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Get To Know Your Host Lauren
94 Plays4 months ago
In this episode of The Influencer Sisterhood Podcast, Leslie sits down with Lauren for an honest, behind-the-scenes conversation so you can truly get to know the woman beyond the content.
Lauren shares her personal journey into influencing—how a deeply personal weight loss journey unexpectedly opened the door to becoming an influencer, and what it was really like navigating that transition. Together, Leslie and Lauren talk about the realities of building an online presence, the lessons learned along the way, and the things no one talks about when you’re just getting started.
You’ll hear:
- How Lauren’s weight loss journey became the catalyst for her influencer career
- What she wishes she had known before putting herself out there online
- Her best advice for influencers—especially women starting or starting over in midlife
- What people don’t see behind the scenes of influencing
- The mindset shifts required to grow, stay grounded, and keep going
This episode is about honesty, evolution, and reminding you that there’s no one “right” way to become an influencer. Whether you’re brand new, feeling stuck, or quietly dreaming of what’s next, this conversation will make you feel seen, encouraged, and less alone.
Welcome back to the Sisterhood 🤍
This week's Sister Shoutouts are:
@leeannstyled
@all_themoments
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Influencer Sisterhood
00:00:06
Speaker
Hey, I'm Leslie. Hi, I'm Lauren. And we're the Influencer Sisterhood. Your weekly coffee date for real, unfiltered conversations about life as a midlife influencer.
00:00:17
Speaker
No gatekeeping, no fluff. We're two women at different stages of the journey, sharing the wins, the struggles, and everything in between. This is a safe space where all influencers belong.
00:00:29
Speaker
So grab your drink, get comfy, welcome to the sisterhood. Let's dive in to this week's episode.
Lauren's Journey into Journalism and Curiosity
00:00:40
Speaker
Welcome back to the Influencer Sisterhood. Today's episode is all about getting to know my co-host, Lauren. You hear her every week, and now it's time to flip the mic and ask her the burning questions that I'm sure you all want to know, a little fun behind-the-scenes stuff that you might not know, and everything in between. So let's dive in. Lauren, welcome to your own podcast. Welcome.
00:01:05
Speaker
Hey, appreciate it. I'm excited because I am journalist by nature. That's what my degree is. And so I love to ask the question. So this is right up my alley. So we're going to dive in Let's start from the beginning.
00:01:20
Speaker
How did you first get started influencing on social media?
The Beginning of Lauren's Influencer Career
00:01:26
Speaker
I started a little over two years ago, and it actually started with me trying to sell clothes from my closet on Facebook.
00:01:38
Speaker
And i had lost a bunch of weight. And Eric was like, okay, you've got all these clothes. Maybe instead of just, I mean, we usually donate or, you know, whatever. He's like, why don't you try to see if you could like get some money for them?
00:01:50
Speaker
So that was the beginning of me selling clothes. And I really didn't follow influencers. I didn't know much about affiliate marketing. And it just sort of like got me in the habit of, I guess, talking to people about clothes and,
00:02:10
Speaker
People started sharing that with other friends. And i mean, this was just my personal Facebook page. And then when that was over, it was like, well, that was kind of fun. And because sometimes I would be like, okay, well, here, I'll put it on. It's like, doesn't fit, but this is what I, how I wear it. I usually wear it with these shoes or whatever. And so then it was like, hey, would this be something like,
00:02:30
Speaker
don't know, maybe I could do it. Now I understand the algorithm. And once you start looking at anything that is affiliate marketing or anything like that, everything, all of a sudden, everything you see is affiliate marketing or whatever it is that you are doing a deep dive on. So that's kind of how it started.
00:02:45
Speaker
Okay. So when you were selling clothes via Facebook, were you making some good money or? and no no No, because it wasn't this model. It was, okay, all the dresses in my closet are $5. All the, you know, shorts are $5 or something like that.
00:03:03
Speaker
Say that again? Like an online yard sale, kind of? Yeah, basically. Yeah, it was just sort of like posting pictures of things. And that was it. And then...
Amazon Affiliates and Passion for Influencing
00:03:14
Speaker
When I started, since school started and I was teaching and it turned out to be my last year of teaching, but I didn't know that at the time. And so I sort of just started sharing what I was wearing to school that day. And I didn't have the ability to make money on anything at that point, except for Amazon. I had figured out how to be an Amazon affiliate.
00:03:37
Speaker
And so i was able to set that up. And once I did that, if it was Amazon, i could make a little bit of money if somebody bought it through a link.
00:03:47
Speaker
But most of the things that I had some Amazon, but at times I would have Loft or Old Navy or Target and I didn't have the ability to... make money on that, but I would still send people the actual link to the outfit so people could buy it themselves. I didn't make any money, but I just sort of started acting as if I was making money and providing, I guess, a service to people.
00:04:09
Speaker
And that was just the beginning of it. And then I just started researching everything I possibly could about how to make money doing this. And I had read that it was going to take a very long time. And I thought, well, you know, I'll just start doing this. And if I make any money in a couple of years, I'll maybe make a little bit of change on the side that I could maybe supplement my income that way.
00:04:33
Speaker
And then it just became like this passion of mine. And I just dove in and every second that I was not teaching, I was doing this. And that was it. I mean, it there was no fourth major forethought. It wasn't like I'm going to become an influencer. It was just, yeah.
00:04:50
Speaker
I'm going to start sharing what I wear every day. And that was as far as I went i thought, to be honest.
Weight Struggles and Fashion Choices
00:04:56
Speaker
Okay, so let's back up just a minute because I think we kind of glossed over the the real reason you started selling the clothes is because you lost, what, 100 pounds?
00:05:07
Speaker
Yes, I did. Okay, so tell us little bit about that. So you had to go from dressing a completely different body to your new body. That's why you started selling the clothes because they no longer fit. So take us through a little bit of that.
00:05:21
Speaker
Yeah, sure. i had a lifelong and have had a lifelong struggle with body image and weight. And i have my weight has fluctuated and yo-yoed 60, 80 pounds up and down over and over since I was a child. And so I know what it's like to dress for a body that I don't like, I don't enjoy, i don't feel like is mine.
