Excuse me while I have a little pinch me moment on H+H today. Well, a big pinch me moment, if I’m being honest.
Today, I’m asking Lauryn Evarts Bosstick of The Skinny Confidential, one of my blogger-heroes, if you will, all the behind-the-scenes details of her day-to-day as an absolute boss bitch.
If you live under a rock, and aren’t familiar with The Skinny Confidential: first of all, are you okay? second of all, you’re in for a real treat.
I’ve been following along on Lauryn’s life through TSC for YEARS ( probably around 6-7 years to be exact ), and since I discovered her platform, Lauryn has grown TSC from a blog to a book, a podcast, fitness guide & meal plan, and a YouTube channel. TSC is community-driven, straight-forward, and full of applicable life advice at every turn and on every platform.
Lauryn’s no-bullshit, sassy-as-fuck attitude is something that inspired me to start my own blog a little over 5 years ago, and she continues to inspire me DAILY ( you’ll see why in a sec ).
So, when Lauryn reached out to do a little blog-swap/interview, I may or may not have metaphorically shit my pants. I’m playing it cool but…. I’m also fan-girling.
Over on TSC today, I’m sharing a bit about how dealing with years of mean girls, haters and being left out led me to blogging, which led me to creating a dream-life. This is a topic I haven’t discussed on the blog before, but it’s a story I felt pulled to share, specifically for those of you feeling held back or restricted by the fear of looking “weird” or being made fun of. I’m also talking about my morning routine & a few other actionable tips n tricks.
Okay, from here on out let’s let Lauryn do the talking, shall we?
+ Introduce yourself + your platform, for those of us who don’t know what you’re all about! How did you get started and how did you get here?
The Skinny Confidential is a blog, a brand, a podcast, and it’s your cheeky resource to all things beauty, wellness and skin. I launched it when I was totally broke in college, teaching Pure Barre and living at my godparents’ house. I saw a space in the market for something that connected women everywhere online. It wasn’t just about me, it was about learning tips and tricks from other people too. The name of my blog and brand has nothing to do with being skinny- it’s all about getting ‘the skinny.’ Since starting the blog, The Skinny Confidential has grown into a book, fitness guide & meal plan, podcast and YouTube channel.
I’m all about a niche. The Skinny Confidential started as a health and fitness blog, but I knew I’d grow it outward. I wanted to be methodical about it and take my time. It slowly grew into other things. Now it’s turned into more of a lifestyle brand where we talk a lot about business. However, you can still expect a lot about skin, beauty, and wellness. A few years ago I again saw a space in the market where the audience was wanting more than just a curated picture and my latest makeup find. We decided to launch a podcast where we could really provide value in an intimate way.
You just had the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen in MY LIFE ( seriously, y’all need to go insta-stalk Zaza immediately ). 1) congrats! & 2) how has motherhood impacted your work life and what’s your secret for killing it both as a Mom & at work?
Wow. Thank you so much. I hate to say this, but the secret really is delegation, time management and being efficient with your time. It’s such a boring answer but it’s really so true. I’m so lucky that I have help. We had a night nurse and still do, and that’s been extremely helpful for me to get my sleep because I’m way more effective when I sleep.
My husband Michael is also extremely hands on. So much so that it’s actually annoying. He is so hands on that sometimes he’s in my space. He wakes up with her at night, helps in the morning, watches her while I go to Pilates, he changes diapers all the time. So, my advice from a micro level is to not settle when you’re looking for a partner to raise a child with. There are so many ways to raise a child, but if you want to do it with someone it’s so important you’re on the same page. I’d be single if it wasn’t for my husband. I’m so about not settling.
For us being on the same page includes that Michael knows I’m a businesswoman and entrepreneur and I don’t want to lose my identity just because I had a child. Maintaining my identity is extremely important to me and my husband knows that.
As far as time management goes, I have an assistant who is a practitioner of my calendar and makes my life more efficient. I’m a huge fan of passive multitasking too. This means I like to do one productive thing while doing something more passive like walking while I’m on a work call, learn from a podcast while I fold laundry or do my makeup, answer emails or DM’s on my phone while I walk on a treadmill.
