We recently had the chance to connect with Lauren Howard and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Lauren, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What is a normal day like for you right now?
Long!! I get up at 4 a.m. most days, but that’s because I really like the quiet morning hours where it’s just the dog and me. I get all of the stuff done that requires my undivided attention before the notifications and emails start. Then, my team comes online, patients start having sessions, and I’m on the phone or dealing with situations until 5 at the earliest. I grab some time with my kids when I can throughout the day, and then see them for dinner. I usually have to log back on after, which is a terrible example and you SHOULD NOT DO THAT. I knew bootstrapping a company would be hard, but I had no idea how hard it would be this time around. It’s not the the business is different, but the environment is SO different.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hello! I’m Lauren Howard, but you can call me L2. Seriously. Everyone does. I run a few companies, some of which are medical practices and another is my personal brand, elletwo. I run my mouth on the internet a lot about psychological safety, making spaces safe for neurodivergent people and how isolation lies. I own a mental health company called LBee Health, and we are working to make autism care more accessible for adults. I love what I do, even if I have to do a lot of it!
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My dad. My dad who knew I was the moment that I was born, and he made no attempt to interfere. He saw that my brain worked differently, and he reminded me all the time that it was a good thing. He was put on this earth to be a girl dad, and THANKFULLY the universe gave him one girl out of four children. He understood me and loved me in spite of all of the things that I didn’t love about myself, and I cannot explain how transformative that was.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I left a job that was really bad for me about 5 years ago. At that time, I felt like I was the only person who had ever experienced those things. I was isolated, and the world had no color in it. For some reason that I do not understand to this day, I started sharing my experiences on LinkedIn. I thought everyone would be mortified that I was sharing such personal stuff openly, but instead, my inbox filled with people who said that they had the same experience and thought it was just them. I realized that it wasn’t just any of us. It was all of us and we weren’t talking about it. I started talking about it every chance I got to normalize and help people understand that Isolation Lies.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
I think so. Every now and then I’m in a hyper professional environment where I’m not sure how my humor will land, so I dial it back a bit, but I work really hard to not hide myself. I have to mask very infrequently, but I don’t think that’s representative of anything other than really good design in how I chose to build my life.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. When do you feel most at peace?
When I’m floating in a swimming pool, by myself, without anyone making any noise around me. Just me, some tinkling water and no control over the direction of my limbs if I don’t wanna have any.
Contact Info:
- Website: elletwo.com/ lbeehealth.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/elle_two
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/elletwo
- Youtube: https://YouTube.com/@different_notbroken
- Other: https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com