00:05:46
Speaker
but I have to get dressed every day. And I i know how what it's like to dress to hide from people, which is how I did for many years. I also know what it's like to dress for a body as I'm losing weight. And it's like, I don't know what weight I'm gonna be on the scale this week versus what I was two weeks ago. And I would have such wide fluctuations in weight that I needed clothes that would fit me whether I weighed what I weigh that day or 10 pounds more, or 10 pounds less. I needed something that would manage a weight range because that was how it always was for me. And it wasn't like I knew that I could just pick anything out of my closet and put it on and it was going to fit because that wasn't the case. So in April of 2019, I had gastric sleeve surgery, which is
00:06:35
Speaker
A weight loss surgery, it's not bypass. It's not gastric bypass. It's not lap band. There are multiple different ones that you can have. I don't know that anybody really does
Gastric Sleeve Surgery Experience
00:06:44
Speaker
lap band anymore. Maybe they do. I don't know. Gastric bypass, which I did not have, is where they actually bypass your stomach. It's the best way I can understand it. And you actually, it's a lot harder. It's a lot more... difficult to stay healthy people do it but it's very difficult because it's hard to absorb all the vitamins and minerals and nutrients that you need gastric sleeve reduces the size of your stomach because they cut a portion of your stomach and remove it so you're left with a smaller portion like 20 of your stomach you So everything is still doing its job, going the exact same way it always does. It's just smaller. So I had that surgery done actually in Mexico and a friend of mine it had the surgery and I watched her journey with that. And she had done a lot of research and found this doctor and she is very, very social and ate out a lot and does a lot of entertaining. And I thought, okay, cause I'm not one to cook at home.
00:07:47
Speaker
I don't entertain, but I don't cook at home. So I thought, how am I going to do this? Right? Like, how am I going to eat? I don't want to have to change my entire world. And I watched her be social and eat out and manage this. And I was like, okay, if she can do it, then I can do it. And so about nine months or so after she did hers, I had mine and it was a lot less expensive than the United States. Of course, there's no insurance, but my insurance wouldn't have covered it anyway. And so that was the beginning of it. And that was in ah April of 2019. And by January of 2020, I had lost 70 pounds. And so I so kept that off pretty much for a couple of years and stayed around there. And then I started to slowly gain it back.
00:08:33
Speaker
And then with the help of GLP-1, didn't gain it all back. I gained a portion of it back, which is very common. And even though you don't really change what you're doing, it just happens. And now I think a lot of what I understand weight loss surgeons will do both in conjunction. Like, you know, that it's not just one or the other.
00:08:50
Speaker
So, but in, was it 23? So two years after I'd done that, I i was still maintaining about a 70 pound weight loss. And I had a closet full of clothes for everything from the weight I was at that point, all the way up 240 pounds. And at that point I was about 160. Mm-hmm.
00:09:10
Speaker
ish, 170, 175, kind of. So, you know, it was good 60 pounds probably. And so that was the clothes that I had to share. And think because initially so many people who knew me in my personal life, and that was where I was selling the clothes from my closet, they had watched me lose all of this weight And have since lost considerably more, you know, 40, 50 pounds more than what I did at that point.
00:09:40
Speaker
But they had watched me and they knew like it wasn't like I was just out there hocking clothes. You know, they knew that I understood that if I found something that fit, I got it in every color and, or something that I felt like looked pretty decent on me, I got it in every color and, you know, I knew it was a go-to. And so, and I didn't spend a
Fashion Evolution with Weight Changes
00:10:03
Speaker
lot of money on my clothes. I spent a lot of money, I guess, on the masks of quantities that I would have, but not on each individual item. So I had always been an Amazon shopper, Shein shopper, because I was looking for things that I could wear. And I, if it didn't fit anymore, if I lost weight or gained weight, then I was okay. So I didn't invest a ton in my clothes, but they knew they held up because I had had them and they'd watched me have them. So that's kind of where that, how that started.
00:10:34
Speaker
Well, so how would you describe how you shopped or the clothes you wore when you were bigger, when you were losing and the way you dress now? Because I think listeners who are also going through, you know, fluctuating of weight or whatever, what type of items did you buy when you were still fluctuating versus what you buy now that you've stuck with a certain weight?
00:10:59
Speaker
Right. I would say a huge, the biggest difference between how I dress now versus how I dressed before is I wear things that show a waistline more now than I ever did. i did not before. More elastic stuff when you were and yeah differentized sort of like a sort of shift dresses that don't have a defined waistline. And I still wear those, but might belt it now or I wear things now that I would never have worn before. And I'm apple shaped by nature. And people probably don't know that because I'm thin and I'm tall, but my legs, even though they would gain and lose weight, my legs were something that I was comfortable showing because they still had a shape even when I was heavier. So I could wear something that sort of
00:11:47
Speaker
was shapeless up top or more of an A-line, but it would be short. So it'd be kind of sassy-ish and have a little bit of a flare to it. and i And it would be short and I would have, my legs would be okay. I mean, yeah overall, I guess. So that was kind of the thing that I would highlight would be my legs or my neck or my arms-ish.
00:12:08
Speaker
You know, like I would wear something like this. I really typically wouldn't wear something that would cut here because it felt like it made my arm look really big. But if it had like and more of a cap sleeve or if if it was more of a halter. So it had to either be like this or be in that would give this appearance. So now, and honestly, for me, the thing when you have something that has not a whole lot of shape, that's more of an A-line or a shift dress,
00:12:36
Speaker
You can gain and lose a good bit in there and you can wear it a size bigger than maybe it was intended to be on you. And it still looks about the same, you know, like, so I could wear it when, and to the point where it would be like, okay, i probably need to either go up a size or go down a size depending, but I could still wear things that.
00:12:55
Speaker
were probably two sizes too big that maybe had been a 2XL and I might've been an L, you know, large at that point. And it was like, a i had like a 2XL top or 2XL dress, but it, because it, you know, it would hang, I could still sort of get away with it. Before I had to really go into another set of clothes. But the thing for me is through this process of dressing on camera, my style has changed so much.
