ToolGuyd has brought Lauren, the founder's younger cousin, into a larger role at the tool review and news site, drawing on her media, marketing and management background as the publication looks to take on longer, deeper stories.
Lauren has already been contributing on a moonlighting basis. She has assisted with ToolGuyd's coverage at three Milwaukee Pipeline media events and at DeWalt's Black & Yellow event a few months ago, handling much of the site's social media content so the founder could concentrate on questions, product deep dives and hands-on testing.
Her involvement has moved beyond event logistics into strategy, management and execution, and the founder describes her contributions as having a meaningful impact despite the part-time arrangement. She is also helping convert long-standing ideas into concrete plans.
Why the timing matters
The announcement links the expansion to upheaval in the media industry, which the founder says AI progress is pushing toward change. Lauren's marketing background is presented as a way to read that shift from more than one viewpoint. The founder describes himself as still alarmed by the industry's direction, but says the site now has a focused plan and the drive to follow it.
Details of the planned deeper stories have not been disclosed and are to be discussed later. The founder says he is looking forward to 2027, with a sense that complementary skills at the table make the workload easier.
A family connection
Lauren is the founder's younger cousin, a relationship he mentions while asking readers to be extra nice. He says he first invited her to help with Pipeline coverage partly to share the experience with family and to get a fresh perspective on the events, and that he did not expect the role to grow as it has.