The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast - #102: Lauren Elizabeth - Depression & Anxiety, Mental Illness, Comparison, The Many Roles of Digital Content Creators, Technology Breaks, & Running a Business VS. Creating Content

Episode Date: February 22, 2018

On this episode we have YouTuber and Influencer Lauren Elizabeth on the Show. On this episode we talk about Depression and Anxiety, The many roles of digital content creators, Beating to the tune of your own drum, Mental illness, Taking breaks from technology, and running a business vs creating content.  To connect with Lauren Elizabeth click HERE To connect with Lauryn Evarts click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE This episode is brought to you by MATCH.COM. Online Dating can be hard but Match.com is making it a lot easier. Match.com is the #1 online dating platform in first and second dates, leading to more dates, relationships, and marriages than any other app/site. MATCH.COM is offering a 7-day free trial to all TSC listeners- just register & download the app and you'll be on your way to a meaningful relationship.  Go to www.match.com/skinny for a 7-day free trial on the leading online dating platform.  This episode is brought to you by THRIVE MARKET. We use Thrive for our online grocery delivery on a weekly basis. They provide the highest quality products and ingredients delivered straight to our door with unbeatable prices.  Be sure to grab our deal by going to to https://thrivemarket.com/skinny to receive $60 of FREE organic groceries from Thrive Market + free shipping and a 30 day trial!" Keep in mind that Thrive Market's  prices are already 25- 50% below retail because they cut out the middleman. And now they are offering $60 off free organic groceries!  

The following podcast is a Dear Media production. This episode is brought to you by Match.com. Okay, so I feel like there are so many women in the secret Facebook group and on the Skinny Confidential who want more than just a one-night stand or a random hookup, but they still don't want to get married. So they're kind of like in between, you know. It's nothing desperate, just a confident girl who's looking to meet a cool mate. Anyway, it can be hard on the internet out there. So I hear, but match.com is making this situation a lot easier. Match is the number one in first and second dates leading to more dates,

relationships, and marriages than any other app or site, which is insane. If you're single and ready to mingle, it's time to take control of your dating lives through a process of smart matching that is super tailored to the customer. Match.com is offering a seven day free trial to all TSC listeners. Just register and download the app and you'll be on your way to a meaningful relationship. And if you guys end up getting married, make sure you announce at your wedding that The Skinny Confidential set you up. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. Fantastic.

And he's a serial entrepreneur. A very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you along for the ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to The Skinny Confidential, him and her. Aha! Welcome back to The Skinny Confidential, him and her. Welcome back to the Skinny Confidential, him and her show. This week we have YouTuber and influencer Lauren Elizabeth on the show. On this episode, we talk about depression and anxiety, the many roles of digital content

creators, beating to the tune of your own drum, mental illness, taking breaks from technology, and running a business versus creating content. Hey guys, we are back and at it, like I said, with another episode. If you're new to the show, happy to have you. I'm Lauren Everts. I'm the creator of The Skinny Confidential, which is a blog, brand, book, and podcast. The Skinny Confidential has become a resource for women all over the world, which has turned into a huge community of hundreds of thousands of women. A lot of them are connecting in the secret Facebook group, which you guys have to join.

You can just join simply on Facebook by searching The Skinny Confidential. Anyway, I'll let my husband say hi. I'm Michael Bostic. I'm an entrepreneur. I'm a business operator. I'm a marketer. I'm a husband. I'm a podcaster.

I'm a lot. I'm a business operator. I'm a marketer. I'm a husband. I'm a podcaster. I'm a lot of things now. Started about 10 years ago in the direct-to-consumer product space with a company called Jetbed. We make beds for corporate and private aircraft. Still running that company today. And from there, marketing, creating different brands in the product space, helping other brands grow and brand themselves. And most recently, the co-founder of Dear Media, a new kind of podcast company with an emphasis on female hosts and voices. Dear Media will place women,

their stories and narratives at the forefront of conversation. Just recently started that venture with my partners. Great people, digital brand architects, look them up. Amazing. And yeah, podcasting, really into it. And you love it it podcasting is like my favorite thing to do of all those things i'm tailoring a lot of them down and focusing in on the podcast do you like podcasting with your wife i do it can get a little dicey sometimes how so you know gotta watch out since like chopping onions with you you don't i feel i have a winning personality every second of every day the only answer to that la is yes. The only right answer at least. So this weekend was pretty chill. We did kind of nothing but worked and relaxed and read.

Yesterday was Sunday. It was the first time that I can remember literally the first, I mean, don't do your whole four score in seven years ago thing. We've had days where we chill out, right? Like that's no secret where we just like kind of relax. But yesterday was the first time that I can remember. And I'm not kidding. Years, years where I actually took the majority of the day and slept. This is what you do. You're like, it was a cold stormy day in 1986. Like backtrack. I don't, I mean, I didn't rest yesterday. I actually got my ass up and worked out and went and worked at my favorite coffee shop and had an egg salad sandwich. Listen, you're the one that always talks about how important rest and sleep is. And just so people know, I'm not one of those people that's

like, stay up, don't go to sleep, don't rest. Like I do think sleep's super important. I think lately for me, I've only, as I've gotten older, I've only needed like six to seven hours a night. And some people say that's not enough, but for me, it feels, I can feel completely energized with that amount of sleep. I don't feel like I'm lacking sleep. I get up early, go to bed pretty late. But yesterday was the first day where my body was like, okay, listen, you're crashing. You need to take it easy. And I slept probably eight hours in the day, which is pretty crazy for me. I haven't, I don't, like I said, I can't remember the last time that ever happened. Now that we've gotten your whole

autobiography. So let me, let me take you guys back to when it all happened, when it all started. Um, so yesterday I went and worked out, like I said, I got some work done. And then I have this robe that Venus Floor sent me that is this hotel robe. Have you guys ever gone to a hotel and just worn the robe the whole time? I sleep in it. It's like the warm, plush, puffy robe. Anyway, I was wearing that all weekend. We have a friend that literally steals the robes from every hotel. And slippers. And slippers. And he didn't realize until just recently, because his wife handles a lot of the finances, that they charge you every time that happens.

He thought he was like pulling a fast one and he's got just got a closet full of these robes. But he's literally, no, he's been charged all these times. So I think that's a good birthday gift for you though, to get you like a real hotel. What's the company that's in it? It's from a flower company, Venus Fleur, but the robe is not made by Venus Fleur. I'll have to look who it's made by. What the company, Venus Fleur, but the robe is not made by Venus Fleur.

I'll have to look who it's made by. What the fuck, Venus Fleur? Like I'm just, but you send one robe? No, sorry. It's just mine. Don't try to get in there. How many episodes do I need to do till I get a free robe? Actually, you know what?

I don't want a free robe. Nevermind. Wait, what? Despise the free lunch? Despise the free lunch, people. Explain to everyone what that means. There's an author named Robert Green who wrote a book called The 48 Law laws of power. It's a great book. You check it out. But one of his things, he says, despise the free lunch. You know, those situations where someone's like, Hey, I want

to give you this or Hey, I want to take you here. I want to do this. Listen, blood diamond. There is never anything in this world that's free. That's free. It always comes with a cost. It might not be a monetary cost, but it comes with a cost. Despise the free lunch. Despise the free lunch. I feel like we should make shirts that say that. Okay, so on this episode, we are talking a lot about anxiety and depression. And I actually just put up a blog post that is really important to me. It's probably one of the most important blog posts I've ever written.

I'm not ready to talk about it on the podcast yet, but if you are interested in checking it out, it does have to do with anxiety and depression. Go read it. It's up on the Skinny Confidential and it will probably be up all week because it's just such an important post. I don't think I'm going to bump anything on top of it. And I'm proud of you for writing it. Very proud of you. Thank you. All right. I know we're going to get into some of the heavier subjects on the show, but to switch gears a little bit, it's wedding season. Woo has been flying off the shelves. People are getting frisky and people, you know, it's, it's gearing up. My sister's getting ready to get married.

