Lauren Smith has been around golf her entire life. At a young age, she always had a golf club in her hands, specifically, a Mizuno club.
Smith's passion for golf and Mizuno continued to grow as she got older and has influenced her career choices throughout the years. In 2009, she went to play Division 1 college golf at Gardner-Webb University for four years. Once she graduated, she thought there were only two choices for her: try to go pro or coach.
Smith chose the former and gave herself a window of two years to go pro, and if she saw no improvement, she told herself that she would go to coaching.
In 2015, she became a grad assistant for Mercer University women's golf for 11 months. She then moved on to be the men's and women's assistant coach at Ferris State for five months. Deciding that she didn't enjoy coaching the sport she loved as much as she had wanted to, she gave it one last shot at Jacksonville State, where she was the men's and women's assistant coach for five months.
Making the tough decision that coaching wasn't her passion, Smith moved on to work for her dream company - Mizuno. She started in a position that wasn't her favorite, but she knew if she held out long enough her dream position would open up.
She worked there for five years before the Player Development Representative role opened up in April of 2021. Smith had always wanted to go out and represent Mizuno, and this was the perfect opportunity for her.
She began traveling across the United States going to tournaments for junior golf, mini tour, the LPGA, and college to get Mizuno on the front lines and get their equipment into the hands of the top golfers of the world.
It is really cool to see the joy our equipment brings to kids. Also, seeing how it feels for me to be able to tell a kid, 'Hey, you're at a good enough level, we want to give you free equipment' is just really exciting.
While Smith loves her job, she has noticed an unfortunate byproduct of the industry. While she's been on the road, she's noticed she is often one of the few women at the tournaments, not including players.
"Honestly, it's an honor to have this position. It's been really cool, and I do notice at all levels that I am one of the few females. If not, the only female in manufacturing... So, I think it has been really cool to see I don't have to just go and be a coach after I play college golf or professional golf. That is not the only pathway."
Smith realizes that she is benefiting a lot of the juniors at the tournaments she's going to by showing them that coaching and going pro aren't the only options after college. These juniors, specifically the girls, can go into sports and it doesn't have to be a male-dominated industry.
"It's been honestly really cool and fulfilling to provide that kind of viewership to kids."
Check out the rest of her story on YouTube at AJGAGolf!