Join host Sadaf Beynon on "Push to Be More" as she welcomes Lauren Bayne, a creative director with a flair for personal branding. Discover Lauren's journey from advertising for Fortune 500 companies to helping leaders craft unique brand identities. Sponsored by Podjunction, this episode explores the transformative power of podcasting for businesses.

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Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

2:30 Introduction of Lauren Bain

6:58 Discovering Advertising

11:33 Pivot to Purpose-Driven Work

16:08 Entrepreneurial Ventures

20:44 Personal Development and Branding

26:28 Challenges and Overcoming Them

32:25 Impact of Dementia on Family

37:46 Family Dynamics and Growth

41:08 Recharging and Self-Care

46:05 Future Growth and Goals

51:28 Conclusion and Contact Information

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Key Takeaways:

1. Embrace Personal Growth and Self-Awareness: Lauren highlights the importance of introspection and self-awareness as tools for personal development. She acknowledges that while being introspective can sometimes lead to overthinking, it ultimately helps in understanding oneself better and navigating life's challenges.

2. Pursue Purpose-Driven Work: Lauren's career journey underscores the significance of aligning professional pursuits with personal values and purpose. She shares her transition from working with large brands to focusing on personal branding for individuals, driven by a desire to work with purpose-based brands.

3. Invest in Yourself and Your Well-being: Lauren discusses the importance of investing in personal and professional development. She mentions her involvement in mastermind groups and workshops as a means to recharge and grow. Additionally, she emphasises the value of taking time for oneself, whether through exercise or other activities, to maintain balance and well-being.

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If this episode of Push to be More piqued your interest make sure to keep up to date with everything we do here on the Push to be More Podcast.

Hey there and welcome back to Push to Be More.

I'm your host, Sadaf Beynon, and today we've got

another great conversation about what it takes to

make life work. Now for the regulars to the show,

you will have no doubt noticed that I am not Matt

Edmundson. Don't worry, Matt hasn't gone

anywhere. He's still here and very much part of

the essence of Push to Be More podcast. You will

be seeing more of me though, as I'm going to be

hosting the show alongside him. So a big hello

from me. Joining me today is our very special

guest, Lauren Bayne, and I'm really looking

forward to hearing about her unique life

experiences, the hurdles that she has had to push

through, and the ways that she recharges her

spirit, and what steps she's taking to be more.

In other words, push to be more. This episode is

brought to you by Podjunction where we're all

about helping businesses share their stories and

build real connections through the power of

podcasting. Being part of the team at

Podjunction, Podjunction firsthand how podcasting

can be a game changer for reaching people and

making a real impact through meaningful

conversations. Now, I know a lot of you listening

are leaders and entrepreneurs. And if you're

curious about what podcasting can do for your

business, or if you're wondering where to even

start, head over to podjunction.com we'd love to

help make the process clear and approachable for

you. Podcasting offers a unique way to expand

your reach and connect with your audience in ways

that you may not have considered. And honestly,

it's way easier than you might think. So head

over to Pod Junction Podjunction what podcasting

can do for you. And now meet Lauren Bain. Lauren

Bayne the creative Director for Personal Brands

and the Go to expert for helping leaders craft

personal brands with personality. With a

background in advertising for Fortune 500 brands

like AT&T and Southwest Airlines, Lauren brings

bold creativity and flair to entrepreneurs,

authors and coaches, creating distinctive

marketing assets that help her clients stand out.

She's a Texas native and a proud UT Austin grad.

Lauren's knack for big ideas and authentic

expression fuels her work and her life off script

as a wife, mother and caregiver. Lauren, welcome

to the show. How are you today?

Oh, that was so beautiful. Thank you so much. I'm

great. Thank you for having me.

It's our pleasure to have you, Lauren. As you

know, I am part of Podjunction, which is also the

sponsor of this show. So the first question I

want to ask is if you had your own podcast and

could invite anybody to be your guest, who would

you have on and why?

Oh, well, I want to have my own podcast in the

new year. So this will be good. I'll manifest it

honestly. It'll probably be my very first boss at

the very first advertising agency I went to. And

his name is Roy Spence and he's phenomenal. And I

have so many questions I want to ask him. And I

mean, I could talk for him, talk to him for days,

but I also wanted to kind of tell him like, where

I've gone from starting because he feels like the

father of me, my, like where I grew up. And so

Roy Spence would be who I would love to have on

my podcast.

So tell us a bit more about him. Why, like, what

has he taught you? What was it, what is it that

about him that you want to, you know, pick his

brains about?

Yeah, so I went to school, as you mentioned, the

University of Texas at Austin, Hookham. And I

came there wanting to do broadcast journalism. I

thought that was going to be my major. I liked

the idea of knowing about news, reporting the

news. I thought being the on camera girl would be

fun. And the irony of that is when you go to

major and a communications major, the

communications college wants you to also take

something outside of your major. But in the

communications college, so I was an intro to

journalism and also intro to advertising, but I

just took it as like a box check. And I just

didn't really even know what advertising was. I

didn't even think about it. It never really

occurred to me who makes the billboards and the

commercials and the print ads and the radio

spots. So being in those simultaneously was

fascinating because the stories I was needing to

write for the news and the news was really

shaping and shifting at that of life from like

more reporting to kind of this editorial space.

And that wasn't really like resonating for me.

And Intro to advertising was me selling things

creatively, like the unique harmony and

intersection between creativity and commerce. And

it just came naturally to me. You know, I was

somebody that growing up would come up with the

ideas in the neighborhood to have plays in the

cul de sac. And I would write the scripts and I

would cast it and then we would have everybody

come out and I would charge the parents to sit in

their own chairs. And. And so when you, when you

get to. I'm 49 years old and I feel like I'm

pivoting now. And I wear that age proudly because

I definitely also want to stand out for Women

that are thinking that maybe they can't pivot or

start over or do something new in this stage of

life. So this time that I've just spent this last

year was a lot of reflection and looking back on

the 25 year career history, which takes you all

the way Back to like 0 through 18 until you go to

college. And so when I saw the thread between

creativity and entrepreneurialism, you know, down

to like, what are their concessions going to be?

