Successful AF Pod

Jazz Hands, Being A Generalist and Almost Married at First Sight - Lauren Brighton is Successful AF

• Jesswest

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In this episode of Successful AF, host Jess West interviews Lauren Brighton, a London-born change manager whose career journey has been refreshingly non-linear. From creating legacy films to navigating the male-dominated property world, Lauren has embraced being a generalist over a specialist with infectious enthusiasm.

Lauren's story is one of evolution - from prioritising appearance over intellect in early corporate environments to showing up authentically confident in trainers and minimal makeup. She redefines success as "perma happiness" - a bubbling groove where family, friends, career, and wellbeing exist in harmony. With candid honesty, she discusses self-doubt, the challenges of working in unsupportive environments, and the importance of making space for fun in adult life. And yes, we get the delightful story of how she almost ended up on Married at First Sight after a casual office email led to full psychometric testing and studio recordings.


About Lauren Brighton
Lauren started her career at Bucket List Film, creating short documentary films about people's legacies, before moving through various roles in marketing, communications, and property. She's passionate about women's networks in corporate environments and brings her creative background to everything she does - including change management where she applies her "jazz hands" approach to transformation projects. Based in London, she's someone who genuinely knows how to prioritise relationships, wellbeing, and joy alongside professional growth.


Connect with Lauren:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-brighton-49a00257/
Instagram: @llbrighton

Reflection Questions
  • Where in your life are you doubting yourself unnecessarily?
  • How do you define success beyond traditional markers like salary or job title?
  • What would it look like to prioritise fun as consciously as you prioritise work?
  • How can you embrace being a generalist in a world that often rewards specialisation?

Lauren's story reminds us that career paths don't have to be linear, that success is individually defined, and that sometimes the most authentic version of ourselves emerges when we stop trying to fit into someone else's definition of professional success. Her journey from self-doubt to self-advocacy shows that confidence isn't about having all the answers - it's about trusting yourself enough to lean into opportunities with passion and commitment.


Love this episode? Hit subscribe and leave us a review! And if you know someone who's redefining success on their own terms, nominate them at successfulafpod@gmail.com - we're always looking for incredible people to feature.

Connect with Jess:

Instagram: @compasscoaching.co

Website: www.compasscoachingandyoga.com

Speaker 4:

Welcome to this

Speaker 5:

week's episode of Successful af, the podcast for people who've climbed all the ladders, ticked all the boxes, and still feel like success is a million miles away. Today I'm joined by Lauren Brighton and I am so thrilled to have her here. Lauren and I met in the corporate world where we both work as change managers, but what you'll quickly discover is that Lauren's career journey has been anything but linear. From starting out at a niche company, creating legacy films to building businesses within businesses, to navigating the very male dominated property world of the early 2010s. Lauren has truly embraced being a generalist over a specialist. What I love about Lauren is her infectious approach to life. She genuinely is one of the only people who will have me wearing a pink feather boa at a work launch event. I don't really do feathers. She's someone who genuinely knows how to have fun and prioritize the things that matter. Her definition of success isn't about climbing the traditional corporate ladder. It's about creating what she calls perma happiness. Bubbling groove where family, friends, career, and wellbeing are all balanced in harmony. Lauren is also incredibly honest about the challenges she's faced, particularly around self-doubt and working in environments that weren't always supportive of women. But perhaps most importantly, she's someone who's learned to trust herself and lean into opportunities with genuine passion and commitment. And yes, we do get to hear about that time. She almost ended up on married at first sight. Trust me, you'll want to stick around for that story. Let's get into today's episode. I.

Speaker:

Lauren. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you for being here. Very, very exciting. we're gonna dive straight in. Tell us your story.

Speaker 2:

Okay. it's funny actually'cause when I know you sent over a few questions in advance to kind of like, have a think about these. And I read your story under the banner of, you know, successful AF pod and immediately was like. Engage brain list all the things you've done in your career that are successful. Think about every single career move you've made and why it's been successful. And then I was listening to some of the other episodes and people like launching into their life and where they've come from and I was like, oh, this is part of the problem, isn't it? I was like, my brain went panic list every success. So anyway, loosely, I guess I'll cover a bit of career stuff, but Yeah, my story, I'm from London. I'm a London girly, born and bred, which I feel actually quite proud of. went to, university in Liverpool, which was very, very fun. had a fantastic time there. and then moved back to London, which I think I knew I always wanted to do. started working, my working world for a very niche company called Bucket List Film, which was run by a friend of, still a very good friend of mine called Gemma. it was all about creating short sort of legacy films to capture people's lives. So people who'd done. Amazing things in their life or being particularly successful in a field or maybe founded a business and had quite a legacy to leave behind. and it was all about capturing it for kind of future generations to be able to look back on. And yeah, so bucket list film and I did a couple of years there and it was amazing'cause it was just me and the CEO. So I had this really fresh out of uni opportunity to kind of start something from the ground up. I was doing everything from like press list to planning launch parties, to writing scripts, to planning production and filming days to anything and everything. And I totally, totally loved it. I think probably naturally I lean more on the creative side. So it was like a really nice creative springboard into the working world.

