Latest / The Breakfast Club / Setback Was Actually the Set Up! (Loren keynote speech at the National Urban League's Leadership Brunch)

Transcript

Setback Was Actually the Set Up! (Loren keynote speech at the National Urban League's Leadership Brunch) · The Breakfast Club

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Speaker 1: Let's get, let's get, let's get to it, time to
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Speaker 1: do it.
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Speaker 2: I'm the homegirl that knows a little bit about everything
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Speaker 2: and everybody. You hear that exclusive? You know she don't
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Speaker 2: lie about that, right? Lauren came in hot. Hey y'all,
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Speaker 2: what's up? It's Lauren LaRosa and this is another episode
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Speaker 2: of The Latest with Lauren LaRosa. This is your daily
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Speaker 2: dig on all things pop culture, entertainment news, and all
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Speaker 2: of the conversations that shake the room, baby. Now today
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Speaker 2: we are going to get into a conversation in a
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Speaker 2: room that I was blessed and privileged to be in
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Speaker 2: as a keynote speaker. So I went and spoke at
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Speaker 2: the National Urban League's Leadership Brunch. It went down here
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Speaker 2: in New York City. The National Urban League is a
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Speaker 2: organization that not only provides platform, but also community and
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Speaker 2: tribe for professionals all across the nation. Young black professionals
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Speaker 2: who are figuring out things in the worlds of advocacy,
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Speaker 2: you know, equity and inclusion issues. And really fighting for
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Speaker 2: us in spaces. And when I say us, I mean professionals,
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Speaker 2: both young and older professionals in spaces that really, really matter.
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Speaker 2: And one of the biggest things that I learned in
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Speaker 2: that room was that there are really people out here
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Speaker 2: that are tied to our fight. And I don't mean
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Speaker 2: it in like a, you know, everybody's not loud. Everybody's
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Speaker 2: not on social media. Everybody's not on threads running down
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Speaker 2: the breakdowns. But there are real people out here that
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Speaker 2: are working with organizations that that don't honestly get the
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Speaker 2: support that they need, the platform that they need, the conversation,
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Speaker 2: the spotlight that they need, but they're continuing to do so.
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Speaker 2: And the National Urban League and the people and the
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Speaker 2: great professionals and leadership that I met this day in
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Speaker 2: this conversation, reminded me that it is very important to
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Speaker 2: always show up for people in all spaces. Because, you know,
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Speaker 2: when we were there, they were like, girl, we're just
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Speaker 2: so happy to have you here. Because a lot of
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Speaker 2: times they said, you know, it's tough for them to
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Speaker 2: book people and speakers who don't just know what the league,
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Speaker 2: National Urban League is and what they do, regardless of
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Speaker 2: the historical context behind it. how long it's been around,
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Speaker 2: the fact that it was, you know, is one of
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Speaker 2: the organizations that have made it possible for all of
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Speaker 2: us to be able to, you know, the freedom of
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Speaker 2: the speeches and a lot of things within the civil
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Speaker 2: rights movement, it's really tough for them. But I think
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Speaker 2: what it is, is that nowadays, I think the fight
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Speaker 2: to stay equal in room and in space and to
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Speaker 2: be able to build your own happens a lot more,
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Speaker 2: especially with younger people on social media than it does
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Speaker 2: in actual, like, spaces where we're really gathering community together.
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Speaker 2: And that's why this organization is so amazing. And again,
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Speaker 2: they have chapters all throughout the nation. So you can
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Speaker 2: look up the National Urban League, find out where they
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Speaker 2: are in your city and get involved because it was dope.
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Speaker 2: They brought me in to talk about the freedom of speech.
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Speaker 2: And of course, I instantly went into the responsibility factor
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Speaker 2: of it all because I talked to you guys a
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Speaker 2: lot here behind the scenes of the grind of me
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Speaker 2: figuring that out. So let's get on into the conversation
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Speaker 2: right now.
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Speaker 1: Next, I'd like to introduce today's speaker. Lauren LaRosa is
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Speaker 1: a storyteller who's built a career across broadcast media, television, fashion,
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Speaker 1: and digital content as a senior level reporter and producer,
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Speaker 1: possessing the ability to capture audiences through her hot takes
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Speaker 1: in front of the camera and keen eye for production
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Speaker 1: behind it. Currently, Lauren serves as senior news producer and
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Speaker 1: on-air personality for the I Heart Hall of Fame radio show.
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Speaker 1: The Breakfast Club on Power 105.1 in New York City,
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Speaker 1: reaching over nine million listeners. Before joining The Breakfast Club,
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Speaker 1: Lauren completed an eight year stint as a nationally syndicated
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Speaker 1: senior news reporter, producer in LA with TMZ on Fox,
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Speaker 1: dominating one of the world's most captivating newsrooms. During this time,
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Speaker 1: Lauren worked diligently to build her voice and storytelling ability,
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Speaker 1: sharpening her voice across the pop culture news and content
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Speaker 1: spectrum making her ability to produce and report with it unmatched.
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Speaker 1: She's also the host of a daily pop culture broadcast,
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Speaker 1: the latest with Lauren La Rosa, being distributed by iHeartMedia
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Speaker 1: and Charlemagne Tha God Black Effect Network. Whether it be
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Speaker 1: breaking and exclusive news or celebrity interviews, Lauren has found
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Speaker 1: her niche in transparent conversations. A graduate of Delaware State University,
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Speaker 1: where she earned one time for DSU, Okay. A graduate
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Speaker 1: of Delaware State University where she earned her bachelor's of
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Speaker 1: science degree in marketing, Lauren combines journalistic credibility with a
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Speaker 1: deep understanding of audience engagement and brand storytelling. You all
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Speaker 1: are in for a treat today. Come to the stage,
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Speaker 1: Lauren LaRosa.
