Lights, camera, inspiration Lauren Conrad turns into an inspiring ...

Lights, camera, inspiration Lauren Conrad turns into an inspiring role model She sits in the bedroom of her new apartment with her best friends Whitney and Lo, dishing about drama, love and friendship. It’s a familiar scene to the millions of people who watch MTV’s “The Hills”…but not today, there are no cameras. She has finished her last day of shooting for the show. For all the diehard fans of “The Hills”, it’s no surprise Lauren Conrad cried as she said her goodbyes. But the tears have dried, and Meet Lauren Conrad Favorite Disney movie: She is a huge fan of every movie. Favorite song: Anything Jonas Brothers Favorite vacation spot: Anywhere warm with a beach Favorite food: Sushi

she’s ready and determined for a fresh start to turn her show exposure into a rewarding career. Each week millions of people tuned in 10 p.m. on Monday to follow the life of Conrad and her friends on “The Hills”. It all happened in front of the cameras. The drama. The love lives. The ever-lasting friendships. The lies. The American girl next door became the talk of girls

and guys alike—chicks want to be her and dudes want to date her. Lauren Conrad, an ordinary Californian girl, turned into a celebrity role model for girls all over America for her fashion, beauty and career-inspiring goals. Her first love When one hears her name, “The Hills” automatically comes to mind. But Conrad is more than that. “The Hills” wasn’t a career choice, it was more of a good opportunity at that moment. Fortunately, she always knew what she wanted to do because he has loved fashion since she can remember. “Designing is my first love,” Conrad confessed. (more)

Inspiration- p.2 Conrad’s love for fashion and designing came early in her life, at the age of six. “All of my friends are now just realizing what they want to do. It’s a process of elimination until you find what you love,” Conrad said. “Luckily, I’ve always known.” Growing up, Conrad spent her afternoons at her neighbor’s house learning how to draw and paint. This soon became boring to Conrad. She then learned how to sew and make new clothes for her Barbie doll. This was the beginning of her fashion career. Since then, Conrad’s dream has become her reality. She has gained a lot of experience through her various internships at Teen Vogue and People’s Revolution, which one-day turned into her own fashion line. The key to success On the day of her high school graduation, her classmate spoke the wise words of Albert Schweitzer: “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be

Lauren Conrad as an intern at People’s Revolution in Los Angeles, Calif. Photo Courtesy of Google

successful.” Conrad gives these words credit for their powerful message, as they have stuck by her all these years. Conrad moved to Los Angeles, Calif. after high school to work for MTV’s “The Hills”, which led to other acting job offers. She constantly reminded herself of the quote and the fact that she was never interested in acting. Conrad considered herself talentless when it came to acting.

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Inspiration- p.3 “I can’t sing, act or dance. All I can do is be myself,” Conrad admitted. This is why “The Hills” was fun for her, but, she never considered making a career of something that she wasn’t completely passionate about. “I’d rather have a career based on something that makes me happy, and that has always been fashion.” Lessons learned Through her internships at Teen Vogue and People’s Revolution, Conrad took away valuable life lessons. “It’s not

Staple Pieces in Lauren Conrad’s Wardrobe

necessarily what you know, but who you know,” Conrad shared. People’s Revolution taught her the importance of networking. She’s thankful for

A sky-high black heel & BDG skinny jeans from Urban Outfitters

her internships because they helped her learn the ropes but networking helped her even

Adapted from Glamour Magazine May 2010

more. Getting to know people and making contacts through “The Hills” and away from the cameras helped her advance in the fashion industry. “Everywhere I went, I looked for opportunities to meet new people,” Conrad said. “In LA, you never know who and when you will meet someone that might change your life forever.” Conrad thinks that it is important to set yourself apart from others. For her, it was her honesty, retail experience and ability to think fast that set her apart. But not even that could help her when it came to facing her obstacles.

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Inspiration- p.4 The ugly truth Conrad like any other girl, had her ups and her downs on her journey. “The Hills” introduced her to the right people to help her with her career goals, but it also had its setbacks. People who watched the show started to have an “idea” about Conrad, and right or wrong it is hard to change opinions once people form them. A lot of people who loved Conrad on TV, couldn’t accept her as anything else but a TV personality, such as a designer or an author. People also felt that she used her name through “The Hills” to open doors. “Don’t get me wrong, they did open doors, but I worked hard to prove that I deserved and worked hard to get where I am,” Conrad stated. Being on “The Hills”, Conrad had to endure a lot criticism. It got to the point where she was afraid to go online or switch on the TV. Lauren Conrad inspires girls to follow her fashion style and trends. Photo Courtesy of Seventeen.com

“I lived without cable or Internet for an entire year,” Conrad said. She finally realized that gossip wasn’t going to

hurt her. “I have my family and friends, and I get to do what I love,” Conrad said. “Is any of that taken away because a person called me ugly? No. I learned that I am the only person I need to please.” Running from “The Hills” The show was just the beginning of Conrad’s fame. After five seasons, it was heart-breaking for her when it ended. However, it felt good to not have her life chronicled on TV anymore. Now that the MTV cameras are gone, she can go on living her real life instead of living her double life: her TV life and her real life. (more)

Inspiration- p.5 “The Hills” was set out to do a show based on her life, but she ended up living a life based on her show. Everything required approval—where she worked, people invited to her party, people she dated, even what clothes she wore. “I had to get the paint color for my apartment approved by the director of photography,” Conrad said. It is those things that Conrad won’t miss about the show. When “The Hills” ended, she had a lot of career choices. She started her own fashion line, The Lauren Conrad Collection, in 2008. In April of last year, she secured a contract to design clothes for Kohl’s under the LC Lauren Conrad Collection. Since last year, Conrad decided to try a different challenge, therefore she started her newest project, writing books. Writing as therapy Months after her Kohl’s fashion line began, Conrad debuted her first novel, “L.A. Candy” in what would be a three book series. It wasn’t long until her TV fans followed her to her writing and her book shot to the top of the New York Times best-seller list. A year later, she released her second novel, “Sweet Little Lies, An L.A Candy Novel.” Conrad used writing as a mechanism to get away from her TV life but still shared and

Lauren Conrad’s first novel, “L.A. Candy”, was released in 2009. Photo Courtesy of Google

expressed her life through the main character of Jane. Throughout her novels, she based the plot and characters off her own life and that of her best friends Lo and Whitney.

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Inspiration- p.6 Her books did extremely well. She recently returned back home to LA after a book tour of “Sweet Little Lies”. Since the success of her first two novels, Conrad is writing a third book, “Sugar and Spice”. Conrad has returned to her first love, fashion. She expects to publish a fashion style guidebook soon. No matter what the current project is for Conrad, whether it is her fashion line or a book, she tries to do the best she can. “I learn as much as I can with any project I take on,” Conrad said. “So I strive for the same thing when I make career choices.”

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