Speaker:

I didn't know this. And actually this makes so much sense because obviously like you are just someone who's like, I'm just gonna get on with it. I'm just gonna, this is gonna happen. And then like, ideas, ideas, ideas. And then we just, this just stuff happens. So that suddenly makes so much sense.

Speaker 2:

It's probably done me a bit of disservice later down the line in my corporate career, because I think I do sometimes have a bit of a mentality of like, well, I can do that. I've run the accounts. Is that, is that a disservice

Speaker:

or is it actually just like,'cause I think that is your genius. You are just like, yeah, of course. We'll just make it happen. And stuff does just happen. Like, it's like, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, maybe. And do you know what, maybe that's part of some of my, like I'm now in kind of corporate world and have been for quite a long time and it's probably some of my frustration that comes with the corporate world and corporate world parameters is that I do think I can sort of do everything or, or at least give everything a shot. and I think I'm maybe not that good sometimes at staying in my lanes. And it probably comes from those early. I did not know this. Well, there we go. And, and is Becky this film still going? It's not. So it was a really interesting journey I think. We had loads of like press at the beginning and it was all really exciting. We did some super, super cool projects, but I think with something that niche, it's sort of inevitable that in some capacity it will dry up at some point or it evolves as many, many businesses do. and actually what ended up happening was kind of an evolution of the business. a big comms agency. Approached Gemma and said, do you want to come on board and sort of run our luxury marketing division, bring in your film piece.'cause we are working loads on kind of dynamic content and really growing our film arm. she was sort of like, oh, I guess it probably gives me the opportunity to still do the filming side of things, which I love, but maybe open that out slightly more broadly. Anyway, I was like, hello, I'm on. and we'd become very, very good friends by that point. and yeah, she negotiated as part of the deal that I would go with her. So we kind of got to do round two of building a business within a business. and it was a bit more. I was gonna say not more exciting that time, but maybe a bit easier.'cause we were building a business within an existing environment, which meant we had access to so many resources and processes and ways of doing things. but again, I was in a position there where I was running all of our accounts. I was the lead client facing point of contact. I got the chance to be really creative with building that brand. Oh, that was amazing. And so, yeah, did all of that. And then as time went on, I ended up moving to a different part of that bigger firm, which was quite specifically focused on property, and that's where I started my sort of property journey.

Speaker:

I did not know this.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So yeah, that got me into kind of. Property land. very much from marketing and comms background. Did that for a few years. then moved on to a property, agent. did that for another couple of years, then moved into another one. and then I've swung between kind of marketing, communications consulting. I now, work in change management. but yeah, it's been quite a varied career. I think. I've loved the fact that, and actually a really nice. Thing I think particularly in recent years has been sort of watching how skills boomerang, so now working in change management and trying to think of really creative ways to communicate, you know, a huge transformation project to a business and delving into like video and content creation and being like, oh, here come months. We've been here before, writing skills and all my production skills. You know, knowing silly things like, oh, I know how to time code this, or how to do this, I still think. I'm completely unsure of where I'm headed. Career Wine.

Speaker:

I literally messaged someone saying, I still dunno what I wanna do when I grow up. And that's a love, right? there's an amazing book. I will put it in the show notes, but it's all about what it means to be a multipotentialite. And it's okay to have all these different career streams Particularly in the context of the world as it is now and it is changing, But it's very much like you get on the ladder and you build and you build and you get to the top and then you're the CEO or you are not,'cause there's only so many spaces as the CEO and actually there are others of us who are more like, oh, this is fun and I'm gonna do that for a bit. And then this is fun. And as you say, look, all the skills that you take from. All of those things, I think sort of build in. But that seems to be less celebrated and we don't necessarily need the clauses. But I think it's less talked about, like if you have a mentor, they tend to go and you know, what's your six month plan and how you get to the next step and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. And you actually look at things like even in, in I guess lots of, again, corporate working environments, you are often tracked against things like skills matrix and performance matrix. And, and a lot of that is quite sort of. Building this path or this specialism or this, and actually. If I know one thing it is that I definitely want to be a generalist over being a specialist. I mean, my brain, naturally, my partner, I'll be like on the laptop looking at something and then next thing I'm in an interior design hole because I, there's like a doorknob that I need to, and then it's like, ping, did you book that hotel in South Africa? Ping? And I'm like, it's so my personality to ping around that, I don't think I could ever have the patience to build a specialism. Generalist all the way for me,

Speaker:

Great that you know that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, true. True. I am happy knowing. Even if I dunno what I want to do Exactly. Knowing that it's not oh, or hasn't been yet a stranded question yet to

Speaker:

find the specific one that'll send you down that hole of special specialty. what does success mean to you?

Speaker 2:

Oh, it's such a huge question, isn't it? Yes, I know. And it is, it's so interesting and I think you have it. I think you actually have the conversation quite often without realizing it, whether it's with friends or with colleagues And I guess fundamentally it's so individually defined, isn't it? I think for me, particularly recently, I'm like mid thirties. I've been through a big era of lots of weddings and first round bubbas and lots of kind of changes in my social environment and people changing jobs and careers and, that it probably feels more relevant than ever. It feels like a real. Tipping point, that mid thirties bracket. Yeah, you're kind of leaving, I guess, not leaving youth behind, but people are feeling a lot more solid and stable in different directions and I think it encourages you to think more about what success looks like.

Speaker:

I actually think that's a really interesting,'cause I think you are right. There's this like mid. Like, it's sort of like your twenties are for like having fun and discovering. In your thirties are, it feels like you are, particularly as a woman, it's either you go off and you do the baby thing or you go off and you build the career thing. And I'm similar, like I'm in that sort of midpoint of being like, I don't, but I don't really want to choose. And then if I say, well, I do want a family, I kind of feel like I'm betraying the feminism movement. Totally. It's all, it's all very confusing.

Speaker 2:

It really is. And it's so. Difficult, and I think you actually get to a point where we're now massively segueing, aren't we? But on that baby baby piece particularly, and I know, again, this is a conversation I'm having with friends Daily, but I've got myself to the point in the past where I've thought about it so much that I can't decide whether I want children because society tells me or because I truly want them Panic state based on my age bracket, and it's like really hard to kind of bat all of that away and go, what actually is my own genuine view and desire here? And part of me thinks well by the, you know, sheer fact that I. Maybe pushed it back a lot or not done it yet, you know, is that telling you something about maybe direction of travel? It's just, it's a really, it's a really hard one, but on the baby piece actually, and, and talking about success, I was talking to a friend of mine, a couple of weeks ago who. I would say on paper career wise is like, she's majorly successful. She works in the music industry, she's got a super big power job. and she's got a little 1-year-old and she was talking about like, ah, I've just gone back to work. She'd been back a couple of months. And was saying, I actually think I'm gonna resign. and she was like, but the fear and horror of kind of, I've always been so defined by my career. I talked to my mom and dad and I catch up with family and I'm like, but you know, I am gonna be successful. I'm on my way. Look at me. Go. And she was talking about, you know, mental health and wellbeing and actually really, really wanting to invest in her child while he's small and young. And I said to her, I was like, to me that is honestly. Success.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Making such a big life choice to, for your, to prioritize mental health and wellbeing and spending time raising your child. I genuinely don't know if it gets more successful than that. Like that is success. We are all getting very lost and confused in life if we are not holding things like mental health and wellbeing and child rearing. If it's important to you. Yes. As you know, at the top of, at the top of the tree. So yeah, I found that a really interesting kind of conversation and a thought prompt. but I think, to me personally as well, to me, success is if you can create in your own terms and whatever's important to you, this state of almost like perma happiness, just kind of bubbling along in your groove. It doesn't have to be major, major highs and ideally you avoid the major, major lows. for me, that very much comes from balancing like my family relationships, friends, I'm super social. I love doing lots of things. I also care about my career and what I'm building there. So yeah, to me, keeping a kind of bubbling groove of all of the things that are important to me afloat is, is being successful.