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Speaker 2: Hey guys, how you doing? I heard y'all was out
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Speaker 2: partying last night. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's all right, y'all. It happens.
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Speaker 2: I've been there. Actually, I was there like the other day.
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Speaker 2: I'm Lauren LaRosa. I am a senior news producer at
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Speaker 2: The Breakfast Club. We are based here in New York,
5:08
Speaker 2: but it's a nationally syndicated radio show that is also,
5:12
Speaker 2: you can watch us on Netflix every single day, live
5:14
Speaker 2: from 6 to about 9, 30 a.m. The Breakfast Club
5:18
Speaker 2: is also a podcast. Those 9 million people that she
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Speaker 2: mentioned when she introduced me, That begins daily on some platforms.
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Speaker 2: It's a lot of people that are listening, that are interacting.
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Speaker 2: But before we talk about getting to that point, I
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Speaker 2: want to back it up a little bit. Where's everybody
5:35
Speaker 2: in here from? Louisiana, Charlotte, New York, Florida, St. Louis, Jersey. OK.
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Speaker 2: So for all of us, no matter where you're from
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Speaker 2: or where you work or what you do, your story
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Speaker 2: starts somewhere. When they reached out to me to speak today,
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Speaker 2: they said, we want you to talk about freedom of speech.
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Speaker 2: And the minute that I saw that in the email,
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Speaker 2: I was like, whoa, oh Lord. Because I think right now,
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Speaker 2: the conversation around freedom of speech is us actually fighting
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Speaker 2: to have the freedom to do it. But also, as
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Speaker 2: we're doing it in all of our different professional realms
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Speaker 2: and career fields, I also think that it's about us
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Speaker 2: understanding the responsibility of the platforms. And I asked where
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Speaker 2: you guys were from, because I think a lot of
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Speaker 2: the responsibility comes way before you even understand what it's
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Speaker 2: like to crack a microphone, to get on a stage,
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Speaker 2: to interact with customers or whatever it is that you
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Speaker 2: do on your day to day in your professional fights.
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Speaker 2: So for me, grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, Delaware here.
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Speaker 2: it's three of us. Okay. I go places. It'd be
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Speaker 2: like me and like a 0.5 of other person. Like
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Speaker 2: they drove through or like live there for like a year. Um,
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Speaker 2: but yeah, so for me, like I grew up in Delaware,
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Speaker 2: I'm from Wilmington, Delaware. And when people hear Delaware instantly,
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Speaker 2: they think that like, I grew up on like a
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Speaker 2: big farm and like, I have all this land and
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Speaker 2: I'm like, no, I grew up in the inner city
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Speaker 2: of Wilmington, Delaware. I grew up on a a block
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Speaker 2: called Fifth and Washington. And what is so interesting about
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Speaker 2: my neighborhood right now is that when you talk about,
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Speaker 2: you know, all these freedoms and the politics and the things,
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Speaker 2: when President Biden was in office and Kamala Harris was
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Speaker 2: in office with him, their headquarters, I literally could walk
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Speaker 2: from my mother's house. It was centered on a block
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Speaker 2: called Market Street. We call it Market Street Mall. And
7:29
Speaker 2: before they came there, right, it was completely different. But
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Speaker 2: what happened was something called gentrification happened. And when gentrification happened,
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Speaker 2: there were so many interesting things that started to happen
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Speaker 2: in my neighborhood. And everything that I had been taught
7:43
Speaker 2: growing up, I began to understand it just a little
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Speaker 2: bit differently. Because growing up in Wilmington, Delaware, in my household,
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Speaker 2: my mom, you know, it was always important for her
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Speaker 2: that you understood who you were, why you were. Because
7:56
Speaker 2: when you went out into the world, she knew that
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Speaker 2: instantly people would try and talk to you as if
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Speaker 2: what was naturally yours wasn't. and you needed to be
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Speaker 2: ready to always combat that. So as I grew up
8:07
Speaker 2: and I'm in high school and in college and I'm
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Speaker 2: doing all these different things, I began feeling what she
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Speaker 2: was talking about. There are these like societal pressures and
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Speaker 2: conversations and things that just come naturally as you walk
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Speaker 2: through your different plights in the world. So growing up
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Speaker 2: in my neighborhood and in a household with a mom,
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Speaker 2: a single mother, and shout out to my grandmother who
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Speaker 2: was like, you know, her right hand man. But growing
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Speaker 2: up with those two ladies, very strong black women who
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Speaker 2: reiterated that and who really made me understand the importance
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Speaker 2: of owning something, of showing up every single day, of
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Speaker 2: not giving up on yourself because people will give up
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Speaker 2: on you, on not counting yourself out, on not being
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Speaker 2: afraid to be delusional, but also pairing that delusion with
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Speaker 2: responsibility As I left my neighborhood, moved to LA, came back,
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Speaker 2: I'm like, wow, okay. So everything is changing now. The
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Speaker 2: ownership piece kicked in because my mother and my grandmother
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Speaker 2: owned property and had my whole life. And I didn't
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Speaker 2: even understand the value of that. But as I got older,
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Speaker 2: I understood, like, you know, when you have something that
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Speaker 2: is yours, that you, it is literally yours and no
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Speaker 2: one can take it from you. You're able to like,
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Speaker 2: you know, talk and maneuver and, you know, gesture and
9:18
Speaker 2: posture yourself a bit differently. And then once I realized,
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Speaker 2: you know, that the gentrification thing was happening, I started
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Speaker 2: to think about like why it was so important for
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Speaker 2: the black women who raised me in my life to
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Speaker 2: teach me about speaking and speaking up for myself, but
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Speaker 2: also the responsibility of it. Because there are a lot
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Speaker 2: of people in my neighborhood right now who no matter
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Speaker 2: what's happening, they don't know what to do, say or
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Speaker 2: who to go to about it. They're just getting up
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Speaker 2: every single day and trying to work to pay their
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Speaker 2: bills and make sure their kids are safe. and make
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Speaker 2: sure that everything that's happening when they walk out of
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Speaker 2: that door in the inner city, and y'all know the
9:52
Speaker 2: things that come with living in the inner city, it
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Speaker 2: is community and family, but there's the other side of
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Speaker 2: it too, that they can just get through it. So
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Speaker 2: I began thinking about all these things as I was
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Speaker 2: figuring out my life, and I'm like, okay, I know
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Speaker 2: that I wanna do something big. I know that I
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Speaker 2: wanna do something where I can bring resources back to
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Speaker 2: these people who don't even understand why they should utilize
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Speaker 2: a voice or the freedom of speech that has been
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Speaker 2: given to all of us just by being born, our birthright.
