a lot about me

hi, i'm lauren.

let me just preface by saying: i am so flattered that you are willing to give me all your time. where shall we start? perhaps the beginning?

on november 30, 1990-something (a lady never shares her age!) i was welcomed into the world at mount sinai hospital in toronto, ontario. 

while it is true that babies aren't the most beautiful creatures when born, my parents can testify that i was a whole new level of... creature. you see, i have a twin brother, and - he doesn't like to share. 

whilst occupying the womb, my twin found he could get optimal leg space by squishing me in the corner. so he did. every day. for 247 days. my head took a liking to this corner, so much so that it decided to form into a cone. yep, you read that right. my parents birthed a cone head. 

after a few weeks in an incubator and some shots here & there i was ready to go off into the world. i’ve been told i was quite the trooper, something that still holds true to me today. 

no, my head is no longer in the shape of a cone. 

as a kid i went through many phases and passions, my parents were very supportive of all of them. most prominent of these was snowboarding, i was on the hill as young as age 5. 

in the off season, i found other things to occupy my time.  growing up with two brothers exposed me to boyish stuff like pokemon, skateboarding, and warhammer (i collected dwarves… if this reference is lost on you, that means you were cool - disregard). 

while these pastimes were great, i was always a true believer in balance and felt it necessary to take up an extremely girly sport to compensate for my more masculine hobbies. so, i began synchronized swimming.

it was love at first noseplug.

i continued to synchronize swim for 8 years when i came to a fork in the road. it was time to choose: snowboarding or swimming. after a very pragmatic pros and cons list, my decision was made. i ditched the nose plug, grabbed the helmet, and never looked back. 

i was on the snow three days a week all winter training and competing for snowboard cross. i made it as far as representing ontario in the snowboard nationals at cypress mountain in british columbia. after that, i spent my last few years on snow coaching young ones and taking them to boarder cross to competitions around ontario. 

this next part is pretty boring…i went away to university in london, ontario where i got a double major in english & history at the university of western ontario. no drinks. no fun.

now, i know what you're thinking: "wait... lauren... you went to the university of western ontario? as in western? as in the same western that playboy once ranked 4th place for the top party schools in north america? and you had NO fun?"

well, if you haven't figured it out yet, sarcasm is my native tongue.

after school i knew what my plan was... i was accepted to a copywriting program in toronto. it was one of the most respected programs in the country and i knew i wanted to become a copywriter but for some reason i felt there was something out there i was missing. this was when i came across portfolio school. 

i did some research and picked a school that suited me best and sent in my application. next thing i knew i was revoking my acceptance in toronto and apartment hunting in the windy city! it all happened in a flash but it felt like the right thing; an adventure i wanted to go on. much like my earlier fork in the road, i havent looked back once.

after school, i headed straight into my first job as a writer at DDB chicago. there, i worked on every brand on their roster and played a large role in multiple new business pitches. if i told you my first ever client presentation was to the global CMO of McDonald’s, would you believe me? you should. it’s true.

after 8 missed snowboard seasons, a pandemic, and 5 different chicago apartments, i decided it was time to head home, which is where you’ll find me now. nestled in toronto with my english husband (all leeds aren’t we!) and our miniature dachshund, pippa. these days, you’ll find me in one of three places: my favourite hot yoga studio, in front of my computer with my dog on my lap, or lounging with my current fantasy novel of choice.

and, well, here we are in present day. i’m sitting here drinking my green tea and looking at the time. i know you said i could have all of it, but that doesn't feel right to me. i’ll end it here. if you want to know more, you know where to find me. cheers!