As far as working out, I do most of them at home except for Pilates which is just down the street. When it comes to shooting content and a lot of other work stuff I batch. So I’ll do all my phone calls on Wednesdays, podcast on Mondays and Fridays, and spend all day shooting content for the blog twice a month with my team.
To make sure I get things done I use a time cube, a kitchen timer works too. So I set a certain amount of time for tasks. For instance I’ll set an hour aside to answer emails. That hour is completely focussed on emails and when the timer goes off I stop and move on to something else. If I’m constantly living in my inbox, I feel like I’m working on someone else’s to-do list and it doesn’t give me space to create.
Before I found out I was pregnant I had just decided to write my second book. Instead of thinking of it as this massive project I took little steps and committed to working on it 4 hours each week.
All those little things really help a lot. Plus, I have an incredible team of people around me who hold me accountable and keep me on track. They hold me accountable to execute which is very helpful for me because there is so much that goes on behind the scene when it comes to creating content with a 5 month old.
In terms of The Skinny Confidential ( as a platform: from the blog, to the socials, to the book, to the podcast ), how do you allocate your work time? What do you spend the majority of your time doing that your followers might not necessarily see?
I’m very particular about being focused on one medium when I work on it. For instance Mondays and Fridays are typically for the podcast. We’ll interview 3-4 people in one day so that we can stay in that head space. As I said above, I do all my phone calls on Wednesday. I speak with my editor twice a week, at the same time each day. Blog content is done at the same time on the same day each week.
Instagram content is something I put effort into every day. Bringing the audience along is a 7-day a week job, but I do love to take a social media blackout a few days a month. A lot of time is spent documenting as opposed to creating.
I’m also very specific about the time I spend with my daughter, Zaza. I make sure I’m off the phone and I have all her nap times in my calendar. We spend 2 hours together to just chill when she wakes up every morning, and I like to put her to bed.
A lot of time is also spent reading and thinking. It’s even scheduled in my calendar. The short answer I guess is that I’m very specific about what happens on each day and also allowing myself time to create and build the brand.
You & Michael talk to countless thought-leaders & absolute badasses on the Him & Her podcast. I’ve noticed a popular topic many of your guests touch on is failure. What are some small ways ( or big ways ) you feel you’ve failed as a blogger and how were you able to learn from those & pivot?
I fail every single day. I could be a better manager, delegate more, manage my time better, but I’ve always thought since I was little that failure is part of putting yourself out there. You can’t put yourself out there without risking failure. It’s just part of the game. Not everything is going to be a homerun.
Another thing is that I could be better at reading the room, especially with everything going on right now. Taking a more active role in the business side of things is something I’m trying to do but have also dropped the ball on that a bit.
Ultimately I’m not that scared of failure, to be totally blunt. It’s just part of putting yourself out there and being an entrepreneur. You are not going to escape unscathed. It’s so cliché to say, but whenever I fail I just try to learn the lesson or see the silver lining. Plus, a life without failure would be boring in my opinion.
As a blogger, influencer, and author, you’re a leader, not only to your The Skinny Confidential team, but to your following as a whole. What’s the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned so far?
I hope that I can be a role model to women to completely be themselves, on their own terms. The amount of people I come across who are living for other people is out of this world. My parents did such a good job of keeping me open-minded and didn’t put pressure on me to be someone I’m not. If just a bit of that energy can rub off on anyone in the audience, I would feel really good about that.
What is something you wished you had known in your mid-twenties? What would you tell 25-year-old Lauryn? ( about life, work, love, whatever you think would be helpful! )
Don’t bulldoze and don’t react until you’ve really really thought about it. There’s nothing sexier than being able to manage your emotions. I’m so about logic and stoicism has taught me so much about being logical and understanding what you can and can’t control.
My 25 year old self would have benefited from stoicism for sure, and learning more about history. History always repeats itself.
