We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauren Salaun and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Growing up, I did all the things – played nearly every sport, did music, was involved with animals, loved art and performing, and so much more – and I excelled in just about everything that I did. In high school, I focused my athletic efforts on soccer, and as a natural leader, was captain of my soccer teams. I also played piano and sang, did theater, school clubs, 4-H, and was in nearly all of the Advanced Placement and honors classes, was Homecoming Queen… I was little miss do all the things, little miss perfectionist, little miss overachiever, little miss seeking validation and getting her worth from what she was doing, what she was accomplishing, and what people thought of her.

Those themes – overachieving, perfectionism, go-go-go, struggling with self worth, doing all the things in order to prove myself, having this love/hate relationship with my sexual energy – continued into college and beyond. I double-majored in Communications and Studio Art/Graphic Design, rather than just finishing school a year early, because obviously doing the most was very on-brand for me.

After college, I started working at a PR agency that specialized in crisis communications for the healthcare industry. That agency was essentially a startup, we were very good at what we did, and we grew very fast. That combination – crisis management plus rapid growth – was the perfect recipe for never-ending overwhelm and burnout.

After being there for four years, being promoted many times, and making pretty good money, I remember this moment where I looked around, and there was no one whose job or life I wanted, which was a huge wake up call. The path I was on, wasn’t one I wanted. I’d also been pretty miserable there for the better part of a year. Anxiety was something I’d struggled with for a long time, and in my last year at that job, I was probably having an anxiety attack once a week related to work. Often, I would leave my desk and go into the bathroom to cry or have a little panic attack, and then freshen up and go right back to my desk. I was working insane hours, usually coming into the office on weekends, and I was incredibly burnt out. To make matters worse, it wasn’t even the kind of work I wanted to do long term. I felt like my soul was dying.

Back then, I thought I had no other choice, I thought I was too far in my career to make a change (I was only in my mid-twenties), I thought I had to just power through and endure it, and I was so attached to being the good girl and seeking the external validation that came with that “nice, fancy job”.

But when I left, it was so liberating.

I left for two main reasons: first, so I could do work I was more passionate about and that felt more aligned; and second, so I could have more freedom, flexibility, and control over how I worked, who I worked with, what I worked on, and when and where I worked. This was one of the first major moments in my life that I really chose myself and took ownership of my life and future. It was both terrifying and exhilarating.

Once I left, I went right into building my first business, focusing on public relations, social media, and marketing consulting.

A few years into running my agency, I found myself still in those same familiar patterns of overachieving, being a workaholic, struggling with my worth, being go-go-go, doing too much, not seeing my bank account match the level of effort, time, and energy I was putting in, and I felt so exhausted – exhausted at a deep soul level. When I was in that previous job, it was easy for me to blame my situation on the company, the work, the industry, and my coworkers. But then, when I was the boss and I was in charge, and I was still feeling so many of those same internal feelings, I realized that maybe I was part of the problem, that maybe there was some internal soul rewiring that needed to be done.

So I dove into deep work to heal my unworthiness, my perfectionism, and my need to be in control. That’s also when I started to work on my own masculine and feminine energy balance, because I realized I’d lived my entire life so stuck in my masculine energy, stuck in that mode of needing to achieve, to prove myself, to compete, to be in control, afraid that who I was as just me was both too much and at the same time wouldn’t be enough, afraid to shine my light.

Deciding to really dive into my personal growth and healing was a major moment where I really chose myself and set myself on the path I’m currently on.

In the early years of my career, while I wanted “work life balance” so much, I was addicted to the patterns that made that impossible, those patterns of overachieving, perfectionism, and well, being a workaholic – all to get that external validation and recognition in an attempt to feel worthy and valued. Back then, I was chasing validation, recognition, worth, but it was a futile attempt to fill a never-ending void. If you asked me back then if I worked to live or lived to work, I probably would have said that I worked to live, but my actions and my life did not really reflect that.

My healing journey allowed me to get to a place where I was able to find and maintain true balance, where I wasn’t working and doing in an attempt to prove something, but working from a place of passion, commitment, discipline, and purpose. Now, I work to live. I love my work, but my motivation isn’t to work just for the sake of work. My motivation is both to make an impact doing work that I love and also be able to design my life in the way that fills me up most.

Today, I have beautiful balance in my life. I never feel like am overworked. There are times when I work more than others, there are the occasional long days, there are plenty of things that still feel like work, but what drives me is so different. It feels so different, so much better.

I also don’t completely believe in “balance” because work and life are never going to be completely balanced. There may be seasons of more work and seasons of more life. Instead, I think we should strive for a rhythm that feels aligned and fulfilling. So if you’re in a season of building in your business or career, the “balance” may favor work, but it’s important to make sure that you still prioritize yourself, your self care, your rest, and the things that make you happy outside of work.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I am a multi-passionate entrepreneur, host of the AMPLIFY podcast, speaker, women’s mentor, somatic healer, and transformational facilitator for embodied feminine leaders. I also own a Public Relations agency that specializes in helping female entrepreneurs in the personal development space, and I am also a real estate investor.

It’s my mission to awaken the unapologetic Divine Feminine and support women in remembering their true essence, connecting deeply with their body and intuition, and activating their sexuality, voice, pleasure, and purpose to new levels. I specialize in helping women break free of “boss babe” hustle culture and enter their soft, spacious, magnetic, and luxurious, Queen era.

