Meet Lauren Clark | Life Coach for Creatives, Performer & Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauren Clark and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
To answer this question, I have to give a little back story because I didn’t wake up one day and go, “I’m going to be an entrepreneur!,” but rather my life unfolded in a way where entrepreneurship really just made sense and aligned with what I wanted and felt I could do! So basically, I got my professional start about a decade ago. I had just graduated from college and I moved from the midwest to New York City in 2012 to establish myself as a dramatic actor. However, I found the comedy scene to be a little more suited to me and my personality at the time, so I took improv, stand up and sketch comedy writing classes. Yes, all on top of each other and all at once. It was intense, but I was all in and I remember feeling really proud of myself for committing to COMEDY. It felt like I was about to do something really hard, but also fun. Eventually, (and mind you, this took years) I was able to use everything I learned as a student and performer and I became a freelance improv and acting coach. On top of this, I performed as much as possible (which ended up being 4 to 6 nights a week), I kept taking improv and acting classes, I co-founded an all black theatre troupe, started booking commercials, branded content and modelling gigs, I wrote for and produced live events and short films and, over the course of 3-4 years, I got really confident with my voice and means of expressing myself. There was not really much of a difference between who I was in my private life and who I was publicly and when that distinction fell away, I became an unstoppable performer. I got so good at performing, showing up and saying YES to everything, opportunities to perform and teach were flyin at me! This was cool at first, but working THAT hard while still living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to take care of myself started to upset me and feel terrible. By 2015, I was struggling to sustain all the STUFF I had going and I was confused. I committed to the dream and dove all in, right? I did everything I was told I was supposed to do to be considered “excellent” and yet I still felt so anxious and fearful all the time. I was very focused on the things that weren’t working out and I was highly aware of the idea that something was missing. The constant feelings of scarcity and unworthiness got really out of hand in 2016. That was a rough year for me, but it was a great learning one, too. Instead of taking a step back that year (which is what I wish I would’ve done), I worked harder, took on more work (for the money, not the joy),I lowered my prices (thinking this would make me more accessible… spoiler alert: this did not work) and I became increasingly (and somewhat knowingly) in desperate need of validation and attention, which I would get, but then struggle to feel fully worthy of. So, I was doing a lot, but inside I had this tug of war going where I would do good work and convince myself it wasn’t enough or I just got lucky. I self-sabotaged, maintained a poor diet and was full on #teamNoSleep. I struggled with a big smile on my face and wore my “broke artist” badge proudly, which made it difficult for friends and family to give advice and feedback. (I have an incredible stubbornness in me where no matter how hard a problem gets, I ALWAYS want to figure things out on my own. I’ve morphed this unrelenting will since and now it mostly works for me in getting things DONE, but I continue to this day to work on my listening and receiving feedback skills. It’s a process.) I’m proud of where I am now, but in 2016, I was NOT there. I think I thought I was being clever and standing up to “the man” or to God by having an attitude of “I’ll do it myself,” but I also felt like, “oh these are the hard times, it’ll get better… living like this is temporary because some magical film/tv/comedy industry God will discover me and that will solve all my problems forever until the end of time.” This mindset ultimately got in my way because no one DID come to discover me/save me and I struggled with increasing depression and anxiety for years as a result of this waiting game. Finally, in 2018, I got my “straw that broke the camel’s back” so to speak. I got a puny rejection letter (for a grad school program I didn’t even really want to go to), and I was crushed. How could I be crushed by something I didn’t even want? I didn’t know what I was doing AT ALL and worse, I didn’t know who to reach out to because I felt like literally no one in my life understood. I had carved out such a unique life (or so i thought) that I felt unsavable, stuck forever and truly, I was lost. I knew deep down, I had to try talking to SOMEONE. Might as well. So, at 27 years old, against my desires and better judgement, I started going to therapy. My intention was to, “find a way to be okay.” Not to feel AMAZING or EXCELLENT, just not “less than.” and ya know what? (I have joked about this on stage,) but truly 1 year of weekly talk therapy CHANGED EVERYTHING. I have so many thoughts on how to go about getting the most out of therapy, but I talk about therapy being a HUGE part of my thought process in business because it was! Therapy is where I started to hear how self critical I was. My mean girl voice (aka inner critic, ego, fear, etc.) in my head was LOUD. I started to understand how messed up my self talk was and I slowly grew to understand how disempowering that was. I had been living in