There are a lot of people that I respect and admire. The majority of them have earned their place in the world through their hard work and their intelligence (read: the old fashioned way).
Nowadays, its rare to find new, up-and-coming role models. Especially for women. With all the Paris Hilton wannabes and the seemingly ever-growing cult that idolizes the Lindsay Lohan culture of partying, boozing and drug-related incidences, it's rare to find a well-known woman that can inspire the hearts and minds of the millions of women across the globe.
Lauren Conrad is not, by far, a woman that is set to inspire the hearts and minds of womankind across the globe. She is not the next Mother Teresa, nor is she the next Grace Kelly.
But, somehow, to me, she is inspiring and I can honestly say that I admire her.
Her rise to fame
...or infamy.... you decide
At 17, Lauren was cast by MTV producers in the new reality TV show Laguna Beach. If I remember correctly, besides the Real World franchise, MTV never really had a reality TV show like Laguna. After a number of successful seasons on Laguna Beach, she moved to Los Angeles and the MTV mega-hit The Hills got started.
I know all this because I am an avid Hills fan. Somehow, quips about her life seem to penetrate through all the drama and I seem to retain this somewhat non-essential information. Like every other Lauren fan, The Hills Season 6 was the worst of all seasons and that was the spiraling end of that.
Anyhoot. The Hills was a c a s h - c o w. Seriously. I think by the time the show was in it's FIFTH season (which was also the season that Lauren left), Lauren was earning about USD70,000 an episode.
Why she's pretty awesome
... to me at least
But all the above is not the reason I like the girl. As my Daddy would say, "She's a smart cookie."
She may have earned USD70,000 an episode, and I'm sure she earns more now too since the show seems to be on syndication-mode, but she had all the genius of a business woman. In her contract, she made a deal with MTV to say that no one else on the show could earn as much as her.
Say it with me now. Phwoar. Genius.
The next highest earners were Heidi and Spencer (before he turned crazy of course) at about USD60,000.
Stellar business sense? Check!
Lauren Conrad: Fashion Designer
To be honest, her designs aren't super fantastic or incredibly revolutionary. To me, her collections always seem to be reflective of her as a person. To the best of my knowledge, as a fashion designer, you don't design for yourself, you design for others. But in her case, it works.
Why? She has millions of fans. Literally. And that's even before she decided to start her own collection. Think about it from a business point of view. You need a market, you need a consumer database. She had all that. She was just capitalizing on her passion for fashion (urgh, sorry for the cliche) and her already rising stardom.
Her initial offering as a fashion designer didn't fare too well. Stuff seemed overpriced and her stand-alone fashion house wasn't able to stand alone. But that's ok, cause she's LC. She has a super fanbase and if she can't do it on her own, companies would literally trip over themselves to help her.
Enter Kohl's and the LC Lauren Conrad for Kohl's collections. They are doing incredibly well and what may have started out as a guest designing spot has turned into a full time fashion gig.
Ability to bounce back after failure? Check!
Lauren Conrad: Author
Let's not stop at the fashion. The woman is conquering novels too. She has the L.A. Candy trilogy series, of which the latest and final episode Sugar and Spice was just released. Best part? She is a NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR.
Um... who wouldn't admire her? Seriously. Whoever thought she was a dumb blonde from another dumb reality TV show was probably appalled to hear that she wrote a book. Upon hearing the news that her book made the New York Times Bestseller list at #1, I'd imagine they probably got a heart attack. They're probably going to have a stroke once they hear that she's planning on writing a spin-off of one of the L.A. Candy characters.
Even better? She simultaneously released Lauren Conrad Style alongside Sugar and Spice. Lauren's known for her classic, clean-line, laid-back, California girl meets high fashion style. She's also known for her signature thick winged black eyeliner and barely there makeup look. Everyone who considers themselves a Lauren fan knows that she doesn't like eyeshadow too much which is why she sticks to eyeliner and mascara.
If I know this much about Lauren and her style, you can imagine the people who know infinitely more. And you can imagine those people, buying the book on her opinions of what style really is.
Proof of Intelligence? Check!
Parting words on Lauren.
Last but not least, Lauren is the spokesperson for mark cosmetics, a subsidiary company of Avon cosmetics.
If you don't know how successful the Avon brand is, you must have just been born. mark is aimed at a younger target market and what better way to target that market than to collaborate with a person from TV? Scratch that. What better way to advertise young, fresh makeup than with a person who is practically known for her young, fresh look?
Business no brainer. Seriously.
To be honest, I can't believe I wrote so much about Lauren. It's scary and a little creepy, but I guess I seriously admire her. She's 24 (two years older than me) and is an inspiration to young entrepreneurs. Of course, you could argue that she had the fame, which helped her tremendously. At the same time, it's what she did with her fame that impresses me the most.
She didn't party it up or get addicted to drugs. Or, for that matter, get arrested for possession of cocaine, like some other reality TV star-slash-heiress.
She used her business acumen and created for herself a growing mogul empire that, at this point, has no horizon.
Plus she's a young woman making her mark in the world.
A true role model, don't you think?
Peace lovies! Until the next post...