00:13:24
Speaker
And I wear things differently. Now that I wouldn't have worn even if I was this size before, because this has taught me and viewers and followers and people who have followed me probably don't know it because I don't talk about it a ton, not because I don't want to, but I just forget about it. But they actually watched me go through that transformation online because What I wore in the beginning two years ago, while some of it's still the same, you can see an evolution if you really are if you know what you're looking for and you go back. I still wore pretty shapeless, shiftless types of things in the beginning. They were smaller, but it was still more of that look because that was my comfort. That was my go-to. That was what I knew worked. And i think one of the things that scared me the most with working with brands is,
00:14:13
Speaker
What if they wanted me to show something that doesn't look good on me or doesn't fit? And the fear was always, what size do I order? Because I don't know what's gonna fit because would see myself, it's a lot of body dysmorphia. I would see myself at a size that I wasn't anymore. or I didn't really know what I was. And so it has taken the fact that I've done this over and over and over again and bought so many things over the past two years that I can sort of understand now what size I need to be, what size I get am going to be in that outfit, what size I'm going to be in these pants or what size I'm going to be.
00:14:51
Speaker
i remember I had to go get a pair of jeans for this cancer thing that I did, this show right after I started doing this. So it was like, so October, September, October of 2023. And I started my account in August of 2023.
00:15:06
Speaker
And I can remember going into the store and I was so nervous about jeans because that was always, mean, I trying on jeans growing up was like as traumatic as trying on a bathing suit. All of that was just so traumatic for me.
00:15:17
Speaker
And I can remember I pulled some
Body Dysmorphia and Influencing
00:15:20
Speaker
things into the cloth, into the dressing room and the woman came back and she's like, these are all too big. And I was like, no, they're not. Like, it's not. And she's like, no, seriously, these are too big here.
00:15:31
Speaker
And she's giving me these other sizes. And I'm like, seriously, like, really? And I'd put them on. I'm like, this feels tight. And she's like, that's how it's so supposed to fit. it like You know, like, I just didn't know.
00:15:42
Speaker
Exactly. right leg what And I do kind of. Now that you know we're talking about this, I do wish I had. I probably should. I need to figure out how to incorporate more of that part of me into my account even now. It's just, it's weird.
00:15:57
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I mean, let's face it. We all struggle with weight, no matter size you are. I think every woman out there probably struggles internally at least with what they feel comfortable weighing, right? Because everybody has their own goal weight, et cetera. So I definitely think sharing, you know, how to dress for different weights or different heights, like sometimes we do with petite versus tall, like that's, those are important. But I also just feel like this journey of yours is the reason you started. And I think it's an important story to share. So thanks for sharing that.
00:16:34
Speaker
Let me ask you this. From when you lost the weight to when you started your influencing account, how long was that? Two years. And then it was maybe...
00:16:49
Speaker
because it was my third year of after surgery, which was 2023, when I began to see the weight creep back up. So I started this account in August. And in November is when I started a small dose of GLB-1. And it's just keeping you out of your goal late? It's more of a micro dose that I do for maintenance every couple of weeks.
00:17:12
Speaker
And I know that if I've taken it, I'll probably lose a few pounds, not intentionally. It's just what happens. And then after a couple of weeks of not taking it, it'll slowly creep back up and I don't change anything. It's just what happens with my body. And so, you know, now I sort of keep, I'm probably within a five to 10 pound, not even really 10, five to eight pounds, I guess. And I weigh myself once a week just so that I keep,
00:17:39
Speaker
I weighed myself this morning and i was like, oh, it's probably time for me to take another shot. It's been a while. And I'm like, I see you go back up. It's just, you know, so, but since I started this, I've lost weight since I started this.
00:17:52
Speaker
Correct. But that's not why it just has been sort of part of the journey. You started influencing. Yeah. So when you first started August, 2023, how long did it take you to get approved to LTV? applied like three times and was, and was denied. I can remember getting on Facebook or maybe Instagram. I was probably Instagram and did, and went, did a live or something. Cause that's what I always did. Like I had no idea what I was doing. I was like, ah, I'll just go a lot. Cause that's what I would do on Facebook with my regular,
00:18:24
Speaker
account. And i was like, yep, three times. It's humbling. I just got the rejection again. Like you think you're doing something and oh like, I don't know what else to do. Like it was just this sense of, cause for me, it was going to make things easier for the people who followed me.
00:18:40
Speaker
Yes. I was going to be able to make more money, but at the time it was like to provide people with links to the whole outfit was like, impossible. Like it wasn't impossible. I found a way around it and I used link tree and each item was linked separately, but it would be by date. And so I was like trying to make it make sense for people. And I can remember a friend of mine, um, sending me, she's like, can't you just send us one link? Like this person does. And I was like, Nope, sure can't.
00:19:09
Speaker
I will sure can't. And so I want to say it was end of October, maybe a couple months. That's not terrible. No, it wasn't at all. It just, you know, for as much as I was doing it, it was, it felt like for forever.
00:19:23
Speaker
Do you know, or can you remember how many followers you had at the time when you actually got approved? About 1500, maybe. Okay. Okay. The reason I ask is because maybe there's somebody listening who hasn't been approved yet. We don't, you know, and I don't know that that's a hard and fast rule. You have to have a certain amount or whatever. i think it's more about showing the consistency. And if you were consistently showing fashion for a couple of months from August to October and you were gaining followers, that's probably why.
00:19:52
Speaker
Was it third time charm or was it? It fourth time charm. And it was, and you have to wait 30 days before you can apply again. and so I actually used a separate email the fourth time.
00:20:04
Speaker
didn't wait an entire third month. I did it. I applied in August, September, October, all were rejected. And midway through October, I applied with different email and I got it. And I thought maybe that was the key. And then I found out that actually wasn't the key. It just so happened to have been that I,
00:20:22
Speaker
and I've learned now that it really has less to do. You have to have, a think, of a thousand followers, but you but outside of that, they look for engagement. So they look for who, like how engaged your following is. So yes, are you showing fashion? are Is that what your account's about? Are you someone who they feel like is...
00:20:43
Speaker
an account that would represent LTK well. And that's the main thing. So if you have things that are controversial, they likely will not give you and they they won't approve you. But I mean, i there are people who have never done a single thing of it, but get approved immediately.