People are dating, you know, they're getting excited. My, a lot of my friends are in relationships now. That's kind of cool for me because I get to do like double date situations, you know, for a long time, it's been just me alone, like lone wolf, but lone wolf in the relationship, not lone wolf in the dating scene. A lot of autobiographies today. Okay. So there's like 30,000 insane women in the secret Facebook group. And I feel like a bunch of them are single. If you guys are wondering how I know this, I actually stalk the group daily. Like I'm really in there reading and liking and commenting every single day. I even asked Michael sometimes I'll

chuckle out loud, but won't show on my phone. Um, and so many of these women are looking for a cool chill mate, but I feel like it's becoming almost harder sometimes with social media. And I know there are a lot of meh dating sites out there. That's what I call them. Meh. Anyway, enter match.com. So guys, match.com is legit. It streamlines the whole entire process. And if you know me, you know, I love a streamlined process. In fact, if I was single, I feel like I would sign up for match. Maybe when I'm on my second marriage, I might use it, you know, babe. Yeah. By then I'll be on my fourth. Here's some fun facts for you guys. One in three dates, relationships and marriages begin online. When you want more than a one night

stand or a quick hookup, but you don't want to be told whom to marry tomorrow, or you don't want to rush into marriage, or you don't want to lead with desperation, I feel like this is one for you. Match.com is the app for anyone out there who's like this. Yeah. And you know, I feel like a lot of my friends actually don't just feel, I know a lot of my friends on these swipe dating apps, they're there for a good time, which nothing wrong with that. Like, you know, they're there for a swipe. They're there for a good time, a swipe. Yeah. That's one way to put it. Um, but I don't think they're there for a serious time and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. It's just maybe not the stage of their life that they're in. Does that make sense? Um, they're on the app between the lines.

Yeah. They're basically on the app for a one night stand or a quickie or, you know, um, and I think my friends that go on match.com are there because they want a relationship. They're a little bit more mature. They're ready for commitment, you know. So it's like, it's different playing fields here. Match.com is the number one in first and second dates, leading to more dates, relationships, and marriage than any other app or site. Wow, that's nuts.

I love this fact specifically for the Facebook group. So if you guys have been in the Facebook group and you've been kind of having guy trouble, you'll have to check it out. Dating can be tough. I mean, I don't really know, but I've heard a lot about it. So if you're looking for something that's really meaningful and real, Match.com is the place to go. I feel like it's time to take control of dating and feel empowered, and Match.com really follows through for you. Well, you can like put out what you want out there and like see if there's synergy where some of these other like swipe things

is just kind of like looks, hit or miss, you know. This really, you can like tailor what you're looking for. Yeah, it's curated. You can tailor it to exactly what you want. I love it. Can you imagine how tailored mine would be at this point? Oh my God. It's efficient. So that's what we love. Go to match.com and sign up for a seven day free trial,

register and download the app. Again, that's www.match.com. With that, let's go into the him and her tip of the week. You start, babe. Okay. The hymn tip this week comes, you know, with the announcement and the launch of Dear Media. And with us getting ready to announce new shows and talent, there have been a lot of questions flooding my inbox lately on how to start a podcast. And it's interesting to think back on it now after doing it for the last two years and, you know, self-producing it, then being with the network, then going back to self-producing, now starting our own network. I started putting a lot of thought into it and I was like, okay, what's the differences between when we started and now? And I think while there's a lot of things that are the same, the space has definitely become more saturated, more competitive. So let's say three things,

if you're thinking about creating a podcast. First, I would say audio quality. When Lauren and I launched, if you go back and listen, I think we shared it on episode 100, the audio quality was not up to par. And there are plenty of articles and resources which can show you good equipment to go through, which I'll get into in a second. But I think it was okay for Lauren and I, one, because Lauren had a built-in audience, but two, there was not a ton of people in the space that were really podcasting. I think the biggest hurdle for us was actually getting people to go into the podcast apps and listen to it as a medium, right? So, you know, when people first came, they didn't really, a lot of them didn't know the difference, but now with so many podcasts and so many people listening to podcasts, you just can't afford to launch with shitty audio quality anymore.

People tune in and if it's not good, they're going to tune out and go to another show. So I think it's important if you're thinking of launching a podcast to do whatever you can, scrape together whatever money you can, if you're serious about it, and invest in quality audio equipment. There's a lot of really good articles on quality audio equipment. There's a lot of really good articles on quality audio equipment. That's a tongue twister. I'm going to write a post soon. I haven't gotten to it yet, but Lauren and I are getting ready to launch a podcast site and I think I'll put it in one of the resource pages. But if you search like Lewis Howes or Joe Rogan podcast equipment or whatever podcast you like, more than likely there's a list of articles and a list of equipment that they use. So definitely invest

in audio equipment. Second, with the space getting more and more saturated and competition being elevated, I think it's really, really important to prepare, prepare, prepare. People want value. What unique perspective can you offer on your show that's going to keep people coming back week after week? With my partner, I call it the rule of 25. Would you listen to this type, whatever type of audio content that you're putting out? Would you listen to this type of content 25 weeks in a row, you as a consumer?

And really, really be brutally honest with yourself. Ask your friends, ask your family, ask people that are just peers, coworkers, whatever. Say, would you listen to this 25 weeks in a row? And if the answer's no, go back to the drawing board and figure out what you can do to get people to listen for 25 weeks. Anyone can put a podcast up and have five, 10 episodes be good, but really what does it look like at that 25 mark? And then consistency,

commit to a minimum of one show per week for a minimum of 25 weeks. That's essentially six months. It's a big commitment. This is not just a mean appearing on your own show for 25 weeks. That's essentially six months. It's a big commitment. This is not just a mean appearing on your own show for 25 weeks. Invite guests on that can share your show, go on other shows, collaborate. It's a hard space and it takes tons of work and you have to be willing to commit that time. And I think, you know, it may be discouraging to hear this, but if you're not willing to do those things, there are plenty of other mediums that I think you can have success in. But podcasting specifically, you need consistency, you need quality, you need to provide value. And I think that is a good starting point. You're going to obviously find more things along the road and you're going to be able to tweak and

come up with your own formula. But I think those three cornerstones are important. I also just want to say, if you guys are wondering which equipment we use, you can email asklauren at the skinnyconfidential.com. That's Lauren with a Y and we will send you a list of everything we use. And I want to say something about you and give you a little compliment here. You are constantly, even though you've been podcasting for like a hundred episodes, you're constantly learning about podcasting. So we're not just like, oh, we've done a hundred episodes. We're good. We're constantly watching our business and reading articles and reading books and learning

how to interview because it's really an art and it's really something that you have to practice at. So, you know. It's been a lot to digest. I mean, I'm definitely not an audio engineer, but I will say this, the studio that we just built for Dear Media is bomb. It's like a studio on steroids. Like this thing, this thing is a very, very like high end studio, which I'm super excited to start recording. How many times have you had to edit out me screaming and crying? Uh, a lot, a lot. I feel like you're an expert. Okay. Let's get into the hit her tip thrive. Okay. You guys know I'm obsessed with thrive market, but my tip has to do with something that you can get there.

We've talked about thrive a million times on the podcast. Um, but we just get all our healthy food and snacks there. So it makes sense. I get a bunch of beauty items like the Aztec healing clay and Egyptian magic cream. Oh, it's so good. I have to shout these out because they're just so fab. I've done a post on both of them on the Skinny Confidential too. So Thrive really has everything. Again, streamlined. We love streamlined. If you've been listening to the podcast for the last few months, like I said, you know about Thrive. If you haven't taken advantage of our Thrive link, which gets you $60 in free groceries and free shipping, you need to like immediately. I'm

serious. I give the link to everyone in the Skinny Confidential Facebook group. I give it to my family, my friends, everyone's using it. The link Thrive is extending to you guys is thrivemarket.com slash skinny. And again, it's freaking free, $60 in groceries plus free shipping. Okay, so back to my tip of the week. I'm really into Thrive right now because they have vitamins and supplements. And they have this thing that is called Calm Tea. Michael loves it. So do I. So if you're a total stress case, Michael,

you need to try Calm. They have this lemon raspberry flavor. It's so good. The original is good too. And it's basically this magnesium supplement. That's a powder that you can put in hot or cold water. Michael likes it in ice water. I like it in warm water it's known as nature's Xanax just to give you a little vibe on what it's like so sometimes I even mix it with hot tropical green tea you could add a little apple cider vinegar do you hear one time I gave it to my sister and she literally passed out at my house. So it's really great to drink probably before you go to bed. That's when we like to drink it. Like I said, it's full of magnesium, which is super important and kind of gets everything moving and grooving in the morning.