Robert Greene is a teacher to me. He wrote this great book called The Laws of Human Nature and it’s all about how to be more stoic and understand people. My younger self could’ve used this to manage emotions better.
What are a few small habits you’ve picked up that make you a happier person in your day-to-day?
Breathwork by Wim Hof. I do it every single morning and it completely clears my head and gives me energy. 10 minutes of this works better for me than 4 hours of meditation. I do it with Zaza on my chest and she loves it.
Feng shui is huge for me. I have 2 little fountains I just bought for my house so we have the sound of water around us, we like to have a salt rock lamp on, meditation music, candles, oil diffusers- all these things are essential to my well-being and it makes me feel so much better to be surrounded by these things. Quarantine has taught me that I love and crave nature.
Reading is just the best too. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t read, even if it’s just on Audible. I’ve learned more from reading and listening than I did in 4 years of college. Some of my all-time favorite books are: Untamed and Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle, How To Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell, Becoming by Michelle Obama, The Gift of Forgiveness by Katherine Schwarzenegger, Inside Out by Demi Moore, Crushing It by Gary V, The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier, What Remains by Carol Radziwill, Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis,
Another thing is getting outside myself. Whenever I find myself talking about myself, it makes me want to shut up and hear about someone else. I’ve made it a habit to be more interested and curious in other people and ask questions. All those things are little habits- those and fucking freezing cold showers.
We’re all seeking inspiration, a bit of knowledge, entertainment, &/or a daily dose of realness. Who are your favorite people to follow on social media lately? Who’s providing value to your everyday right now?
To be honest, I’m very cutthroat with the content I consumed. For me to be consuming other people’s content takes away from me creating my own. I don’t like to scroll the feed. If there’s a creator I want to hear from, I’ll go seek them out.
Payton, I love your content and think you’re so artsy. My friend @ingriddelamarekenny has so many good tips for eating, weight loss, balancing hormones, health and wellness and it’s all very chic & French. @melissawoodhealth is someone I like too, and then I consume a lot of very masculine content. That doesn’t mean they’re men, it’s just that I like a strong hand. Like ‘get up and get going’ type of content. This could be Gary Vee, Ed Mylett, Rachel Hollis, Lewis Howes, or Jillian Michaels. Recently I read Untamed and Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle. She has been on a lot of podcasts lately and really inspires me. She is so eloquent and articulates things I’m feeling that I don’t know how to articulate.
Lastly, again, I’m a student of Robert Green’s work and I consume Ryan Holiday every day. The Daily Stoic has so many quotes on really controlling your emotions and will really help you with your emotional intelligence. It’s really helped me so much in business, my personal life and my relationships.
Finally, what’s in store for The Skinny Confidential in the coming months ( if you’re able to share )? What are you most excited about for the future of The Skinny Confidential as a platform?
My book that I’ve been working on for the last year comes out next year. It makes me feel like I’m pregnant with my second baby. Product is definitely in the works and has been for the last 2 years. It’s something I’ve poured every drop of my creativity into while using the community’s opinion. And I look forward to more meet-ups, a book tour, a podcast tour- whether they have to be virtual or not. We also just want to continue to grow the podcast and showcase tons of different, diverse, dynamic guests who have a really cool story.
Where can everyone find you?? You do it all– so give us all the links we need to keep up with you!
You can find me on: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook. Plus, you can join the secret Facebook group here.
So, do y’all love or do y’all LOVE? If you haven’t already gone to find Lauryn on Instagram or started browsing TSC, I’ll pause for you to do so.
*moment of silence*
Also, what do we think of these blog-style interviews? Who should I interview next? collaborating with the people I love to follow & am inspired by is what blogging is reallllllly all about.
It’s been real, reallllll fun today, ladies. LOVE U & Talk soon. x
The post Lauryn Evarts Bosstick Talks The Skinny Confidential, Mom-Life, Game-Changing Habits, & Who She’s Following on the ‘Gram appeared first on Hustle + Halcyon.
