About DLA: The Agency Built to Connect What Others Leave Disconnected
At Dotted Line, we believe potential is meant to be multiplied, not fixed. We are a modern marketing agency built for ambitious brands ready to grow and unlock what’s next.
Since 2014, we’ve combined strategy, powerful creative, and performance media to help organizations define their edge and drive measurable impact. From foundational positioning to full-funnel execution, we deliver clarity, connection, and momentum that compounds.
With offices in Richmond and Atlanta, we partner with organizations at critical inflection points (when growth matters most and clarity is hardest to find). We bring accessible A-list talent: senior thinkers and makers who operate as true partners, not layers.
Connected Capabilities. Compounding Results.
What services does Dotted Line Agency offer?
Dotted Line Agency provides integrated marketing services that connect brand, content, media, and performance to drive measurable growth. Capabilities include:
- Brand strategy and identity
- Creative development and content creation
- Media planning and buying
- Public relations
- Social media strategy and management
- SEO, SEM, and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
- Website design and development
- Data analytics and performance reporting
How We Work: The Dotted Line Roadmap
How does Dotted Line Agency drive growth?
We operate as an integrated growth partner. More than 90% of our clients report high satisfaction with both our relationship and results. View our 2025 Impact Report (Link)
We use the Dotted Line Roadmap to map the path between where your business is and where it needs to go, analyzing four dimensions: Business potential, Category potential, Consumer potential, and Creative potential.
From there, we align strategy, creative, media, and performance into one connected system designed to create clarity and momentum. The result is not more activity: it’s growth that compounds.
Team
Lauren Sweeney
Founder & CEO
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Lauren is a visionary entrepreneur, a trusted advisor to business executives and leaders, and a champion for the advancement of women and entrepreneurship.
As Founder and CEO of Dotted Line, a modern agency built on partnership, creativity and results, Lauren has reimagined the practice of marketing and communications to help brands grow. She continues to redefine strategic brand marketing for today’s social/digital world, with a strategy-first approach that creates best-in-class solutions for brand challenges. Under Lauren’s leadership, Dotted Line is consistently recognized as a top-growing marketing agency and best place to work in Virginia and the mid-Atlantic region.
Lauren is a business trailblazer who has garnered several recognitions in 2022. She was recognized by Virginia Business with a 2022 Women in Leadership Award. Meanwhile, Dotted Line debuted on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies at No. 2,039 (and the highest-ranking advertising business in Richmond) and on Virginia Business’ Best Places to Work in Virginia. Earlier accolades for Lauren include being named as a Tory Burch Foundation Fellow and a Woman Business Owner of the Year finalist by the National Association of Women Business Owners.
A Richmond native, Lauren graduated from Randolph-Macon College. Prior to starting Dotted Line in 2014, she spent her early career at a Fortune 200 company holding various leadership roles in communications, operations and human resources. She currently is on the board for the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and she is a member of both the global leadership community YPO and the Virginia Council of CEOs.
Lauren is a proud wife of a fellow entrepreneur, a stepmother to a towering college student, and a mom to a busy preschooler. The Sweeney family is actively involved at Richmond’s Hope Church, and they enjoy outdoor activities and traveling. Recent adventures have taken them hiking in Utah, exploring the Holy Land in Israel, and exploring vineyards in France.
Leslie Griles
Chief Client Officer
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Leslie brings more than 25 years of agency and client-side experience to her role, with a reputation for being a true communications “unicorn.” A strategic thinker at heart, she is passionate about aligning brand strategy, creative, and business objectives to drive results, fuel client growth, and shape culture. She is equally committed to building strong client partnerships, believing that great relationships are the foundation for growing and elevating brands.
Before joining Dotted Line, Leslie’s career spans a variety of high-profile roles, including owning an independent communications consultancy where she served as fractional CMO for Fortune 500 companies and start-ups alike and 18 years at The Martin Agency, where she worked with major brands such as Walmart, Hanes, Moen, Benjamin Moore, and Target Stores.
Her vision and leadership have shaped award-winning campaigns for some of America’s most iconic historical attractions, including The Smithsonian, The John F. Kennedy Memorial Library, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and James Madison’s Montpelier. Recognized for her leadership and impact, Leslie was named one of Richmond’s “Top 40 Under 40.” Her campaigns have been featured in top-tier outlets like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, and Fast Company. Her work has also appeared on major television programs such as The Today Show, Oprah, CNN, Good Morning America, and CBS Nightly News.
Leslie is deeply committed to giving back and serves on the Board of Directors for the ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation, is a member of the Skylight Initiative and is a strategic advisor to several start-ups. She is the proud mom to her son, a sophomore in the Pamplin School of Business at Virginia Tech and a 10-year-old goldendoodle who acts like a toddler. In her free time, you can find Leslie arranging flowers, playing Mahjong, exercising or with her toes in the sand.
Mark Pavia
Head of Media and AI
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Mark Pavia brings over 30 years of marketing, media, and customer success leadership to his Head of Media Role for DLA with a reputation for being a true performance-driven “builder” and creative problem solver. A strategic operator and innovator at heart, Mark is passionate about aligning marketing strategy, customer experience, and revenue growth to help companies thrive in fast-evolving markets based on robust data and analytics. He is equally devoted to forging lasting client partnerships, believing that trust, transparency, and collaboration are the foundation for sustainable brand and business success.
Before DLA, Mark held high-impact leadership roles across both agency and technology platforms, including EVP at Epsilon, EVP Global Client Leader and Managing Director at Starcom, and VP Head of Customer Experience at Clinch – an Ai Powered Dynamic Creative Optimization platform. He has advised CMOs and marketing leaders at Fortune 500 companies and Ai venture-backed startups alike, guiding strategies that delivered double-digit ROI, 150% organizational growth, and 100% client retention. At LiveRamp, he led enterprise customer success across brands and agencies, embedding data compliance and product adoption strategies at scale. Mark built and grew The Martin Agency’s media department into a stand alone media unit serving national media AOR clients like UPS.
Mark’s work has driven breakthrough outcomes for brands across the CPG, QSR, retail, and SaaS sectors. From optimizing omnichannel marketing platforms to pioneering dynamic creative optimization frameworks, Mark’s career is defined by performance, innovation, and a deep understanding of customer behavior. His leadership has shaped global media operations in more than 65 countries and transformed marketing organizations from the inside out.
A proud graduate of the University of Kansas and Culver Military Academy. He is a certified Lateral Thinking facilitator and a frequent strategic advisor to growth-stage companies. When not helping brands scale with purpose, you can find Mark under the hood of his or his son’s Toyota 4Runner, in the shop doing custom woodworking, luthiery, or adventuring with his goofy black labrador, Cooper.
Meggan Adams
Group Account Director
Hanah Holpe
Senior Strategy Director
Laura Rabideau
Senior Brand Strategist
Anna Ferrell
Associate Account Director
Paige Grindstaff
Senior Account Executive
Laura Hunt
Digital Strategist
Rachel Cohen
Sr Project & Resource Lead
Julia Bruski
Senior Project Manager
Lee Remias
Creative/Copy
Cedric Giese
Creative/Copy
Kevin Thoem
Creative/Art
Josh Reese
Creative/Art
Shehan Rodrigo
Creative/Design
Libby Miller
Creative/Design
Emma Connelly
Social Media Manager
Scottie Gilg
Account Coordinator
Melissa Jones
PR/Media Relations Specialist
Jose Palacios
Web Developer
Riju Mondal
Search Specialist
Susan Hebel
Finance and Accounting Lead
Sam Ratliff
Assistant to the CEO