Written by Doug Goodnough
Reed and Natalie Kent Lawe, ’21, ’22, met well before either one of them attended a class at Hillsdale College.
Growing up as neighbors in the bedroom community of Ave Maria, Florida, the now-married couple both had family connections to Hillsdale.
“We had always seen Imprimis on coffee tables and had heard so much about the school,” Reed said.
However, Reed was focused on earning an appointment to the Naval Academy. When that didn’t happen, he thought maybe an ROTC scholarship to a school in the Northeast was the next best option. A family friend recommended Hillsdale, and Reed, who was interested in free market economics, decided to visit.
“It was April of my senior year of high school, so way beyond the normal application threshold,” he said. “I actually visited on the day of the groundbreaking of the chapel.”
He was sold and enrolled at Hillsdale that fall.
Natalie, however, took a more unique path to campus. Although she wasn’t a Hillsdale student yet, she accepted a summer internship with the College’s Career Services Office. That experience sold her on Hillsdale (and having Reed on campus helped). At the end of the summer, she decided to apply with the hope of starting in the winter semester. Admissions gave her a better offer.
“They came back and said, ‘What about the fall [semester]?’ Natalie recalled. “I was literally choking back tears of joy, because I couldn’t believe this dream was coming true.”
Once on campus, the couple were a formidable pair. Natalie, an English major, worked in the Admissions Office on the leadership team and assisted the office’s social media efforts. She also served as president of her Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
“Every single [campus] tour, no matter how hot or cold, I remember thinking, ‘I’m just so grateful to be here, because you see these students that would give anything to come to Hillsdale,’” Natalie said.
Reed, a finance major, also worked in Admissions and was the president of the Investment Club and a member of the Rugby Club. He was active in the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and completed the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program.
Both were members of Hillsdale’s Catholic Society, which “was a huge part of our formation,” Natalie said. “That really helped foster who we are today.”
When Reed graduated, he knew he wanted a career in the technology industry. A fraternity brother who was working in Austin, Texas, invited Reed to live with him while he was looking for a job. Reed quickly found one with DoorDash. When Natalie graduated a year later, she moved to Austin, and they were soon married.
“We are so adamant about Austin as an excellent place for Hillsdale grads to live and work,” Natalie said. “We have tried to convince everyone we know to move to Austin. It’s really changed so much of our careers and our lives.”
Reed is a senior strategy associate with DoorDash, while Natalie works as a customer success manager at Sailpoint Technologies.
“The way that I like to explain my job is there are high-level strategies that we want to implement across the business,” said Reed, who dreams of becoming a venture capitalist. “My team tries to operationalize those strategies, acting like a general manager across the business. Specifically, I focus on affordability.”
Despite having no training in technology, Natalie’s verbal and social skills were a key to landing her current position with Sailpoint.
“Being able to talk the talk is a challenge that keeps each day new. I could never get bored in this job,” Natalie said. “My role is making sure that our customers have the resources they need to do their jobs successfully. I work with some fairly large customers, but I feel like at the end of the day, being a Hillsdale English major taught me how to think and break down very complex questions into small components.”
The Lawes became parents when their son, Wade, was born in August of 2025. And their Austin community has a strong Hillsdale influence. Mark and Haley Talkington Naida, ’18, ’17, are members of their Catholic church and have become fast friends, not to mention Wade’s godparents.
“We didn’t even know each other in college,” Natalie said of the Naidas. “But I feel like having those similar experiences at such a pivotal time in your young adulthood really transforms who you are as a person. We’ve just been so fortunate to have them in our lives. That Hillsdale bond is so special.”
They said Hillsdale alumni who are looking for careers in technology should consider Austin, and they are willing to help alumni make the connections that once helped them both.
“We often say that we almost can’t think about how close we were to not attending Hillsdale,” Reed said. “We’re so grateful that Hillsdale took a chance on both of us.”
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in February 2026