What, who's going to make the tickets, but also,

are the tickets going to be fun and cute? You

know, like, there was always this juxtaposition

between creativity and entrepreneurialism. And

then creativity also would thread through to like

the ice skating competitions I was in. I wanted

desperately to be able to like land an axel in my

pretty costume and win an award for that. But

what I knew I could really stand out in and be

distinctive in was in the spotlight category

where you got to do anything you wanted. And so I

dressed up as Pee Wee Herman. That was really

popular at the time, the Pee Wee Herman show. And

I did like the Tequila Dance on Ice. And so I

would win for that performance. So again,

reflecting on kind of those things at an early

age, that can kind of inform maybe where you go

and where your passions are, those were always

there. So when I landed in this class and the

professor, you know, like, there's that one

teacher or professor in your life that tells you

you're doing really well at something, or they're

like, this is good, you're good at this. It kind

of you believe it and it doesn't feel like salesy

or anything. That's what he said. He's like, this

comes really naturally to you. And he's like, you

see the way of selling things creatively and you

give it a verbal and visual identity that you

should really think about. And this could be a

major for you. And then I just started learning

all about the industry and the business. And he

taught me about. This professor taught me about

the account service side and what traffic does

and what like media does and then the creative

side. And so I didn't know quite yet that I was

in this creative world. But at the University of

Texas, they have what's called Texas Creative.

And that's basically a creative sequence of

classes that you have to apply to get into.

Okay.

And then that's where they teach you the two

roles within the creative department. Well,

really there's three, but for its design, art

direction and copywriting. And so the copywriter

and the art Director are typically the partners

at an agency that kind of conceptualize and come

up with the ideas for the ad campaigns. And then

designers work in that as well. But sometimes the

art directors can do both. Sometimes there's even

writers like me that think really visually, but

you kind of have to pick a lane. And so

copywriting was the one for me. I wasn't as

skilled on some of the graphic design platforms,

but I could definitely creative direct ideas that

were visual. And I just loved. I didn't really

realize that how much I loved the art of

branding. And I see branding as an art form. And

I see the reason why certain ad campaigns to me

would convert with customers was yes, some of the

marketing language and some of the sales funnels.

But really it's like you, we're interrupting

people's lives and so let's reward them with the

work, the creative to make people want to stop

and watch that spot. And so some of that was

executionally through a commercial or a radio

spot. But it was also the brand like just people

saying oh I love that brand. That's so cool. And

like this and like things about it like the just

do it for Nike and the Nike Swoosh and like

things like that. Like what we've been able to do

with just brand always, always was something I

was passionate about. And then going back again

talking about entrepreneurialism. My first agency

I was hired at was where I was interning at ut.

And so Roy Spence was the S in GSD and M. And

that's where I got my start. And it was the

biggest agency in Texas and especially Austin.

And they're known for Southwest Airlines and

Don't mess with Texas, which is high litter

campaign. And that became a slogan that the

agency was known for. And I got started there,

you know, as a sophomore in college and then I

was hired on after. And so the, the reason Roy

was so impactful for me was because he was also

trailblazing alongside Rick Warren who wrote

Purpose Driven Life. He was starting to really

trailblaze purpose based branding. And he really

is one of to me the founders of even that

verbiage to give brand to higher meaning than

just sales. You know, and there are some

companies that are just exist to put oil in a

vehicle and get the trucks to their destination

and there just spins oil. There might not be a

bigger purpose to them, but for somebody like

Rory and what he taught me and why he's so

impactful for me is when Herb Kelleher said I

want to start a discount airline business and

the. One of the reasons he wanted to do that is

because it broke his heart that airline travel

was so expensive back in the 70s. And so to get

around and it was a big deal to buy an airline

ticket to go visit your loved ones. And he's

like, what if there was a better way where we

could get people around the country that was more

affordable? Like, maybe I could create an airline

that had cheaper tickets and a different way we

did things and had a personality and a feel. And

that personality and feel was Roy. So when Roy

teams up with Herb Kelleher to launch an airline

that had a personality and had a creative

expression to it, but it also had purpose, then

his creative mind was like, you're not in. In the

air, cheap ticket airline business. You're in the

freedom business. You give people freedom to move

about the country, which translates into the

tagline thing, you're now free to move about the

country. So that all made so much sense. And it

was so clear to me. He's actually written a book.

It's not what you sell, it's what you stand for.

He and this really awesome friend of mine, Haley

Rushing. So the two of them, they wrote this book

that was just so impactful for me from such an

early age. And so what ended up being kind of a

pivot point for me is I was working on these big

brands and I loved it. And I think, you know, you

might be able to tell already, like, I have a lot

of energy and drive and ambition. I want to make

things happen. And so I hadn't. You can't really

teach in school. And I hadn't, I guess, really

noticed it as an intern. The layers within, just

like corporate business too. And so it's a big

agency and hundreds of people in it. And so I was

wanting to, like, wear a bunch of hats and I

wanted to go present all my work. And I was just

the junior out of school, and so I felt somewhat

stifled in a corporate agency model. And so I was

like, at this point, I'm about 26 years old, and

I was reading a book called Quarter Life Crisis.

Ridiculous, if that's even a thing. But I guess

it was. That's when personal development started

for me, right around that age. And I'm reading

books like that. I still felt this huge draw

towards entrepreneurialism. Entrepreneurialism.

But I didn't know how it was going to manifest.