00:21:02
Speaker
I don't know why. it just, I mean, I can give best practices that I've seen over the years, but they'll always be the outlier that'll call me a liar, you know? Well, I think the best advice we can give is, you know, do just like you did. Keep applying.
00:21:17
Speaker
Keep posting and keep applying until, you know, if that's the route you want to go. But nowadays, not like when you first started, but nowadays there are other platforms that don't require any approval process.
00:21:30
Speaker
Like, Maveley doesn't you don't have to op as an approval. I don't think you have. yeah think it They will have to approve you, I think. But the approval process, is it's not the same way. i think everyone gets approved unless you're doing something against their policies. so you have to be very careful that...
00:21:48
Speaker
before you apply, that your account is public, that everything is wide open. Like that's the key to everything is that you cannot have any privacy settings set to private on any of your accounts because that is the biggest thing. Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:07
Speaker
Right. Okay. So you went through the weight loss, you sold some clothes on Facebook, you decided to start this account, you applied to LTK three times before you got approved the fourth time.
Realizing Influential Potential
00:22:19
Speaker
What moment through all of that, or is there a moment through any of your journey of doing this that you actually thought, okay, I'm a legit influencer and this is what I want to do Not just for fun. I would say there were a couple when I was approved for LTK. That was a pivotal moment for me because it was like, okay.
00:22:42
Speaker
Oh, wow. Actually the very first one was when at the time loft was doing a creator program separate and to anything else. And I don't know that I ever actually linked anything through there, but Once they re they tagged me and noticed that I had been showing their stuff. And I was like, oh my God.
00:23:02
Speaker
And that was like in a month in maybe a month in. Then it was when I got approved for LTK. Okay. And it was when I hit 10,000. Which was December.
00:23:13
Speaker
had a huge growth spurt in between mid-October and December. and And then when I first got paid, like really paid off of everything, because it takes a long time before you see any real money from what you've done, because they have to go through return periods and all the things. And so it takes months. You're doing the work.
00:23:36
Speaker
And I was doing the work. And then by March, my paycheck in March from all sorts of different like random places, I never knew where I was going to get paid, how i was going to get paid. I was just like, look, money. Now, granted, I was outlaying a lot of cash that I wasn't keeping track of. However, I was looking at the look at this money coming in. Right. And it had it was triple my teacher salary, my teacher pay. And I was like, whoa, wait a minute.
00:24:04
Speaker
What? And so that was the moment of this is pretty, this might actually be something that maybe I could do this. And so that was March and I started in August. So what that's for like six, seven months in.
00:24:22
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
Community Connection and Influencer Perception
00:24:23
Speaker
Okay. So what is your favorite part of being an influencer? And on the flip side, what's the hardest or least favorite part now that you are officially an influencer? Yeah, it's so weird. And I still, i still struggle. I'm getting better at calling myself an influencer, but I, i feel married is a what is it feels a little pretentious to me. And yeah I always stumble over it. Actually, yesterday, somebody said, so what do you do?
00:24:49
Speaker
And I'm like, oh, I'm just, you know, I work in social media. And they're like, well, like, what do you mean on social? Like, what do you do for social media? And I'm like, well, you know, like fashion, like influence. I mean, it's just, it's like, I always said I was a content creator. a little ah And say, I'm an influencer. That feels so weird. Yeah. Because especially people in, if they are not in the world of this, which it's hard once you're in the world to not see outside the world of it, because it's all you, it's all consuming.
00:25:20
Speaker
There are people who are like, what? Because we're not in our age bracket. It's not like kids. I mean, younger kids who are, you know, teens, twenties, thirties, even that is a normal thing. People aspire to, right? It's like,
00:25:36
Speaker
that People in our world are like, you're a what? What does that even mean? Right. right And so because I don't know that you set out to be an influencer. i mean, you do, but it's like you create content. And over time, if you can build an engaged community, then you have influence over that community.
00:25:54
Speaker
Then you can be an influencer like it. You don't just go, I'm going to do, I'm just going to be an influencer. Well, you can, but you got to start here and you got to work your way and do all the work before you get to that place where you may potentially have influence over people.
00:26:10
Speaker
So I would say my most favorite, which probably sounds cliche just from hearing other people, it's the connection. It's that I make and have made with people in the community.
00:26:23
Speaker
it's that actually people want to see what I'm doing is kind of bizarre, but also exciting because I know that especially as a cancer survivor and I share about colonoscopies and getting screened, when people will say to me,
00:26:40
Speaker
I got a colonoscopy when I hadn't, I'd been putting it off, but I know you always talk about it. So I just wanted to let you know, I got one and they found something, but but because i I had the screening, they were able to take care of it or something like that. Like then it feels like, wow, that's, that's pretty cool.
00:26:54
Speaker
My least favorite, I got a couple if I'm being honest. There are a lot of things I do love, but if I'm going to just give one and then the least favorite, because I think people don't realize, like, I really hate getting dressed.
00:27:08
Speaker
And Leslie knows this about me because I say it all the time. Like, I hate filming. I'm just That's the funny thing. It sounds funny because it sounds like that, but it's like I would stay in my pajamas or throw on cutoffs and a t-shirt, but having to be kind to consciously think about what I'm going to put on and is it linkable? Is it not linkable? Am I going to film it? Do I... like That kind of thing gets old after a while. And now I have to remind myself.
00:27:35
Speaker
yes And I have to remind myself, like, I have a it's a privilege and I get to do this and make money at it. And this is my job. And like, get over yourself, Lauren, doing something else you don't want to do.
00:27:47
Speaker
Sure. But as with anything that you love doing in the first place, when it becomes a job, it does become a job. yeah Like, I mean, I love being a photographer or I love taking photos before I became a photographer. And not that I don't like going to do it, but now it is a job versus I chose to go out and do it. Like, you know what I mean? There is a difference. Totally, for sure. I would say that and the fact that at times, I think the larger I get and the more I have been promoted by brands through advertising, which is wonderful, the downside of that is that trolls come out. And I am okay with, but typically with that, I get it, I understand it, but it can get,
00:28:37
Speaker
exhausting, you know, and it's like, and so, but that's really a small minor part, but really the getting dressed, having to film, I hate returning. i hate opening packages. I hate driving by my front door and I'm like, yeah I'll be like, Oh God, they're packages.