Speaker:

We don't talk about the importance of keeping your friends around and I think so many people, particularly at our age, actually are incredibly lonely.'cause either they've not made new friends since school and maybe they don't really feel particularly close to those friends anymore'cause they've grown apart or, or whatever, whatever, whatever. But I think it can also be. Really difficult to find that balance because you are being told like, oh, you know, career this first, that first And a very long time ago someone said to me like, it's like a three-legged stool and you've got your career and you've got your family and friends, and you've got your health and wellbeing. And to balance that stool is your life's work, but also the most difficult thing you'll ever do.

Speaker 2:

Oh God. Like, totally. And it does feel. It can very easily feel like you're always failing in some direction. And I think you actually have to be really kind of, yeah, you have to be quite strong and put boundaries in place to go. Actually, no. Do you know what? I'm not failing at that just because I haven't said yes to the eighth invitation this week to go and do something socially or I haven't been able to make it to the work social you can take a kind of balanced view and I think be. Kind to yourself. Otherwise I get pretty overwhelmed. so yeah, gotta keep the balance. that's a big marker of success for me.

Speaker:

And again, like how has that changed throughout your career or has that bit always been your marker?

Speaker 2:

do you know what, I think that's probably been something that's been quite consistent, I think. In terms of maybe defining success more broadly? it's probably been maybe less shaped by my career, but actually probably quite a lot by my partner. He works in a very creative world. He's a live sound engineer, so he spends his life touring the world with bands and artists and, is often telling me it's not as glamorous as it seems, I think sounds glamorous. Compared to my laptop life, it's like the ultimate glamor. and you know, I have lots of fun going to join him on tours and shows and it's brilliant. actually we've had some really interesting conversations over the years about success. I remember really early on, having a big conversation with him, like, so, you know, one day you are gonna be on stage touring with huge artists like Coldplay and this person and that person. And that'll be like the most amazing thing ever. And is that when you'll, think you've been totally successful in your career and, Coldplay's probably a bad example'cause he's absolutely obsessed and that would be his dream. But, insert another band. Also very large, insert any large Beyonce. but he was saying, doing stuff like that would be amazing and has been amazing. And he was like, doing a show at Wembley is like mind blowing. Incredible. But he was like, also. Doing a show for some mates at a pub who are doing it for charity and no one can sing and there's no money and I'm not being paid. But everybody's like beaming and glowing and you come together and what you've been able to bring to a room that sounds crap and would otherwise have been an awful show and you've made to apply your skills and really make that work and do, he's like, that is also such a kicker of success. And I'm like, oh yeah, actually. It's not as prescriptive as we maybe always think. Or I guess, you know, you think of the word success. My brain, immediately it goes to like. Briefcase. Yeah.

Speaker:

All in black. For me, it's always like, I'm wearing black when I think about being successful and I'm wearing heels, which I hate.

Speaker 2:

Honestly, that was like my childhood vision of success, like a pencil skirt.

Speaker:

and one of those notebooks, you know, one of the pocketbook things with a pen stylus, g. Critical,

Speaker 2:

critical. it's so nice to have your brain stretched by either. career path. And I think you absolutely, as your career journey unfolds, have varying degrees of views of what success looks like, but I think personally as well, whether it's friends or partners or people from completely different worlds that, just make you stop and reevaluate a bit. so yeah, I think that's been my brain stretch on the success definition side. I love that. I really love that.

Speaker:

One of the things I've been thinking a lot about recently is having fun. And you are someone to me who really knows how to have fun. And I don't mean like going out and getting wasted, but just like you really, really enjoy your life. And I think. I dunno why, like it's, I dunno, for me recently I've just been like, oh, don't, am I having fun? Or like, has my definition of fun changed? And like, I think it can be quite hard to prioritize fun. And I, I mean that in like just general enjoyment of life sense. And I guess you've kind of touched on it, there's like the boundaries and whatnot, but like. Manifest, I guess like you do you look like you have a lot of fun? Do you have a lot of fun?

Speaker 2:

you follow me on Instagram, so you probably, I've quite a good lens on my fun. Yeah. I mean, it looks so fun.