And then this desire to work on brands that had

purpose. So I'm. This is all happening. And then

911 happened. And when 911 happened. I didn't

have any family or friends that were impacted. I

didn't live in New York. But I was consumed with

the magnitude of the event. And it was. And maybe

it was the age I was had all of it just kind of

coming together. It was the first time I really

thought about myself through the lens of being

vulnerable. And so the vulnerability of this, the

world at that time made me. And then the way kind

of the messaging was changing about purpose,

about life, about all of it. It just became real

kind of woo woo for me about like, why we were

here and what we were doing with our time here.

So I went into work and we were all in shock and

like, what is happening? And trying to figure

out, like, what are we supposed. Are we supposed

to do anything? We're in Texas, we're not

impacted, but our nation is. Our lives are like,

this is such a bigger, more humanity driven

crisis. Um, and so we talked about it for a

little bit and then my creative director said,

all right, so those Chili's Baby back rib table

tents, we're gonna do like a $2 off value

message. So if you could get me five headlines by

the end of the day, you know, like, they're going

from 1399 to 1199 and that'd be great. And he

walked out. And again, the mindset I was in, I

was like, oh my goodness, I'm just selling ribs

for a living. Like, it didn't occur to me because

of what you're taught in school, like the craft

and it's like an art form. And there's such a.

It's art and science together and being able up

with a creative solution that's also really clear

that also has a consumer connection to it that

also differentiates the brand. Like, there's so

many elements to creating this work. It never

occurred to me that the end result is to convert

a sale ultimately, but it's attached to a brand.

And so I was always more attached to the work. I

never thought about, like, who it's attached to

as the business. And I was like, I'm just selling

ribs and I don't want to just do that. And, you

know, I didn't know if the strategy department

had come down and been like, no, no, no. Now more

than ever, we need to gather around as family and

friends and have meals together and you can do it

for $2 off with some ribs. Maybe, maybe I would

have like spun it differently, but I was like,

no, I want to work on brands with purpose that

were founded or had A ethos, a brand ethos that

was stood for more than just a sales transaction,

you know, so asked to be put on Race for the Cure

in United Healthcare and just really purpose

based brands. And then at the same time

Entrepreneur magazine had started coming to the

agency and I was reading and I was like, oh, this

is what an entrepreneur is. Oh, this is so cool.

My dad, I'm an only child, but my dad had a snap

on tools franchise business. I don't know if

you're familiar with that, but it's basically

like you pay for these huge trucks that have all

these tools on them and then you're given a

territory to sell tools to mechanics. And he

loved it. And he was like a sales guy. I don't

even know if he knew how to use half those tools,

but it was always a funny joke in our family. But

he loved it. And he was an independent kind of

franchisee owner. But I was never taught about

that. Like I didn't really understand what he

even did. But you know, osmosis. I saw that he

did his own thing. He didn't have a corporate

job. My mom was like this really well respected

secretary for like very wealthy businessmen in

Houston. She worked at the Astrodome in Houston,

Texas. But she only wanted to be a mom. Like

that's all she ever wanted to be. So when she had

the opportunity to work from home, I saw a woman

in the 80s working from home. We had like this

huge Xerox copy machine in our garage which was

so cool. And so even that was like did not really

talk to me. And she was doing it kind of out of

necessity. But I was also like, okay, here's a

woman who is balancing motherhood with working

until she didn't have to anymore. So those were

just kind of always seeding subliminally probably

from when I set forth to be like, okay, I think

the culmination of I've been here, I've checked

some creative boxes. There's really no other

agencies in Austin that I want to go to right

now. I don't know if even advertising agencies

where I want to go next. I really want to start a

business. And I saw this need for kids after

school who didn't really have anything to do from

three to six that I wanted to get them outside

and playing and exploring the outdoors. So I took

this big departure and this big leap from

corporate world to start Austin Outdoor Kids A

ok. And it was beautiful brand, it was really

cool. But I didn't know anything about running a

business really. And I kids out and we hiked and

biked and canoe and it on paper it's still now

years later, I reflect back on it. I'm like, oh,

that really could have been a business where all

these vans are picking kids up after school while

their parents were working. Because that three to

six window, like what are you supposed to do if

you have both parents working after school?

Enrichment became more of an industry and I think

people started picking up on that opportunity and

some more programs were available. But at the

time it was a really good idea. But like so the

next kind of 25 years after that was me either

like starting a business and then going back to

an agency. And I would use a lot of these. I used

to beat myself up about it. I used to be like,

are you just not sticking with something? Are you

just kind of always moving around and going a

different direction? But I also trust in divine

timing. And so I'm just like, I'm at the mercy of

like what I'm being presented. And now again in

reflection, it feels like it was totally divinely

planned that I had all these touch points because

now it informs me from any person I talk to

because I've worked for a corporate, I've gone

the agency model. I've been an executive

recruiter to like feels to do the job, to just

make some money for a little while. When I was a

mom, I've worked directly with founders, I've

been an in house chief brand officer. Then I'll

have them be a retainer client. I've had my own

agency called Offspring. Offspring was after I

became a mom, so that was a big record screech in

my life. I was on my way and I was doing all this

stuff professionally and then got married. We

procreated quickly and so I was thrown into this

world really fast after becoming married that we,

that I hadn't thought about like, okay,

motherhood's here all of a sudden. I didn't plan

it. And I was like, okay, now what do I do? And

my experience was my mom who's like, all I wanted

to do is be a mom, you know, and that was so much

of her identity. But I didn't know if it was

gonna be mine. I didn't know if that's all I

wanted it to be. But I knew that they were gonna

always be the priority. So my oldest son is now a

sophomore in college. And this all come full

circle because what I did during that time was

50% entrepreneur, 100% mom is what I would say

those Numbers. I know those percentages don't add

up, but that's what it felt like. Like I still

had my businesses and I would still go back to an

agency part time or I would work full time here

or there, you know, So I never really had

something solid because I really always wanted to

be there for the boys, you know, so that's also

what led me to. Let's see. We talked about. Yeah.