00:28:55
Speaker
Dang it. I got to go do something with those. All the things people don't say. i mean They think it's so glamorous, right? Like, I mean, you know, until you're in this world, it does look super fun. And like, you're trying on clothes and you're shopping and all the things girls typically like to do. But then the behind the scenes that nobody sees is the part that's not maybe as glamorous. It's the part when you get successful at this and you're actually ah working fashion, lifestyle, home or whatever, content creator,
00:29:25
Speaker
you actually have so much of it to show, which is a wonderful thing to have. It also is ah can be overwhelming. and so And I am not an organized person by nature. If you follow me, you know that. If you follow me, you'll figure that out real quick.
00:29:43
Speaker
So for me, it doesn't come naturally to me. And if I were more organized, I've had to really work hard at creating systems to make this make sense, to make it be profitable where I'm not wasting money and throwing money away by not keeping up with returning and all the things that are the, again, the not fun side of it. But all in all, I would do this in a heartbeat over other things that I, you know, i'm very, very grateful.
00:30:09
Speaker
Okay, so that kind of maybe answered this question, but I'm going ask it anyway. What is one thing, there are many things, but what is one thing that you think people really don't realize about this industry? it it The massive quantities of things.
00:30:25
Speaker
It's things, it's stuff, it's clutter. it's if you could If I turned this camera one iota, you would be like, Oh my God. And if you are somebody who is like a neat freak, you would have a heart attack at what the rest of this around me looks like right now, because it's out of control.
00:30:44
Speaker
So I think people don't realize the massive quantities of things and that you have to do something with them. So whether it be right you keep them, if you choose to keep them to wear them, you need to get rid of other things that you already have to make room for it. If You need to make the decision, do I need to hold on to this for X amount of time because I'm still going to need to show it in another way? Do I need to get rid of it? Do I need to return it? Do I need to gift it? Do I need to sell it?
00:31:13
Speaker
Do I need to donate it? you know What do I do with it? It's it's the stuff. It's the moving of stuff. It's like a shell game. And that to me is the thing that I don't think people see at all. And the amount of money that we actually put out before you make any. It's definitely a...
00:31:32
Speaker
a pay to play no situation. And eventually sure you can make a lot of money doing this, but you have to be able to manage the coming in and going out of the stuff and how to, what you pay for, what you don't pay for, what you keep, what you don't.
00:31:49
Speaker
Well, yeah, because think about it. In order to grow, you have to post every single day. In order to post every single day, you got to have something to post about every single day. And most influencers do not post the same thing over and over and over again, right? So you always have to have something for every post, which just piles up into quantities of stuff.
00:32:09
Speaker
but It absolutely does. And the idea that you don't as understand the cycles of which brands keep stock a lot more, things stay in stock a lot more than others.
00:32:22
Speaker
And so... If you're going to invest in a piece, it might make sense financially for your business to invest in a piece that you can show multiple times. And next year and the next year, like, you know, a la Amazon, if you want to be able to link it and not link something similar, which ticks a lot of people off. So that I invested money into clothing that by the time I got it in went to wear it It no longer was available.
00:32:53
Speaker
And that I had to learn that the hard way. And many times you, that's what we have to do. We have to learn it the hard way. And then you're like, what do I do with this now? Cause I can't make money off of it. I like it, but I can't make money off out of it.
00:33:05
Speaker
And if this is your job, you got to make money off of the stuff. You know what mean? So, and you got to know, and if it's not, yeah. And you got to know, I, you know, I built my business off of what I was wearing to work that day, which was great until I did it long enough that I was in, I'd been, I was now in a new season, right? Like I'd never been through all the seasons. And so it's hot as blazes where I live. And it's like, so people are showing winter and it's,
00:33:32
Speaker
hot outside, you know, I'm not wearing a sweater. And so people are like, well, I can't, like the you know, it's like, that's not what people want to see. Well, I'm not buying any more winter clothes. I need to see so summer.
00:33:45
Speaker
Well, I don't, not wearing in summer. It's March and I'm going to work and it's freezing, you know? So it's like 38 degrees and raining and I am not, you know, high humidity.
00:33:57
Speaker
I'm not putting on a bathing suit, which I'm not putting on a bathing suit anyway, but there you go. To see you run errands in your bathing suit. That's so me, right? That's so me. Okay, what is your dream brand collaboration? Who's top on your list? I would say probably Tucker Knuck.
00:34:18
Speaker
I love Tucker Knuck. I have been a long... now it's... Because Tucker Knuck really hasn't been around forever. Like, it's a fairly newer brand, like only a couple of years old, or i don't know how old, but, you know, not that old. Right.
00:34:32
Speaker
I just... It is so my personality. i have explored other sides of my personality clothing-wise now that I hadn't. But, like, at my core, it's how I like to dress. I love a shirt dress. I love preppy. I love classic. And so I love it. And it's what I've always purchased when I was going to spend money on something.
00:34:54
Speaker
Did you know, and I hope I get this right, but I just read this the other day, it's named after, there's an island named Tuckernuck, like off the coast of Nantucket, maybe. And the people that started it summered there, which is why they named it that and why it is a preppy brand because it fits where the location of where it started.
00:35:15
Speaker
At least that's what I think. i think don't quite That would make sense. always think it's interesting. yeah that would make a ton of sense. So to me, that would be a major thing I would love to do. I don't know that it will happen because I have shown so much of the looks for less that Amazon shares that are...
00:35:34
Speaker
that compete with their items because they look a lot like them. And so I'd also love to share Frank and Eileen because I would love, I love the real pieces that I have from there, but it's just way too expensive for me to, I mean.
00:35:49
Speaker
and the people who follow me, like my brain is still in the brand is like in in the business sense because I'm like, okay, I would love to show Tucker. I definitely sell tu real Tucker. I have sold a few real Frank and Eileen pieces, but the majority of people who follow me, follow me for looks for less. So in affordable fashion. So if I were to show higher end stuff, am I leaving behind the general people who follow me?