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Speaker 2: So I went to college. I went to Delaware State University.
10:24
Speaker 2: I was in college. I graduated with a marketing degree.
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Speaker 2: And while in college, I was like, you know, I
10:28
Speaker 2: got to start right now. So I was hosting everything
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Speaker 2: on campus. I was doing interviews, whatever I could get
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Speaker 2: my hands on from like, since I was young, because again,
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Speaker 2: my mom and my grandmother was like, this is going
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Speaker 2: to be important one day. We want you to be in. Okay.
10:42
Speaker 2: Party getting started. All right. I told y'all I bring
10:46
Speaker 2: the party. But my mother and my grandmother were like,
10:50
Speaker 2: you know, we want you to have all the tools
10:52
Speaker 2: that you'll need. We don't know exactly what it's gonna be,
10:54
Speaker 2: but we know that you'll need these things. So I'm
10:57
Speaker 2: at Delaware State University and I'm doing the things that
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Speaker 2: I'd always naturally been doing. I'm hosting things, having conversations
11:03
Speaker 2: with people, Not being afraid to like stand up for
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Speaker 2: the things that I thought or I believed, even when
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Speaker 2: it was really, really tough, even when it brought me
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Speaker 2: to tears, even when it meant I was super, super broke.
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Speaker 2: And you know, in college, you already broke. So to
11:15
Speaker 2: be super, super broke is like, that's like a different
11:18
Speaker 2: level of like, you can't move me. I really believe
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Speaker 2: in this. And that took me to my first couple
11:25
Speaker 2: career experiences. I had a woman that came on campus.
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Speaker 2: Her name was Kara Barnett, or her name is Kara Barnett.
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Speaker 2: Right now, today, Kara Barnett is like senior leadership at
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Speaker 2: Apple TV in the creative division. So she makes television happen,
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Speaker 2: and she's been doing that for years. I walked up
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Speaker 2: to this woman, she was a Delaware State University grad
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Speaker 2: who just came to speak, just like I'm here today.
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Speaker 2: And one of my friends was like, you know, she's
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Speaker 2: casting for Next Top Model. At the time, Tyra Banks
11:51
Speaker 2: had Next Top Model. That was on television. And I
11:54
Speaker 2: had been auditioning for this show every year since I
11:57
Speaker 2: turned 18 because I just knew this was it. This
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Speaker 2: was the thing I was going to go do it,
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Speaker 2: be able to like, you know, bring research back back
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Speaker 2: to my neighborhood and build platform for myself. I walked
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Speaker 2: up to her black woman. I walked up to her
12:10
Speaker 2: and I'm like, I'm Lauren and you need to cast
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Speaker 2: me for America's Next Top Model. And she was like,
12:15
Speaker 2: nice to meet you, Lauren. But no, I don't. And
12:17
Speaker 2: I was like, what do you mean? What else did
12:20
Speaker 2: you come here to do but to run into me today?
12:22
Speaker 2: And she found it funny. We had a bit of
12:26
Speaker 2: a conversation. She was like, take my email. I gave
12:28
Speaker 2: her my resume. And I emailed her for about six months. religiously.
12:33
Speaker 2: Anytime my resume changed, if I woke up one day
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Speaker 2: and changed, I don't know, like a space between two words,
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Speaker 2: I would email her, hey, here's the updated version of
12:41
Speaker 2: my resume. And eventually it worked out. I was working
12:45
Speaker 2: a job in Delaware at Nordstrom and I got a
12:48
Speaker 2: phone call and I went to the back to answer
12:50
Speaker 2: the phone call. And it was a guy named Paul J. Medford, really,
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Speaker 2: really famous black casting director in the fashion space and
12:56
Speaker 2: television space. And I didn't know who he was at
12:59
Speaker 2: the time, but he called and he's like, hey, is
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Speaker 2: this Lauren? I'm like, yeah. He said, hey, Kara gave
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Speaker 2: me your number, and we're looking for someone to come
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Speaker 2: to New York and work for Project Runway All Stars.
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Speaker 2: Are you available? And I was like, stop playing on
13:11
Speaker 2: my phone. And he was like, excuse me? I was like,
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Speaker 2: I don't know what is going on, but I don't
13:15
Speaker 2: have time. Like, I've been emailing Kara for six months.
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Speaker 2: This must be spam. You must have found my resume somewhere. Like,
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Speaker 2: there's no way. And he was like, I'm going to
13:23
Speaker 2: send you an email so you can see my signature.
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Speaker 2: He sends me the email. So then I go back
13:29
Speaker 2: into the closet. And I call him back. I'm like,
13:31
Speaker 2: I'm so sorry. When did you say you needed me again?
