digitaldealer.com recently had the pleasure of interviewing Lauren Donalson, CEO of PureCars. Donalson was promoted to CEO in September from her previous position of President and COO. As COO, Donalson played a pivotal role in strengthening client relationships, enhancing operational performance, and expanding PureCars’ product offerings to help dealers, OEMs, and partners achieve meaningful outcomes.
Coming from a dealership background, Donalson has built her career at PureCars. Starting as a sales associate over 10 years ago, she has risen internally from senior director to vice president all the way to CEO. In her 30s, this position also places her as one of the youngest female CEOs in the space.
Donalson shared how she got her start in the industry, how she gets the most out of her team at PureCars and where she sees PureCars going in 2026 and beyond.
Digital Dealer: Can you provide an overview of who you are and what you do?
Lauren Donalson: Howdy! I’m Lauren Donalson, CEO of PureCars. In this seat, I am laser-focused on enacting PureCars’ vision: to revolutionize automotive retail through data-driven innovation and leading-edge technology, empowering dealers and manufacturers to boost efficiency, profitability, and customer experience while leading the industry’s digital transformation.
Getting Started in the Auto Industry
Digital Dealer: What was your first job in the industry? What did it teach you? Did you always see yourself having a career in automotive?
Donalson: This is a personal favorite. My first gig in automotive was working in the Parts Department at Silsbee Ford, one of my family’s dealerships (I am a third-generation dealer kid!). First order of business was to take parts inventory (yes, that means combing through boxes of lugnuts to ensure we reported the accurate number in stock in our DMS) – in the blazing Texas heat – all summer long. As I completed that project, I progressed through various roles in different departments – service, accounting, F&I, and I eventually helped to launch our very first internet sales department!
I absolutely appreciate that my father and the team at the stores treated me the same way any entry-level employee would be treated. It inspired me to learn new skills with tenacity, prioritize quality work, and take pride in the value of my contributions to our stores’ successes.
Everyone who ends up in the automotive industry has a story, and once we are in, we catch the bug for life. Your car is likely the second-most significant purchase you’ll make after a home. Car shopping → selection → buying is an experience that requires time, inspires emotion, and even contributes to your identity. How fortunate are we to work in such a dynamic, impactful space?! No place else I’d rather be.
Becoming CEO of PureCars
Digital Dealer: How do you approach being one of the youngest female CEOs in the industry? Does it add any extra pressure to the job?
Donalson: Candidly, I do not take this into account. My expectations of myself, my team, and PureCars’ broader success are unabashedly high, yet they are founded in my absolute belief that our people and product are world-class. We will remain committed to and relentlessly pursue new and innovative ways to make our dealer and manufacturer partners’ lives easier. When we execute and excel here, PureCars will undoubtedly perform.
Digital Dealer: Is it extra rewarding to reach this point after being at PureCars for 10 years and coming up through multiple positions with the company?
Donalson: Well, HECK YEAH! Having had the opportunity to lead just about every department at some point throughout my tenure, I can say without question I carry enormous pride – and responsibility – in leading PureCars altogether. Seeing us reach our potential is personal!
Quick side story: my first role at PureCars was in 2015 in Account Management. Our founder and CEO, Jeremy Anspach, regularly joined me in Boston for dealer visits. About three months in, he said to me, “You know you’re going to run this place someday.” At the moment, I laughed it off, but I would be lying if I didn’t carry that memory with me, as I was allowed to lead and influence PureCars’ trajectory in larger ways throughout the years. Jeremy remains a mentor and is on my short list of trusted advisors to this day.
Leadership Style and Goals
Digital Dealer: How would you describe your leadership style, and how has it contributed to your team’s success?
Donalson: Quickly: empathetic yet aggressive. More: I would never ask my team to do something I would not do myself, and I am interested in understanding what I ask of others to ensure I set reasonable expectations. Simultaneously, you better believe I will push the team to challenge the norm, set a stretch goal, and then build + execute a plan to beat it. We will pursue progress over perfection every day – and if we are regularly improving the mean, we are winning.
Digital Dealer: As a leader, how do you foster an inclusive culture within the business?
Donalson: I regularly tell our team and clients that spending time with them is my favorite part of the day, and the most impactful part of my week. There is no “ivory tower” at PureCars – our entire executive team is entrenched in the day-to-day. Accessibility and authenticity are the key drivers to rallying our team to function as a seamlessly aligned unit.
Another side story: humanity helps. On a recent Town Hall, our President and CRO, Jason Wiley, spent some time inspiring the team to “be the unicorn!” (go the extra mile – do the hard but right thing – etc.). This prompted me to don a virtual unicorn horn — which in turn prompted a half dozen other folks to do so — on screen. It’s important for leaders to remember: you were put in the position you are in because of who you are, not who you emulate or pretend to be. Lean into the qualities that put you in the seat! Be yourself. Lead with authenticity and watch the magic happen.
Mentorship and Company Values
Digital Dealer: Who is a mentor who has been critical in your career? How did they help you grow? How do you mentor others?