So Offspring. Offspring was an agency I started

and it was me. And then we would put together

project teams to work on different brands. But

that was my desire to marry my world of

motherhood with brands who target families. And

so I worked. I did a Mother's Day Father's Day

campaign for Deep Eddie Vodka. I worked on Smarty

Pants vitamins. There's this beautiful new

organics, like clothing line for kids. And so,

you know, it's family focused brands that I did

the work for. So that felt like a nice harmony of

identities and. Do you want me to keep. I'm just.

I feel like I'm talking your ear off. No, keep

going. And so that was all like, what I was

doing. And then when my son graduated high school

and went off to college, it was like, oh, wow.

Like there felt like there was not time, but just

felt like there was space again. And then I'll

back up a little bit. In 2021, my mom was

diagnosed with dementia and then told me, like

she handled everything. And she told me that she

needed help, she didn't know how to pay bills

anymore. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is

crazy. So I had to step in. I'm the only child

there. They didn't have a lot of, like, resources

and family in town there. They live about three

hours away. And then my dad let me know that he

had gotten a tumor, that he wasn't sure what it

was. And then by both of my parents basically

ended up with kidney cancer too at the same time.

So my mom had dementia. Then we discovered this

kidney cancer and my dad had it too. Different

kidneys. So they both had to get that removed. I

had to move him here to Austin. So 21 to 23 was

really stressful. And then when my college, my

son left for college and then my parents became

stable after those couple of years of figuring it

all out, that's when I was like, okay, I have

this space. I feel like, what do I want to do

next? And so I had retainer clients then. And I

was just. I was creating great work, but I just

felt called to something bigger. But I didn't

know what it was. And so it was the first time in

my life last fall of 2023, that I invested in me

and professional development, personal

development. I had never been in a Mastermind. I

didn't even know what community memberships were.

I didn't really. I knew what mentorships were,

but I didn't know who I would have ever hired. So

I just decided to invest in these things. And

it's just been this whole new world outside of

the advertising industry for me that's been so

transformative and one of the personal. And then

I decided to join this personal branding strategy

membership because they help basically people

turn their reputation into revenue as their

tagline. And while I was in there, I thought I'd

be forming my thought leadership and getting my

personal brand established, which I was doing.

But I was also trying to figure out what my new

business offering was. And one of the things they

talk about a lot and I take my clients through as

well, is figuring out your who. And I was so in

this mode of like entrepreneurialism, what is

this business I'm going to do? What is this

offering I'm going to have? And I didn't really

follow that guideline of like, well, who do you

want to serve? You know, like, who do you want to

make impact with? And so when you know it's just

kind of a peeling back, you're figuring this all

out when you're going through some of these

Mastermind events or workshops and this is like a

long monthly membership that you're in. I was

watching and I was studying the industry of

personal brand. And personal brand for last, I

guess, decade, as it's become more in the

vernacular, is typically known for your

reputation. So it's like the brand you've created

just naturally through what you share with people

and your reputation. There hasn't been this like

intentionality to form a brand with yourself.

It's just like, this is who I am. And then a

brand is formed from years of saturation of voice

or expertise or knowledge or whatever you're

talking about. So that's just what I thought it

was. But what I was watching was a lot of these

people that are forming their personal brands or

people out there that don't have the platform of

Mel Robbins or Gary Vee or Jay Shetty or Stephen

we've talked about before, Diary of a CEO or

Lewis Howells, like, these people have built

significant audiences and so they have a

reputation. I was working with a lot of people

that were just starting out and building their

reputation from a service offering. And so for so

long, I've been working on services and products

in the traditional brand space. And then all of a

sudden I started noticing, well, like, a personal

brand is actually a brand. Like, why would. Why.

Why wouldn't we treat them like a brand? And so

it became more of like, a thesis and a hypothesis

that I wanted to test out. And it didn't even hit

me until six months ago. And I was like, well,

what if I was a crate? Because I was trying to

figure out, who am I their creative director for?

Like, what am I doing? And so I would naturally

be around these people and kind of giving advice

on this and that. And then I was looking at their

branding assets, and I was like, that website's

just. It's good. It works. But I was like, I hear

so much more than that because I would meet these

people and meet their stories. And I was like,

oh, I can totally visually and verbally see,

like, what I did back in that intro to

advertising class. It's like I can see the

expression of you, uniquely you. And I was like,

more than any other industry, personal brand is a

personal representation of you. And so we've let

only the reputation and your kind of publicity

side of you carry all the weight of the brand.

Could I make an argument that what shoes are to

Nike and jewelry is to Tiffany and donuts is to

Dunkin your course or your keynote speech or your

podcast business is to you? And so that's. We

have product skus, you know, we actually have a

book or we have a keynote speech, just like Nike

has Air Max and Dunks, you know, So I was just

thinking, is this even, like, how we should look

at it? So I just kind of started getting it out

there and networking and talking to different

people about it. And for me, it's really hard for

me to sell. Like, I don't feel like a salesperson

unless I believe in something. And it's usually

just me sharing my passion. If you want to buy

it, great. But otherwise I was just like, let's.

Let's see if this is going to work. And so I

started pitching it to some people, and they're

like, I want that. And so basically it was what I

wanted to sell to was a launch. I love a launch,

and I love the conceptualization and the

expression. And so if you came from this brand

strategy firm, you've already figured out your

positioning, your messaging, your who and all

that. Let me creatively express it now. Let me

turn that strategy line into like a Snickers you

not, you're not you and you're hungry, you know,

and then that transforms into don't talking about

this Betty White funny commercials. But like what

is, how does that transform into unique,

distinctive brand assets? Because something else

I was noticing is like the coaches website, the

speaking coach to that speaking coach to that

life coach to that marriage counselor to that

marriage counselor to that marriage, like all of

them were like kind of blending in their fonts

and their colors changed a little bit. But as far

as them feeling like a brand, I was like, there's

so much possibility there. And so that's what I

just started doing and it's just kind of taken

off and it's just so fun for me because what I

realized too is what I've always loved is working

with dreamers and people that have purpose. And

these are all impact makers is what I call it is

people that are wanting to use their unique

expertise and help make an impact in the lives of

others. And so if I can be a part of that and

help that through my gifts of giving them a

unique brand identity and a very distinctive

custom website to get them started and known and

then they're off to the races. So that's my TED

Talk.

