We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Whitney McClain. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren Whitney below.

Alright, Lauren Whitney thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I definitely feel I would have benefited from starting my creative career sooner. My passion for content creation started back in 2012, when I turned to YouTube creatives to teach me the art of personal beauty and hair styling. I, often times, found myself down a rabbit hole of content, indulging in Youtube more than any other leisurely activity. I feel like starting my own Youtube channel was always the ultimate goal, but at the time, I didn’t have the courage to just start. I finally got the guts to start my own journey as a Youtube creator in 2017, which is the year I got married and launched my channel. It was slow and inconsistent start, focusing mainly on makeup and hair content. As my life started to evolve through marriage and children, I realized the value in starting sooner would have been time. Organization and time management have always been strengthens of mine, but had I taken advantage of more time and less responsibility, I feel like I would have experienced exponential growth and reach. I do, however, believe that my journey is happening exactly as it is supposed to. There are so many aspects of it that have contributed to my character, and even changed the type of content I provide to others. Those aspects have not only shaped my brand, but me as a person.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a wife and mother, who provides content focusing on beauty, motherhood and affordable lifestyle. My passion for beauty trends started with me as a Youtube consumer trying to tap in to my femininity through makeup. Back in 2012 I cut my hair shorter than it had ever been in my life. As someone who had little to no experience with makeup, I watched a lot of Youtube in an effort to learn the basics of makeup application and make myself feel more feminine, even without hair. At the same time I was actively perusing dental school, and had no desire to work in any other field. When my dental school applications were rejected, I was devastated and had no idea what to do next. Before reapplying to dental school, my husband encouraged me to get a job in the dental field, to make sure it was a space I would be happy in. I did, and also began doing makeup as a freelance artist on the side. While both positions were practical, I learned quickly that neither job appealed to me the way that creating content did. In 2017 I finally got the courage to turn on my camera. I started slow, creating the type of content that I liked to watch, which was makeup/beauty and natural hair styling videos. In 2018 my husband I purchased a home, and in early 2019 I became pregnant with our first daughter. Everything change drastically in my journey as a creative. I had relatively easy pregnancy, but still the normal bouts with morning sickness and fatigue. I was so hyper focused on preparing for our baby, and getting as much rest as possible. I still continued uploading to Youtube periodically adding pregnancy content to the menu. Once my daughter was born, it only made sense to share my journey as a new mom, being that I spent 99.9% of my time taking care of her. I have to say adding motherhood videos to my channel was definitely a pivotal point. It’s what made being a creative rewarding, with or without any monetary gain. Having a chronology of footage of my life with my children, that can one day shared with them, is priceless.

I think what sets my content apart from others is the pockets of missing information that I try to fill. I will use my breast pump review as an example. I had 2 very different breastfeeding journey’s with my two daughters. By the end of it all I had accumulated 4 breast pumps. As my second breastfeeding journey came to and end, I filmed a review targeting new moms. In that video I tried to provide all of the information that I searched high and low for on Youtube and could not find. I was very candid about the imperfections of motherhood, and assured my audience that it is ok to not have freezer spilling over with breast milk. When I saw how well that video performed and how much other moms appreciated my vulnerability, I started to see a shift in my approach as a creator. It will always be my goal to fill those voids in every category and be relatable to my audience no matter where this journey takes me.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My entire journey from the start up to this point illustrates my resilience. When I described what an “influencer” or “content creator” is to other people, I find myself telling them that “endurance is the name of the game.” While some begin uploading content and instantly take off, it is more common for it to take several years before you see a dime for your work. The enjoyment of the process and being able to visualize the growth along the way is what keeps me going. I pogonion holed myself for a very long time, and never saw myself as a creative. I put a significant amount of time into my creative work, treating every piece as one I will be turning in to a brand. I pay attention to every detail and I’m very proud of everything I create.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn caring about what others think about me. It’s what I feel held me back from starting in the beginning. I went through a period of isolation in the beginning of my journey as a creator, which, I can now see, was vital for me at the time. Even though I did not have many strong opinionated people around me, I still had a small concern about what others would think about me being a Youtuber. I didn’t want people to think I was trying to be famous. I even considered starting a new Instagram page to promote my Youtube channel rather than my personal Instagram page. I don’t know why I was ashamed to start something new, but I was. Reluctantly, I did use my original Instagram page to promote my channel, as well as provide abbreviated versions of my content. I am now 5 years into my journey and could not be happier with the decisions I have made. I have had the occasional naysayer attempt to discourage me, usually with a backhanded compliment or masking discouragement as curiosity, but my supporters outweigh them by a ton. When I reflect on how critical I was of myself, because the potential of others not approving, I’m glad that I have learned to care less about what others think and more about what makes me happy.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_lauren_whitney/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lauren_Whitney

Image Credits
Roberto C Vergara ( Instagram: @robcvergara) Charmaine Edwards Photography (Instagram: @charmaineedwardsphotography)