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

Alright, Lauren thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I have most definitely not always made a full-time income from being a performer. I actually used to work full time as an exotic animal trainer and educator on the East Coast–which was a “dream job”– while just doing random dance gigs on the side whenever I could. But I always felt kind of a void during the parts of the year I wasn’t performing. Then about 10 years ago I decided to take a big risk, without really having any sort of solid plan, and leave my job to move to Los Angeles. I got a job working childcare at a gym while I was training with a dance and aerial company. My time with that company really ignited my passion for circus arts and kind of pushed me towards making that my primary focus. I still continued to work in the gym daycare as I tried to figure out how I was going to turn aerial and performing into my main source of income. I started teaching aerial classes at a studio part time but was not making nearly enough money to pay my bills. Eventually that studio shutdown, with basically no warning at all, and I was back to only working childcare at the gym. I was growing more and more frustrated with constantly feeling financially strapped and also incredibly frustrated with my job. I decided to take another leap and quit that job, again without having any sort of super solid plan of how I was going to make a living.

Almost immediately after that, a great aerial teaching opportunity came my way- one that actually paid fair rates. Shortly after that another came along, and then another. That giant shift in my life completely changed my mental health and has led me to so many incredible opportunities to perform and share my craft. And now I get to teach aerial classes 5 days a week all over Los Angeles as my “day job” while getting to perform in shows and events regularly. I get to work with really great companies like Cherry Poppins doing silly musical parody burlesque shows and Aerialogists as an aerial bartender, pouring drinks upside down for high-end private events. Outside of those companies, I have had incredible experiences working with amazing people, including getting to train Tanoai Reed (one of The Rock’s stunt doubles) to do silks for a ZOA Energy commercial.

Getting to live this lifestyle has also left me with space to simultaneously pursue other passions. The biggest one of those currently is co-founding a nonprofit animal rescue, Weird Rescue, with one of my best friends. Getting to only pour my time into the things I love is honestly a dream come true.

I think ultimately the thing that I was missing earlier on was just trusting myself and my abilities to figure things out and rise to challenges. I had massive imposter syndrome for a long time and that sort of doubt can be completely crippling to a career in any sort of performing arts. Trusting yourself to leave something that is no longer serving you can be really scary but once you take that leap a whole world of opportunities start to present themselves.

Lauren, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Since I was younger I have always been pursuing multiple career paths at the same time so I will try to break them down in separate chucks to organize my own thoughts.

* I have been performing for as long as I could remember. Starting with forcing my family members to sit and watch dances I made up in my living room, to becoming a competitive dancer, going to a performing arts high school and then getting a degree in dance with a concentration in choreography. I am honestly more of a reserved/shy person when it comes to social settings but I have always found communicating through movement to be the best outlet for me. Still to this day, live performance really feeds my soul. I try to jump on any opportunity to get in front of an audience whether it be dancing, flying through the air on aerial apparatuses, or eating fire. I love getting to share moments with with audience members or event patrons.

Within this part of my life I offer a few different options. The main ones are adding dance, burlesque, aerial, or fire-eating acts to shows/events/parties. The other really fun one is leveling up your events by having aerial bartenders pouring drinks from above- through the company Aerialogists.

*Aerial really came into my life in a big way about 10 years ago when I was in a dance and aerial company in Los Angeles. Once I started I was pretty much hooked. And I have always had a passion for teaching others so moving into teaching aerial classes felt like a natural progression.

As an aerial teacher I offer classes and private lessons on multiple apparatuses (including silks, aerial hoop, hammock, etc) through these studios around Los Angeles: Elements Dance Space (Pasadena), Aeriform Arts (Hollywood), Daurden Performing Arts Conservatory (Eagle Rock), Crunch Fitness (West Hollywood).

In addition to teaching my regular classes, I have found a love for coaching people for live performances and film. I have had the pleasure of coaching Emma Hunton on silks for an off-broadway run of a show called Exorcistic, coaching Tanoai Reed on silks for a ZOA energy commercial, and countless other performers around LA for live music and theater shows.

*The last big chunk of my professional life right now is working with animals. I have LOVED animals for as long as I can remember and I really wanted to make a positive impact in the world of animals and conservation. I received a BA in biology along side of my degree in dance and spent years interning and volunteering at various zoos, aquariums, shelters, etc before getting a job as an exotic animal trainer/educator a few years out of college. When I moved from the East to West Coast to refocus my life on performing, I knew I would circle back to working with animals sooner rather than later.

This year I got to make my dream a reality by starting a non-profit animal rescue called Weird Rescue with one of my best friends in world, Bri Xandrick (along with many other amazing friends who have been helping extensively behind the scenes). We are new but we have already started rescuing cats and dogs in Los Angeles. We are working to change the rescue landscape for the better by focusing on behavioral management and educating the public. In addition we are putting a large focus on marketing and branding to help get as many eyes on animals who need homes as possible.

We are working towards creating a large-scale facility to be able to really increase our impact, but in the meantime we have opportunities for people to join our community of weirdos by volunteering, fostering, and adopting. Or you can just follow along (@WeirdRescue on social media) as we continue to grow our rescue!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Back on October 18, 2021 I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. All at once, my entire world came crashing down. I was only in my early 30’s and was suddenly face to face with one of the scariest pieces of news you can receive in your lifetime. My entire career and lively hood was built around my physicality and now it felt like my body had betrayed me. This all lead me to many surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation, more surgeries, tons of physical therapy, PETscans, brain scans, and ongoing infusions that I am still getting every 3 weeks to this day. I almost lost my aerial career multiple times during this treatment period- I felt weak and like my body was no longer my own for a couple of years there.

Thanks to an incredible team of doctors, nurses and physical therapists, I am EXTREMELY fortunate to be cancer-free today and to be back to doing the things I love without any major limitations.

Going through an experience like that completely changed my entire outlook on life. Calling all of that unpleasant is a huge understatement but there have been some really great lessons in all of it. Learning just how large my chosen family is was invaluable. The biggest lesson for me, however, has been not to let the fear of failing stop me from pursuing anything I want in life. As cliche as it is, life truly is WAY too short to not spend your time doing the things that you love with the people you love!

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

The number 1 book I can recommend for any form of artist is “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. I have gone back and read this book over and over again during various points of my career. I feel like there are always some gems to pull from it, no matter where I am at in life. It has really helped me work through some serious creative blocks!

In addition to that book I highly recommend Jen Sincero’s “You are a Badass at Making Money” for anyone who is having trouble asking for enough money for their services or is just trying to earn a living through that gig-life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://weirdrescue.org
• Instagram: LaurenNAvon
• Youtube: LaurenAvon88
• Other: Animal Rescue socials are @WeirdRescue on IG and Facebook!

Image Credits

Madi Theil (main photo)

others are: Becca Battoe, Ben Truong, Daniel Sliwa