Thanks, Lauren. Thanks for sharing that. It's

fascinating listening to your story to see how it

all started. It's like when someone speaks into

your life and tells you that you're really good

at this, you're a natural at this. It almost

gives you permission to pursue that. And it's

actually a real gift to have someone say that to

you because not everyone gets that.

Thank you. Yeah.

And listening to you talk too, I feel like you've

faced some hard times as well. Like there's been

challenges along the way. So reflecting back,

what is a challenge that or challenges that you

faced and how did you overcome them?

Well, I think I've always been pretty

introspective. It's a blessing and a curse. It's

great to be self aware. It's great to want to

like grow every day. But if you're also then an

overthinker because of that, that can be

debilitating sometimes because everything feels

like it needs to be thought through or it's

bigger than just it just being, you know. Working

with a therapist is very helpful because they

have tips and tricks. And so my therapist will

say, you can put a period at the end of things.

And I'm like, how I want to put a period Dot. And

she's like, this is My child. Let's think of

something. My child failed his test period. She's

like, you go into, my child failed this test.

That must mean it's because I was so busy. I

didn't help him with his homework. Why doesn't he

do his homework? Is he okay at school? And like

you start, you know, catastrophizing things and

overthinking it. So I think getting to know

myself is one of the ways I've coped with these

things and like learning my reactionary methods

and the desire to not want to feel that way. I

think I've also been around a lot of

victimization type people in my life, loved ones

and friends. And I. It's a hard thing for me to

understand. So it's not something I've really. I

mean, I understand it. It's a hard thing for me

to stay in. Yeah. So I'm. That feeling of

victimization or feeling like a victim of your

circumstances is not a place I like to stay in

very long. So that's also something that's made

me try to have to figure out what tools I can use

to get through it. So I think therapy for sure.

Exercise, talking it out, reading books. I think

for me, and honest, like a real tangible tool. If

you like go to a party and then you're having a

great time and then if you're somebody that goes

home that night and is like, why did I say that?

Did I say that so loud? Did I say that too much?

Why did I do that? And you start spinning out

over it and then you like want to call that

person, but it's three in the morning, so why

would you call them? And then the next day you're

like, did I say that thing? Like, I don't even

remember that thing. During that spin out time,

if you don't have the ability to not spin out, I

have gone usually online or I'll read a book

about like, what is the craziest thing someone

said? And like celebrities are doing it all the

time and they come back from it. And so I. If I

see real world examples or if I read about people

like with my having to manage my mom with

dementia and reading about what it's like to live

with your parents whose brain is totally

deteriorating on them. I love real world

examples. So I love being in those kind of

support groups of people experiencing the same

thing because A, it makes you not feel as alone

and B, I can just kind of hash it out together.

So I usually try to quickly get out of that

isolation Space of, like, beating up on myself

and think about, like, other people feel this

way. So let's go figure out how we can do this

together.

Yeah.

And it just takes the pressure off you feeling

like the only one experiencing it.

Yeah, for sure. Talk to me a bit more about your

mom's dementia and how that affected you.

I'm in it with a bunch of other people. I still

feel very new in this space. But when your

parents start getting older and they just start

forgetting things and they're like, oh, it's just

a senior moment, you know, they just talk like

that. But I could tell she was searching for

words. So the type of dementia she has is the.

It's called frontal temporal disorder. It's like

the one Bruce Willis has. And so it's like

aphasia. So words. So that deteriorates in the

frontotemporal lobe, and so it makes

communication harder. And so when you start

aging, that happens anyway because your brain's

kind of shrinking anyway. But hers was doing it

at a rapid pace. And so in the beginning, I think

there was a little bit of, like, are you sure

this isn't something else? And I couldn't tell.

So once she was finally diagnosed, it was more

of, like, I kind of already knew this was

something. I just didn't know what it was. So it

helped give a label to it and somewhat of a

prognosis and diagnosis. But I've had the

craziest experience with it. My mom and I were

best friends, and she and I. When I became an

adult and I started carving out an identity

separate of hers, I don't think that was her

favorite thing. So we kind of. We as an. I feel

like as an adult, we'd go at it almost like

sisters would sometimes. And it wasn't my most

favorite thing. And loving. She's got so much

love. And she was such a. She's such a great

mother and she's such a great grandmother. But I

think she wasn't able to have the personal

development that maybe that's why I got so into

this stuff. And I'm really into just behavior

management, mental awareness, our triggers, our

response to it. So she wasn't able to own that as

much. So what the. What the dementia has done is

it's eliminated all the memories she was trapped

in, which would come up a lot in our little,

like, spats and stuff and stuff. With my dad,

too, she's been. She's known him since she was

16, so they've been together, like, 63 years or

something. Crazy. And it's given me like, if this

hadn't happened, I wonder how things would have

ended. And her friends tell me that I saved her

life. They're like, she was really kind of on

death's door because she was just deteriorating

so fast. And I didn't live there to see it as

much, but I think it's given us this ending or

this like this. I don't call it ending, just

transition. That is so peaceful because it's

taken away all that chatter that kind of held her

back for so long and she's just authentically her

and it's kind of cool to see. And it's

fascinating too because I'm fascinated by the

brain that. Because it's taken away some of that

cognition. She's just sweet and loving and I get

to just show up with like her soul. Does that

make sense?