Speaker:

but I think it's, someone actually said to me the other day, I think I've forgotten how to have fun. And you know, what advice would you give someone who is, who's lost their fun?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Again, I think it's such an age bracket one, isn't it? Mm-hmm. I think I've got lots of friends who would probably say the same recently, and I, sadly, most of those are probably post having children, friends. and I think there's such a lack of identity or a, or a kind of, I don't wanna say a permanent thing, but like,'cause it's absolutely not. And I've got friends again who've come out the other side of that and been like, I'm back. But this sort of kind of temporary loss of identity or really feeling like your identity has been transformed into something that you don't recognize. and I think also it's a pressure, isn't it? It's like if we all had. Infinite amounts of time and no responsibilities. I'm sure having fun for everybody would be super easy, but life gets more complicated. We're all balancing and juggling things. I live quite an independent life'cause my partner travels so much and I don't have dependents, so I think I have more space for fun. Mm-hmm. I live in London like so. Fun is also very accessible and so are most of my friends. So I feel like I've got a much easier route to fun. I do also choose it and I choose, yeah, to put time into hanging out with people, catching up with people. and sometimes I completely exhaust myself and I'm like going to the theater for the third time in a week, and I'm like, why have I done this? Said yes too many times. Oh God, I've done too much yessing. but again, I think a lot of it also is what makes you tick as a person. I'm a total extrovert, so going out and hanging out with people, chucks coins into my jar, fills up my cup. Again, my partner John, as a reference point, as a complete introvert. So we go to a party and he's like, oh

Speaker 3:

God,

Speaker 2:

brace up. And I'm like, LA, la, la, la, la. I'll see you tomorrow. You also choose the level of fun I think you can cope with. There are so many layers aren't there? Like also having fun is expensive. Going out and doing things is expensive. And not everybody can afford to lean into the fun. it comes in different waves and different shapes and sizes. our social group are starting to get invites come through for like fortieths. And after this sort of quiet period when all the thirtieths and the parties and the weddings happened, we're all now like, oh my God, next era of fun. Like, bring on the 40th. So I think also it comes in waves. And so yeah. I do think

Speaker:

that you said something there that I do, I think it's, it's making the space for fun. And, and choosing the fun. And I think those are two things that everyone can do. And like, as you say, like fun can, it can be expensive. Like doesn't have to be, you know, you, you choose your fun, you choose your version. But I think there's, lots of people will be like, oh, I can't, I don't have time. I, and some people are more time poor. Sure. But like, find 10 minutes in your day. 100 do something that you love to do

Speaker 2:

and also do again, it's, I guess like we were talking about in general, how you define success is all relative to what's important to you. So life is basically juggling one constant priority list, and you are just putting one thing in front of the other, and this week all we really need to focus in on X, or this friend's not doing great and they're going through x. I need to lean in here. Works mental, gotta lean in it and you're just juggling all the time. So if fun is important to you and it's on your list, ultimately you have a bit of a decision around where you prioritize it. And sometimes it might be able to be closer to the top and sometimes it might have to take a backseat, but to me it's just another cube in life's. in life's juggle feels like a really uninspiring quote, but in my head it works.

Speaker:

what challenges have you had to overcome?

Speaker 2:

Oh, yay. I think, well, I know. We know each other fairly well. And you know that I do lots of work with the company I work for at the moment as part of our women's network. And I'm super passionate about that world and equality in the corporate world. but I'm also very mindful when it comes to questions like this, that ultimately I feel like I have a massive privilege. So when I look at barriers and challenges, it kind of comes from a real. Like, I'm a heterosexual, non-disabled white woman. So I think ultimately I speak from a place of great privilege and feel like I have to acknowledge that, and actually doing lots with the women's network, it makes you really realize that as much as we, I think we referenced it at the start of this pod, even talking about the whole, you know, men in a briefcase and, and then sort of. Following up with like a, but you know, things are changing and they are, but I think when you look at things through like a truly intersectional lens, you realize things are changing at a much faster pace for people like you and I. Yeah. So, yeah, it's, it's, yeah, that's my kind of. Slight caveat to the question, but, it's funny, I was, I was thinking about this and I was thinking, do I feel like I've had any real, real, like barriers, challenges over my career? And I think starting in property. 10 years ago, like I gotta 20 years ago. 20 years ago. Yeah. It's like link LinkedIn Live, moving things around. It was a, it was a weird time looking back to be in property because property back then was. Very like male, pale and stale and it was, or, you know, antiquated, archaic, whatever collection of words you wanna use to describe it. And I think I look back now at so many of the behaviors of the people I was surrounded by and, yeah, it's quite, it's quite staggering really. But I think what's also really interesting is. What that environment then does to how you perceive yourself and yourself within it. Ooh. Like I was thinking back to when I started, working in property and I remember being so like. Deeply committed to how I looked. It was the heels. It was, I need the, you know, pencil, officey, skirt. I mean, again, looking at now some truly tragic outfits in an attempt to look kind of corporate and chic,