13:35
Speaker 2: So he's like, can you get to New York by
13:37
Speaker 2: next week? And I'm like, whoa, OK. So I figure
13:41
Speaker 2: it out. And I'm here. I'm literally here in Brooklyn,
13:45
Speaker 2: a few blocks from here. I was staying at LIU.
13:48
Speaker 2: They had a summer stay program where you could stay
13:50
Speaker 2: on their campuses if you were working in the city.
13:52
Speaker 2: And I worked for Project Runway All Stars. I walked
13:55
Speaker 2: in as a production assistant. which is like an internship.
13:58
Speaker 2: And you're just there to assist and help out. And because,
14:01
Speaker 2: you know, again, where I come from and the house
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Speaker 2: I was raised in and this whole like freedom to
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Speaker 2: say how I feel, but also understanding the responsibility, also,
14:11
Speaker 2: you know, coupling that with being professional and respectful, I
14:14
Speaker 2: was very outspoken about things. And I was like maybe
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Speaker 2: one of two black people there. But that wasn't my
14:20
Speaker 2: first time experiencing that. So I didn't think about the
14:23
Speaker 2: race aspect of it. I thought about it like, if
14:26
Speaker 2: there is something happening and it's not supposed to be
14:31
Speaker 2: or it could be better or it could represent people
14:34
Speaker 2: who I know are not sitting right here and I'm
14:36
Speaker 2: the only person sitting right here, hey, can I talk
14:40
Speaker 2: to y'all really quickly? And eventually it got to a
14:42
Speaker 2: point where they were bringing me in the writer's room.
14:44
Speaker 2: Mind you, I am like barely a sophomore in college.
14:48
Speaker 2: This is my first time even working in entertainment at all.
14:52
Speaker 2: I'm working with producers and executive producers who've been in
14:55
Speaker 2: this business at this point with the major networks for years, writers,
14:59
Speaker 2: the whole nine, like they're models and designers. And at
15:02
Speaker 2: this time I'm still trying to be a model. So
15:04
Speaker 2: I'm not even thinking about it. Like I'm on this
15:06
Speaker 2: set and I'm doing these things. I'm like, I'm gonna
15:08
Speaker 2: just do this thing until they realize that I should
15:10
Speaker 2: be on the runway. So me getting pulled into the
15:14
Speaker 2: writer's room and the producer's room, because I would have
15:17
Speaker 2: all of these suggestions and, hey, what if you put
15:20
Speaker 2: these earrings with this skirt, and my friends are wearing
15:22
Speaker 2: things this way right now, but I see you guys
15:24
Speaker 2: have a style that way. Or there's a designer, her
15:28
Speaker 2: name is Samantha Black, and she's a black woman designer.
15:30
Speaker 2: I think this little cue that you guys are putting
15:33
Speaker 2: in this episode, she's not really going to care for that,
15:36
Speaker 2: but maybe you should go talk to her about it.
15:38
Speaker 2: That ended up with me going from production assistant to
15:42
Speaker 2: fashion accessories coordinator. And I didn't know at the time
15:45
Speaker 2: That that was like such a big deal because, again,
15:48
Speaker 2: I'm just naturally doing what was given to me. It
15:51
Speaker 2: was my right. I looked at it anyway. That if
15:54
Speaker 2: something was wrong or something needed to be stated, as
15:57
Speaker 2: long as I came with the information, things that I
16:00
Speaker 2: knew were true, a lot of my own personal experience
16:03
Speaker 2: and positioned it the right way. somebody would have to
16:05
Speaker 2: hear me out. It was that whole freedom to be me,
16:08
Speaker 2: freedom to speak thing. And it turned into, you know,
16:11
Speaker 2: me having a very successful season with them. I got
16:14
Speaker 2: invited to come back and work with the production teams
16:16
Speaker 2: because the production teams jumped from show to show to show.
16:19
Speaker 2: But everybody else was like a real adult. So I
16:22
Speaker 2: was like, no, I got to go back to college, y'all. Like,
16:23
Speaker 2: I can't just like stay with you guys. But one
16:26
Speaker 2: of the producer I mentioned, Samantha Black, to this day,
16:29
Speaker 2: me and her still work together because it was like,
16:32
Speaker 2: you know, Me and her, like, I didn't know her personally,
16:36
Speaker 2: she didn't know me personally, but we knew each other's experiences.
16:39
Speaker 2: And I didn't even know it, I kind of made
16:41
Speaker 2: the position myself, but I was in the position to
16:44
Speaker 2: be able to really advocate and really push back on
16:48
Speaker 2: things because in fashion, you're not really supposed to do that.
16:52
Speaker 2: But I had never really been in fashion. I told
16:53
Speaker 2: y'all that was my first real thing, so I didn't
16:56
Speaker 2: know the rules. And I think a lot of what
17:00
Speaker 2: I've learned about walking through career especially in media, especially
17:04
Speaker 2: in journalism, walking through day-to-day life, and everything that's happening
17:08
Speaker 2: right now when it comes to the free speech conversation,
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Speaker 2: and is free speech really free? Because technically, and a
17:15
Speaker 2: lot of times, it's not. What I think about most
17:18
Speaker 2: is the audacity that you have to have when you're
17:22
Speaker 2: entering into these rooms and these conversations and these spaces
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Speaker 2: to even put your free speech at the forefront and
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Speaker 2: then walk through. And then I also think about the
17:33
Speaker 2: preparation because it's like you can get on a microphone,
17:36
Speaker 2: you can stand in front of your classrooms or your
17:39
Speaker 2: meetings and have your agendas and do all these things
17:41
Speaker 2: and you can say whatever you want. But what happens
17:44
Speaker 2: and the consequences and the people that are affected by that,
17:48
Speaker 2: those are the things that I think we all should
17:50
Speaker 2: be thinking about. Yes, we see what's happening with the administration.