Yeah, it does. Sounds like the silver lining.

Yes. So it's interesting. It's really. It's kind

of peaceful and nice and sweet and I even started

an Instagram channel with the two of us, remember

to dance because dancing is still something she's

always loved to do. So like, that's what I'll do

with you. And so it's sweet.

That's very cool. That's very cool. It's so

special to have that kind of relationship with

your parents. Of your mom.

Yeah, no, it's been great. It's been great. And

the silver lining is. Exactly. That is totally

what I try to do. Sometimes you need to just be.

But I'm usually always trying to figure out some

way to see the message or the lesson and pull

something positive out of it as much as possible.

Yeah. What about like your dad's tumor as well?

And they both, you said, had kidney cancer. How

did that impact your. Well, your relationship

with them and with your own family too? Because

that would have pulled you away to care for your

parents. And how did that affect your family with

your kids, your husband?

It was a rough two years for sure. I'm not going

to lie. And the irony of me saying that what

ended up like the restorative process of my

relationship with my mom ended up being the

opposite with my dad. Which was funny because now

I had saw a different version of him. He. It was

really hard and he's, he's really, he's gotten to

say people can't change. I will never believe

that because I'm watching a 78 year old man

change right before my eyes. Does he still have a

lot of this personality stuff? Yes. But he's

willing to make the changes he sees that are

necessary to survive and get along. And he's, you

know, I can just fully on, full on tell him, dad,

I have to put up a boundary with you. And he's

like, okay, I get it. And so I'm like, we've had

to like, have this open communication, but it was

very hard for him. He was struggling with, like a

wife that did everything. She took care of

everything, she handled everything. He just kind

of like, their situation was perfect. And so he's

now, I mean, this happened a few years ago. So

when he was 76 and 75, actually, he had to figure

out like all this stuff now, and he never had to

deal with it before. And so I did take on kind of

this wife role too. That wasn't the greatest. So

we had to work through that a little bit. And I

was like, I'm not your wife. I'm still your

daughter. And so I had to figure out resources,

and there's so many wonderful resources out there

to manage that as well so that I could get back

to just being his daughter again. Yeah. And then

we had to work on just. There's. There's a lot

of, like, you change your identity a little bit

and your roles within that family structure. So

it's just kind of. It was just learning. It was

learning and coping and dealing. But ultimately I

knew, I knew after like a big run in with each

other that I can't be trying to change them and

change people around me. I can only change, like,

my response to it all because they had to work

on. He had to work on his stuff. So I just

started doing a lot of deep work. And then that's

when I was like, I'm gonna figure out things

personally and professionally right now. And

that's what I've been doing for the last 13

months. And so a lot of this has been just me

learning my own coping tools to not feel the

reaction to the things that are happening and,

like, try to see the compassion and the empathy

for him and, like, make it so heavy. So surrender

has been my word this last year, just even

surrendering in the business. Like, I was like,

is this going to work? Am I going to make any

money? Why did I walk away from this like that?

Like, surrender, surrender.

I hear what you're saying about being

introspective and self aware, how it can be a

blessing and a curse. I hear that. And listening

to you talk about your dad too, where he's in

that place now where he's aware of what's going

on around him, and he's willing to change and

he's willing to adapt. Sounds like you guys are

similar in that way.

Yeah. Yeah, I think we are. Yeah. No, it's

interesting. It's all been very interesting, and

it's just life. Just life, all the ups and downs.

So I've been glad and I feel privileged, and I'm

so grateful for the opportunity to have this

space. And my husband, I could not do this

without him being so supportive of me, taking

some of this time to reflect and dig in

professionally and personally. So to answer your

earlier question about how it impacted my family,

my kids saw versions of me I didn't want them to

see, but then I also was like, this is kind of

part of life. This is what's going to happen, and

I'm not proud of this, and I wish I could change

this, but I've learned from it, and here's the

lesson in it. So they've been able to witness a

lot of personal growth. You know, maybe that's

why my son's majoring in psychology right now.

And. But he's actually sports psychology. So,

like, my husband and me together, and so it did

impact, and it's hard. My husband's, again, very

supportive, but he sees that, like, this

caregiving role is big. It's like almost having

another child in my life. Like, I need to check

in on it. And even when it's stable and my dad

hasn't texted me for the day or there's nothing

happening over there, it's just always kind of

there in the back of my head that, like, is

everything okay? And so that's not even the.

It's not just the practical stuff. It's also the

emotional weight that you carry with it.

Right.

As it being your parents.

Yep, yep. It's a lot of it. But going back to

what I was saying earlier, if I share that with

other people, go to support groups, read books,

and you're like, well, listen to this story and

listen to that story. I'm like, oh, I don't have

a near as bad.

Or you don't have to go far, do you?

Really helpful for me to kind of story swap with

people in the same position. Because then I just.

Yeah, I look at it differently. I'm like, we're

all in this together and it's just kind of part

of it.

Yeah. I like what you said about your kids, too.

Like you were trying to protect them. Well, you

didn't like what they saw, but at the Same time.

You're right, it is, it is reality. And actually

seeing it and seeing your growth in it and seeing

you come out on the other side is probably really

good and helpful and healthy for them too.

Yeah, I hope so.

Yeah. Lauren, you have touched on this in some

way, but how do you recharge your batteries? How

do you stay grounded?

You know, what I started recently is I've always

been a runner and I would run three miles, you

know, and then I want to get more. I want to.

Yeah, so like, let's say three miles. Well,

running three miles would take about 30 minutes.