Winky wink, if you know what I mean. So it flushes all the toxins out. It puts you to bed. It's good. It tastes good. And you need magnesium. They also have liquid fish oil. So definitely check that out. This is so good for your skin, guys. It makes your skin all plump and dewy. My facialist, Renee, actually told me that fish oil is one of the best things you can ingest for your skin. I like the liquid one on Thrive. I just add a few drops to my smoothie and we're good to go. I should also mention that they have cod liver for kids. So it's basically all for kids. And I just feel like my kid's going to be so annoyed with me because I'll just be like sneaking cod liver in their peanut butter and jelly sandwich,

which will be on a GG cracker. But can you taste it or no? Not if you put it in a smoothie. Cause cod liver doesn't, you know, sack up, close your nose. I could do it. You know how many times I put it in your smoothie? Yeah. No, I never taste it. That's, that's a good liquid fish oil on thrive. Michael for supplements and vitamins loves Paul Stamets host defense, my community mushroom complex,. Man, that's a mouthful. Listen, I have not been sick since I started taking this stuff. We've talked about it on other podcasts. You can get it on Thrive. Let me guess, you hate being sick. I hate, yep. It's just like every other man out there. But I'm telling you, when I travel,

pack a few of these things, I do not get sick anymore because of this. It's the best. Yeah. So those are our top three right now. Definitely the Calm Tea, the Liquid Fish Oil, do the Cod Liver for the kids, and then Michael likes that Mushroom Complex. All of these are on Thrive. So you guys should know that Thrive Market is always 25 to 50% off retail because they cut out the middleman.

So you're already getting tremendous value. I've been getting all my vitamins delivered on a monthly basis from Thrive, and it saves me a ton. So I'm super fired up to recommend those to you this week. I hope you guys like it. So go get your supplements, do some grocery shopping, throw in some cod liver, get some beauty products. It's a win-win all around. And having Thrive as a partner on this show has been so incredible. Check them out at thrivemarket.com forward slash skinny. And remember guys, it's not a coupon code. It's an actual link. That's thrivemarket.com slash skinny and get $60 of free groceries and free shipping plus a one month trial. Happy shopping. Lauren Elizabeth began

her career blogging in 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. From blogging to making YouTube videos, to hosting, to acting and producing, to designing, the list goes on. Lauren's blog has allowed her to chase after her wildest dreams at a super young age while moving her whole life to Los Angeles. After years of success in all fields, she's back to her roots of writing and sharing

on her platform, lovelaurenelizabeth.com. She has a bomb ass Instagram account. She's a dog owner, a cheese lover. She's a social media influencer. The list goes on. With that, welcome to the show, Lauren. This is the Skinny Confidential, him and her. Okay, Lauren, so let's talk about how you got into the YouTube space. I know you started as a blogger. Yes. How did you get in to YouTube from blogging? I was writing everything and I realized this is really hard to write everything out. It would be so much easier if I just filmed myself doing it because I was doing a lot of beauty at the time too. And I'm not by any means like a beauty person.

I got exposed real fast. Everyone was like, you don't even know what you're doing. You're not putting on eyeshadow, right? I'm like,'m like I know okay so I just figured okay this would be a lot easier to film and so when I started YouTube I actually like didn't talk to the camera and I think those videos are privated now but it was just me doing my makeup to the camera to show people but I wasn't like a personality yet and then doing that I got into watching other beauty videos and saw what other girls were doing and I was like oh this is fun I could do that I remember seeing like a what's in my bag video or something but like the first it is so horrible I don't know how I'm sitting

here right now like my first videos are horrendous like I talk like this and I'm like I don't know what I'm doing but like here's like a close I'm like what was I doing like I acted like I didn't want to be doing it and someone was forcing me to do it so it's come a long way it's like how I started YouTube is not the same way of how like maybe I grew my channel for lack of a better term you just think you were you weren't comfortable in the beginning probably I think it was a weird thing I think I was I think it was probably a defense mechanism of like I don't want people to make fun of me so if I just like be as far removed from it as possible like I wanted to do it but like was this afraid at the same time because you get so much hate online you know

what's happening with YouTube I noticed especially with YouTube there's so much hate it I don't even know I feel like it's like the place where people go and they can just rip people apart like and it's just in seconds too. And it's gotten a lot better for me. I have this rule where I'll upload and then I watch the comments for an hour to make sure nothing's wrong, that I didn't edit something out or whatever. And then after that, I see what people are talking about because you have the top comments.

And after that, I don't look for the rest of my life. So the best time to get to you in the comments yeah first hour yeah literally like i won't look i think it is is that maybe i'm wrong but on youtube you're not like when people comment you're not like going and looking in their profile oh yeah no but on instagram like you have to be careful who you hate on what you say because people can go back into your profile it's like you better be if you're willing to dish it you better be willing to take it and i feel like instagram is so much easier too to go on the profile and see all the stuff youtube people don't if if you're not a youtuber you don't have a page but like most everyone has an instagram

with pictures on it and stuff so it's a lot easier to be like oh 16 from kansas like why are you talking about me like whatever you almost have to detach from it that's what i found works for me you have to just detach from it and if it on Instagram, I feel like your audience kind of goes after the person that's being mean, but with YouTube, it's not like that. So you just, you're right. You just have to put it up and detach. Yeah. I mean, I have no other choice because like, it affects me even to this day. Like I don't get as like upset as I used to or defensive. It's more of just, it's more of like the business side of it. If like, Oh my God, this isn't doing well. Like this is my, this is my business. Like, well, like I'm not making my audience happy.

Like they're the, they're my consumers, whatever. So like, it's more side that of anxiety of like, I can't fail. I can't fail. Whereas before it would be like, oh my God, my feelings are hurt. Like you don't think I'm pretty. And now I'm like, I don't think I'm pretty either. It's fine. Like we can all agree.

Oh my God. You're gorgeous. So is there a formula that you have now or was there a formula or is there something like you upload monday wednesday friday yeah i mean consistency is definitely the key thing and i always was i've always played around with different formulas and i have you know friends that have their own formulas i have my one girlfriend who she's like a really big youtuber and she's been on there since she was 11 it's her 10 year anniversary or maybe no nine year anniversary was last week we were like sitting in a meeting she's like it's my nine year anniversary I was like like it's half

of her life has been spent on the internet and she has uploaded every single Saturday for nine years every single Saturday it wasn't until this year where she missed like three because it was just a weird year on YouTube and she kind of like started detaching herself from it. And so that whenever I compare myself to that, I'm like, if that's the formula, then I don't have one. But technically, I think overall consistency in once a week uploading, especially with our type of content, like some people have daily uploads, some people have weekly, da, da, da. And so it's easy to play around with a lot of different stuff, especially when it comes to the actual content. But I think as long as I'm uploading like four times a month, that's like what I aim

for or else you're just like, it's like you died. And what about a break? You know, I was texting with you and you said on the weekends I take a break and I sometimes in the same way, like Sunday, sometimes I just don't want to post anything. Yeah. How do you separate that and how did you get to that place where you're like I need a break on the weekends I think it's when I moved to LA I was had just turned 19 and so I went from when I moved here I also didn't want to just be one of those youtubers moving here and being like I can just I wasn't making enough money from

YouTube to just like screw around all day and then like upload a couple videos and so I actually set myself up with an internship which is now where I'm repped as talent in the YouTube community and so I was like writing and producing and it was like I was treated as a legit intern even though like I had more followers in the company at the time but like no one even really knew and so I was still like getting coffee doing all the thing and I threw myself so much in that that I was working like seven days a week I remember I was like hosting in pop culture so it was like Justin Bieber would be getting a DUI and I'd be like up at 2 a.m like making sure we had all like the right DUI facts for like the

morning and so that did that for like a year quit to become talent had to work even harder to prove that I wasn't just like an employee and then all of a sudden I was like 21 and still had like no friends in LA I just had like the YouTube people or whatever that I was friends with and I met a guy and I was dating him so it wasn't even like I went and got my own friends like I was hanging out with all these older people that like I didn't connect with unless it was in a group setting and I literally turned like 22 and realized I hadn't hadn't acted like a 21 year old I hadn't gone to college like I didn't really have a group of like girlfriends out here and realized I hadn't hadn't acted like a 21 year old I hadn't gone to college like I didn't really have a group of like girlfriends out here and all I did was work for three years

