By Rhonwyn Learner on September 15, 2025
After 35 years in human services and a transformative Peace Corps experience, Lauren Breland is back with a mission to guide individuals and organizations toward their fullest potential through Treadwell Proper Paths.
Lauren Breland has a gift for seeing people—truly seeing them. It’s a skill honed through decades of working with everyone from teenagers facing unplanned pregnancies to elders needing comfort in their golden years, from corporate executives to Peace Corps volunteers in rural Thailand. Now, as the owner and CEO of Treadwell Proper Paths, she’s channeling that insight into helping both individuals and organizations discover what she calls “self-understanding.”
The business name itself tells a story. Treadwell comes from Lauren’s great-grandmother’s maiden name on her mother’s side, while “Proper” is her beloved nickname. But it’s the “Paths” that captures the essence of her philosophy.
“There isn’t one particular path that is appropriate or proper for this life to travel,” Lauren explains from her New York base. “There are many different paths to life that I cover within the business.” It’s this understanding—that everyone’s journey is unique—that sets her approach apart.
Lauren’s expertise spans multiple areas, but perhaps her most powerful work involves what she calls moving families “from crisis to comfort.” Over the past 12 years, she’s specialized in helping families navigate the challenges of caring for aging parents and elders.
“When I walked into these situations, they were in crisis,” she reflects. “But over the course of a short period of time, I moved them from crisis into comfort.” Her holistic approach considers everything from medication management to the subtle environmental factors that bring peace—the right lighting, soft background music, even color choices that create a soothing atmosphere.
This expertise didn’t come from textbooks. Lauren learned it through personal experience within her own large extended family, combined with her professional background in human services spanning over 35 years.
What truly distinguishes Lauren is her worldly perspective. She’s lived everywhere from California to Maryland, served in the Peace Corps in Thailand (earning the prestigious John F. Kennedy Award for Exemplary Service), and worked with international students through the American Field Service Student Exchange program.
“I have a worldly mindset,” she says. “I’ve worked with people from international to national to local levels. I’m very comfortable around anybody because I treat everybody really the same.”
This global experience informs her approach to organizational mentoring—another key service she offers. Rather than conducting traditional business analyses with checklists, Lauren takes what she calls a “kaleidoscope view.”
“When you analyze something, you have a checklist,” she explains. “But when you’re mentoring something, you observe it in its fullness. You see things that aren’t on the checklist—the additional services or amenities they’re providing or what they aren’t providing effectively.”
Lauren’s ability to see the big picture comes from her extensive experience working within the 44th largest school district in the country, where she gained exposure to high schools, middle schools, elementary schools, and various administrative departments.
“I have an in-depth, natural understanding of systems,” she notes. “I understand how one thing works into the other, works into the other. I understand what every spoke on that wheel is for and how it supports the transportation of a product, thought, or idea.”
This systems thinking proves invaluable when working with organizations struggling with service delivery—a passion project for Lauren, who became frustrated seeing the same nonprofits working with the same families on the same issues year after year without meaningful progress.
Lauren’s return to full-time business operations represents something of a personal renaissance. After taking three years to heal from extensive surgery, she’s launching back into her work with renewed energy and purpose. Yesterday marked the official relaunch of her business, coinciding with the debut of her podcast, “Living Autobiography Soundtracked.”
“I’m back, baby,” she says with characteristic directness. The timing feels perfect—she’s spent the past two years building her audience on TikTok and Instagram, creating a following ready to support her return to professional practice.
One of Lauren’s most innovative approaches is her “five-finger concept” for individual guidance work. Unlike traditional counseling that can stretch indefinitely, Lauren’s method focuses on achieving concrete results within five sessions.
“I don’t set you on a couch and keep calling you back,” she explains. “We do this in five visits. By the time we reach our fifth visit, we have a fist ready to knock down any barriers in your way and move forward.”
This efficiency reflects her practical approach to personal development—one rooted in her tagline: “Inspiring a human in being.”
Despite her business focus, Lauren maintains strong community connections through projects like her Urban Windowsill Garden Project. This innovative program teaches self-sufficiency through small-space gardening while addressing environmental concerns through recycling and upcycling materials.
“Most people outside our borders actually have something in their yards to feed them,” she observes, drawing from her international experience. “It’s retraining folks for self-sufficiency while giving seniors something to tend to and care for.”
The project serves multiple demographics simultaneously—helping seniors stay active, teaching children life skills, providing therapeutic benefits for adults working through challenges, and building food security awareness.
Perhaps what makes Lauren most effective is her genuine respect for human potential. Growing up in a large extended family—her mother had nine siblings, her father seven—she learned early to see and appreciate the full spectrum of human experience.
“I have such profound respect and natural courtesy for humankind,” she reflects. “I was that child who saw the neighbor coming back from the grocery store and ran out to help carry their groceries inside. I know how to help people because I enjoy helping people, and I’m incredibly good at it.”
This philosophy extends to her business approach. “I don’t judge,” she states simply. “I create a no-judgment zone because I just know how to see you, feel you, and guide you.”
As Treadwell Proper Paths moves forward, Lauren envisions expanding through networking and strategic partnerships rather than traditional employee hiring. Her goal is ensuring all individuals receive appropriate service, even if that means referring them to colleagues better suited to their specific needs.
“I see it really being able to be an effective tool internationally because of my exposure to so many different cultures,” she says, hinting at bigger aspirations for her unique blend of systems thinking, cultural competency, and human understanding.
For Lauren Breland, the journey from Peace Corps volunteer to organizational mentor to community guide represents not just a career evolution, but a calling fulfilled. In a world that often feels divided and disconnected, she offers something increasingly rare: the ability to truly see people for who they are and guide them toward who they can become.
Learn more about Lauren’s services and approach at laurenproper.com, or catch her daily inspirational content on TikTok and Instagram @laurenproper.
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