And in my mind I'm like, oh, that's going to take

so long. It's really going to take 45 minutes

because I'm going to lace up my shoes and I'm

going to go stretch. It's going to take me

forever to find my Spotify playlist. And then,

and then what if it's not 30 minutes because I'm

not running fast that day. Can you tell I

overthink things, so then I would just not end up

doing it at all. And then when you start getting

older and you're a runner, your hip starts

hurting and then you're like, should I be running

anymore? Because I have some friends that have

had to have hip replacements already in like

their mid-50s, so, like, maybe I should walk. And

I was like, well, walking is not going to do

anything for me. So just this year I was like,

okay, I have sometimes these 20 minute breaks,

like I'm not doing anything. I stand up and I

stretch. I have a meeting coming up, like in 30

minutes. It's not enough time to do work. What if

I just go walk my little mile loop? And so it

just seems so obvious now, but I get, I like, I

get sad if I don't get these breaks. And so I

just get up, I go walk a mile. It's so easy. I

walk fast, I get nature, I get sun. It's not

daunting because I'm like, this takes me about, I

don't know, 16, 15, 16, 17 minutes depending. So

I can do something in under 20 minutes, you know,

like, that's no time to go do it. So didn't feel

as daunting as like, I'm gonna go on this run. I

gotta do all this stuff. So I've started doing

these repetitively and then I can take calls,

then I'll sometimes check emails or listen to

podcasts and. But just these little short

distortness about them. Short stints have made it

more consumable. And I'll end up walking like

five miles and like, way more than I would

normally. And I'm just like, oh, I did five loops

today. And then I take my dog. So that's like a

crazy recharge, that exercise. Really. I'd never

looked at exercise before like that as being like

a recharge in that way, I think. I've never used

to travel because I've always usually worked from

home or worked locally in Austin. And so these

mastermind groups and these workshops have had me

travel more. And that's kind of new for me. But I

found like, getting. I never really allowed

myself to leave because I felt always a

responsibility to the family. So it wasn't ever

really like a girls trip lady. I probably should

have been. Maybe I'll do that more in the second

half of life. But, but so now I'm doing this for

professional reasons. And I just, I love

entrepreneurialism and business and the space I'm

in. So going to these workshops has been really

fun and I've loved just digging in and learning

and just meeting a bunch of new people. So that

recharges me. My, my husband and I have, like,

sometimes he's morning, we call him pt instead of

like physical therapy, it's pillow talk. And so

we'll just lay there in the dark and just be

like, what do we have going on today? And we'll

just like break down deep thoughts together.

That's really recharging for me.

Good. I like what you, you, what you're saying.

It's like what you were saying earlier about

investing in yourself, and it sounds like you're

doing that not just professionally, but in all

areas of life. And that's. That's really cool.

Yeah. Thank you. And honestly, there, I mean, you

don't. You can do it for free. And Instagram's

kind of the only platform. I really consume a

little bit of LinkedIn, but I'm sure this exists

on TikTok too. But there's so many gurus and

experts and people sharing free, like, mental

tips and just motivational tips. And once you

start following the motivational speakers or the

memes that you really like and they just start

populating in your feed. I know it's not great to

consume content and scroll all the time and be

careful with it, but it's been a very impactful

in my life. And I'll see a quote and I'm like,

that's right. And then I go start reading some of

the comments and I'm like, oh, look at that.

Okay. And you get like this weird voyeuristic

community in a way that just kind of helped you

solve something. And you can even go search a

hashtag. So if it were to be like, like daughters

of dementia and then like go see some stuff,

there's just, there's so many resources out

there. I say this to my kids all the time. It's

like you got to figure out what you want, if you

want to feel better and if you want to get out

there or there's too many resources out there to

ever really make excuses that A, you're alone or

B, you can't figure something out because it's

kind of all out there. So. So yeah, the

investment can be as simple as just starting to

follow some accounts that move you.

Yeah. And also what you were saying too, about

not taking trips before and doing other things,

it's almost like you're in like certain seasons

and phases of life only allow for so much at a

time, don't they? And it sounds like you're in

that place at the moment where you have the time

and the ability to be able to just take off and.

Yeah, yeah. And I may have always had that time,

but it just wasn't framed the same as it is now.

So again, surrendering to like, you can kind of

do it at any time. And I'm a middle aged woman, I

guess, kind of recreating herself right now and

starting over. And so I hope that gives

permission to anybody that might be listening

that you can do it too. And there's opportunities

to do it. And I'm just really excited to be able

to have the opportunity to talk to people like

you and share this whole industry of personal

branding. I'm meeting a lot of people that I'm

meeting are in a similar stage of life or they're

still young, that's like 35 to 55 years old and

have an expertise in something they've been doing

for a little while or just starting out with

knowing they want to be a coach or they want to

do something with themselves. And so I'm like, we

all kind of are walking, talking businesses. If

we have an offering or a message or something, we

want to give back to people, and so we want to

transact with people in some way. And so the

terminology of personal brand can kind of be

applied to any of us now because we are a person

with a brand. And the elements of a brand are

reputation and how you show up in the world and

messaging. And so for me and my the thing I'm

giving to people is the ability to creatively

express that because so many we, that's how we

shop, we shop websites, we shop brand. And so

some people can just meet somebody at a party and

say, hey, here's my WhatsApp. Join it this way.

Maybe they don't need the big website and all the

branding and things like that, but just if you

are somebody that wants to create a, this

movement and kind of an enterprise a little bit

for yourself, then I would argue then let's treat

it that way and let's create your very

distinctive and unique and personal and authentic

only to you custom website. I say sometimes that

I believe we're not templates. I'm like, you're

not a template. And so what templates can get you

started? They can get you started looking like

everyone else. And that might be fine for some

people, but for the people that want to make sure

that their brand really represents. Since then

I've carved out a space of being very distinctive

and using the creative philosophy I was trained

and applied to brands for the last 25 years, to

people now on their services. And it's just been

very rewarding creatively. But also it goes all

the way back to like the purpose based branding.