00:36:13
Speaker
Right. I don't know. Right. Well, I mean, that's why you mix a little high, a little low. And if Tucker and can Frank and Eileen are listening by chance, please contact Lauren. Her Instagram is at Lauren Augs G. Thank you. There you go. Thank you. And yes, and I do actually, whenever I do show a comparison, i always link the real one too, because sometimes the real one actually is better. And I will say it yeah I will say it. If I think the real one is just as good, if not better, I'm going to say that. If I think this, like oftentimes I'll buy the real one. And then if I want to buy multiple colors of it, I'll buy the less expensive ones for the
00:36:54
Speaker
other colors, you know, but, but I usually have a real piece. no fabric i mean Yeah. Yeah. You are not as much as I am like fabric. I will, I mean, I will wear a sheet and it would be, that sounds terrible. I would wear, i'm trying to think what I would wear. I would wear a blanket. How about that?
00:37:11
Speaker
I don't, it doesn't bother me like it bothers a lot of people. Like somebody be like, well, what is the, but it pills. What about it killing? And I'm like, I remember somebody just went nuts on me about ah free people look for less sweater at, which is one of the main things that, I mean, that's me on the map.
00:37:29
Speaker
and two years ago and they're like, ew, it pills. And I'm like, well, right. Yeah, it does pill because I wear a lanyard every day around my neck with keys as a teacher. And I would much prefer it pill. It's good. The real one's going to pill or this one's going to pill because of what I'm wearing around my neck. I'd be having a heart attack if I spent 200 and something bucks on this sweater and it got messed up. I don't mind if I spent 50 bucks and it got messed up. So Right. I'm hard on the clothes that I wear.
00:37:58
Speaker
So that's, that's. Well, I have one. I spent a couple of years ago ah where I treated myself to a birthday outfit. Okay. i no imagined it And went to one of the most expensive boutiques in town, bought a sweater and a pair of pants and that sweater pills. And you want to talk about being pissed? Yes. Yes.
00:38:19
Speaker
Like it's one thing if it peels and it's, yeah, like you said, $50, this sweater was nowhere near $50 and I'm still mad about it. I'm still bitter. Right. And that's the thing is that, you know, people will be like, well, you get what you pay for. And you're right.
00:38:34
Speaker
Oftentimes you do, but sometimes you don't. And, you know, doing what I do, I need to be able to show many, many, many different things. Right. Many, many, many different styles. For me to have one pair of jeans, I probably have a favorite pair and I would wear the same ones over and over again. That's how I roll. Except I can't because what if that pair doesn't look right on somebody and that's, you know, I've ah alienated an entire segment of people who follow me to want to see what works What are their options? You know? So there's always like, that's the part that I think the average follower who is not in this business doesn't necessarily understand. They're like, why do you show so much stuff? or You don't need that much stuff. And it's like, no, the average person doesn't. And I'm not expecting you average person who does not do this for a living to buy this much stuff. Like, of course not.
00:39:28
Speaker
Of course not. Yeah, but you're trying to reach a big audience and trying to give them what, you know like you said, options. Okay, now that does lead me to the next question, because when you find something you like, you do like to buy it over and over and over again. and I know the answer to this question, but tell everybody else what your go-to outfit is. What type of outfit makes you feel your best self? Oh, I know you probably know, but it's, or I have an idea.
00:39:58
Speaker
I mean, I always go for a shirt dress and I've always, that's, that was my, know. And I do love a shirt dress, but I will tell you my second is a good pair of cutoffs and a t-shirt like in a good pair of tennis shoes. Those, if I'm not wearing a shirt dress, that's what I'm wearing or the camo cargo pants I'm looking at right now from Walmart. Yeah.
00:40:21
Speaker
Those, oh my God. Like, I'm not even kidding. They are amazing. And I've worn the heck out of them. And I love them. I just, I had no idea i was going I never wanted to wear cargo. I hated cargo on me. I thought now I'm like, man, those are like, mean, do they really have like cargo pockets? Yes, ma'am, they do.
00:40:41
Speaker
Here they are. What do you put in your pocket? yeah but That's what I have want to Their pockets here their pocket in the back. like cocks it I will tell you, Eric, Eric, I told to go right here. Like this is one of the two pair I have. Cause I'm going to cut these off today. I think if I get around to doing it, the Eric, when I went to Nashville for him with him and I, I didn't have, i didn't know i was going to have to wear one of his work shirts that he wanted me to wear. And i had no bottoms to wear with it because it didn't, it was hot. So I didn't bring jeans. I didn't bring whatever. I'm like, Oh, and he's like, well, everybody's wearing in khakis. i'm like, well, it would have been nice to know that. I don't really own khakis, but okay. So I had those camo pants. I'm like, I'm going to have to make it work. And he was trying to like, he's all of a sudden I'm standing there and he's like putting stuff in all my pockets because they're taking pictures. And he's like, here, hold my badge here. Hold my phone here. Hold this person's notebook. I was like, man, these things are like weighed down, but that's what these pockets are for. They're not just, they don't just look good. They work.
00:41:48
Speaker
Okay, so your go-to dressy outfit is a shirt dress. Your go-to super cash is cut off jean shorts, tennis shoes, and a t-shirt. And your in-between is the Walmart camo pants cargo. That's exactly it. Okay, so there you go.
00:42:03
Speaker
Now it's time for you to spill what is your most embarrassing influencer moment. Has there been Oh, God. I, you know, i was going to say it's hard to embarrass me. and That is not a challenge that I'm putting out for anybody, but I tend to put it all out there anyway. So I don't get embarrassed that easily. I'm trying to think there has to be something, you know, I would say, i don't know that it's embarrassing as much as it was just surprising hu
00:42:33
Speaker
And it was, it did i didn't like it. Like, it's not embarrassing. It's just more like uncomfortable. So in it it has always revolved around each time that this has happened. It's involved.