Speaker:

I've no doubt you worked them incredibly hard and they look fantastic.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I was definitely not for lack of trying, but I remember it being so important and almost more important than. Being seen as smart. Yeah. Like I thinking I want all the men in this building.'cause at the time I don't think I can think of one senior leader that I worked with at the time that was a woman. and that there will have been across the business, but. I don't remember going to any meetings or being in any kind of, oh, these are my big stakeholder environments. Yeah. Where there were women in the room. And, I remember thinking, thi this is all about how I look. Oh, I just need to look really great. I need to have my hair really nicely done. I need a fantastic killer outfit. And I think now, no matter what working environment I'm in, I'm desperate to be seen as like smart and that my opinion in the room is valued and that people go, oh well, had a great catch up with Lauren. She said X, Y, and Z and it was super helpful and I almost have gone completely the other way. This is the first time I've worn mascara in about a month, because I was like, oh, it's a podcast. But I've almost gone quite the other way in that I turned the office with barely any makeup on and a pair of trainers, and I'm like, oh, I feel so much more confident that I'm here. Mm-hmm. Because I have worth and value and I bring something to the table. But yeah, it's interesting that that environment back then felt very you've got to look good. Almost that sort of like sit and be quiet and look pretty and the sort of marketing, pretty marketing girl will pick it up. But yeah, probably reflected on it much more since. But I think at the time I found, I had some pretty difficult situations with direct reports that had unpleasant experiences with men across the business. there were some sort of slightly darker layers to it. But again, at the time. I remember sort of thinking like, oh, you know, eye roll. Not that surprising from an office head or a, yeah, from so side, now looking back and thinking, that's insane. I can't believe I worked in an environment where, and you'd go to HR and they'd sort of be like, well, you know, we'll have a look into it. Almost like it was part and parcel. So I think, yeah, the, the Women in Property piece, and again, probably why I'm so interested now in being part of things like the women's network in a. In that field and that space is because I've sort of been on a little bit of the journey, and have seen such improvements and such growth that it's so nice to be part of that continued, continued journey. But yeah, other than that, I don't feel like I have had huge amounts of barriers and blockers. I feel like genuinely I've been pretty lucky. Circling back to that kind of privilege piece, even being mindful of like coming out of uni and, you know, it was a family friend who connected me with Gemma mm-hmm. Who got the job and it's kind of like the whole nepotism world that so many people don't have access to. I think I'm very grateful for having had lots of opportunities come my way that I've been able to take and explore and enjoy and learn from.

Speaker:

And that, I think it's important to acknowledge like that, that privilege piece,'cause it's, it's quite easy to not Right, but I think, you know, calling it out. But also you took the opportunities and you made the most of them and you went into them and you, you lent in like, it wasn't like, you were like, okay cool, I'm just over here waiting for someone to make me the ceo.

Speaker 2:

No, that's true and I am a massive. leaner inner I think it's probably why I do really well at some things and not others.'cause when something captures my interest and it's got my energy and attention, I am like a, you know, I don't mind if it's three o'clock in the morning. I'm in, I'm committed, I'm invested. and I think I have put lots of effort in over the years to grow parts of my career and myself in, in that kind of, yeah, passionate and invested way.

Speaker:

what advice would you give to your younger self?

Speaker 2:

it's interesting having a think about this question because there are so many things. I think if you'd really thought about it, you could write probably an essay on what you'd say to younger self. But I think for me personally, It would be to doubt myself less.

Speaker 3:

And

Speaker 2:

I think actually it's so interesting reflecting on career and success and looking back to where I was at school, and I think we touched on it briefly before, but I remember applying for, uni and having this huge dilemma about what to do because on the one hand I desperately wanted to go to drama school. On the other hand, I had this big vision of being in a boardroom, in a pencil skirt and being really successful and, you know, working in one of those big buildings in the city with glass. And I genuinely remember the internal battle and conflict and thinking, oh God, but like I'm probably just. Not good enough at drama, or maybe I'm not quite, and I remember having this real like devil on my shoulder, like, you're probably not good enough for that. And, you know, everybody can do like a, an office thing more easily, so why don't you do the easier thing? And just, and I was like, ah. And anyway, I ended up applying for unis to do kind of business and business and sociology. I think initially I was looking at like anthropology, which. In my head was sort of a bit of a like, what, what are you doing? You don't, you've not got a clue in the world what that means.

