Meet Lara Allen | Copywriter & Content Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lara Allen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lara, any advice for those thinking about whether to keep going or to give up?
Firstly, if you decide to back out of something – that doesn’t make you a failure. Sometimes you have to listen to your heart, listen to your body and if you are running yourself into the ground, I think it’s incredibly wise to take a step back and asses your next move. But with that being said, I think that you always have to be checking in with yourself when deciding whether to keep going or to give up. Do you love what you do even if it’s hard? Does it always seem hard or is this just a rough patch? Is there a way to pivot to make your day to day easier? I personally can talk myself in or out of anything but asking myself objective questions such as these can make my mountains seem more like speed bumps and give me the space to clear my head and keep going.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a full time creative. From 9-5 I work at an ad agency as a copywriter. After 5pm you can find me working on one of my many creative outlets. I’m a lifestyle blogger, writing about all the best things to buy, do, and visit. My blog is lollygolightlystyle.com. I’m also currently building my own business – a branding studio called The Social Midas (@thesocialmidas) where I offer branding and web design services for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Having worked for start ups and small businesses my entire life, I’ve witnessed what to do and what not to do when launching a brand. Because of that, I’m able to bring a certain perspective to the table that allow my clients to skip over many of the mistakes often made by people trying to market themselves.

My biggest goal in both my blog and my branding business is to help people get to a place where they are happy and content. With my blog- I find so much joy assisting people looking for the next best thing. With my business, I get so much joy out of knowing that my clients are actually making their dreams a reality and letting me help in even the smallest way.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If anyone comes to see me I will be guaranteed to take them to 4 places: The Adolphus Hotel- for the interiors and also for Ottos coffee, Desert Racer- for the best patio in town and my personal favorite spot in all of Dallas, Jaxon Beer Garden – for a great drink and amazing views and Las Almas Rotes – for the best margaritas. Dallas has so many things constantly popping up that you could make a new itinerary every weekend but these are my staples. I also make sure to take all my girls to Oak Cliff to shop at Beatnik, Haus of Vintage, and Mod & Jo. WayWard coffee, which is my favorite shop in Dallas, is also a must. And if we are staying over in the Bishop Arts Area we have to stop into All Good Things Paper and catch live music at Revelers Hall.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I wouldn’t be where I am creatively without Alli Koch of Alli K Designs. She is a boss turned mentor turned friend who has listened to all of my ideas, given me constructive criticism, taught me best practices, negotiated contracts with me, and allowed me to dream big for myself without limitations

Website: lollygolightlystyle.com

Instagram: lara_alayne

Other: branding website is launching soon –thesocialmidas.com. @thesocialmidas.

Image Credits
Alyssa Cates and Madeline Harper