00:42:46
Speaker
It has revolved around being somebody taking my content and using it for work. an ad for the brand and which is great. But then it gets shown to people who otherwise would never come across my stuff, aren't interested in coming across my stuff. My stuff just pops up randomly on Facebook, men, women, whatever. and The types of comments that are made are just really uncomfortable. And it's things like people who follow me know I'm retired and I do this because i mean, I'm still working clearly. I'm not old enough to draw from my retirement, but I put in 23 years of teaching. I have money into the retirement system that I will be able to gain back when I retire.
00:43:37
Speaker
you People in teaching retire from teaching and still do other things, right? And so the number of people who just take that at face value and then make comments like, who does she think she is?
00:43:50
Speaker
as if she's retired. I mean, she's clearly or blah, blah, blah. Or she, you know, we don't pay, you know, obviously we pay teachers too much because if she can retire at this date, that kind of stuff where it's like, you totally took what I said completely out of context.
00:44:06
Speaker
Like, that's not what this is about. This is about a pair of pants, like whatever, you know, and the comments that I made, or when I did something for colo test, which is not colo guard and it's not a colonoscopy, but it is a, an at home colon, colon cancer screening thing test. And i did it in conjunction with colon cancer awareness month, which is March. And I was happy to do it.
00:44:31
Speaker
I will tell people all day long, every day to get a colonoscopy. It is the gold standard. It is absolutely what people need to do. Some people who can't. There's a physical reason they cannot have a colonoscopy or they absolutely will not or something like that. I would rather somebody do a test like this than do nothing.
00:44:49
Speaker
But the number of people who talked about me being irresponsible because there's no way she she can't possibly be a cancer survivor. She would never tell people not to get a colonoscopy. No, I never said don't get a colonoscopy.
00:45:02
Speaker
And it's like, I'm doing this for the brand. I'm not selling out. I believe in the product for the right reason, but it's not for everybody. You know, it's not in place of or, but it's like, so those are the types of things and i can't go out and it wouldn't matter anyway. But like, I want to go and say to people, wait, wait, wait, that's not what I mean. No, of course not. No, but, and it's like, you have to just let that go.
00:45:23
Speaker
I have to let it go. And it's not about mean comments as as much as it's like, I feel like it's my reputation and it makes me yeah feel like it's besmirching my reputation, if that makes sense. So it's really not embarrassing as much as it's that. I don't really get embarrassed. I mean, I haven't, to my knowledge, done anything like overtly embarrassing. Yeah.
00:45:46
Speaker
I mean, other than just being me and, and you know. Right. Accidentally posted something you didn't mean to post and it was like. Sending the wrong text in the wrong text chain or, i mean, I do that kind of stuff all the time or, you know, wrong DM to the wrong person or whatever, you know, like I will embarrass myself that way. or Marco pulling with Leslie and not realizing the camera is still on and I'm like changing and I'm half naked. And like, those are the types of things like I haven't done that online.
00:46:15
Speaker
Good. Okay, good. All right. What do you wish you had known before you started? And what advice would you give someone who was just now starting? Okay, this is different than I would have thought.
00:46:27
Speaker
The advice that I would give someone who's just starting is assume it is a business from the beginning. And treat it like a business financially. Get a business checking account.
00:46:39
Speaker
Have a business credit card. Run only those expenses. Everything for the business through one spot. Because when you try and have everything get paid to you in that one spot, you know, because...
00:46:53
Speaker
What happened to me is I wasn't, I had no idea this would even be a business. So I'm just going about things paying out of my regular checking account, this checking account, joint checking account, my personal account, that did it this credit card, that credit card, whatever. And then when it's time to file your taxes, trying to year and a half after the fact, say to an accountant, what this was, where did, you know,
00:47:19
Speaker
Where did you make, because ah money's coming in. And clearly i made way more money. Thank God. It was a wonderful thing that I ever thought I would make. So I need to make sure that the expenses that trust me, when I tell you I was making them, we, that are actual business expenses I can account for because otherwise we're going to pay a massive tax bill. And I,
00:47:40
Speaker
It's, I've made it very difficult for Eric and me and our accountant. So I would say, do that. That is the number one thing I wish I had done differently. And that, and that might've been what you asked. but Would you wish you had done differently or did you not know? Or would you do differently? I can't.
00:47:55
Speaker
What do you wish you had knowing? wish I had known that. You didn't know to start off like that. And that it doesn't, you would rather have done it, I would have rather have done it that way, even if I never made a dime, than what I'm having to do now.
00:48:08
Speaker
Because, I mean, I don't think any of us starts this And when you start to make money, you hope you never make money. I mean, like you're like, oh, this is great. I want to make more. I want to do this. I want to do that. So you want it to be successful. So plan on it being successful and set yourself up to where it is much easier on the ah on the backside. because This is a nightmare. I can tell you right now.
00:48:30
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's great advice for honestly, any business. I mean, I would say the same thing to photographers. Like, you know, you start that out because you're creative and you want to do something creative and, you know, you love doing it and et cetera. And maybe it starts as a hobby. But if you just treat it as a business from the get go, you don't have to go back and wish you had done that from the get-go. You know what mean?
00:48:51
Speaker
So I think that's great advice. Okay. Rapid fire time. You ready? Yes. Instagram or TikTok? Instagram. Oh, wait, I lie. No, I do like, oh man. Okay. I have to just go with Instagram for me, but TikTok, I i can go down some rabbit holes on the true crime TikTok. Okay. So maybe it's you like to post on Instagram, but you like to go along TikTok.
00:49:13
Speaker
There you go. There you go. Okay. Coffee or tea? Coffee or tea. God, you know, this is not fair. Coffee in the morning for my breakfast with protein shake as my creamer and on sweet tea with a lot of ice all day long with sweet and low all day, every day Early bird or night owl?
00:49:34
Speaker
Tired in the middle of the day, girl. Like I am neither. i hunch There's some meme that's like, you're like perpetually tired something. Like, that I think that's me. I'm neither. I'm neither.
00:49:45
Speaker
Gotcha. Heels or sneakers? Oh, sneakers. Plan a ahead or wing it? oh my God, wing it. Wish I were a plan ahead, but no. Okay, so you were a teacher. You're now an influencer. If you were not influencing now, what would you be doing?