It's like every one of these people are impact

makers. They all want to provide some kind of

transformation. And if I get to be a part of

that, then that's so satisfying for my soul as

well. And so I'm just like, like I hope this

keeps going and I hope that I can work with

people that align with, with the philosophy I

have and that's just kind of where it goes from

there. So I see it more as like an investment as

well and them and their brand and not necessarily

expense and it's just your calling card and it's

the one of the first impressions that you can

make that complements the way people know you

already through your reputation experience. But

it just also shapes the narrative a little bit

when you already have a brand identity that's

custom to you.

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Lauren, where do you as

you're looking ahead, where do you see growth

personally and even in your business?

Okay, so I do have some lofty business goals as

far as like how many people I want to impact in a

year and then just I want more than anything.

I've never been a space where I can have enough

or have been able to have like a foundation or

have something that I can give back in a way like

corporate social responsibility and those kind of

Unique partnerships that I would do for other

brands that they could give back to the Ronald

McDonald House through some creative execution of

theirs. Just, I would love to have that. I would

love to find who that partner, like that aligned

partner for me as it's on brand with me to be

able to give back to a cause I care for, care

about. So that's kind of where I see some of

this. Like, the success for me has always been

the ability to have my control of my time, you

know, and having freedom. And so it might have

sacrificed some dollars in the bank, but like I

deposited into my memory bank. And that's

important to me. And so now I'm kind of looking

more at the monetary, like part of this business

and like how we could grow that. And so. So I

don't see me right now ever being like an agency

model. I really like this independent contractor

model and I like this remote model. I mean, some

of my designers work in New York and LA and

Chicago, and I'm in Texas and I meet with people

like you overseas and then I'm just like, Covid

was horrible. But it also kind of gave us

validated the ability for us to actually conduct

business virtually this way and remotely. And,

you know, I only have one client that's in

Austin. Everyone else is all over the country. So

I don't see the need to have like a brick and

mortar type agency. And I think next as far as

growth would be is just being able to impact more

brands and share more people's stories. Like, I

just, I love that more than anything. Be like, do

you know about this guy? Do you know what he's

doing? He's doing this and this and this and

she's doing this and this and this, and it's

amazing and it's great. So I'll probably next

would probably do a podcast as a way just to have

more impact, to share these stories of these

people. And, you know, I. I believe what I'm

doing now is I'm really trying to help experts

become icons. That's my brand promise. And so I

could see the expert to Icon Diaries Secrets of

Personal Brand Unicorns being my podcast. And

we'll just talk about that. So I see that being

some of the growth. And right now it's just kind

of of validating this idea and just keep on going

and working with really great people. I'm

developing an ecosystem of really strategic

partners because there's so many elements of once

you create the brand, then there's marketing and

sales and funnels and Emails and all the whole

stuff. But those are maybe more strategic

partners that align with brand enough to know

like don't keep this consistent. Don't go create

a whole new identity for them and social media.

So. So yeah, that's where I see it growing as of

now.

That's cool. So your podcast is going to be a

part of that?

Yes, yes, that's a plan. I also don't want to get

distracted and I see a lot of us in this space,

myself included. They're like, we should do a

podcast or maybe we should do a speech over here

or maybe we could do this or that. I want to do a

course now. So I need to stick with what I want

to be known for, which is helping experts turn

into icons through distinctive branding, you

know, and be known, get that going and have a lot

of those examples and feel like I've created a

lot of amazing work for people and made them

really happy. Yeah. Them feel like they have

value with their brand and then see where it goes

from there.

Yeah. There's lots of shiny things out there,

aren't there?

And being.

Staying focused and being grounded and is a good

way to go.

Yeah, it's hard and I know I'll be into the

graduation of my second son and then we'll see

what happens there. So I know life will impact

some of this growth as well.

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Lauren.

I'm conscious of time and I want to be respectful

of it. So how do people reach you?

My name. Everyone should have their URL or some

version of it. No. Lauren Bayne. B as in boy A Y

N E L A U R E N laurenbane.com you can go there.

You can kind of see my background. I'm starting

to update that website because when I first got

started I didn't have any personal brand

portfolio pieces to show. So what's up there is a

lot of my traditional work from the past and

then. But I can show you my thinking. You'll get

a feel you'll know from my site. And I think that

my brand is also representative of the kind of

work I do. But I do have about four brands up

there right now that you can take a little sneak

peek at. And all my Instagram, it's Eynbane and

yeah. And then you can. I also do free what I

call dream catcher calls and it's a 30 minute

call with me to kind of catch your dreams. Just

like a little dream catcher you'd hang in your

window. I think that that like the Native

American legend for that is more. It filters out

negative stuff that comes in. But I'm going to

say it also catches dreams by filtering it out.

So that is what I do. Kind filter out anything

that you don't want to do. We talk about what you

do want to do. And that's a great space to start

to kind of figure out, like where to map out how

you want to come to life with your personal

brand. So you can book that on my website as well.

Excellent. Yeah, being on your, on your website,

it's, it's fun. So I highly recommend that people

go check that out and we will link to your info

in the show notes so our listeners can have

access to that. And the website for that is

pushtobemore.com so that's where our listeners

can go to find that.

That's awesome.

Thank you, Lauren, for your time. Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Well, that's a wrap on another great

conversation. A massive thanks to Lauren for

joining us and sharing part of her inspiring

journey. For a transcript or show notes or do

swing by our website pushtobemore.com and a big

thanks today to our sponsor, Podjunction. For all

you changemakers out there contemplating a

podcast as your new vehicle of expression and

connection, definitely connect with

us@podjunction.com and don't forget to follow the

show wherever you get your podcasts because we've

got more compelling conversations coming up and

we don't want you to miss, miss any of them. So

from Lauren and from me, thanks for joining in.

Have an awesome week and I'll catch you next

time. Bye for now.