After graduating Cum Laude from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in San Francisco, California, in 2010, Laurel worked with a wide variety of clients including The Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Goodwill, Icebreaker, and the San Francisco Ballet Auxiliary while creating her own clothing and lifestyle brand, Downright Red. Her designs have been featured in the De Young Museum in San Francisco, and the California Museum in Sacramento. World travel called and Laurel served as a Cultural Ambassador for the Tiba Foundation, where she was an educator and fundraiser growing a health education, intervention, and insurance program in a girl’s school in western Kenya. Laurel continues to travel as an advocate for sustainable supply chain practices and indigenous artisans in the apparel and textile industry.