I just worked worked like that was it and so once that really hit me and I was like single finally or whatever I just said to myself I was like I'm I'm doing whatever I want and so then you know you go too crazy and you're like okay I can't go out like three times a week like that's just not even my personality but I was like making up for lost time and um so once I finally got it out of my system a little bit that's when I was like balance is a thing and I should use it and so now my like past two years of my life just been about balance balance balance because I don't ever want to go back to a place where I'm like a workaholic like I used to be I know it's always in me but I think that like I get so much more from like hanging out with people and like doing stuff and like it's become a part of my brand as well as like hosting

and like having people over for dinner or whatever so I think that balance is just I have to play it by ear sometimes too like like I was telling you today like I'm like I don't know if I'm gonna go home and like work till 8 p.m or if I need to like go nap and like take it slow today but it's weird working for yourself I know to discipline yourself it's the worst like I was even on the phone and they were like well you're the CEO so it's gonna be your decision and I was just like wait what I was like I call my agency to tell me what to do not for them to tell me like it's my choice sometimes I have to remember that like that we set our own schedules yeah because you get stuck in routine you're like work work work work and then you're like wait a minute i'm really tired i can actually take a break yeah nobody's gonna yell at me it's hard to take

with you i mean you're keeping me on track every second of the day yeah no but i mean i always i'm the type of person that has to always have some kind of something going yeah some kind of stimulation yeah but that doesn't necessarily mean it always needs to be work i just have to have something going on we know so with the youtube community talk to us about like say there's someone out there that has no idea what that means can you explain what that means and it is to me it seems like a really positive uplifting community um maybe a little bit different than the blogging community i don't yeah i don't know well see i it's funny because i started like blogging but i never was a part of the blogging community um and so it was always a really different there's there's so many communities and the YouTube I think we're all like

even more connected because we're really pioneering this industry together and over the past couple years having like the traditional entertainment business really take to us and either love us or hate us, but either way, still interested in us. It's kind of brought everyone even closer because we're these people that are from all over the country that didn't have a creative outlet where they were from and had something inside of them compelling them to share their lives on YouTube. Whether it was they were in the closet or they had a bunch of anxiety or they just loved makeup, but like no one in their high school wore it. And so they wanted to share it online. And so we were all these people that were like, kind of like the odd men out and then all started making content and then found each other. And it actually is a really tight knit community. I think the bigger people get, the more they want to pretend like, you know, I don't know you.

And I'm like, we've met like five times, but like, it's fine. And I know, I, you know what I mean? Like that happens to the blogging community all the time.

And I'm like the biggest, I have no shame. I will fangirl over you. Like if I like you, you're going to know it. I'm not going to be like, Oh, what's your name?

Like I always go check their following list. They know who you are. Like, don't like, whatever. It's just an LA thing too. I think it's such a small community everyone knows everybody we're talking to jillian michaels and she said like in la people make a

point to let you know they don't give a shit about you like it's like you go out of their way to be like yeah i don't watch your stuff or i don't know who you are it's like yes well fuck off then you know i know it's like it's it makes everyone feel better that we like don't care about each other i think it's like probably a coping mechanism when it's done to yourself maybe I don't know but anyway it's just I think the YouTube community people like I remember one year someone was like yeah it's just a bunch of garbage and I'm like you don't understand like it is a full-time job we all have like lighting setups tripads tripods we have these huge computers with terabytes and all this stuff and we edit all of our own content we create we think of our stuff.

I know some people write out their stuff first. I don't, I just do improv. And so it's, it's a lot of work. And even like as dumb as some of these people's content can look, it's so thought out. And so just not scripted, but just premeditated in what it's going to do. Like the way I look at it is this, like people need like i think people should understand this is that you are the actor the producer the director the editor and then the marketer yeah and distributor of that content and i think when people especially you know traditional business people are traditional

celebrity type when they understand that it's like no you're not just showing up and like doing your part and leaving yeah you're doing all of these things like in lauren's case you know she's gotta write she's gotta come up with the content she's got to get the pictures taken then she's got to upload it then she's got to share it like same thing for you show up as talent by the way just show up and be like i'm here yeah like hair and makeup ready to go that would be very very that's why acting is so much fun because i get to like show up to a set and then leave and then i know and when i'm not on camera i just get to go to my dressing room and like i feel like i should be doing a million things I'm like no like I'm not needed on set

like I'm fine and you get lines too when you're you're not improving a lot of the time yeah it's different so talk to us about acting so you're also an actress yes how does that and we kind of talked about this before we got on the podcast but how does that kind of go together with the YouTube community like what's the vibe of that It's kind of what Michael was saying, like marketing, because we market our own stuff, but then we have this following that we're able to market other stuff, just like how we get brand deals. And if we get a movie like that needs to be marketed too. And so I think that's why people in the traditional space were getting frustrated because some people started getting cast because they just had these followings that they could market. And because the production companies know

that they're going to bring an audience right away. Yeah, and so they would say, oh, he's a cute young boy and he has all these followers. Let's put him in the series and then it'll get all this audience. And the problem with that is some people couldn't act or maybe they didn't even want to act. They were just using their following but don't

you think i mean i understand where it could be problematic for the industry as a whole because if somebody does a bad job then it like gives everybody a bad name but at the same time like in the long run don't you think it's a good thing because it kind of weeds out the people that maybe shouldn't be no yeah that's a that's a good point because that's the thing like at the end of the day you're either the cream rises exactly and so that's what i feel like even i was shooting a movie and i was one of three like influencers and it was it's interesting because even the deal it was an acting fee and then a marketing fee because obviously we were getting paid something different than just the regular actors and then it was i auditioned and like was supposed to be the lead of the movie and got knocked

down to the best friend because they wanted a girl with more followers, which is just like not how casting works. So like that is very unique. And then it was like when we got on set, you know, she couldn't even really perform because she just wasn't an actor. And we kind of had to start like moving the camp. Like we had all these shots set up. We're like, okay, well like let's make sure we get more coverage on the other side so that like

when she's talking we have other stuff to fill it in if we need to cut it out like so that's where it gets a little tricky but like then those movies are made and no one wants to do that again so it's like you're saying it's not gonna it's not gonna happen for the next 10 years it's not gonna continuously happen yeah no but i think it's important to go through the process because if i'm a production company and i know that there is like, let's say there's a group of 10 YouTubers or 10 influencers and I know, okay, of these 10, like one or two of them can really, really act and they have a built in audience. Like me as the production company, I definitely want to get that data and try that out because

there's so many, I mean the movie industry right now, as everybody knows, it's difficult. Like so many movies are getting disrupted. Netflix is there. Amazon. People just aren't making the same type of money they used to make i don't think it's happened yet with movies but it has happening it had happened with models right like oh yeah now they look at people's following when they cast i think that you guys are going to start to be like the hot new thing of acting i think the conversation is going to completely change yeah i mean especially if you

have the chops to do what it takes and everything you you show up and you do a good job, which like, you know, not everyone can do it. But at the end of the day, you know, where people talking to the camera, like there's some type of on camera presence that we do have. And like, it's almost like, oh, you're just a YouTuber. And it's like, OK, but I'm still like acting to a camera. Like I clearly can act. I'm like Lauren Elizabeth is just a part or whatever. Everyone's always like, turn Lauren Elizabeth off. Where's Lauren?