Passionate about supporting women in amplifying their magnetism, attracting (and holding) abundance, and living as their most aligned and fully-expressed, I am committed to elevating feminine power and leadership.

I have also spent more than 15 years in the PR, marketing, and advertising space. In 2014, I decided to leave the corporate world to start my own public relations and marketing agency. In 2020, after informally coaching clients in a variety of capacities, I launched my coaching business. I am also a former health coach, personal trainer, fitness model, and bikini competitor, and had a successful fitness business for several years.

After years of hustling, running multiple businesses at one time, but not seeing the results I knew I truly deserved, I decided to go all-in and own my own mission – and that’s when everything changed.

As a coach and mentor for high performing humans, I specialize in emotional intelligence, masculine/feminine energetics harmonization, somatic healing, subconscious reprogramming, mindset, sexual energy and sensuality, vision-casting and execution, and personal development. A main focus of my coaching business is in supporting women who want to step into new levels of authenticity, confidence, sexual expression, magnetism, alignment, and abundance.

In Spring 2021, I launched the AMPLIFY podcast, where I share conversations and guest interviews about a variety of topics related to living your most amplified life, including magnetism, spirituality, masculine/feminine energetics and dynamics, dating and relationships, sexuality, confidence, and more.

My signature program, QUEENDOM, is a year-long lifestyle mentorship program, designed to help women step into their next level of magnetism, feminine embodiment, sexual liberation, and abundance. I created it after going through my own feminine embodiment journey “the hard way.”

I did a lot of my own feminine healing completely on my own, but I don’t recommend others go that route.

It took me about 5 years to feel like I really got to a place of self mastery and expertise in harmonizing my masculine and feminine energies. My only regret is not diving into all of this sooner and having more guidance along the way. Because if I had, so many things in my life would have been different. I would have ended my relationship with my ex-husband sooner (which was the right decision for both of us), I would have avoided two abusive relationships, I would have shifted out of “hustle mode” much earlier, I would have learned how to magnetize abundance and opportunities to me much sooner, I wouldn’t have spent as much money on various random programs and courses, I wouldn’t have fallen for a business scam that cost me thousands of dollars, and I would have owned my worth, my boundaries, my desires, and so much more… much, much sooner, and with much less struggle.

While I was investing in all kinds of support over those 5 years and pouring so many resources into my businesses and personal development, I never once made a really powerful decision to invest in my own feminine energy healing, somatic healing, and embodiment. I never really prioritized it, so it took a really long time (and lots of blood, sweat, and tears – literally and figuratively).

So while I was growing a lot in other areas of my life and business, my feminine embodiment journey took much longer. It took me 5 years to really feel like I got to a place of mastery with my feminine energy embodiment. The irony of this is that if I had focused on the feminine embodiment work sooner, so many of the other things would have been much easier and happened faster.

And that’s why I created QUEENDOM, to help high-performing, high-achieving, powerful women heal and harmonize their masculine and feminine energies, heal and own their s*xual energy, powerfully embody their feminine essence, and become wildly magnetic. I’ve put everything I’ve learned into this lifestyle program to help other women have those same results in a fraction of the time.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If someone I loved were coming to visit me here in Los Angeles, and I wanted to show them some of the best of LA, while also giving them a “local” experience so they could understand what real life looks like, here are some of the things I’d do.

Hike the Griffith Park trail to the Observatory and have a sunset picnic on the lawn.

Take a stroll down Rodeo Drive for sightseeing and some shopping.

Spend the day admiring art and the beautiful grounds at The Getty, maybe even touring The Getty Villa as well.

Peruse art and snap some pictures at the lamps at LACMA.

Catch a movie with friends at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Grab smoothies and snacks from Erewhon.

Explore the beach in Malibu.

Shop, hike, and grab food in Topanga Canyon.

Some of my favorite restaurants that I’d take them to would be: Iroha Sushi in Studio City, Laurel Tavern in Studio City for Burgers, Avra in Beverly Hills, The Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills, Aroma Cafe for brunch.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My Mom is someone who I credit so much for my success and the woman I am today.

Throughout my life, I’ve generally always been pretty close to my Mom, though our relationship has not always been easy. As I’ve grown and matured, I’ve come to respect, admire, appreciate, understand, and love her more and more. While there are many ways that we are different, we are also very similar.

My Mother is strong, independent, driven, ambitious, and incredibly generous. While she wasn’t a business owner or entrepreneur, she is a savvy real estate investor and has a very entrepreneurial spirit. She values sustainability, longevity, health, and leaving a legacy.

She is also someone who is a great example of family values and what it means to love your family. My Mom is the oldest of 9 – from a big Italian family – and anyone and everyone is always welcome at my Mom’s house. She is generous with her time, her energy, her resources, and her knowledge. She’s also not afraid to give some tough love either.

I’ve gotten so much of my independent spirit, confidence, love for others, and my generosity from her.

I’m happy to call her both a friend, a role model, and of course, my Mom.

Website: https://www.laurensalaun.com

Instagram: @laurensalaun

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurensalaun

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaurenMSalaun

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@laurensalaun

Image Credits
Monica Linda of Girl Squad Media

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