these blindspots of self sabotage for far too long. I remember when I started, I set intentions for every session of therapy. “Oh today, I want to focus on my childhood and sort out my baggage with my siblings. Today, I want to talk out my future and why I feel like it’s hopeless and I should quit, get married, get fat and move back to Indiana” things like that, but I treated it like another gig and made sure I was getting what I paid for; actual help. that inner work WORKED. That process of asking self reflective questions and reaching out for help was how I knew I had everything I needed to become my own boss. I always had it, but therapy convinced me, as it allowed me space to become aware of all my limiting beliefs and then start to write a new story in my mind. I slowly started to see more of what life has to offer… outside of it being a means to a full time comedy career. I saw myself as an important piece of the puzzle instead of a lone wolf and it made me ask, “what am I here to give?” instead of “what’s in it for me?” I had my doubts throughout therapy, but I am so proud of myself today that I chose to stick with it. After I reached out for help and saw how that improved the quality of my life, I started asking for help from people who could help me get more acting, improv coaching and writing support. I started to work with not just a therapist, but a life coach, too! I also took advantage of alternative forms of therapy like hypnosis and inner child healing therapy. Alternative forms of therapy added a layer to me that empowered me to see life as an experiment and opportunity to discover. This was important because before these experiments, I saw life as something you could be a failure at and now I know, it’s just not true! Each day is an opportunity to TRY AGAIN or KEEP GOING and if you just commit to putting effort in SOMETHING, you will learn and grow. One of my favorite quotes by Nelson Mandela is, “I never lose. I win or I learn,” and I try so hard to live by that. Another part of what led me to entrepreneurship was reading! I became obsessed with memoirs and self help books. I spent less time on instagram, got a library card and read in all the spare time I could muster. I was surrounding myself with the most uplifting and empowering content in all my free time and I got so many ideas for how I wanted to live from reading inspiring stories and motivational books. So long story short, my therapist helped me let go of guilt I was carrying from my past and my coach encouraged me to write my grand vision for my life for my future and turns out, running a business was a big part of that. I am really happy I had so much support before starting my business. I just felt like I had the right kind of community (albeit small) behind me and that felt like such a good sign to just go for it. And part of my grand vision now is to keep building for others, what I continue to build for myself. Unapologetic artistic expression that I don’t have to wait for someone to sign off on, understand or greenlight. I can create what I want. I can inspire exactly WHO I want. How is that not the dream? The start of 2020 was actually when I realized that improv coaching was the thing that brought me the most joy, but it wasn’t necessarily because of the improv, but the discussions about creativity, the process of creating something from NOTHING, that I loved. I loved hearing about how people saw the world and maintained their sanity in it. During rehearsal breaks, I would chat with students about their own grand visions and ultimate life goals and I realized I wanted the conversation from those breaks more than I wanted the improv from those classes. Another sign it was time for me to start a business. (seriously, when you can go from student to teacher, you’ve got something to build on with a business. Most people forget this or undervalue their ability to serve in this way, but if you have a pulse, you have a purpose. Start with your gifts. Solve a problem and you’ll never be broke!) My thinking going into life coaching was that I would empower creatives to organize their talents around building an authentic personal brand AND a life full of joy, peace and prosperity. I knew then and know now I could and can help anyone organize their talents and create their own realities and enjoy it because I helped someone who once felt like a lost cause (that by which of course, I mean me). I went from teaching the fundamentals of improv to teaching the fundamentals of self-expression, self-love and self care, which is a shift that lifts me whenever I sit and think about my growth. I really made so many shifts in my business, too. I simplified my freelance and coaching, going from having several offers and things you could pay me for to 1 simple offer: 1 on 1 weekly hourly creative coachings for 3 months. I simplified my offer, raised my prices, heard a lot of no’s upon immediately doing that, but then I signed up for a 12 week business mastermind and incubator, which cost a pretty penny, but the ROI was undeniable. That program taught me that not only was I not charging too much, I STILL wasn’t charging enough. I broke it down and let’s say I was basically making minimum wage, but it felt like a lot because people would pay upfront for 3 months. Lesson learned. do the math EARLY. Anyway, regardless of the numbers, I loved the opportunity to hold people accountable to their goals and healing journeys. I loved cheering for others the way I learned how to cheer for myself and everything EXPANDED when i became a life coach for creatives.