I'm always like, well, we were saying, we were talking earlier, like there is that there's still traditional celebrities that have embraced social media and you could see what's happened with their brand. They kill it. Like,

yeah, I was just thinking like Mark Hamill the other day has really like embraced social media and he's all over Twitter and all these things. And he just launched star Wars. And so just that alone, like everyone obviously knows Mark Hamill and they they know star wars but he's super engaged online as well and you could see like that really helps with the numbers like there's nothing stopping the traditional celebrity from embracing these platforms right like if they they just

there's a resistance to it but the smart ones that are using it it's like they can have their their platform which is their huge celebrity and use these platforms and be and not be exposed to yeah let's say up-and-coming youtubers or people like that right it's just a resistance of saying like oh i don't i don't believe in those mediums i'm not gonna put myself there it's like no this is 2018 like these are real tools they're real platforms well because it also some of the digital people that i know especially you know they're like well i don't really want to do youtube anymore because like i just want to be taken seriously as an actress and i'm like well first of all like

youtube's what got you here and you have this huge audience I was just telling my friend the other day I was like you know what you here's the thing to like think about when you don't want to she's like I just don't feel like doing YouTube this week or this month I just want to act and I'm like first of all good luck making indie actor salary compared to what you're used to like you're gonna have to move apartments second of all you have this audience in this platform like do you ever just feel so lucky that like if want to talk about something, you have these people that are just willing to listen? We're in this unique position where we have this amazing community of people that we can express ourselves on. Sometimes we really take that for granted and

we shouldn't be pushing it away just because traditional media is making us feel like we have to, like we should embrace it. And I always use the example of like Madeline Pettis. She's on Riverdale and she vlogs like almost every other day. And the show kills it, right? Yeah. And it's like, she started vlogging after she, you know, started getting an audience from Riverdale, but it's not like she's just embraced it. She's embraced the online community, but she's also literally killing it as a traditional actress. Shane Mitchell started a YouTube channel and pretty little liars ended. Like there is a way to be taken seriously. I think in both fields,

if you have the chops to do what it takes. Absolutely. It's actually called, there's a book called the slight edge and I started reading that. It's so good. It's so good. It's basically like you, you can't like forget where you came from.

And a lot of people will abandon what made them successful and start to do other things, but you always have to keep doing what made you successful in the first place. So like for me, if I just like wanted to stop blogging and only podcast, that's probably not a good thing. I should still continue to blog for you. It would be, you know, you still continue to do YouTube and do other things. Right. So let's talk a little bit about failure. What's a failure that at the time you thought was horrible and it actually has turned out to be an incredible blessing. Ooh, um, I, I'm so hard on myself, like in general. So like, it could be like a daily thing

or like big stuff. Um, I mean, I think just like you said, like the consistency and stuff, a lot of the times I have a tendency to become inconsistent with things and focus on other things or, you know, move from a manager to whatever. And so I think just failures that I feel like are the end of the world is just missing deadlines and content and like not getting everything done on like a consistent time schedule because it's hard being your own boss and it's hard making your own decisions and I think it's I don't think I've ever gone through anything knock on wood that has been so big that has really done it it's more of like I you know say yes to everything and then I can't do everything completely well enough and then I like look back and I'm like well maybe, maybe I wouldn't have lost that deal. Or maybe if I would have done this more, I would have been here or whatever. So I think it's just like a combination of perfectionism, looking back and being like, I could have done this better. I could have done this better. I could have done this faster. And it's just, I, you know, you see people coming out with all this stuff all the time and it's hard to keep up.

And so you get hard on yourself. Like, oh, she already relaunched her website. Like I haven't done mine yet. Mine's not ready yet. I got to go. I got to go. I got to go. But then get tired, get tired. So how do you filter some of that out? And we talk about that a lot on this show is basically comparing yourself to other people or other platforms or competition. How do you kind of filter that out and figure out what to pay attention to and what to say? Okay. I don't need to pay attention to that. Yeah. I mean, I think it's important to pay attention because for me, I have to like, I like knowing what's going on and that, cause I'm, I'm just curious to, I like a girl will come out with a clothing line and I'll like DM it to my agent and be like, who funded this? Just

cause I'm curious. Like I want to know what's going on on the business side, but it's not like I'm like jealous. And I think that the biggest thing that I learned is the more you know is it's all a lot of smoke and mirrors. And I think a lot of people don't realize that. And I just am so like business savvy and I like educating myself. And I don't treat myself like talent. Like a lot of people just think they're talent and that everything should be handed to them on a silver platter. They only want things to filter through their manager. They, you know, they just they only want to work nine to five

and i'm over here like hustling i'm cc'd on every single email like i know everything that's going on and i'm curious and once you you know pick people's brands more and stuff you're just like oh wait like it's not as cool as it looks i think it's so smart to be first the businessman or woman yeah then the talent after yeah michael's like obsessed with what you just said when i when, when I talk to people or influencers in the space, like I always, like for me, I'm traditionally like I'm a businessman, like an entrepreneur. I don't, I'm not, I wouldn't call myself talent at all. Right. A lot of this podcast is just, you know, to create businesses and to run a business. Right. And I always think it's strange when people don't pay attention to the business side and think they can just show up because

there's no longevity there. Right. You're going there right you're gonna you're constantly at the mercy of other people whether it's agents or managers or companies or brands at some point you have to start taking accountability and say okay I am a business yeah business person first and then the talent side is the secondary part how did you have the foresight at your age because you're 23 years old to know how important the business side is and if there's someone out there that's 21 22 23 are there any kind of tips or tricks that you can give them to start paying attention to that side if they're getting into YouTube or blogging? I mean, I think because right when I started,

it's not that I like did YouTube for like the money or for like any of that stuff. And I don't think because I feel like business can get misconstrued with that. But I just I saw it right when it started. I saw it as a business right away as like a 17 year old. And my mom has just always been young and savvy and entrepreneurial. And so I was like going to high school for two hours and like driving to the city of Chicago and like just pimping myself out and like networking and, you know, making my own mic flags and be like, I'm a host now like da da da. And so I think I just always had it in me like that business savvy side and then being in such a new industry and also being in something that doesn't totally exist it's not like you go to college and after year one you go to year two

and then after year three you have to have all these credits there's no secret method or recipe for any of this and so I've just have been always wanted to be at the forefront of it and know what's going on because it's it's scary not knowing and like I just I think I want to know more and I'd rather know more than not and so my biggest tips is to like always be involved and always stay on top of it and just know that you're your own boss like I think a lot of people even my friends they forget they're, I've always said all these people work for you. Like your agency, you, you hired them. Like they're your employee, like your manager, like they work for you.

Like that's why, you know, we fire people, they don't fire us. And so I just always have stayed in. It's just so easy. I feel like for people to, once they get successful to like take the back seat and let everyone else do it, but it's completely longevity. It's's like what are you going to do when something goes wrong you have no idea who you don't know anyone from the brands you've been working with you don't know how this came about you're like on these emails and since I think it's also the satisfaction of like I'll be on the emails and like I know stuff before all my friends or like I know what's actually going on and I'll

be like no that's not where I'm they're like oh wait where's the event tonight? Or like, I know what's actually going on. And I'll be like, no, that's not where I'm there. Like, oh, wait, where's the event tonight? I'm like, you don't even know like your cat. Like it. So it's crazy. Like I just get more satisfaction from being maybe knowing it all because growing up, I was just not good in school and didn't know anything. And now I'm like, oh, street smarts. I got that. You have to keep longevity in mind too. Like if you, if you were to ask somebody, okay, where are you taking this in 10 years? And they're the one making decision, not paying attention to that. They're in trouble. I was reading this thing that, um, an interview that Warren Buffett did the other day. And he was saying, um, basically that you should focus on, on windows of seven years and then windows of one to two months. He said, the people that run into trouble are focusing on the windows of like one

to two years, right. And they're making decision. Okay. Like a year from now, I'm going to be doing this two years. I'm here. He said, it's more important to kind of strategize for the next one to two months and really like micro macro focused on that. And then where is that going to take you in seven years? And he says, if you think like that, you're going to make much different decisions, better decisions, as opposed to someone that's just trying to do something quick, or maybe have an agent or a manager make their decisions because you can really shoot yourself in the foot if you're not paying attention. Yeah. And I think that most people probably think of today and then 10 years. Cause it's like, Oh, this brand deal just came in. Oh, that's good money today. Got it. Taking it. And then when

