We recently connected with Lauren Trivison and have shared our conversation below.
Lauren, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
I have overcome my imposter syndrome with time, education and a large support system. I began my business in content creation and influencer marketing when I was 21 and felt very young and inexperienced at that point in time. As a college student, there is no tutorial for entrepreneurship especially in the digital age. Once I graduated college and continued working on my craft, I began to feel more self assured in myself. With each success and failure, I was able to continue with my goals and reaffirm to myself that I can in fact do this seemingly impossible task.
Alongside this gradual confidence that came with time, I also overcame my imposter syndrome by educating myself with various influencer courses. I worked with other women in my industry to learn how they made an income as well as spending time to understand the platforms I utilize daily in seminars and posts from the companies themselves. At first I was a bit stubborn about learning and thought I could do everything on my own but once I got out of my own head and opened myself up to adapting and learning I was then able to feel self assured in my work.
Finally one of the biggest aspects to overcoming imposter syndrome has been my support system. There are still days when I get anxious or feel down and like I am not worthy to have a seat at the table I have worked so hard for. When I notice myself struggling, I know I can go to my friends, mentors and partner for an encouraging word. They have all seen the effort that has gone into running my business and they remind me that I am good at my job and will do great going forward. Without these people in my corner and kind words like, “I’m proud of you”, I don’t think I would be where I am today.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Lauren Trivison and I am a midsize women’s fashion creator. As a child, I knew I always wanted to do something in fashion. Some of my earliest career memories were connected to clothing and the fashion industry as a whole has been a passion of mine forever. Come early adulthood, I got my first job as a saleswoman at Nordstrom and my love of fashion grew deeper. There was something special about styling other women and helping people feel confident in themselves through how they presented themselves in the world.
Fast forward a few years and I found myself facing some mental health challenges. During these tough times I knew I could get through the harder days with a good outfit and taking some time on my appearance. I have always lived by the adage when you look good you feel good and slowly but surely I was able to rebuild my confidence and have fun with clothing once again. Around this same time I was talking to a childhood friend and asked if I should start a fashion blog/Instagram page. By that point I was the friend that everyone in college asked for fashion advice and my closet was picked through almost daily for outfits to borrow. It felt like a natural marriage and I am so glad I took the leap.
In the five years since I started my page, I grew from 0 followers to now over 90,000. I began as a size 8 college gal and with the pandemic, second puberty and overall just growing up I grew to a woman’s size 12 which brought me to my current niche, midsize women’s fashion. Learning how to dress my new body was a challenge and each day I took my audience along as I tested out trends and discovered what my personal style was in this size. It has been such a treat so far and I have made the loveliest connections over the years with fellow creators and followers who now feel confident enough to wear what they want because they see me rocking these outfits. Never did I imagine I would have the platform I have today plus the added bonus of helping other women makes me so grateful for what I do. To see my current fashion journey and discovery of my style as I head into my late 20s, please visit my Instagram and TikTok!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Looking back, I think my resilience, adaptability and confidence helped me get to where I am today. In influencer marketing, there can be a lot of hate and times when you want to give up. Being an entrepreneur is certainly a roller coaster and I have felt very down and like I wanted to quit over the years. Taking a risk and doing something outside the norm always made me feel like an outsider but I have learned to embrace the fringe and continue following my dreams. Knowing I have incredible opportunities around me each day and weathering highs and lows has helped me stay resilient. Taking my work one day at a time has helped me forge on and victories now feel that much sweeter.
As for adaptability, I have learned to become very flexible as a creator. I used to be a very stubborn person that only looked at the world in black and white. Throughout my time as a creative, I have realized there are actually a lot of grey areas in life and in business. Nowadays I am more openminded to learning new skills, taking on new challenges and accepting when I may not know as much as I once thought I did. Working in social media in particular has been a testament to adaptability as the platforms constantly change. Each week I am keeping up with trends, trying something new and reminding myself that it is okay to fail and we can try something different next time.
With regards to confidence, I have learned to be my biggest fan. Each time I post to social media, I am putting myself up for criticism and I have to be okay with the fact that there are people that won’t like me. This has helped me feel good in both my body and mind knowing I am living a life for myself and what I need as an individual. So often we are told life has to look a certain way but that is not the case at all. We are allowed to follow our dreams and feel good in who we are even if society is telling women to feel otherwise.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
I believe it is best to be a well rounded person instead of focusing solely on our strengths. Through our weaknesses we learn so much about ourselves and become increasingly reliable on ourselves which is a strength. I have come to this perspective as a student of the jesuit philosophy. In college I attended Gonzaga University in Spokane WA and we were taught to foster the entire person with a holistic education. There I learned to take care of my mind, body and soul through a wide array of classes and extracurriculars. In school I developed my love of travel and putting myself in uncomfortable positions that not only honed in my current strengths but developed my weaknesses through experience. I also have adapted this philosophy into my adulthood where I take on challenges that I may not feel suited for in the moment but I end up learning a lot in who I am afterwards.
For example, I joined a women’s event group last year as their head of marketing. I had no prior experience in event planning but quickly learned how to put on a big event through many trials and errors. Similarly I was able to learn more about entrepreneurship and working with others instead of relying solely on myself. It has made me a more interesting person at the end of the day and that is one of my main goals in life. One should never be dull or boring but instead live a life where there are stories to be told.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.laurentrivison.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurentrivison
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-trivison/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@laurentrivison
Image Credits
Danny Cordero Photography
Electric Photoland
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