I think if I could help people skip over all my drama and pain points, I would ask them in their own thought process with their business the following questions: What do you actually enjoy doing? What do you lose track of time doing? If you woke up tomorrow with 10 million dollars in the bank, what’s the first thing you would do? How can you do THAT on a smaller scale? What if you solved a problem with all that money, what problem would you solve? How might it benefit the world around you? Who do you need to become in order to problem solve and support the people you care about? What does that version of you look like and do on a daily basis? What kind of people do you need in your tribe to support and help build upon your grand vision?

If you can answer those questions, consult with a lawyer and do some paperwork, you can start a business. That’s not the hard part. Dealing with yourself is the hard part, but if I can do it, anyone can.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
So I have definitely worn a lot of hats creatively over the years and I think the thing that sets me apart is the variety of things I’ve tried, failed at, AND enjoyed failing at. I guess I shouldn’t say failed, but I have most definitely quit a number of things a number of times, but then something else comes up and I’ll give it a go. People have often called me brave for this, which I understand and receive, but some of what I’ve done is also merely from being bored. I had a babysitter who used to get on me for admitting that- she’d say, “you know what they say about people who are bored? They tend to be boring themselves,” and maybe that wouldn’t have affected me so much now, but as a KID!? That idea haunted me. I do not like the idea of being bored or being boring so from a very young age, I’ve always been in search of what will be interesting to me NOW. If I was a cat, my curiosity most definitely would’ve killed me by now. But I regret nothing. My life is only interesting because I made sure it would be. I’ve been a musician, an athlete, a world traveler, a public speaker, an event planner, now I’m a podcaster, coach and comedian. Most of these endeavors I had training or financial support for, which I know is a privilege. That’s part of my creativity now though. Showing people you don’t need a fancy degree, lots of money or even THAT good of a reason to be creative yourself! We’re all creators! How much you wish to honor that is TOTALLY up to you, but I promise you, your potential to create is unlimited and so are you! Money can open doors here on Earth, of course, but money has nothing on the human imagination and mind. there are so many routes to an abundant and wealthy life that sometimes, money just is the result of. It’s why if there’s one thing I want people to know about my brand, it’s that I will NEVER encourage you to chase money. I will always encourage understanding purpose over all that. When you understand your life assignment and you obey and go forth, doing what only YOU can do- money will come. You will be supported. Don’t sit and think too hard about how, just follow your curiosity and trust that what’s meant to be will be. Be committed to the vision, not attached to how you get there. Be safe and all that, but sheesh– you only get one life! Live it! Seriously, you can’t tell me every part of my life isn’t or wasn’t necessary to who I am now. I’ve written full screenplays that I have no intention of ever letting see the light of day AGAIN, but I will stand by the fact that I am proud of the former stuff I wrote, too, because it gave me something to improve upon. Nothing you create is ever wasted, but don’t depend on the general public to assure you of this. The world won’t give you any approval for your process, but the beautiful thing is you can approve of yourself. Then… when you get results, take the money and don’t look back! In all seriousness, ALWAYS be trying stuff out. Commit to showing up for your art consistently and you’ll be fine.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Favorite spots in the city. I actually currently live in Los Angeles, but it’s new and I’m easily excited. I can honestly wonder a good hiking trail or stroll down the Hollywood walk of fame and spend hours in either place. There’s also this new, hip coffee shop called “Starbucks” that I could read a book in. (Point is, don’t ask me where to go in LA. I’m still figuring it out myself.)

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to recognize Rhonesha Byng of Her Agenda. She’s the CEO and founder of this amazing women’s empowerment brand, of which I am a longtime member. I have watched this company grow tremendously over the years and getting involved with this brand’s efforts from time to time has resulted in my receiving many mentors, friends, co-workers, clients and sisters. I was able to build a community, network and board of advisors myself because of the incredible HerAgenda community. Rhonesha Byng is also the CEO and founder and we went to the same college together!

Website: https://www.laurenclarkisrad.com/

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