you're like, what do you want to do? They're like, I want to be a movie star and have this company, blah, blah, blah. And it's just like, that's great. But they don't, yeah, they don't macro focus on it or anything. So you're talking about not having like a specific formula, but you're involved in the YouTube community. Is there a trait or something that you see that's common in all these YouTubers that have made them successful? Like, is there something that you see? I know everybody has a different formula and does things differently. But is there like some type of personality trait or a practice that they do on a regular basis yeah I think that it's the cheesiest thing but it's so true is that it's genuinely these people being themselves like everyone is unique in their own way and when

people go onto YouTube and just try to be like someone that's successful it doesn't resonate because it's the first of all it already exists and second of all it's you can tell it's just not authentic and so even for me when I was trying to you know do so many things the moment I like stripped everything back and was like guys I'm gonna start making just comedy and lifestyle I want to do what I want to do like I don't want to try to be this person and try to just because I was trying to do what all these other girls were doing it just wasn't working and that that was when I grew like I went from a hundred thousand subscribers to a million in less than a year from just changing my content wow being authentically who I was and you have to, it's harder to deal with hate that

way because you're so much more raw. But I always use the example of if I'm over here and Selena Gomez is over here, girls are going to take photos of Selena Gomez from five feet away and maybe walk up and say hi and ask for a picture. And girls are going to run up to me and give me a hug and ask me how Stella is, which is my dog. And I'm like, what? I know who Stella is. And so it's like, I'm like, it's just such a, the reason they watch us is because they feel like they have a friend. And it's like when you're not putting on a show

or trying to be something you're not, they connect with you and they connect with your realness. And we're just very open. Like we talk about our daily lives. We talk about what's really going on, the ups and the downs and that for people. And even like you were saying products, like you only talk about things you really love. And when you really love you push it. And like that passion comes across so much. And it's like, well, I know you're a real person and you want me to buy this blanket. Well, I want to buy the blanket now. But if Khloe Kardashian told me,

I'd be like, well, I don't know. She's probably getting paid or does she even like it is that is that her assistant posting like I don't know I don't care and so like that's why it's just when you're on YouTube if you're just go into it fully being yourself that's always my biggest tip if you go and having fun and just wanting to share your life the audience will come if it comes like and if it does then you just ride it out um but you said something really interesting to me, um, that I have not heard a lot and we've interviewed a lot of people. You said, um, that you didn't get into this to monetize. And actually I have the same lot of parallels there. I got into this to provide value when I was, you know, seven years ago to provide value on my blog

with quality photos in a pretty way. Um, talk to me a little bit about that. I think so. Don't you feel like everyone asks you, how do you make money? How do you make, like, I wasn't even asking that question for three years. Yeah. When I moved here to everyone was like, how do you like, it wasn't even, how do you make money? It was how much money do you make? And I'm like, first of all, you don't like walk up to a nurse and be like, how much money do you make? Like, it's so rude. I don't think it occurs in any other field. Yeah. No. It's like, why does everyone know how much money I make? Like, well, how much money do you make? Like, it's so rude. I don't think it occurs in any other field. Yeah, no, it's like, why does everyone know how much money I make? Like, well, how much money do you make?

Like, okay. And, but yeah, so everyone's asking that. And my answer would always be like, I support myself. I'm fine. Like, I don't, I pay all my own bills. That's how much money I make. And, and yeah, I think that people just see it as money, but it wasn't always that.

Like, there's this thing going on right now too, where YouTube isn't letting channels that don't get a certain amount of minutes watched per month. Was it like 10,000? Yeah. It's something that they changed it literally two weeks, a week and a half ago. Because of that whole controversy? Yeah. What was the controversy?

Just the Logan Paul. All the Logan Paul stuff. They're like changing a bunch of rules that just happened to not be affecting him at all, but everyone else and um he or they a bunch of people are now tweeting being like you know my my biggest accomplishment was it wasn't about the money but it was so exciting getting that like 50 cent check from youtube being like oh wow like i did something and because when we got into it we none of us were making money like all the biggest creators right now none of us were making money it was simply about having a creative outlet to express ourselves and like I was quitting

cheerleading and I just wasn't fitting in on like that side of it and so I would go home close my door and do this like we and that's how we all like you used to be able to comment on someone's video and notice them like Instagram and there was like an inbox with messages I don't even know if I could send a message on YouTube now you probably still still can. I just don't know how. But like that's how I made some of my longest friends was like my I lived with girls for four years that I met through like YouTube comments and stuff like that. So it was really truly this community that now is completely different in a place to have platforms and businesses. And Ellen DeGeneres puts her stuff there like it's just night and day.

So when we all started, we just monetizing wasn't a thing. It was like joining a club, like an afterschool club. So I just think that if anyone is out there listening and they're just starting, if I was them right now in 2018, I would go into this business because I loved it. Right. And not think about monetization for a while. I mean, I, 99% of bloggers, when I talk to them or like mentor them, they want to know how to make money. I think that's completely true for any content medium. I don't know if that's, I don't know if that's necessarily the advice I would give to like traditional business, right? Like if someone came to me and said, Hey, would you invest in this business? We're just doing it. We're not nurses. No, no. But I think for anybody

that's creating content, whether you're a writer or you're an actor or blogger, vlogger, whatever it is, like if you don't like creating that type of content just for fun, how are you ever going to be good at it? How are you going to be consistent? And when you relate it to like acting and writing and producing, it's like have you known any actor or writer that's just like written one thing and it's gotten sold for a million dollars? Like it takes a lot of time and a lot of work. And even though YouTube seems like it's so quick because you get to you can upload on the same day it's still gonna take time to build up an audience and like if you look at youtube and you're like that looks like so much fun like i want to learn how to edit i want to talk about what's in my bag do it start it but if you're just like i want to make money

it looks so easy then it's like you're not you're in for a rude awakening there's a book i want to tell you about it's called daily rituals how artists work have you ever heard of it i feel like i'm maybe no it's by mason curry but basically she would know it if she saw the cover they take like basically he did a study and took all these creative people whether it was like mozart or einstein whoever it was like just it could be actors producer whatever the hell it was for throughout history and he just basically talked about their morning and evening routines and you see like a commonality between these people's like how consistent the work is and how dedicated they are to it and i think you know you're taking the best

people throughout history and studying them and if you if you don't have that dedication that love for the work there's just no way yeah there's no way so when do you work best is it night is it morning and and is there rituals that you do in the morning or the night that, you know, maybe someone out there who's looking to get into this field could do? Like I like to light my oils and my bossa nova. There's two times and they're completely different. The first is I like I have like really bad ADD and I took ADHD medicine in high school and it turned me into like from a F student to an A student

because like that's how bad it is. My mom didn't want me to go on it, and then she saw the test. She was like, okay, you can go on it. Like you're clearly, you need it. But I can't take it anymore because it affects my personality, and I'm personality for a living. And so my best work is done literally,

I have chug a coffee, and that's like my version of ADD medicine that like is sane like chug like like I literally like chug it like it has to be gone and then I like sit down and that's when I like grind because I have that like moment of energy and like fresh and like living in LA it's like it's sunny and you're like let's do this so I have like a two hour window where I can like get shit done do you know what that's called what deep work really there's a book about it about okay you do deep work that done do you know what that's called what deep work really there's a book about it about okay you do deep work that's really interesting but like that's like my window because

then it like I have ADD like it's hard and you know we're on our own bosses and I'm not like sitting at a desk and then I kind of like trickle off and I get some things done and it's the weirdest thing ever and I've been doing it for almost a year now and I joke around with my boyfriend I work in my sleep and I'm not kidding you it sounds so dumb I know exactly what you're talking about and I have I'm literally selling like three shows right now that I've created in my sleep so it's I'll be I do the thing where you know if I'm thinking of stuff when I'm falling asleep I'll like wake up really quick and I write it down on my phone or else I'll completely forget it but I was staying in New York with my assistant and I didn't want her to think that like I was having trouble sleeping. So I was like just like laying there like thinking

like half asleep, like thinking of all these things and all these ideas. And I woke up the next morning and I was like, I thought of a new show. I decided all these emails I want to send it like was literally just working in my sleep until I fell asleep and had to like go in the morning and like write everything down. So I like literally work morning and night. And then there's that area in the middle where I'm like on Instagram, like editing photos and like just stalking people and like getting absolutely nothing done. But I think it's much more, I mean, people, you know, they think they need to work these long, long days. It's, I think it's much more important to take, to be completely dedicated to that one task that you're doing for what is it

