We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Hodgen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.
Lauren, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later
Wholesome Agency, a creative agency for the food & beverage world, officially came to be in early 2023 but was going on in the background since 2021. I was still working at my previous full-time job until early 2023 and didn’t feel comfortable taking the leap into full time entrepreneurship yet. Looking back on it, I wish I had done a lot more while I was still receiving a full-time salary from my previous employer. It would have limited a good portion of the initial stress and I would have had more time to flush ideas out.
I never thought I would own my own agency before I was 30. It was always a pipe dream but one I didn’t think I’d have the resources to start for awhile. I am really blessed to be in this position at 24.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am the Creative Director and Founder of Wholesome Agency. A design agency providing branding, website design, and social media design + strategy for the food and beverage industry. We make brands look as good as they taste.
I graduated from FIT with a BS in Advertising & Marketing Communications with a double minor in Economics & Psychology. Straight out of college I got a job as Director of Operations at a design agency in Columbus, OH. I did work in both client management and talent partnerships while there. I started doing freelance talent management which led me to start Wholesome. Early this year I pivoted away from talent management and focused solely on design.
It has been so fun to design for these brands that are truly making a difference in how people feed themselves and look at food.
On the side, as a passion project, I’ve been running a food and wellness blog with an accompanying podcast.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I am the Creative Director and Founder of Wholesome Agency. A design agency providing branding, website design, and social media design + strategy for the food and beverage industry. We make brands look as good as they taste.
I graduated from FIT with a BS in Advertising & Marketing Communications with a double minor in Economics & Psychology. Straight out of college I got a job as Director of Operations at a design agency in Columbus, OH. I did work in both client management and talent partnerships while there. I started doing freelance talent management which led me to start Wholesome. Earlier this year I pivoted away from talent management and focused solely on design. I brought together my passion for food + bev with design and I have looked back.
It has been so fun to design for these brands that are truly making a difference in how people feed themselves and look at food.
On the side as a passion project I’ve been running a food and wellness blog with an accompanying podcast.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
In the beginning phases of Wholesome I did a combination of talent management and design services. The original idea was to do personal branding for online personalities who were looking to solidify their brand. I quickly realized that I was stretching myself too thin and as one person, that was too wide of a service reach. Once I pared back my offerings to just design, everything began to align.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wholesomeagency.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wholesomeagency/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenhodgen/
Image Credits
Wes McClellan