Speaker:

what does that mean? Read

Speaker 2:

a few paragraphs and been like, oh yeah, that's so really cool. Maybe I'll like totally be an anthropologist.

Speaker:

I,

Speaker 2:

is that an actual

Speaker:

job?

Speaker 2:

Like, sorry to all the anthropologists out there, but like, is it, I know and do you know what? I'm sure it's a completely fascinating path to both study and work in, but I mean, it does make me think too. Kids at 17 or however old you are when you do uni applications that really we are lacking some career guidance sometimes. Yeah. I remember I applied to lots of unis and got all of those applications in and whatever, and then we had like a end of, our time at school prize giving, session I can't remember the order of timings of what it would've all been, but I remember my drama teacher, there must have been eight of us in the year doing theater studies. she kinda said to us before we went into this prize giving ceremony, by the way, just to let you know, the person who is gonna be winning the prize for lifetime School Achievement in Drama and theater is the person who got a hundred percent on their practical. Exam I dunno how she had those results or if we had the practical exam results before the whatever and I remember thinking oh, like go then. That's really cute. So nice. and thinking probably again at the time, you know, you made the right call with uni because that's not you. And then obviously being at the prize giving ceremony and I was like, and the prize like goes to Lauren Brighton. and I remember feeling so genuinely stunned that that was me. Having such a moment of like, oh God, you've really massively doubted yourself there. Like you are good at this, you know, you're good at this, you love it. And sort of walking away from that and being like, and now I'm going to uni and I really should have been going to drama school. and it's probably why I'm so endlessly theatrical in everything I do in my life.'cause really I'm just a pair of jazz hands in waiting. But it was, it was such a thing that sticks with me. Yeah, you really should have gone for that. And I think I've seen it happen again at times in my career where I've not gone for something or not gone for that promotion or not put myself forward for something at the right time. it's something I definitely think I still work on. but if I could go back then Frankly speaking, I wish I'd gotten to drama school. So it is a big one for me. so yeah, doubting myself less is top of the agenda for my, advice to younger self.

Speaker:

That voice in your head probably wasn't your voice. It was like, whether it was a teacher or a parent or someone else, just being like, it's really hard to make it as an actress, Totally. And if you don't have people around you who have done that, and I think, you know, there's the whole like the ne baby thing. I'm sure, you know, it helps to have parents who have a lot of money. Maybe if they've given you the money, fine. But yeah, there's also something in like seeing someone who, you know, follow a career that has worked for them and then you can be like, oh, but it, but they've done it. And I think if you don't have that role model, it's really, really hard to be like. It is that accessible to me. Like, can, can I massively

Speaker 2:

knock on that door? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. And it's the same with so many things, isn't it? I mean, I went to an amazing school. I felt really lucky growing up that I had, it was quite small school. It had so much support, so much encouragement, so much cheerleading. But we all have our little internal blockers, don't we? Yeah. And you have to, like you said, you have to have the right kind of sphere of influence, input things around you to kind of give you those lifts and put you on those platforms and give you that self-belief. it's a hard one. I'm glad it's something that I learned at a younger age. Yeah. I've been able to reflect on it and push against it as much as I can in adult life. I think it's one of those things that you don't wanna sort of, well, yeah, it would be sad to think of people's, you know, doubting yourselves into your fifties and sixties and beyond, which many people do for a lifetime. but I'm quite glad it's been something that I've been able to get a bit of a grip of and try and talk myself into believing in me.

Speaker:

Yay. And just bringing the jazz hands to everything that you do. Like we love that. Imagine if drama school had stamped that out of you. That would've been sad. So true. At least the jazz hands live on. Yeah, we love a jazz hands. It's nothing better, particularly in change management. but that's a whole other story. Oh. What's the weirdest thing you've ever done? Oh, God. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

do you know what? I don't think of myself as that sort of like weird or quirky I feel like in many ways I'm quite a sort of basic bitch if I'm allowed to say the word

Speaker:

You are.