00:50:03
Speaker
I would be a very wealthy, kept woman who never had to do anything. Isn't that what we all wish we were? i would love to sit on the couch and eat Bombon. I really want a job that, or that my job is completely dependent on my mood that day, but I always have as much money as I ever wanted to have and to do all the things I want to do. So I don't think that really exists,
00:50:32
Speaker
But if I, well, if you figure it out, let me know. Cause I'll do it. But if I had to like job, job, I, I love speaking in front of people. I love it. I always wanted to be an actress. I probably would say that, but then I'd get in that business and I'd hate it because i right mean like now I know enough to know that there's no matter what I say, my brain's already on the, this is what I wouldn't like about it. Like, I think that's part of being the age we are is we know too much.
00:50:58
Speaker
That's why I'm like, the reality is I really want a job that allows me to not do anything unless I want to do it and have all the money in the world to do whatever I want. That's really what I want to do. Sounds good to me. I would like a job where I just sit on the beach and drink cocktails and get a tan, well which is completely unhealthy. I wouldn't want any of those. I wouldn't want to do any of those because I don't want to be on the beach. I don't want to be in a bathing suit. I don't want to drink a cocktail and I don't tan. I would love a spray tan that did that I didn't hate the process of getting it, but I have the result of it. I would love where I got paid to go to the get a massage every day.
00:51:35
Speaker
pampered. I needed to live in the day. You know what you need to be is like a masseuse sampler. I'll be the tester. Like the person that you tested on. Yes, that they tested on. That would be fabulous. Absolutely. Yeah, let's let's people let's see how we can do that.
00:51:51
Speaker
Last tip, quick tip for anybody listening who wants to be in this world or is in this world and wants to improve or grow.
00:52:03
Speaker
What would you say? Don't give up. I mean, I know there that sounds, that's the number one tip is you can't give up. You just can't give up. Well, and how many times have you told me that? I'm a gajillion. So it's true. It is true. And that is my, that is how I feel about it. And that and just start like, you're never going to know how to do it You're just going to have to do it and do it imperfectly and just keep trying. And, and I think what's on the other side of all that trying is all the amazing stuff. There's hard stuff. There's good stuff. There's e stuff.
00:52:37
Speaker
But you never get to any of it if you don't ever try. You know, like one of my favorite quotes ever is from this guy. I think his name is John Bingham. And I came across it. I think he's a runner. And I came across it when I was doing a marathon a million years ago. And it says, the miracle isn't that I finished.
00:52:54
Speaker
The miracle is that I had the courage to begin or the courage to start. ye And I believe that wholeheartedly. Like you just it you just got to get in the game. Period. And then figure it out as you go.
00:53:06
Speaker
Find you some good friends. let Find you some good friends who will tell you the truth. There you go. Along the way. Like Leslie. Somebody that will actually get through your DMs. Like Lauren.
00:53:18
Speaker
Okay, this is one of our favorite parts of the show. It's time for our sister shout out. Each week, we each share a fellow influencer who is standing out. We'll tell you what she's doing so well, why her content stands out, and why you need to hit that follow button.
00:53:34
Speaker
Because supporting each other is what the sisterhood is all about. And when one of us shines, it lights the way for the rest of us. Now it's our favorite time of the podcast where each episode we share a sister shout out, which is just a shout out to another influencer that we follow that we think are doing a fabulous job. So Lauren, you're first. Who's your sister shout out this week? Okay. One of my favorite follows is Leanne Styled.
00:54:03
Speaker
Leanne midlife. She's a working lady. She is a wife. She is a cat mom. She is so fun. She works in forensics. And so her her day job is super cool to me.
00:54:19
Speaker
That is cool. But I love her style. She has the most gorgeous bob. Her hair is fabulous. And I covet her hair. And she styles it adorably. And she just shows a affordable fashion. But she also shows, you know, it's not just a one. She's not like a one-trick pony. You know, she shows what works on her body. Her body has changed over time. She shows that. She talks about it. She's very unapologetically herself, which I love. And I think she's a great follow and she's very supportive other people as well. And ah she seems pretty real. And I like that.
00:54:54
Speaker
I like following her too. i do actually already follow her. I do think she's got some really great stuff. i like but you she has a fun way of, you know, some funny things, sharing some humor. So Definitely a great follow. How about you?
00:55:08
Speaker
Mine this week is, her name is Meg. Her Instagram is all underscore the moments. And i tend to follow people that really have a style that maybe I don't personally have, but kind of wish that that that their style was effortless effortless to me. So those are the people that I gravitate toward. And so I think her style is so effortlessly powerful.
00:55:35
Speaker
Chic, casual, and very East Coast. I think she lives somewhere in the, ah definitely on the East Coast, but maybe somewhere in the Northeast. I'm not positive about that, but very much that sort of everyday J.Crew, Nantucket, East Coast vibe. She can take the simplest items and honest God, make them look Fabulous. Like a jeans and a white shirt. I put them on and I think, oh my God, I look so boring. She puts them on and they literally make me want to go out and buy the exact jean and white shirt, which will never look as good on me as her. But I just think she's got great style. She's a young mom of two littles, just very natural, beautiful East Coast vibe. i kind of want a vacation with her. I think it'd be super fun. Yeah, only if she gives you the outfits. you should yeah threaten me yeah my vacation Yeah, I mean, literally, I mean, look, a lot of her most recent posts are jeans, jeans genes jeans, jeans, but she makes them look so expensive. I don't know if they are or not. I'm not, I'm not looking at the brand. but She just styles them so well that it is a repeatable outfit. And honestly, don't we all want to just throw on some jeans every day? i personally hate jeans on me because I'm so short, but I think that's maybe why I'm attracted to her because she makes them look so good. And wish I looked that good in jeans. Yeah, she's got great, great style. great fun
00:57:03
Speaker
Amazing style. So give her a follow. Give Leanne a follow. We'll definitely tag both of them in the show notes. We just always want to be supportive of other influencers that we love and hope you love too.
00:57:15
Speaker
right, y'all. We will be back next week. Please like, share, follow, tag a friend, send this to your other favorite friends who you think would love to be a part of the sisterhood. We can't wait to see you next week.
00:57:27
Speaker
See y'all next week. Thanks, guys.