like maybe an hour or two hours, whatever it is, you get much more done in that short amount of time than like, okay, I'm'm gonna work for eight hours and spread it out the whole day like people people don't understand that's how i work too i like to batch things where by the way i know exactly what you're talking about working in your sleep like it's almost like a meditation you're asleep but you're awake kind of but you start getting better like more clear ideas maybe it's because i'm like relaxed or something but it's weird i just think so much better and I have so many so much more things just come to me naturally that I don't know and I feel like

there's this thing going on now where we share our lives on like Instagram and stuff and it's so easy to compare yourself where you see someone who's like already worked out and they're like girl I always do the joke with my agents of like the girls that have the scripts and they're like and it's like you can't really see what it's for because we don't want to know what project you're auditioning for but it's like it's like oh so much to do and I'm like oh my god you're an actress like congratulations you got an audition like cool and it's like it still puts that pit in your stomach of like oh I should be doing more I should be doing more and so I'm like being more open about like yeah there's a few hours of the day where I just literally sit on my couch and I scroll through instagram you're editing photos yeah or engaging yeah it's it's kind of weird

like what we do too because yeah like i always work in an uber that's like my thing i always want like i'm like if i just was rich enough to have a driver so i could just work in traffic that would be the most amazing thing ever i think i want to get rid of my car after and i get get a driver because i feel like i can get so much work done. While you're driving. Yeah. Taylor could be my driver or something creepy. I don't know if you want to drive around with him all the time, but no, I think, I also think it's important for people to remember, like you have to do what works for you and what you want to do, right? Like, you know, you'll see all these people going crazy and doing all this work because if you don't like that lifestyle and you don't want to do it,

then don't do it. Like you don't need to do things that everybody else is doing. Well, that's like the daily rituals too. I was reading Fast Company two months ago. It was the like, not ritual issue, but it was something like that. And it was taking these like 10 super successful people in different places, fields. And it said, it asked them like, what are you doing at 7am? What do you eat for lunch? What do you do this?

And like one page is like, I only get four hours of sleep. And like, I work at this early in the morning. And you're like, oh God god and then you go to the next page it's like i sleep till 12 p.m or like whatever and so it like kind of eases you of like okay everyone has their own way of doing it and all you just have to find what works for you the common ground is that they all beat to the tune of their own drum and don't listen to what society tells that i mean to me that's true people will message us sometimes be like oh how are you the guys running around i'm like listen like i know a lot of people that like, I know some very, very successful people that are not doing that, that are just, you know, you have to do your own thing.

The biggest thing in this podcast is I don't want people to take our formula or your formula and think that they have to apply it to their life. It's like you take elements, like maybe something that you do works for me and something that Lauren does works for me. And you kind of mesh your own thing together. Like if I'm just saying, okay, I'm going to take Lauren's thing and I'm going to do that exact thing. I'm going to run into a lot of trouble. Yeah.

And it's almost like it's once someone's thing is done, it's done. And like the universe is like, okay, it worked for that person. Like now I get to do something else. And that's why when people are like, how do you get successful on YouTube? I'm like, I don't know. Like it just like there's things that I think I could definitely say contributed and like have good tips and advice and like could mentor someone but it's not like you do this this and this and you're set and I think a lot of youtubers are now trying to capitalize this and take advantage of it and saying if you do this this and this you're set and it's that's you just see a bunch of videos

that are the exact same piece of content I mean it definitely has to do with a lot of talent you have a lot of talent it sounds like you have a lot of consistency. It sounds like you're a hustler. It sounds like you're a worker. I mean, there's so many different things for the recipe. There's like components. Yeah, definitely. So what's some bad advice or some mistakes you see new, like, let's say, I don't want to just say YouTubers, but content creators making, like what's bad advice you hear or mistakes you see being made that are, that you can kind of quantify and say, okay, that's consistent enough to really be a mistake that I see all the time or some bad advice that you hear all the time you're like no that's not that's not good um i think it's i think i would probably relate that more

to stuff like clickbait um just do it like shocking things um even my boyfriend and i were talking last week i was like yeah we should film something together it's been a while and like we can do something cute he was like yeah let's do something raunchy and I was like what I was like why do we need to do something raunchy like we can make content that's good and gets clicks without being like raunchy and so I think that's like the biggest thing of advice right now is people are like do something crazy like yeah like go out and prank this person and take your top off and make sure your thumbnail has looks like your tits are out and it's just like what is going on and so it's just it's stuff like that like and it's sad because it does better like it really does it gets the clicks and it gets the views but there's no longevity there at all so if you're

gonna spend your time and invest your time into something don't just invest it into like a quick fix if you really want to do it for the long run. Well, what I like about you too, is you take a stance. And I think I've always said 2018 is like the year of taking a stance on something that's important to you. It's not just about creating content and documenting. You have to take a stance. You talk about anxiety, depression on your platform, which I find really, really powerful. How did you kind of do that in a way where you're comfortable to open up to your audience and make it, because to me, it seems like your audience responds really well yeah how did you kind of create that that back and forth with them um I think it was since I did start um making content in high school and then had like had just been dealing with so much stuff I felt this like you know pressure to

be perfect and then once I started getting a following I had this like pit in my stomach that there were all these people looking up to me and that they thought I had to, they had to be like me and they didn't even really know the whole story. And so I think I just got so passionate about like, you know, letting people know that it's not all what it looks like, like it is smoke and mirrors or whatever. And I thought, you know, if this, if my story could help a few people or whatever, like, you know, we always say if I could, if I could touch one person's life it's all worth it but it was like if I was like okay if I can just at least show people that I'm not perfect and I guarantee you no one else you're watching is and I just also felt like I couldn't really make content like

I'm someone who's so authentically myself that it's really hard as much as I love acting and stuff that's like being a different character and a different person when I'm acting as myself there is a level where I just think it becomes fake and so if I'm like struggling through all these things and pretending to be perfect that's like mentally exhausting and draining and even more depressing and so I felt that it would be more it would be more beneficial to myself and to my audience if I just opened up about who I really was um and it's just always been something that people respond to and I honestly haven't touched on it in like a couple years um just because I've been so busy and just

doing so many things and like struggling you know on and off just off camera and so I just randomly decided to like post about it on Instagram last week and it was like it just blew up like dms dms dms I was like whoa and I just made me realize that's one of the I think the biggest blessings I have for my platform is to like start a conversation about that and I get so upset when you know other things are happening in the world it's like whenever people talk about gun control I'm just like can we talk about the fact that like mental illness is like the biggest part of this too like there's no one that's mentally sane buying these guns. Like, yeah, the gun control is a whole thing, but like, can we talk about how there's no one

getting help growing up, like with mental illness? And so it's just something I think I'm so passionate about and that I, since I struggle with it, I don't like being fake. So it just all kind of comes together. And when I got that response last week, I was like, okay, I need to sit down and film a video about this was this, was this about anxiety and depression or just mental illness? Yeah. Well, I think it's, it goes about both. Like there's definitely like the bigger picture of mental illness in general that I like speak to. And then I like use my example of like, I've struggled with depression and not more so my adult life anxiety. And I did a five facts about me and I was like, Oh, fact number five, like I take anxiety medication every

day. And like, that's a thing that has like such a stigma. And I just felt like facts about me and I was like, oh, fact number five, like I take anxiety medication every day. And like that's a thing that has like such a stigma. And I just felt like, you know, like there is a fact about me. Like you see this crazy do to do girl and like you have no idea that like I literally am on like medication 24 seven. That's like a weird little fact that like might make you feel better if you are too. And people like responded so crazy to it, like in a good way. And we're just so surprised. Like I had no idea. Like that makes me feel so much better because I always look to you and thought you were perfect and like felt bad that I took medicine.

