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Lauren

@l_stray

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Lauren "Lo" 🍑
Spelman Alumna 💁🏾‍♀️ Hoya 🐶
Marketer | Founder/CEO of @notedd

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

I’m writing a book because we were handed a blueprint for adulthood that left out the actual living. It’s time to reroute, rewrite the rules & find joy while figuring it out

Adulting is Lit: Finding Joy While Figuring it Out challenges the pressure of feeling that we have to have life figured out by a certain age

Being invited to @storehousevoices Women & Words as 1 of 70 women selected, was an unexplainable experience. I can just say I’m grateful & excited to see where this journey continues to take me

No matter when you joined @theadultingqueen community (because we’ve been here since 2019), I’m glad you’re here & let’s make adulting lit 🔥

#Bookstagram #WomenAuthors #MillennialAdulting #PenguinRandomHouse #StoreHouseVoices

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ESSENCE Festival has always been about more than music, culture, or celebration. Since its beginning in 1995, it has been a space where Black women have gathered to define ourselves on our own terms—not through someone else’s expectations, but through our own power, creativity, leadership, and vision.

This year, I had the honor of attending for the very first time... as a speaker.

Ironically, the panel was called “Beyond the 9–5,” because that’s exactly the conversation we’re having as a culture.

For generations, success was measured by titles, promotions, credentials, and fitting into systems we didn’t create.

Today, more of us are asking a different question:

Who am I beyond the role I’ve been taught to play?

That’s the work I believe defines this next era.

Not simply building businesses.
Not simply creating multiple income streams.

But reclaiming our identities, trusting our lived experience, and building work that reflects who we’re becoming—not just what we’ve been conditioned to do.

I believe we’re entering The Identity Economy™, where your greatest asset isn’t simply your résumé.

It’s your perspective.
Your lived wisdom.
Your adaptability.
Your willingness to evolve.

Thank you, ESSENCE, for creating a space where Black women continue to imagine—and build—what comes next.

Here’s to going beyond the 9–5.

—

Thank you to my incredible @newvoicesfamily @d.gl17 for having me, @l_stray for keeping us on schedule and special shoutout to @quinn.conyers @ensa.gram @iamcaseyariel @mandyestiverne for joining me on our incredible panel. Loved sharing the stage with you! Until next year 🥂

#ESSENCEFestival #BeyondThe9to5 #IdentityEconomy #IdentityEvolution #BlackWomenInBusiness

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Identity precedes reality.

HUGE thank you to @newvoicesfamily @newvoicesfund @d.gl17 @l_stray for having me on the We Love Us - The Marketplace Stage inside the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center for “Beyond the 9–5: How Black Women Are Building Income on Their Own Terms,” panel with @iamcaseyariel @ensa.gram @quinn.conyers @mandyestiverne — very grateful for the opportunity to stand beside you and make an impact!

Here's what we discussed:

Most people think the next level requires a better strategy.

—More money
—More followers 
—More opportunities 
—More credentials

I’ve found it requires something much harder—outgrowing the identity that created your current life.

Ten years ago, speaking on a stage like ESSENCE felt impossible. I was capable but I hadn’t become the woman who could hold it yet.

Looking back, I wasn’t building a career, I was rebuilding an identity.

The opportunities, relationships, stages, and rooms didn’t appear because I worked harder or waited for the universe to deliver them.

They appeared because I slowly stopped identifying with a version of myself that could no longer carry me where I was meant to go.

That’s the work no one sees.

We spend so much time trying to change our circumstances—a new job, a new business, a new relationship, a new city.

But every external transition eventually asks the same question:

Who do you need to become to sustain the life you’re asking for?

I believe we’re entering what I call The Identity Economy™—an era where your greatest competitive advantage isn’t simply what you know or what you do, it’s who you become.

The next level isn’t something you achieve, it’s someone you become.

Dress is from @renttherunway #rtrpartner use the link in my bio and code RTRXTJONES for 50% off at checkout!

#PersonalGrowth #WomenInBusiness #ESSENCEFestival #identityshift

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Was fun being back in the dirty dirty! ATL still 🔥hot🔥Lanta baby! 🫶🏽🥳

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The Surprise that waited 70 years 🫶🏽🎉🎂 Happy Birthday Ron!

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We’re excited to share a new project we’ve been working on: 🎧 Community, Off Script

A podcast where community, culture, and strategy intersect—real conversations about what it actually takes to build connections that last.

In this episode, @l_stray sits down with Jordan Hernandez, founder of @_completelybooked—a literary and book club community bringing readers and authors together through conversation, events, and shared experience.

If you’ve been thinking about building a community (or rethinking the one you already have), this conversation is for you.

🎧 Episode is live now
Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts

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NOW OR NEVER: Today, Sunday March 8th, is the absolute final day to purchase your Spelman C’2015 Yearbook or miss out on it FOREVER! Buy now at the link in @spelman2015 ’s bio 📘

To set up a payment plan, select Affirm at checkout!

Share this with all your Spelman C’2015 friends to make sure they know this book will never be printed again and you don’t want to miss out on these & so many more memories!

Tag the friends you see in the comments below 🤩⬇️

Send any questions to spelmanyearbook2015@gmail.com 🩵

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We’ve been reminiscing on our college experience - from campus orgs and performance teams, to parties and homecomings, we took advantage of what the AUC had to offer and lived out those years to the fullest!

See these photos & more memories in our Spelman C’2015 yearbook 📘🩵 Visit the link in @spelman2015 ’s bio to buy yours today!

(This book is focused on Spelman C’2015 but Morehouse brothers you are more than welcome to buy one for yourself or your Spelman sister 💁🏾‍♀️)

Tag the friends you recognize below 🤩⬇️🩵

Please read important details on the purchase platform and send any questions to spelmanyearbook2015@gmail.com 🩵

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10 years looks so good on us🩵

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📣 What an incredible time we had at #ESSENCEFest with @NewVoicesFamily! The New Voices Village & Entrepreneur Hub was the place to be, packed with inspiration, powerful connections, and invaluable resources for founders.

If you missed it this year, don’t worry — we’ll be back! Make sure to join us next year and experience the energy, learning, and community for yourself.

#ESSENCEFest #ESSENCEFestival
#NewVoicesFamily #NewVoicesVillage
#NewVoicesEntrepreneurHub
#NewVoicesLearningLab

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I had the most amazing time in Detroit with @supportblackownedmedia 🥂🙏🏾

I’ve been quietly developing new tech at @cotripper as part of our pivot into digital media.

The BOMESI community is unmatched and full of really dope collaborative people. They’ve been an amazing sounding board for my ambitious goals 🙌🏾

It seems fitting to give them their flowers on Juneteenth eve 💐 thank y’all!

Can’t wait to do it again next year ✨

#BOMESISummit2025

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