Donalson: Shelley Washburn, now CMO of Group 1 Automotive, was the CEO of a firm I worked at early in my career. She set clear and high expectations, and would deliver constructive but productive criticism if and as needed across the entire org. Despite her world being much larger than mine, she would somehow always find time to take a phone call or meeting from me, an eager, contractor individual contributor, to hear my ideas and coach me toward my career goals. I keep a handwritten note from Shelley on my desk as a reminder to this day, 12+ years later, congratulating me on my promotion into field account management.
It is massively important to me that PureCars’ associates, as well as friends and colleagues across the industry, see my path from individual contributor to CEO as one that is, in fact, replicable. Shelley encouraged me to “lean in,” and I regularly relay the same to my mentees today. Take initiative, push beyond your stated role/responsibility, and align yourself with the largest opportunities you can contribute to. Don’t shy away, lean in! In doing so, you will seize your own destiny.
Digital Dealer: What values and principles drive your organization, and how do you ensure they are reflected in the day-to-day operations and interactions within the company?
Donalson: Love this question! I have asked PureCars to employ three key tenants, and in just a couple of months, I am blown away by how positively our team has responded and adopted them.
1. Know your impact: on our customers – on your team – and on results. Every person at PureCars makes an impact. If you are scratching your head on how you contribute, book time with me! I would love to talk.
2. Deploy trust and faith:
- Trust = radical candor. If you have an opinion, share it. If you see someone headed down the wrong path, guide them.
- Faith = have faith in our solutions and in one another. Embody a 5 STAR G.A.C., or “5-Star Give a Crap,” on behalf of our customers and teammates.
3. Last, embody a Growth Mindset.
- Change is inevitable – evolution is healthy – growth is fun!
- Fail fast, pivot, and pursue the win on behalf of the customer.
- Embrace change and challenge as evolutionary. Evolution of our ability to support our customers and evolution of your skillset and development.
The Future of PureCars
Digital Dealer: What are some current strategic marketing priorities you’re seeing in automotive, and how have they evolved in the past few years?
Donalson: PureCars is fortunate to be perfectly poised to help the dealer body thrive in today’s increasingly complex media and privacy landscape. We have invested heavily in data hygiene and audience management, which is no longer a “nice to have” but a “need to have” in every dealer and manufacturer’s customer acquisition + retention strategy. We continue to ingest and stitch together customer journeys and data insights across T1-T2-T3 shopping journeys, which informs a best-in-class media activation strategy to improve market share, sales velocity, and customer retention on behalf of our clients.
Digital Dealer: Looking at the current trends, where do you see the biggest opportunities for growth in automotive marketing in 2025 and beyond?
Donalson: I envision a world where audiences are “step zero” in any marketing campaign. A sample path –
- Analyze market, inventory, and consumer behavioral trends to identify opportunities for velocity and growth.
- Curate ideal audiences to target via a first-party, third-party, and machine learning / artificial intelligence-informed algorithm. The ML & AI leverage historical data to prioritize targeting toward customers most likely to convert and transact.
- Deploy your campaign across digital, direct, and traditional tactics allocated and synchronized across all channels.
- Measure path-to-purchase journeys and attributed sales; feed this back into your AI/ML algorithms to continuously inform decisioning, justify spend, and improve media and campaign efficacy.
AI, Technology and the Dealership Success
Digital Dealer: What are some of the technologies or innovations in automotive that excite you the most right now? Are you utilizing any AI tools?
Donalson: As a matter of fact, PureCars’ most recent product release is a Conversational AI Agent that nurtures and passes warm leads, booked test drives, and confirmed service appointments to our dealer and manufacturer partners’ teams. Have a lead source that’s high quality / low quality? Let the agent handle it. Want to ensure leads are responded to 24/7? Let the agent handle it! I am continuously impressed with its ability to improve efficiency and throughput (and it gets smarter every day).
Digital Dealer: Do you think a dealership needs a CDP to be successful? What’s the value of all that extra data for a dealer?
Donalson: Without question, yes. Clean data is not only paramount to a seamless customer experience for our customers’ customers (the car buyer/servicer), but also reduces ad waste (yes, I am suggesting we can reduce ad spend!). Furthermore, a CDP is the foundational basis to a DMP (Data Management Platform), which empowers audience curation and activation across direct and digital media strategies. The combination of CDP, DMP, Identity Resolution, Media Activation, AI, and Measurement + Attribution is THE platinum standard — today!
Digital Dealer: What is one thing you wish more people knew about the automotive industry today?
Donalson: Harkening back to my first job in a Ford store’s parts & service department, to the consumer base – service your car at a franchise dealership! Trust a certified technician to fix your vehicle right the first time, and respect your time and wallet.
To my dealer friends and readers, note that this means we must treat our customers accordingly. Shoppers want to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars with you: make it easy! Embrace transparency, employ time-saving practices, and deploy marketing campaigns that are 1:1 tailored to the consumer.
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