My Somewhere In Between: Lauren Nolan’s Career Change Journey to Becoming Lake Shore Lady

If you’ve been reading my Somewhere In Between blog for a while, you’ll know I started with sharing stories of women who’ve changed careers. After hearing feedback from many of you that you loved that series, I’ve decided to bring it back!

The series, “My Somewhere In Between”, will feature women who have navigated a career change to pursue something they love. We’ll talk about the moments they were “Somewhere In Between” and how it’s impacted their lives.

I am beyond honored to reignite the series with the dear, Lauren Nolan of Lake Shore Lady. After learning more about Lauren’s journey to starting her successful wellness blog, I knew I had to share with all of you!

Cheers!

“If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.”

Before Lauren Nolan started her successful wellness blog, Lake Shore Lady, she was an aspiring actress in the Big Apple.

Growing up, I loved choir and theatre. In high school, I was in all the plays, traveling for choir competitions and was the President of our school choir. So when it came time to go to college, I was really set on doing musical theatre. I got into Syracuse, which is one of the best musical theatre programs in the country, and I was like, “okay, I’m doing this”!

After I graduated, I moved to New York, where I had spent a semester of my senior year in a program that allowed me to work with professionals in the industry.

I had some success right away. I booked a job that allowed me to become a member of the union. Things were going well… and then it got hard.

I was working retail and babysitting, making barely enough to afford my super small room in a three bedroom apartment I shared with my friends. And after a lot of hard work, I just had a moment where I asked myself: “What am I doing this for? What’s the point if I’m not booking anything and I’m not happy?”

I thought maybe my mental health is more important than this theatre goal. That was one of the hardest things for me to get past.

You want to believe the harder you work, the more it will pay off. But then you get older and realize life is too short to be unhappy.

How did you decide what you wanted to do next?

My sister had a studio apartment in Chicago, which she was moving out of. She told me she could ask her landlord if I could take over the lease, so that made it all very easy. At that point, I decided to make the move from New York.

Her small studio was like a palace compared to my New York living! The apartment was in the Lakeview neighborhood on Lake Shore Drive, which is how Lake Shore Lady came to be.

But that year was a whole season of change:

• Becoming long distance with my boyfriend
• Starting the breakup after a four year relationship
• Not knowing anyone in Chicago because I didn’t keep in touch with people after high school and my family was mostly in the ‘burbs.

It was very isolating.

So I thought, “why not start a blog?” I read a lot of them because I worked in retail and I had discovered new designers. I had always cooked because I was on a major budget in New York so I couldn’t afford all of the cool restaurants there. I just thought – let’s try it.

I made the blog myself. I didn’t have a professional camera – it was all homemade and learn as you go. But then I started learning and it started getting better. I started getting invited to events and I pushed myself out the door because I told myself that’s how I’d meet people. It opened up a whole new Chicago for me.

I got a job in marketing during that time to pay the bills. Once I realized my blog could be a thing, I really tried to invest time into growing it because I knew I didn’t want to work in marketing forever.

I wanted to do something creative and this felt like the perfect thing to do. At the end of the day, I’ve always wanted to have a life that excites me. The thought of an office job really scared me because I didn’t want to dread going to work, and in turn, feel like I failed or gave up. Once I realized blogging lit a fire in me, I knew I wanted to keep doing it.  

It took me a long time, but now this is my full-time job.

How did you decide to take your blog full-time?

It was in my head for two full years before I actually took the leap. People say two different things – just leap and the net will appear or get your ducks in order first. Either is possible, it’s just what works best for your personality. I was a “get your ducks in order” type of person just because I lived the struggling artist life in New York and I didn’t want the chance to go back to that.

For me, it was really important to feel good about the amount of income coming in, especially since I’d need to start paying for insurance each month. Once I realized I wanted to do this full time, I redid my site and I really started to take myself seriously. Rather than saying, “oh and I run this blog” when introducing myself, I switched it to leading with “I run a successful blog”. That felt weird at first, but I’ve gotten more used to it!

I made it my mission to get my pageviews up, social stats up, say “yes” to brand collaborations, put money in savings, and meet a lot of people. I really tried to take on as much as I could, which slightly drove me crazy because I wasn’t sleeping much, but it was great because it really built up my contacts and my rapport with PR companies.

After that, I hired a manager last year (which was awesome!) and she helped me increase my income. I eventually got to a point where I asked myself, “why am I stressing myself out at a job that I don’t want to be at forever when I have a great income from blogging?” I realized it was time and I should be confident in that decision. And I haven’t looked back!

What challenges did you face while changing careers?