And now knowing that you do, I feel so much better. Like stuff like that. And that's like the most rewarding part about everything is being able to start a conversation and impact people's lives like that. And I think that's what the content creators that are personalities are more drawn to is like sharing their story and helping. I have some notes and I want to do a podcast soon, basically all about anxiety. But while I, while I have you here, what have you, what have you found or as a tools you've developed to help you combat anxiety? Um, I think that it's definitely an everyday thing. And my biggest thing was when I finally like seek, went out and sought help and, um, met with a therapist and learned, she gave me like literally

a packet and like, just taught me about why my brain was doing these things. Cause you're in your head and you just, you feel crazy and you're like, what's going on? And like, you're listening to the voices and it's just everything. And you don't know what to think. And when you have someone who you know is a professional, not just a friend or a parent or teacher, when you're sitting with someone who is a professional in their field about that, that gives you just like literature about here's how your brain works. When this happened, your brain triggers this. When this happens, it allows you to think that you go, oh, wait, it's not even my fault. Like my brain's just doing this thing and I'm not as crazy as I thought. And if I I learn if I learn how my brain

works I can stop it before it gets too out of control so I think educating myself with the help of a professional got me to the point where even though I have like bad days and have other little tricks and stuff um that the bigger picture is much more clear whereas like there was a point where I was so anxious I just thought it was I was like I'm about to be depressed because I know what depression feels like and I'm so anxious. I just thought it was, I was like, I'm about to be depressed because I know what depression feels like. And I'm so anxious. I can't even live my everyday life anymore. I'm approaching depression. And that's when I like went and sought help. And I think the medicine in conjunction with that, cause I even went through the struggle of a year of like going on the medication, feeling so good. And then being like, Oh, well then I don't need it anymore.

And then it would like be that. And so then finally the doctor was like, oh, so you, you figured out that the reason you feel good is because of the medicine. So you're going to keep taking it now. I was like, yeah, it's like, that makes sense. Tim Ferriss says that, uh, the way he combats, uh, anxiety is to prevent it before it happens. So that's the way I've really, really been able to deal with anxiety is I do things like cupping, cupping really helps me. It's so much relief for me. I know that sounds really weird, but I do things like that to kind of like help it before it even happens. I'll do preventative measures. I have anxiety too about something that you said about having like your DMs and all these people asking you questions. You want to get to everything and

you want to make sure that you're serving your community in the right way. How do you manage all of that? I mean, for me, it makes me anxious to open something and feel like I can't respond to everything. I think taking, the only thing that I think that I've done to be able to cope with it is like taking a bigger stance, like seeing all those DMs.

My first thought was, you know, reading them, this is great. Now I need to make a video about it because there's so many people that I can't go through and message everyone. But I know if these people, if I upload a video, those people will go watch it. And like making that a part of the story, being like, I saw your DMs. This is how I feel about them and addressing it like on a bigger platter, because it's also comes with the thing like this dms also are the same as like friends or like i was literally at a 16 year old's birthday party yesterday and i like sensed this

girl's energy from across the table and i was like is she okay like she's so cute she's wearing a cute little outfit and i feel like she's depressed and the girl was like oh my god wait no she is like you should say something and so i let her know i was just like hey like if you ever need anything like you know she has my number like i feel like you're like you're you're off or whatever i'm like not trying, like if you ever need anything, like, you know, she has my number. Like, I feel like you're like, you're off or whatever. I'm like, not trying to like embarrass you in front of your friends, but like, whatever, just pulled her aside. And then the girl texted me later. She's like, you made my day like dah, dah, dah. And then in that moment I realized, okay, this is the time where I did that. And I'm not a doctor. I'm not her mom. And I'm not even her best friend. Like there is a point where I have to just like detach myself a little bit because I can't save this girl's life. Like I can't I can be there for her in like a way of like a mentor or like a long sister. And so it's like having those guidelines in your own head because I just want to fix everyone and help everyone. And I think I like take too much on and like forget about myself a lot. So having to like

say it in my head, like, okay, be careful with how you craft this response because you don't want to like over commit yourself to someone because you can't do that with everyone. Especially like a random girl. I saw at a brunch that I was like, there's something wrong with her. Like someone needs to help her and everyone being like, what? Oh, wait, you're right. You take on other people's energy. Yeah. I'm fully in the camp. That's like before you can save everyone, you have to like save yourself and then save your neighbor first. Like you can't, I think people do this whole,

like, especially now with a lot of not to get political with all these political movements, it's like, we're going to change the world. We're going to save everyone. It's like, well first,

like the, the best step you can take as individuals is like, okay, like take care of yourself. And then the people like directly around you, because those are the people you're gonna be able to directly impact in yourself as well it's like it's a really big leap to change the world but if everybody started saying okay listen like i can work on myself and then the people around me directly like you can start having real impact

i have a big problem with the fact that for six years i returned every single dm like i would every morning i would wake up for an hour and do it. And every night I would do two hours of it and I would return every email and every, and now it's like, I, I, if I, if I did that, I literally don't, I wouldn't be able to live. Right. So I'm having like trouble, like, you know, stepping out of that, but that's really good. People understand that as long as you have a conversation about it. Yeah. I think it's like having an open conversation about it and still engaging. Like I'll pick like two and then I'll post about oh my god all of you guys or da da da and just and it's harder I've actually been thinking this like I really hate the I really hope that somehow Instagram changes a little bit because on Twitter you can go through just favorite you know it's like favorite and like

just give them the satisfaction of like I see you I hear you whatever and you don't have to actually reply and it's so much quicker and on Instagram it's like you have to go to like the 99 plus requests messages and then you have to go to them and then you have to open it because you can't even see it and then you can't even heart it unless you allow it and then it's in your inbox and it's like this whole thing and I'm like I can't do it it's it's too much in the comments and like you just and and I'm not complaining about it I'm so grateful I just feel like I want to, I want to give energy to everyone. Exactly. Yeah. But that's a good advice to just film a video and just say a lot of you guys have asked me. I like that. Okay. Let's talk about what you're doing, your jewelry company, your acting, like what's next for you,

what's in the works. Give us the scoop. Um, just a lot of stuff. Honestly, there's quite a few things I can't talk about yet that are happening around like fall 2018 that are really, really just like huge, big steps for me. A lot of stuff I always say that's going to be tangible is like my only clue. I've never really like sold anything besides my jewelry line, which was an amazing collaboration with Majuri. We have a few more restocks

and it like it sells out every single time. So I'm hoping everyone that's wanted to get it has had the opportunity or will buy you're wearing it right now I'm wearing which one I'm actually not I'm wearing the earrings you're wearing the earrings they're like so cute they're all the starbursts and it's just a fantastic company and so that was such a good experience for me that like this year I'm really want to be able to like have my own stuff um so what that is yeah I can't say but what I created I relaunched my website and I took all last year doing it took forever but um I just wanted to like create that community again like I missed writing and I missed having a hub and like I do so much all the time that it's all on

these different platforms I wanted a place to bring everything together and then if I am selling stuff or whatever there's you know gonna be that tab or whatever and really just building this like lifestyle community brand whatever um is really important to me this year while in conjunction with stuff like producing a bunch of stuff right now and going to be acting and a bunch more stuff I filmed a movie last year that hopefully comes out this year and just doing the typical actor audition process I'm like lucky enough to be able to go on auditions then not have to go work at the bar the waitress later I get to go home and work on Instagram and YouTube and stuff. So it's always balancing both of those things. But I think that this year will be hopefully an elevated version

of last year. And where can everyone find you if they want to follow you on YouTube, Instagram, everything? Just Lauren Elizabeth on everything at Lauren Elizabeth and then lovelaurenelizabeth.com. But you're Lauren with an E. Yeah. You're the only Lauren I know with a Y. Don't say I'm a Lauren with an E. Everyone's Lauren with an E. She changed it in sixth grade.

I remember. No, you didn't. Yeah, I changed it in sixth grade. It was an E. And then she said, I'm changing it. And like made her dad like go and like change it. Yeah. What? Yeah.

I changed it in sixth grade. Oh my God. I was, I was, I was content marketing for my, for my blog. That's pretty extra if you think about it, like to go to your parents at that age and be like, listen, I need to change one of these. It's not even like I need to change my name. Like I want to change this one letter. Yep.

Very specific. Oh my God. Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you for having me. You have to come back. Congratulations with everything you're doing. Thank you so much. Wait, just a few things before you guys take off. Do you want a super short girly email from me? Tipsy Thursday is a quick email with lots of value as always. That includes

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