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Speaker 2: We see that things are being positioned and the chessboard
17:58
Speaker 2: is being set up a certain way. But one of
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Speaker 2: the things that I always think about is like there
18:02
Speaker 2: are these platforms like a breakfast club that I was
18:05
Speaker 2: just so blessed to be able to, you know, become
18:08
Speaker 2: a part of that when you get that chance to
18:10
Speaker 2: kind of get in there and express some things or
18:13
Speaker 2: fight for some things or advocate for some things or
18:15
Speaker 2: partner to do some things. Even if it's not easy,
18:19
Speaker 2: you've got to come like your life is depending on
18:21
Speaker 2: it because it might not be your life or you
18:25
Speaker 2: might not think about it that way. But somebody's life
18:28
Speaker 2: is dependent on that moment that you have. To voice
18:30
Speaker 2: that free speech. So in your day to day, as
18:33
Speaker 2: you guys figure out all of the different things that
18:36
Speaker 2: you are figuring out, I always tell people like you
18:39
Speaker 2: can say whatever you want. You can do whatever you want.
18:42
Speaker 2: You can build your life however you want to. But
18:45
Speaker 2: for every action, there is a reaction. You know, when
18:49
Speaker 2: you're thinking longer term about what you're doing and why
18:52
Speaker 2: you're doing it. A lot of times, in my opinion,
18:55
Speaker 2: and from the experiences that I've had, walking into things
18:59
Speaker 2: with nothing but your faith and your God, it takes
19:03
Speaker 2: you a really, really, really long way. But if you
19:05
Speaker 2: couple that with the preparation, with the facts and the information,
19:09
Speaker 2: and the case study, like real life experience, you are unstoppable.
19:15
Speaker 2: I left from Delaware State University in 2014. I did
19:18
Speaker 2: a few more internships. Asked a few more questions, got
19:22
Speaker 2: on a few more people's nerves, so I had a
19:23
Speaker 2: good time. But I left from Delaware State University in 2014,
19:27
Speaker 2: and I was telling everybody my senior year, like, you know,
19:30
Speaker 2: they asked you, well, what are you going to do
19:31
Speaker 2: after college? I didn't have a job offer. I was like, oh,
19:34
Speaker 2: I'm moving to LA. I'm going to be on TV.
19:36
Speaker 2: They're like, okay, cool. So where are you going to work?
19:40
Speaker 2: I don't know. I'm moving to LA. I'm going to
19:42
Speaker 2: be on TV. I'll let you when I get there.
19:46
Speaker 2: So a lot of my teachers would be like, you
19:49
Speaker 2: know what? great, but you got to dial it back.
19:52
Speaker 2: You know, you got to think about the small ancillary
19:54
Speaker 2: steps in between. And I understood what they were saying
19:58
Speaker 2: to me, but I was like, I don't want to
20:01
Speaker 2: hear y'all right now. So I go to LA, and
20:06
Speaker 2: this is the first time. I moved twice. When people
20:08
Speaker 2: talk about my move to LA, they only mention that
20:10
Speaker 2: one time where I was there and I worked for TMZ.
20:13
Speaker 2: But before that, I moved a time, and I had
20:16
Speaker 2: to go back home. I was going to say it
20:18
Speaker 2: didn't work, but I wouldn't say that. I moved, and
20:20
Speaker 2: I ended up back in Delaware. So maybe those teachers
20:23
Speaker 2: might have been a little right. But I moved to
20:25
Speaker 2: LA the first time in 2014, and I took a
20:28
Speaker 2: few jobs. I was working in PR. I was working
20:31
Speaker 2: in social media and marketing. I was there for about
20:35
Speaker 2: six months, but the biggest experience that I had while
20:39
Speaker 2: there was a girl that I moved with. She was
20:43
Speaker 2: a fashion designer that I knew from back home in Delaware,
20:45
Speaker 2: and again, going back to my upbringing and really understanding
20:49
Speaker 2: why I was rooted in the things that I was
20:50
Speaker 2: rooted in. So me and her had knew each other
20:52
Speaker 2: for some years, and I supported each other as we
20:54
Speaker 2: were doing different shows and producing different fashion shows and events.
20:58
Speaker 2: So she allowed me to come and move with her,
20:59
Speaker 2: and I was just like, hey, I just need about
21:01
Speaker 2: two months on your couch. And When I got there,
21:05
Speaker 2: I just remember she was so down-trotted. I'm like, woo,
21:11
Speaker 2: this is not the girl I know. What's going on?
21:13
Speaker 2: What's happening? It was tough. We were in LA. It's expensive.
21:18
Speaker 2: She's a fashion designer, so she was really staying 10
21:21
Speaker 2: toes down on, I'm here to do this thing. And
21:26
Speaker 2: if it doesn't work, I'm not doing anything else. But
21:28
Speaker 2: it was burning her down to the ground because she
21:31
Speaker 2: wasn't able to afford things. Her health was slipping. So
21:35
Speaker 2: I told her, I'm like, look, we can do this
21:38
Speaker 2: dreaming thing anytime because we gonna wake up every single day.
