flavors I love.

    JOIN THE LIST

HAVE A PROJECT IN MIND?

Let’s build your thing. I’m available for projects that are thoughtful, creative, or values-driven. Use the contact form if you want to share a bit more.

PREFER DIRECT EMAIL?

EMAIL ME