Letting go of my pride:

I was worried about what others would think when I told them I’m not with my acting agent anymore and I’m no longer auditioning. I didn’t want to feel sad or judged every time I explained it to someone, but over time, I realized it was 100% the right decision for me and I have nothing to be ashamed of.

Reconciling my previous path:

It took me a while – it’s almost like a breakup. I had to get over something I wanted for so long that I wasn’t doing anymore. I had to break up with acting with the mindset that it was good for me for a really long time, but it’s not good for me anymore. Time to move on.

Getting over not knowing what was going to happen:

I’m such a goal oriented/results driven person, so to say “I don’t know where this is going to lead”  was hard. I also had thoughts of “what if people are going to judge me, what if people are going to think this is stupid or if it’s not going to turn into anything”, etc. You just have to be okay with not knowing what’s going to happen, which is really scary because you want to know that you’re going to be okay.

But I think the bottom line is: figure out how you’re going to make enough money to live, and let go of everything else. And be open to what might come your way, even if it’s not what you originally had in mind.

What advice would you give women who want to make a career change?

Believe you’re worth it:

It’s so cheesy but believing in yourself really is the bottom line of any other advice. Believe you’re worth that investment and you’re worth that time. It’s so easy to say that other things are more important or that you need to take care of other people before you take care of yourself. Prioritize yourself and your worth.

Understand you have a choice:

If you don’t have the privilege to have this conversation that’s one thing. But if you’re actively choosing to put something or someone else above you because you think that’s what you’re “supposed” to do, notice that. Ask yourself “what if I devoted one hour three times a week to myself?” – how would that change my life? Try it and keep building up. How can you start with whatever time and money you have to spare and then work your way up to considering it valuable?

If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten:

My dad said that to me when I was unhappy in acting and it’s still one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten. Because he was right. If I just continued to keep auditioning and crossing my fingers, who knows what was going to happen. Whereas, if I try something new and learn to open myself up to other possibilities, then that will automatically create new results. That was a really really big motivator for me.

Start where you are:

This is another one of my favorite quotes and some of the best advice. I meet so many women who think they need to have the perfect circumstances to start and that’s simply not true. Instead of thinking “I need to collect all the answers from everyone who is successful before me and create this method to make this happen”, just START. Once you start, you learn as you go and you get bigger and better. Before you know it, you’ll surprise yourself with how far you’ve come.

Find your unique offering:

I’m reading Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis and there’s a chapter about how “it’s all been done before” is a common excuse to not do something. This is so applicable to bloggers because *newsflash* there are a million blogs already out there. What I always say to someone who says, “the industry is so saturated” is if you are authentic and you are creating content that is uniquely you, there will be people who resonate with you. When I first started, Lake Shore Lady was not a wellness blog. It was a what-everyone-else-is-doing blog. Once I found that I love writing about wellness and topics that make women feel good about themselves, everything opened up.

Create your own path:

Whenever people ask me how I got my blog to where it is today, I always try to answer with “what worked for me might not work for you because we are different people”. I think it’s really important to evaluate your own goals instead of asking someone else for the answers. What do you bring to the table? What you want to talk about? Connect with what makes you YOU, and not other people. Because that’s ultimately what will make you stand out.

It doesn’t feel like work when you’re doing something you love:

You inevitably want to put more work in when its something you love. A 10 hour work day at a job you hate feels like it goes on forever versus a 10 hour work day at a job you love feels like it goes by so quickly. That’s just real.

Stop comparing yourself to others:

It’s so easy to create narratives that makes it seem like success is for someone else and not for you. Bring it back to you – what do you want and what do you need to do to be successful? I don’t have the most followers on Instagram, but I still get great traffic to my site, I secure exciting brand deals, I’ve created an awesome community – and at the end of the day, that is more important to me than a number in an app. Once you are proud of what you are doing, it’s easier to let the comparison game fall away.

what did you learn from being “somewhere in between”?

I used to say “I’m ready for the good part” when I was unhappy. To me, the “in between” was so scary. What was I supposed to be doing? What if I never found anything else that I loved to do? What if I always felt like a failure? But going through that confusing “in between” time was so incredibly transformative for me. It taught me that dreams change, and thats okay. It taught me that the universe has so much more in store for us than we realize, if only we open ourselves up to the possibilities that present themselves. And more than anything, it taught me that there is ALWAYS more to learn. As much as we all might want to reach a finish line, we should never stop learning. For anyone going through an “in between” time, embrace it. Try all the things, feel all the feelings, and be open to what comes your way.

I could not love Lauren’s perspective more and I’m so thankful that she shared her journey with us!  Lauren is a total sweetheart and quite the badass. Get more of her at Lake Shore Lady and follow along her journey on Instagram @LakeShoreLady.