21:42
Speaker 2: Like every single day you wake up, you can decide
21:45
Speaker 2: to dream, to figure something out, to pivot, to change,
21:48
Speaker 2: but you have to be together enough, right? To understand
21:53
Speaker 2: what that even looks like, because that audacity that you
21:56
Speaker 2: have to have to take those steps, you physically need
21:59
Speaker 2: to be able to do it as well too. And
22:02
Speaker 2: she listened and we got her lease broken and she
22:05
Speaker 2: decided to move back to Delaware. So now, you know,
22:08
Speaker 2: I'm like, all right, Lauren, that was great. But where
22:09
Speaker 2: are you going to live now? So when that happened,
22:12
Speaker 2: I decided to move back to Delaware as well. And
22:14
Speaker 2: on my way back to Delaware, I just remember feeling
22:17
Speaker 2: like a failure and just being like you. It was
22:20
Speaker 2: so exciting. Everybody was like, you're moving to L.A. You're
22:24
Speaker 2: going to represent us. You're going to do all this stuff.
22:27
Speaker 2: And now I'm like, I got to tell everybody I'm
22:29
Speaker 2: back like. What am I going to say? How am
22:33
Speaker 2: I going to explain that? And what I realized through
22:36
Speaker 2: that process, like I went back home and no one
22:39
Speaker 2: really asked me, what are you doing here? They were
22:41
Speaker 2: just like happy to see me. And then I continued
22:43
Speaker 2: to still do things. Like I took a job in
22:47
Speaker 2: community relations with Barclay Carr US for about two years.
22:49
Speaker 2: And I traveled the world with them and I helped
22:52
Speaker 2: mom pay bills and helped, you know, I did all
22:55
Speaker 2: the things, the grand things that I know to make
22:57
Speaker 2: myself get up and do. So no one asked any questions.
22:59
Speaker 2: And what I realized in that moment was like, The
23:02
Speaker 2: freedom to like speak and say and do things is
23:06
Speaker 2: not only like a birthright of ours, but it is
23:08
Speaker 2: such a blessing because you can transform it into whatever
23:12
Speaker 2: you want to make it. That part of my story,
23:14
Speaker 2: if I allowed it to, would have been like, I
23:17
Speaker 2: had to move back home. I didn't have anything. I
23:20
Speaker 2: was starting from zero. I failed. Everybody's disappointed in me. Child,
23:25
Speaker 2: I landed. I had a job before I landed. I landed.
23:28
Speaker 2: I started my job the next week. I was working.
23:32
Speaker 2: I didn't even what I was like, what am I
23:34
Speaker 2: going to do in a bank? Like, seriously, I'm like,
23:36
Speaker 2: what am I going to do there? But because of
23:39
Speaker 2: the internship that I had and me being there and
23:41
Speaker 2: being very big about who I am and what I
23:45
Speaker 2: believe in, they knew me well enough. They created a
23:47
Speaker 2: job for me. So I walked into that job and
23:52
Speaker 2: I started that job and I was like, okay, I
23:55
Speaker 2: can see why this part of my story is happening.
23:59
Speaker 2: So I need to control what it looks like, not
24:01
Speaker 2: even just because of other people from the outside, but
24:03
Speaker 2: because for myself mentally, because that's another thing as well, too.
24:06
Speaker 2: Like when you choose to be the person that is
24:08
Speaker 2: like you know, has all the audacity and is speaking
24:11
Speaker 2: and on these platforms and leading, you know, and whatever
24:15
Speaker 2: genre it is that you work in, there is a
24:17
Speaker 2: lot of mental pressure that comes with it. You got
24:21
Speaker 2: people in their opinions. You got people that you just
24:24
Speaker 2: have to partner and work with because our lives are
24:26
Speaker 2: transactional as adults. That's just how it is. You also
24:29
Speaker 2: have the things that won't go well, the failures that
24:32
Speaker 2: you should learn from. But you have to understand that
24:35
Speaker 2: work through process mentally, because that's a part of the
24:38
Speaker 2: whole freedom of speech thing as well, too. Once you
24:40
Speaker 2: put something out there, it's like art. Once you put
24:43
Speaker 2: it out there, the people can take it and dissect
24:46
Speaker 2: it and react to it and maneuver through it any
24:48
Speaker 2: which way they want to. And y'all know if y'all
24:50
Speaker 2: on TikTok, they will. They 100 percent will. And even
24:54
Speaker 2: if you're not a person that gets on platforms and
24:56
Speaker 2: speaks and, you know, that's not what your freedom of
24:59
Speaker 2: speech looks like. Right. It may look different for everybody,
25:01
Speaker 2: but we all have those. like anxious, anxiety-filled moments that
25:06
Speaker 2: come with and come along with our purpose. And as
25:11
Speaker 2: you're figuring out your purpose and your mission and you're
25:14
Speaker 2: being very bold about it, that will come as well too.
25:18
Speaker 2: But what I learned then that I carry with me now,
25:21
Speaker 2: even though sometimes I got to sit down and really
25:24
Speaker 2: fight my way to get back to the thought process
25:26
Speaker 2: of it, is that you control you. You control how
25:31
Speaker 2: you think about various things. You control what you allow
25:34
Speaker 2: into your life. You control when someone is free to
25:38
Speaker 2: speak or say something, how you interpret that, how you
25:40
Speaker 2: internalize it, or how you just don't. Like how you
25:44
Speaker 2: be like, no, I'm good, I'm cool. Thank you, but
25:47
Speaker 2: not for me. And a lot of that is called
25:49
Speaker 2: protecting your vision as well too, because that's another thing.
25:52
Speaker 2: Like if, how many of you guys lead teams in here?
25:55
Speaker 2: Raise your hand. Okay. How many of you guys are
25:58
Speaker 2: the head of your household? Parents in the building. First
26:05
Speaker 2: generation college students. Oldest daughter, oldest son. Woo, baby. Yeah. OK,
26:11
Speaker 2: put up two hands. I'm the oldest daughter, too. So
26:14
Speaker 2: you guys know like it is being a leader. I
26:18
Speaker 2: think God had this thing that he did where he
26:20
Speaker 2: was like, I'm a pick a group of people and
26:23
Speaker 2: y'all gonna be my strongest soldiers. And y'all gonna be
26:26
Speaker 2: the ones leading in so many spaces and you don't
26:29
Speaker 2: ask to do it. Like you do not ask to
26:32
Speaker 2: do this at all. It's just the position that you
26:35
Speaker 2: are put in because of your capabilities, because of your knowledge,
26:38
Speaker 2: because of your ability to understand or relate to people.
