Life & Work with Lauren Leifeste of Venice, CA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Leifeste

Hi Lauren, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My story starts in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a place many drive through or simply fly over, but is a blooming treasure to those who know it best! From Taekwondo to weekly piano lessons and attending a French immersion school in between, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” was truly the motto! I took a quick beat in Denver for college and then finally landed in Venice Beach, California, a place 12-year-old Lauren would be quite giddy about. What was once an eye-opening family trip out West as a kid, was now an unlock to where I’d eventually be living my best life.
My weekdays are largely absorbed by “agency life” — a hectic, but rewarding career path, getting to work with top brands to create and produce multi-million dollar campaigns across social. Even more energizing than that, is the time I get to spend running ocean-side with my Venice community. If you ask me who I am, one of the first things out of my mouth would be that I’m a runner (and then shortly followed by that would be “ice cream obsesser”). Running has sprinkled itself (no pun intended) throughout my life from elementary school jog-a-thons, to high school track, and has now opened many doors to my closest relationships and accomplishments (shoutout to my original running inspo, my mother). Shortly after moving to California, I joined Venice Run Club, which at the time was a small group of young locals getting together for a couple of fun, casual runs a week. This later turned into an explosive community where I’d eventually met my best friends and love interest, as well as a place that led me to the next level of running: racing full marathons. In tandem, I also led HOKA Run Club and am now one of the LA leads for a nationwide club called Cooldown. #RunTok is another place you’ll find me, capturing running-focused content on TikTok as well as weaving in the power of music, when I can, through a carefully crafted #RunTok Beat Drops playlist on Spotify.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’d consider myself and my life pretty blessed. If I were to identify a struggle, it would be nothing foreign to what I’m sure we all go through, which is trying to figure out who we are, where we “fit”, and what we can offer to those around us. I was fortunate to grow up around super accomplished people, one of those being my brother, Luke, high school homecoming king, NYU-grad, and GQ alum. He’s always been a role model of mine who deserves endless praise. To no one’s fault other than my own, it was often hard not to compare myself to someone decorated with such successes as a younger sister trying to build a life she could also be proud of. If I could share a word of advice to those who are currently struggling on their journey to define and feel content within themselves and their journey, my dad would always say to trust the process, reframe your inner narrative, and get outside of yourself to focus efforts on how you can be of service to others.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I graduated from the University of Denver with a dual degree that spans Business, Psychology, French Culture, and Communications. I intentionally set myself up with open avenues to explore in my career. I’ve largely remained in the social media marketing space within differing sectors of hospitality, travel, food & beverage, athletics, beauty, and more. I believe my specialties are a unique combination of leadership, team management, creative ideation, and strategy, tied up in a bow of grit and sparkle. From my perspective, inside of work and out, you can count on me to bring the wit, the fun, and the motivation to put one’s best foot forward. Whether it be a Zoom room of coworkers or a living room filled with friends, my goal is to enter a space and fill it with more light and sunshine than when I came into it.
I want to encourage those who might be fearful of not knowing what drives them in their careers, to just choose something that truly piques your interest and trust the process from there. So many of us are frozen by the vast variety of options or fearful of committing to something that isn’t truly what drives us. So, go off of you because only you know YOU best.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
If it’s skydiving or bungee jumping, consider me a risk taker!
I consider myself a “doer”, which in itself, could be considered a risk taker. Most of life you think you can plan or predict, when in reality, life is the opposite. There’s something beautiful about having faith in God or the universe (whatever you believe in) and just taking the action that feels right and giving the rest up to the unknown. Something I constantly remind myself is that while I think I can plan the best outcome, I do believe that there’s usually something better ahead for us than what we could dream up for ourselves. So, I say, “do” and do with good intent, and see how life unfolds ahead of you.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenleifeste/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@laurenleifeste

Image Credits
HOKA Headshot Image: Tanner James
Black & White Headshot Image in SET tank: Matt Lee Morgan
Jumping Palm Tree Image: Venti Views