Meet Lara Jean

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lara Jean. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lara below.

Lara, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

As often happens, I think that my purpose found me. At the end of the day, our purpose is just to be and experience life, but we all end up with that something that feels special and gets us excited. For me that something is storytelling, written and visual. I was raised to appreciate nature and books, and after years of practice and encouragement it felt like the obvious thing to start telling stories myself! Humans are natural storytellers, and when you read enough you find yourself wanting to write your own tales. My experiences in life shaped me into the artist and writer I am today.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m a freelance writer and illustrator, originally from Michigan and currently living in Tennessee. I’ve been drawing since I was old enough to hold a pencil. I have a deep love for storytelling, nature, and how we can learn to be kinder to each and our world through art and whimsy. And I just love a good frog in a fantasy outfit.

My wish is to bring a little hope and lightness to a world that can often seem so dark. I write and draw to self-soothe. If I can share some of that comfort with others, and maybe inspire them to pass it on, then I’ve done something incredible! We all need rest and recovery. Stories and art can be a healthy escapism that feeds the soul.

Currently I am working on completing a middle grade chapter series about a girl named Faun, as well as illustrating more children’s books. In April my friend Rebekah Reese and I released a book called Penny and the Pocket Dragon, and I’m still just so delighted with the reception and the joy of working with a friend on a book. I can’t wait to do another! And the story ideas just keep coming!

You can find Penny and the Pocket Dragon online from Barnes & Noble, and my self published children’s books are currently available from my Etsy shop.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

My fearfulness has had the biggest impact on my life. It has made me lean heavily on books and drawing to escape, to hide, to comfort, and yes, avoid. I would daydream and run away to Middle Earth whenever possible when I was young, and sometimes still do. But out of that fearfulness came hours and hours of practice that resulted in, shockingly, no small amount of skill! Though at many phases of my life I’ve resented my anxious and sensitive soul, it has made me into a compassionate and empathetic artist, a person I now love very much.

Of course the dreamy part of me who can’t fall asleep without writing a story in her head has taken me such wonderful places! She’s terrible at math, but if she doesn’t just have the best ideas sometimes. Dreamy Lara loves stories.

There has also always been some part of me that refuses to let me give up on myself. She insists I can and will find people and places that really are good for me (and she’s always been right). She never lets me settle for icky situations, she protects me and makes me the good kind of stubborn.

These are not traits I’d say I initially developed by choice, they are simply parts of that have always been in me that I’ve been growing with and navigating into strengths. The process never ends. When we meet all our parts with compassion and curiosity, we often find they are our greatest teachers and protectors. They make us our own unique blend! My best advice is to always try and meet yourself with open curiosity, even your fearful parts or the ones that refuse to focus in math class.

Ask yourself: What can I learn about myself from this part? How can I better know and get along with all of my parts? How can I help them all to lean into their strengths?

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

Books have been my friends and teachers for my whole life, but it wasn’t until recent years that I started reading anything that wasn’t fantasy fiction. I think that in a different timeline, another close version of me might have gone into some kind of psychology field, because I am absolutely fascinated with how our brains and bodies work. I now read a lot of philosophy and brain science books, and my favorite one by far has been No Bad Parts by Richard C. Schwartz.

It was this book that introduced me to the concept of IFS, parts and Self, and helped make sense of the many, many parts I have. Now I don’t see them as some insane bunch of voices sabotaging me, but important pieces that need self compassion. I get along with myself so much better since I started exploring parts work and learning about nervous system regulation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.larajeandoodles.com
• Instagram: @larajeandoodles
• Other: @larajeandoodles on ticktoc
  @larajeandoodles.bsky.social on bluesky

Image Credits

All images copyright Lara Jean Doodles.