26:41
Speaker 2: But it does come with all of these various like
26:43
Speaker 2: little buckets. It'll be like, anxiety today, I'm tired tomorrow.
26:47
Speaker 2: I love this. Oh my God, thank you so much God.
26:49
Speaker 2: I love you. Am I complaining? Am I grateful enough?
26:53
Speaker 2: You'll be all over the place. You do. I mean,
26:57
Speaker 2: I just told y'all I moved to a different state,
26:59
Speaker 2: then moved back home. Then I ended up going back
27:01
Speaker 2: to LA. Then I was like, you know what? I'm
27:03
Speaker 2: going to come on over to New York because life
27:05
Speaker 2: was like, you don't have a choice. Mentally, I've been
27:09
Speaker 2: in so many different places over the last four to
27:11
Speaker 2: five years of my life. But one of the things
27:14
Speaker 2: that I've always been able to do is understand what
27:18
Speaker 2: I say, what I allow, what I choose to fight
27:21
Speaker 2: for or not. Because sometimes that's a part of understanding
27:26
Speaker 2: the leadership aspect of it, too, is just being like, no,
27:30
Speaker 2: I'm good. All of that, when you think through it
27:35
Speaker 2: correctly and you take that minute for yourself, You can
27:38
Speaker 2: master up this system of you operating at this potential
27:43
Speaker 2: where you're like, whoo, was that me? I did that?
27:46
Speaker 2: Hold up. OK, I did that. You can get there,
27:50
Speaker 2: and you will get there, and you guys probably get
27:52
Speaker 2: there every single day. How many of you guys have
27:53
Speaker 2: felt a moment recently where you were like, wow, that
27:57
Speaker 2: was me? Nobody? Oh, OK. I'm like, dang, what y'all
28:01
Speaker 2: be doing? Because I be having some good moments, you know? No,
28:05
Speaker 2: but when you get there. But again, it's all about
28:09
Speaker 2: like when you are choosing, and I keep saying choosing,
28:13
Speaker 2: but honestly, when you are chosen to be in these
28:17
Speaker 2: positions where you are the speaker, where you are having
28:21
Speaker 2: to think about what the freedom of your speech and
28:23
Speaker 2: the consequences and the responsibility of it look like, there
28:27
Speaker 2: is a work through process and that process does not
28:30
Speaker 2: leave you at all. You just get better at doing it.
28:33
Speaker 2: You just get better at like dressing it up and
28:35
Speaker 2: making it look good as you go through it. So,
28:38
Speaker 2: you know, now and, you know, today, literally today versus yesterday,
28:44
Speaker 2: the way I'm thinking about things are so different. Being
28:46
Speaker 2: in here with y'all has made me just think about
28:48
Speaker 2: things differently already. I'm up here listening to myself. Like, OK,
28:52
Speaker 2: when I leave here, there are some things that I
28:54
Speaker 2: want to readjust. But that happens and it's going to
28:56
Speaker 2: continue to happen because you are chosen to be in
28:59
Speaker 2: the spaces that you are, to be breaking the barriers
29:02
Speaker 2: that you are breaking and to be advocating in the
29:03
Speaker 2: ways that you guys are. And, you know, with me
29:06
Speaker 2: right now and like what I do at my job
29:07
Speaker 2: at The Breakfast Club, a lot of it, like, you know,
29:10
Speaker 2: as a producer off camera, you are always thinking about
29:13
Speaker 2: like the room that you're in. And, OK, if that
29:16
Speaker 2: back table, you know, wants white, but that other back
29:20
Speaker 2: table wants green and this front table wants black. As
29:23
Speaker 2: a producer, how can I marry all those colors so
29:25
Speaker 2: that the person doesn't? that walks in the room just thinks,
29:27
Speaker 2: oh my God, this is a great ensemble of colors. No,
29:29
Speaker 2: you don't even know. These people didn't want none of
29:31
Speaker 2: them colors in here. I had to figure, you know,
29:33
Speaker 2: that's how I'm thinking through. But a lot of times
29:36
Speaker 2: I'm thinking through for myself as well too, like, okay,
29:40
Speaker 2: what are the things and how can you really take
29:42
Speaker 2: the time to understand out of everything from your journey
29:47
Speaker 2: that you've had to experience what works best to make
29:50
Speaker 2: all those colors marry together because again being in the
29:53
Speaker 2: positions that you guys are in you were chosen to
29:55
Speaker 2: be there so you're never starting at zero the resources
29:57
Speaker 2: are always there but it is a fight And especially
30:01
Speaker 2: in today's world where you have it where anybody can
30:04
Speaker 2: get on any single platform and voice an opinion. I
30:06
Speaker 2: love it. But at the same time, because, you know,
30:09
Speaker 2: independent media is really like my focus. So I love it.
