The Bossticks - BONUS 1: An Interview with Hanger Shortage on Building "The Skinny Confidential"

Episode Date: March 16, 2017

Renee Rogers aka Hanger Shortage, interviews Lauryn for this very special episode of "The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast." Lauryn talks about how she established trust with her readers, when she tapped into being an entrepreneur, personal style, and what it's like working with Michael. To connect with Lauryn click HERE To connect with Michael click HERE This episode is brought to you by The Skinny Confidential Bombshell Body Guide and Meal plan.  tired of combating inflammation & bloat? Want to feel lighter and sexier? Check out lauryn's latest 7 day meal plan. In this simple & super effective plan you'll find: + tsc grocery list with every ingredient you need for the 7 days. + what the f*ck to do when you love carbs guide. + quick and delicious recipes: breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner and dessert. You will also find 28 weeks worth of fat burning, muscle toning, 27 minute long, effective workouts you can do at home with no equipment. USE PROMO CODE: HIMANDHER at Checkout for 20% Off

The following program is a podcast one.com presentation. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. Fantastic. And he's a serial entrepreneur. A very smart cooking. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you alone for the ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to the skinny confidential, him and her.

So this episode is an interview I filmed in our home with a badass boss, Renee Rogers. She runs the blog hanger shortage, and she has the cutest clothing line. Check it out at 16th Colony. She just gave me an off-the-shoulder black shirt. That is so cute. And we just talked about business and branding and blogging, and we thought it would be fun to give you guys a little snippet. Okay, so we hope you guys enjoy this mini interview.

If you like them, let us know on Twitter or Instagram, and we will do more. Ready? This is the skinny confidential, him and her. From the time that you were bartending and you started the skinning confidential, what was that period of time like where you were trying to gain traction and really sacrificed and put your all into it? I was so focused on the long game that I wasn't really paying attention to when I would get out of bartending. I was just focused on putting my head down, doing what I needed to do, blogging every single night, consistency, quality. I really didn't lead with fear. I didn't question myself.

I just like took the leap. And that period was that when I was bartending and still blogging and I didn't kind of know, you feel it. It's a feeling where you're like, okay, it's time for me to like transfer full time. And when I transferred full time to blogging, I never looked back. I mean, you always find a way. Like once you kind of let go of all those things, you find a way to make everything happen. If you want to do something, you fucking figure out a way to do it.

I don't care what it is. I am a huge believer in figuring it out. So yeah, have you always had that? entrepreneur spirit about you, like even before you started? I think the entrepreneur spirit came when the skinny confidential idea came. Okay. And then I was, then I tapped into this and it was so stimulating that I was like, whoa, it almost blew me away.

I've always been the type of person to beat to the tune of my own drum ever since I was like very young. That's awesome. And that's kind of how my career's been is I've just, like, I've winged it. And when you say, when did I know I was an entrepreneur, when I started to kind of tap into that? I feel like the skinning confidential has grown so much, and I think a lot of that is attributed to your realness. And then also the trust that I think readers have in you, how do you establish that trust?

There's not been like this like leap in trust from my readers. It's been something that's been like very slow. And I've just really tried to make sure that I'm kind of present every single day. Like on Snapchat, I overturn all messages and I'm really engaging with them. And I think that where the trust comes from is they see that it is genuine. And I would never recommend a product that I wouldn't use. I think that we're living right now in a world that a lot of people are, whether you're a celebrity or an influencer,

recommending things that maybe they wouldn't actually use. And again, like I said, people smell bullshit. What's a major lesson that you've learned along the way as you've been running your own business? You have to get your business under control. I think that as an influencer, if you really want to take it, seriously. Like, it's fun to post pictures and Instagrams and Snapchats, but there is a huge business aspect to it. And that was really hard for me to learn because I'm more of a creative, but I've really learned from Michael to really water the area of the business because as

important it is to be creative, you also have to have that aspect to run a flourishing company. That's cool. I mean, I feel like, yeah, with any business, designer or, you know, photographer, The people in the creative industry, I think, need to see that, you know? A hundred percent. Because it's, like, very easy to get wrapped up and being creative, but kind of let the business part go to the side. Their creativity almost gets in the way. Right.

I wanted to talk to you about a few of your favorite pieces, but first kind of tell me what your style is, your personal style. My personal style is a very classic, traditional, almost plain with a twist. I like very like simple simple, but then something with a little flare. Okay, so tell me a little about this piece. So you wore this to your bachelor's party? Yes, I wore this to my bachelor's party. I wore it with a huge white trouser.

