LEOMINSTER — City resident Lauren Howe is in the midst of a once in a lifetime opportunity as the public relations manager for the Milano Cortina Olympics U.S. Luge team.
“It’s been such a thrill to cheer on these amazing, hardworking athletes here in Cortina and share their stories with the world,” Howe shared from Italy on Wednesday.
She went on to say that it was incredibly exciting to witness luge team member Ashley Farquharson win the bronze medal during the competition on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
“Sharing that moment with our luge family and friends is something I will carry with me always,” Howe said.
Besides her role with the luge team, she is also a press attaché for Team USA. It’s all familiar to her and part of what Howe does in her day-to-day life as the founder and owner of empHowered PR, which has offices in Leominster and Worcester and provides brand strategy, media relations, executive communications, thought leadership, and more including public affairs services.
That level of expertise has paid off, with Howe reporting that there have been more than 4,000 media placements as a result of her work in Italy. Most of her time has been spent at the Cortina Sliding Centre in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, which is where the luge training sessions and events are taking place.
“I’ll be working in the mixed zone to connect international, national and even local media with the athletes, coaches, and staff who will be in Cortina covering luge,” she said before embarking on her nearly two-week trip overseas on Feb. 2. “Throughout the past few months, I’ve worked with such media as NBC Universal and several NBC affiliates throughout the country as well as CNN, NPR, Associated Press, ABC News, ‘Good Morning America,’ ‘CBS Mornings,’ and many local media from our athletes’ hometowns across the country. I’m looking forward to meeting the many of journalists who I’ve worked with over the course of the past four years in Cortina.”
Howe had also said that she was “so excited to cheer on our athletes.”
“I know how hard they have worked to get to Cortina and it will be an overwhelming experience to see them race and achieve their dream of being an Olympian,” she said. “I also look forward to spending time with my luge family, the luge moms who have become friends, and trading pins with new friends from all over the world. I really just want to soak in the experience of being a representative of Team USA.”
Howe grew up in Leominster and graduated from Leominster High School in 1995. She currently lives in the city with her family, which includes her husband of nine years, two daughters — her daughter and a “bonus daughter” — and a rescue Maltese, Boo Bear.
Howe is looking forward to being reunited with them on Saturday, Valentine’s Day, but for now she is soaking up every moment of her time in Italy while she is still there. She watched the procession of over 3,500 athletes from over 90 countries around the globe go by her hotel balcony on their way to the opening ceremony on Feb. 6 and has thoroughly enjoyed experiencing everything her time at the Olympics Winter Games has had to offer.
“Cortina is a beautiful place, and the volunteers have been wonderful helping guide me around the area,” she said last week. “It’s been a lot of fun to meet people from all over the world. I’m excited for the luge races coming up and cheering on our athletes with everyone back home.”
Her journey to getting to experience Italy this way began back in 2012, when Howe was hired to lead communications and community engagement for Norton, the primary sponsor of the USA Luge Association.
“I would see the USA Luge logo throughout the office and inquired about it to my boss,” she said. “Prior to the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, I decided to explore the relationship between the company and USA Luge. I learned it was a long-time partnership, spanning nearly 30 years at the time.”
Over the years she worked closely with USA Luge Marketing Director Gordy Sheer, a 1998 Nagano Olympics silver medalist in men’s doubles luge, and with USA Luge Marketing Manager Dmitry Feld.
“Together we would work on pitching stories about the partnership with the media, scheduling athlete visits for the employees, and offering community events such as the Norton Luge Challenge and the White Castle Slider Search, with the overall community,” Howe said. “People often ask me how an athlete gets involved with the sport of luge. The White Castle Slider Search targets young athletes age ten to 13 to identify, train and qualify for the USA Luge Junior Development Team. They may then process through the team development ladder with hopes of one day becoming members of the National and Olympic Luge Teams.”
Through her relationship with USA Luge, she and her husband fell in love with Lake Placid, N.Y. during their many visits there over the years and decided to get married there in 2017.
“In fact, Dmitry, who served USA Luge as a coach and then marketing manager for nearly 40 years, walked my mother down the aisle and also drove our wedding guests in the USA Luge van from their hotels in the village to our wedding venue in the town,” Howe said. “He was one of our bestest friends and sadly passed away unexpectedly in January 2024. My trip to the Olympics is bittersweet as D always said he wanted me to go to an Olympic with him. Now I’m going to the games without him, but I believe he will be with me in spirit.”
When she left Norton in 2020 to launch empHowered PR, she remained connected to luge as a fan. When she received a call from Sheer two years later that their public relations manager had decided to retire and asked if she would be interested in the job, Howe jumped at the opportunity and the rest is history.
Howe was a figure skater for 17 years, mostly competing as a member of a synchro team, so seeing all of the Olympics fanfare in person is a dream come true and full circle in a way.
“I begged my mom for years to take me to an Olympic training center and to an Olympic Games, but she was a single mother and couldn’t afford it,” she said. “I often think back on my childhood and realize that I have not only visited an Olympic training center but have resided at the Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Lake Placid during World Cup competitions. And now I’m not just going to an Olympic Games but I’m a press officer for Team USA. I’m so humbled and honored to have this opportunity. If only my 12-year-old self could see me now.”
Above all, besides all the fanfare and the beautiful chaos and the incredible energy and joy she has experienced during her time in Italy, Howe has been channeling two very special people — her mom Phyllis Grammont, who she said “has been cheering me on the entire time and keeps hoping to catch a glimpse of me on television,” and her late stepfather Dennis Grammont, who passed away in July.
“I know he would be interested in learning all about my experience and he would be proud of me and this work,” she said of the man she called Dad.
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