30:11
Speaker 2: But at the same time, I think that there is
30:14
Speaker 2: a I always say the cream of the crop is
30:16
Speaker 2: going to rise in this whole independent media game, because
30:19
Speaker 2: I do think that there is still a level of
30:22
Speaker 2: decorum and information that is needed across media platforms or
30:28
Speaker 2: any professional platform or team in general, because we're young
30:34
Speaker 2: and we're out here figuring things out. And a lot
30:35
Speaker 2: of us are doing it for the first time at
30:39
Speaker 2: this level of success that I've achieved. And I know
30:42
Speaker 2: that God has so much more for me. My immediate family,
30:44
Speaker 2: I'm the first person to be thinking about a lot
30:46
Speaker 2: of the things that I have to think about to
30:48
Speaker 2: operate through my day-to-day. But at the same time, I'm
30:51
Speaker 2: getting on the platform every single day and voicing my
30:53
Speaker 2: experiences and my opinions and all these things. But there
30:56
Speaker 2: is a level of decorum and preparation and a level of,
31:03
Speaker 2: I would say, a level of discernment that I think
31:05
Speaker 2: is needed. So I was tasked to talk about freedom
31:09
Speaker 2: of speech and share a bit of my journey. That's
31:13
Speaker 2: all I got for you guys. Make some noise for
31:16
Speaker 2: Lauren LaRosa. Lauren, thank you so much for sharing your story.
31:20
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's about what we choose and how we choose
31:23
Speaker 1: to show up.
31:24
Speaker 2: And when we show up, it's sometimes about showing out
31:27
Speaker 2: or sitting back and having that discernment. That was the
31:31
Speaker 2: first part of my conversation or my keynote speech, actually,
31:34
Speaker 2: for the National Urban League that went down here in
31:37
Speaker 2: New York. It's great. kind of crazy to me still
31:40
Speaker 2: when I'm on these stages and I'm speaking through like
31:43
Speaker 2: my experience and people are utilizing it to make decisions
31:48
Speaker 2: in their own life because every single day I feel
31:51
Speaker 2: like I'm still figuring life out because I'm a student
31:54
Speaker 2: of everything and I'm very honest and vulnerable, especially here
31:57
Speaker 2: on the podcast, about the things that I am still
32:00
Speaker 2: figuring it out and trying to make sense of. But,
32:04
Speaker 2: you know, when I was leaving this event, I was thinking,
32:06
Speaker 2: like I was driving home and I was just thinking like,
32:08
Speaker 2: God has such a funny way of positioning your pain
32:13
Speaker 2: and your purpose. When I was going through a lot
32:17
Speaker 2: of the things that I speak about when I'm, you know,
32:18
Speaker 2: in these public arenas and not even just bad stuff,
32:21
Speaker 2: but the good stuff as well, too. The good moments,
32:23
Speaker 2: the high moments, everything. When you're in it, you're in
32:26
Speaker 2: it and you're just doing it. And sometimes you're not
32:29
Speaker 2: even like feeling, you're just moving through because you're always
32:32
Speaker 2: trying to make sure you got your next thing coming,
32:33
Speaker 2: especially when you're seeing any level of success. These moments
32:38
Speaker 2: of like speaking and reflecting back on things really helps
32:41
Speaker 2: me like take some time and understand the gratitude and
32:45
Speaker 2: the gratitude. And if I don't have it, it's like that,
32:48
Speaker 2: like tap on the wrist of why I should have
32:52
Speaker 2: it because God has been so good in opening my
32:57
Speaker 2: eyes through real life experience in a way that now
33:01
Speaker 2: I'm seeing has been able to like be a purpose
33:04
Speaker 2: point for me for a long time. I always wonder,
33:08
Speaker 2: platform and getting on the microphone and being on stages and,
33:11
Speaker 2: you know, storytelling, whether it's acting, modeling, whatever. Like, what
33:15
Speaker 2: was the why and what was the purpose? When I
33:17
Speaker 2: was younger, I think, you know, you're fascinated with the
33:19
Speaker 2: glitz and the glam. As I got a bit older,
33:21
Speaker 2: it's like, okay, I want to really bring resources back
33:23
Speaker 2: to my neighborhood. Like, these people need stuff. And I'm
33:25
Speaker 2: seeing all these things that are happening in other places.
33:28
Speaker 2: Now in my 34th year, my 34th year of life,
33:31
Speaker 2: now I'm like, girl, this has been like, all of
33:35
Speaker 2: this is a testimony. And that testimony is real and
33:39
Speaker 2: people feel it and it helps people in different avenues,
33:42
Speaker 2: but it also helps you. It's helping me as I'm
33:44
Speaker 2: listening back to these things and saying them out loud
33:47
Speaker 2: to remain very like feet planted, feet on earth, foot
33:52
Speaker 2: on the ground, humble, focused. And it reminds me of
33:58
Speaker 2: why my discipline is important too, because a lot of
34:01
Speaker 2: the moments and the things that I'm bringing up, I'm
34:03
Speaker 2: hearing it and I'm like, whoa, like the level of
34:06
Speaker 2: focus that you had to have to make all of
34:08
Speaker 2: this make sense. One day, and you didn't even know
34:10
Speaker 2: you were doing it. Intentionality has become such a focal
34:14
Speaker 2: point of my life. And I don't know, I'm just
34:16
Speaker 2: great to be able to share it with people. It's
34:17
Speaker 2: not even about monetizing it, because at one point too,
34:20
Speaker 2: I think the world was always telling you you should
34:22
Speaker 2: monetize everything. That isn't even like a focus point for
34:25
Speaker 2: me at all, but... when these things are happening and
34:29
Speaker 2: I'm starting to see why I went through certain things
34:32
Speaker 2: to get to where I'm at right now, it's all
34:35
Speaker 2: making sense. Real life experience is the best experience. That's it.
34:38
Speaker 2: That's all. Thank you guys for tuning in. I tell
34:40
Speaker 2: y'all every single episode, y'all could be anywhere with any
34:43
Speaker 2: old body, but you guys choose to be right here
34:45
Speaker 2: with me, my low riders. I appreciate you and I'll
34:48
Speaker 2: catch you in my next one.