You can see her walk into the room and instantly recognize Lauren Nelson by her vibrant smile and energetic energy she carries with her. This Milton, Wisconsin native can certainly talk your ear off with one of her hilariously candid stories leaving you with more joy in your normal day. Lauren will be graduating the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in May and lucky for Fromm Family Foods, she will be the newest event coordinator on the team for Pet Fest.
It’s easy to tell that Lauren is passionate about helping others and making a difference. We asked this dreamer about some of her biggest aspirations, “I want to make a positive and impactful differences in people’s lives. Career-wise for a long time I thought that meant working for Make-A-Wish, which I would still love to do, but after seeing how you can still help others on the corporate side of public relations and event planning it’s opened my career path to an endless amount of opportunity. The only true aspiration in life I have is to be happy and make sure that I impact the lives of the people around me positively.”
Lauren can certainly attest to this from personal experience. She is a cancer survivor. She says that her parents and family have been the strongest supports and impacts in her life and helped her through this incredibly difficult time.
Although a cancer survivor, the pain and struggle that followed in her life did not stop there. While she was attending the University of Wisconsin Whitewater she became a sexual assault survivor (read her #metoo article here.) She says that again, her parents and family were the biggest supporters. “Having cancer made me realize how fragile my life is. Being assaulted and all the things that came after made me realize how strong I am.”
Through that strength she was able to accomplish her bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Advertising and Media Studies while also becoming the Events Director for the UWM Her Campus Chapter. However, Lauren says that her biggest accomplishment in college is something more important than all of that, “Picking myself back up after I hit rock bottom (hitting rock bottom VERY hard, might I add) and finishing it. I am so proud of myself for transferring to Milwaukee, getting involved, letting go of relationships I didn’t want, focusing on and repairing the relationships that mean something to me and just growing as a person. I don’t even recognize who I was two years ago because I have grown so far beyond that girl I was and there’s no looking back.”
Lauren is an inspiration to many girls who have gone through the same thing. Her strength is admired by many and her energy brings light to any room. Before we ended the interview I wanted to pick her brain on what a strong woman like herself, would tell younger Lauren, or any young girl for that matter. “Don’t worry about boys, they are dumb. Focus on yourself. Focus on your friends, your career goals, and your interests. Get involved. I wasted so much time on too many boys who don’t mean anything to me anymore and it’s time I won’t get back. FOCUS ON YOU. You don’t need a man to be someone. YOU ARE SOMEONE.”