The sleeve is so intense. I know I'm all about this sleeve. Yeah, I love this. I love the sleeve. And it was by Grace Love Lace, and this was probably the most bridal moment I had. Was that my bachelor's party? Oh, wow. So Michael, my husband is very into leathers.

He has like 20 different leathers and I didn't have one. So he got this for me as a gift and it's just like the perfect like yummy leather jacket. It fits so well. It looks like it does. I feel like there's so many ways you can wear this. Yeah. The options are limitless and it's been all over the world with me. Okay, so this looks like it has a really good story.

This is my favorite thing ever. It belonged to my grandma and it actually still has her lipstick in it. Wow. Um, she had it ever since I was little, and it, again, it's like adding that little twist to an outfit. Yeah. Sometimes I'll just carry this with my phone. Um, I'm very careful. I definitely don't drink too much tequila when I have it.

Yeah. Um, but every time I look at it, I think about her and I just, like, love this fabric. I love stuff that reminds me of someone. Yeah. So this is like very important to me. So we're going to put a little bit of the spotlight on Michael for a second. Oh, he'll love that. He would be like smile, be girding from ear to ear.

Yeah. He just seems 100% supportive of you and everything you're doing. What is it like working with him? Michael is very different from me. We are very much opposite, but we have the same sense of humor. I would say the best tip with relationship and working with someone is recovery. Like, you have to be able to recover from a fight quickly. Like, if we don't agree on something, like, the next minute we're asking, like, what we want for dinner.

And let me tell you, it is a dance that we've had to learn. Like there have been many fights, many blowouts. It's something that you learn how to do. It's like walking or riding a bike. Like you learn how to work together. It's not something that comes naturally, at least for us. Yeah, so you guys work on the podcast together too. What kind of made you think you wanted to start a podcast?

And how is your audience responded to it? We were in Cabo and we were drunk and he was like, let's start a podcast. And I was like, that's genius. And basically it's about branding and sex and business. And we just did it as a way to connect further with the audience. Our podcast is really not about money. That's not what we're thinking right now. We're thinking of like cultivating this community where we can have this one-on-one

call-ins with our audience and like really connect with them and have them ask personal questions. And like it's more of like a brand extension as opposed to like just making money. And it's not about the way you look. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's nothing like... It's about the content.

It's about the content and about laughing and having fun. I love podcasts. I like how it's a good mix of you guys being funny and kind of going back and forth and, you know, the guests that you bring on, but also bringing in those business tips or like the tips of the week or whatever. I like the balance of it, you know? We want it to be like you're learning and you're gaining knowledge, but you're also laughing. What's next for you and the skinning confidential?

I'm launching a product line. I'm still like hesitant to like really put it out there because I want to make sure it's perfect because I'm psycho until I launch it. And I think next is just building the brand slowly. I really just want to like water what I already have. Grow the product line. Maybe another book. I'm thinking of also maybe bringing a more real element to blogging. I'm kind of sick of the facade. The whole entire time I blog, I want to be able to bring something more raw. And I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to do that.

That's really interesting. Because I already feel like you bring so much realness to your brand anyway. So for you to even dive deeper into that and like the- Yeah, I'm trying to figure out how to do it.

I don't know. That's pretty awesome. So even though you're constantly working on everything, do you take time to kind of reflect and think about how far you've come in? I know you're going

so many more places. You have a lot on your plate. But do you think about how it's so surreal that, you know, you've made all this happen? I don't. And this answer probably isn't like a textbook answer.

I knew where I was going because what I've done is I've created a strategic future by design. When you create a strategic future and you lay out the way your life is mapped out, you're designing your life. Now, obviously things happen that throw you off the horse, but you get back on. So everything that has happened to me is, because I have made it happen. So to sit like there and be like, oh, I reflect on like, I used to be a bartender and and now I'm a full-time blogger.

It's like I don't ever do that because when I was a bartender, I knew in five years this is what I would be doing. So again, if you guys liked that interview with Renee, let us know. We'll do more. And in the meantime, follow me on Instagram at the Skinny Confidential and Michael at Michael Bostick. We'll see you Tuesday. Thanks for listening to the skinny confidential him and her with Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic.

Download new episodes every Tuesday at podcast.com or subscribe now on the Podcast One app. I'm Rob Sisternino, the aptly name Rob has a podcast where we're creating fun, smart conversation around reality TV games like Survivor. And this March, Survivor Game Changers is finally here. Join me weekdays for episode recaps, player interviews, and of course your feedback. So if you're ready for a game change in your own survivor experience, download Rob has a podcast at podcast.1.com on the Podcast One app or subscribe on iTunes.