Speaker 2:

when I was working for an agency when I was in my early twenties, It was a comms agency. They worked with lots of different clients. They had a PR arm. it was all very kind of like entertainment, tv, books, media. So they got an email through asking, have you got anybody? Could you circulate this around the business? Is there anybody at all that wants to apply for, married at First Sight? Oh, I am so excited about where this is going. And I remember being sat at a table of colleagues. They were like, have you seen that about married at first sight? Have you seen, And I guess it's quite linked to my personality. I have quite a like, oh my God, fuck it. Do it like Yolo. Why not? Personality? And I was like, come on team, we should all apply for married at first sight. And everyone was like, yeah, totally, totally, totally little old me straight away. It was like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Online application. So good. turns out nobody else joined me in Said, said Quest. Yeah. And then basically it just went from An email back to a phone call. Next thing I'm in like the studios and I'm being filmed. I'm doing the psychometric testing whilst they're trying to find me a match. It just went on and on. My sort of ego and desire to be on TV and in front of the camera was just loving this, so I was like, so good. I remember being on the phone to my mom being like, they want to see me again. They want to record me. She was like, are you sure you, it's like a callback. This, I took it really quite far. I was doing all of these, Recordings in the studios where I'd be saying things like, I'm so excited to marry you and I just can't wait to meet you. And I think I woke up one day and was like, oh, oh God, this has all gone a bit far. they sent an email being like, we are looking for kind of, matches now based on all your psychometric testing. Anyway, so I, pulled out the process. I actually think in the end they couldn't find me a match. Which, you know, fair enough.

Speaker:

This

Speaker 2:

land of the crazy, this is my favorite

Speaker:

story. Had I not know this, we've known each other for quite a long time and I did not know this story.

Speaker 2:

I know. so that was a pretty, weird and wonderful moment again. Don't regret it though. It's lots of fun. And I got my. Camera screen time, which great. Absolutely. Filled me with joy. My God. So good.

Speaker:

This is just, I think we should leave it there. I mean, we, we can't really top that can we? Little golden nugg

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So that's, that was a Fun one for the, you know, early twenties storybooks. Oh, that's absolutely

Speaker:

brilliant.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker:

mean, I was convinced I was on Rosie and Jim as a child.'cause my mom used to work in TV and so it was actually my hinge profile for quite a long time. Like I was on Rosie and Gym as I was, blah, blah, blah, blah. I was actually, I wasn't on Rosie and Jim, I was on Songs of Praise. and I mentioned it to mom once and I was like, remember that time we were on Rosie Gym? She was like, you were never on Rosie gym. And I was like, she was like, I didn't even work on Rosie Gym, so you definitely weren't on it. And I was like, oh my God. Childhood, everyone this whatcha talking about. We never lived that story. So it's not married at first sight. So you know what though?

Speaker 2:

Between married at first sight and songs of praise, I think they're two pretty solid.

Speaker:

Yeah. we quite both ends of the spectrum we're covering there.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. And that's what we like, that's what we like in friendships covering both sides of the spectrum. So good. Thanks so much, Lauren. Oh, it's been delightful. I love everything you do. So when you said you were doing a podcast and asked me to be involved, that was the dream. Thanks.

Speaker 6:

Thank you so much for listening today, and a huge thanks to Lauren for sharing her story with us. Lauren's honesty about the journey from prioritizing how she looked over how she was perceived intellectually really struck me. Her evolution from feeling like she needed to be the pretty marketing girl to now showing up authentically and trainers with barely, any makeup confident in the value she brings, that's real growth and it's something I think so many of us can relate to. I loved her perspective on success as that perma happiness and the idea that life is essentially one constant priority. Juggle. And if fun matters to you, it deserves its place on that list. Sometimes it might be at the top, sometimes it takes a backseat, but it's always one of the cubes in life's juggle. And yes, I am stealing that phrase, Lauren. Lauren's advice about doubting yourself less really resonated with me too. That story about not applying to drama school, despite getting a hundred percent on her practical exam. How many of us have had similar stories where someone else's voice in our head convinced us we weren't good enough for what we truly wanted? The biggest takeaway for me is Lauren's approach to opportunities when something captures her energy and interest. She's all in, committed and invested, even if it's three in the morning. That level of passionate engagement combined with her ability to maintain those crucial relationships and prioritise wellbeing is what makes her definition of success so compelling. You can find Lauren bringing her jazz hands into the world of change management. And who knows? Maybe we'll see her on the TV yet. Thanks for the inspiration, Lauren, and for reminding us that success is truly individually defined. If this week's episode of Successful AF has resonated with you, I want to hear about it, drop me a line at successful AF pod@gmail.com. I'm always looking for inspirational people to join me on the pod, so if you know someone who you think would be great, nominate them or yourself at successful AF pod@gmail.com. Also, please do like and subscribe. It does help, and I really appreciate you being here. See you next week