About Laney
I’ve spent my career helping teams bring order to complexity, whether that meant building operational systems, leading client work, or turning big ideas into executable plans.
I’m naturally curious and love learning new things, which has shaped nearly every step of my career. That curiosity first led me to UNC-Chapel Hill, where I earned a degree in Journalism, and later to complete my MBA while continuing to grow across marketing, operations, strategy, and business leadership roles.
Today, I serve as Senior Manager of Sales Enablement at Relay, building the systems and tools that help teams operate at their best.
The thread running through all of it: I’m most at home when there’s a problem to solve and a structure to build.
When Hurricane Helene devastated my hometown in 2024, I co-founded Mountain Strong to support the community that raised me. Today, I help lead fundraising efforts and build the operational infrastructure behind the organization’s work.
That same instinct is what Vienna Waits is built on. I’m especially passionate about supporting small businesses and mission-driven teams in Western North Carolina with the systems, strategy, and execution needed to keep good work moving forward.
Why Vienna Waits | Behind the Name
Two years ago, a coworker died unexpectedly. He was the director of IT at the time, a former military man, and one of those people you just feel lucky to know. He was one year from retirement, living on his farm with his wife and their granddaughter. He could tell you precisely how many days until his retirement. One night, he went to sleep and didn't wake up.
It hit me harder than I expected. Not just the grief of losing someone I genuinely liked, but watching someone get so close to the life they'd worked toward and dreamed of, but never quite get to live it.
Around the same time, I rediscovered Vienna by Billy Joel on a random TikTok - a song I’d heard plenty of times growing up, but suddenly resonated with. After having two kids and helping my hometown recover from a natural disaster, I found myself needing to make a change, but not quite letting myself do it. That song felt like it was written for exactly where I was.
And then I kept getting little nudges from the universe.
After my coworker passed, his family asked for donations in lieu of flowers. In his honor, I gave to the US Army Museum. Because of that donation, I started getting mail from them.
And I started hearing Vienna everywhere. In coffee shops, in grocery stores, in the background of TV shows and blaring through windows of a car next to me at a red light. And almost without fail, I would get home after hearing it, and there would be a piece of mail from the US Army Museum waiting for me.
It felt like the universe was reminding me, maybe, that the life I wanted wasn't going to wait forever. That there's a cost to putting things off.
So I stopped waiting and started creating. And I named it after the song that wouldn't leave me alone.
Vienna waits for you ✨
