Influencer Lauran Woolley Shares Her Top Selfcare, Wellness, and Beauty Tips

An Interview With Maria Angelova

Believe others when they tell you you’re beautiful. Others see us differently than we see ourselves. Sometimes when I’m feeling bad about my body, my husband will tell me how beautiful I am, and I have to remind myself to take his word for it.

At times it feels like wellness or elevating one’s well being, is diametrically opposed to high achievement and high performance in one’s career. The stress, mental energy, long hours, lack of restful sleep and preoccupation that result from a high-achievement life seem to directly inhibit wellness. And yet, in order to sustain the creativity, flexibility, mental acuity and resilience that are necessary for high performance, wellness and wellbeing of the mind, body and soul are also mandatory. So how do we achieve both? This is the question I’m hoping to answer through conversations with high-achieving leaders and influencers who are practicing their own philosophies about how to maintain their wellbeing.

As a part of our series about “Social Media Influencers Share Their Top Self Care, Wellness, and Beauty Tips, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lauran Woolley.

Lauran Woolley has been a 5th grade teacher and content creator for the past 3 years. She has combined her love of education and entertainment into one career with her hilarious skits, story times, and interesting vlogs. While continuing to work as an educator full-time, Lauran has amassed over 6 million followers across 3 platforms with her comedy-centered content. She is also the co-host of a top-ranking podcast, Teachers Off Duty.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory of how you came upon this career path and to where you are today?

Thank you so much for the opportunity! While I never intended for this to become an additional career of mine, I feel very blessed to be where I am. It all began with a bet with a student. Three years ago, I had a student who really loved TikTok. He used to make videos with his sister all the time. So, I made a bet with him that I could get more followers than he could by the end of the school year. Well, quarantine hit, and I got to work making videos. We would meet during our Zoom classes, and he’d ask me how many followers I had, and by the end of the year I had reached 16,000. Needless to say, I won the bet, and found a new passion of mine. I’ve been making content ever since.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Absolutely, two people actually. The first is a dear friend of mine, Gerry Brooks. Gerry, @gerrybrooksprin, is the OG edutainer. He was a principal who prided himself on creating a positive climate and culture in his schools. I met him at the start of my TikTok career and he really helped to guide me and teach me about this ever-changing industry. I truly cannot thank him enough for all of his help. And of course, the other person is my extremely supportive husband. I don’t know if I ever would have gotten this far if it wasn’t for his support, creativity, and encouragement. He has really been a beacon of light through this new territory.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

Once upon a time, I had no idea how Tik Tok worked. I would try to follow trending videos and use popular sounds and concepts, but I didn’t know how to work any of the features or editing tools in the app. So, I used to film skits by changing costumes back and forth instead of filming all of one character then the other. I used to not even know the timer existed, so I could only make videos that allowed me to hold my phone. I look back at my old content and laugh at it because I knew so little.

As an influencer, you have been blessed with great success in a career path that many have attempted, but eventually gave up on. In fact, perhaps most people who tried to follow a career path like yours did not succeed. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path but know that their dreams might be dashed?

Honestly, it’s a combination of a few things. First and foremost, create content that is unique, makes you happy, and brings something new to the table. Secondly, try to be as consistent in posting as possible. Post every single day if you can. Lastly, hope and pray for a lot of luck. There are tons of incredible creators who make amazing content that the algorithm just never favors. Unfortunately, we are all at the mercy of the algorithm. But if you want it bad enough, keep working at it and don’t get discouraged.

Can you share with our readers some of the strategies you’ve used to build an engaged, loyal, and large online community?

There are so many amazing ways to build your online community. I love sharing small details about my life, allowing my followers to learn more about me personally. I’ll also share updates and do check-ins with them on my Instagram Stories. Live Streams are also a great way to bond with your followers in real time, but my favorite things about my community of followers are the endless inside jokes we’ve created over the years.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview. In my work, I focus on how one can thrive and care for oneself in three areas: body, mind, and heart. You are a busy person with a demanding schedule, can you share with our readers two self-care routines, practices or treatments that help your body thrive? (Kindly share a story or an example for each.)

Self-care has been something I have really been trying to work on this year. My schedule is so hectic and crazy, and I’m often up working late into the night. I’ve been setting aside time to take really relaxing showers. Whenever I’m really stressed out, I’ll put on calm classical music, light candles, and take a shower in the dark. It’s so peaceful, and it really helps to just relax and not think. Another self-care routine that helps my body to thrive is to enjoy some of my favorite foods every now and then. Sometimes you just need to fuel your body with delicious foods. Jordan and I like to go to one of our favorite restaurants, The Melting Pot.

Can you share with us two routines that you use to help your mind or heart to thrive?

Mental health is very important to me, but I haven’t always made purposeful choices to help myself. This year, I have really taken this seriously. I began monthly therapy sessions just to decompress and work through some of my anxiety. Back in June, my husband’s illness had reached an all-time high, and I didn’t know how to handle everything. I was depressed. So, I made the decision to get help. Jordan and I started therapy together to help work through the stress of his disease and the stress of my jobs. It has really been life changing. Another thing I do to help my heart thrive is set aside time to read every day. I love reading, but I don’t always make time to read for enjoyment. So I make time every day before bed to read. Even on days when I’m too tired, Jordan encourages me to read. It’s just a little sliver of my day that I keep completely to myself.

Can you share five ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”?

Honestly, I think everyone struggles with insecurities. These are just a few of the things I do to feel beautiful:

1. Wash your face when you wake up, and when you go to sleep each night. I do this, and on the days when I’m not feeling beautiful, it helps my skin to feel fresh and glowy.
2. Believe others when they tell you you’re beautiful. Others see us differently than we see ourselves. Sometimes when I’m feeling bad about my body, my husband will tell me how beautiful I am, and I have to remind myself to take his word for it.
3. Buy clothes that fit you and don’t worry about the size on the tag. It makes me feel so much better to buy clothes that look good on me and are comfortable because I bought the size that fits my body type, than to buy a smaller size and squeeze into it just for the sake of “wearing a smaller size.”
4. Get all dressed up for no reason at all. Sometimes, just allowing ourselves the opportunity to feel beautiful is all it takes. Put on your best outfit, do your hair and makeup (if you’d like), and go out to dinner! My husband and I do this for our anniversary, and it always makes me feel beautiful.
5. Lastly, compliment others. Sometimes when we feel bad about ourselves, we look for the bad in others to make ourselves feel better. But if we allow ourselves to do that, all we’re doing is detracting from our inner beauty. Complimenting others makes me feel like a beautiful person. I love the smile that stretches across someone’s face when I compliment their hair, or their makeup that day. By helping others to see their beauty, I find my own.

Is there a particular resource, a practitioner, expert, book, or podcast that made a significant impact on you and helped you to thrive? Can you share a story about that with us?

I don’t have a particular resource that has helped me with this other than my own husband and my therapist. I think a lot of individuals that have insecurities could benefit from talking to a counselor or a therapist about them. They may have even more amazing strategies!

Do you have a story about the strangest, most bizarre or funniest wellness treatment that you’ve ever experienced?

Oh my gosh! So, one time, my husband and I decided to get messages to relax. We had never gotten one before, so I didn’t know what to expect. We walked in and laid down on the massage tables. They came in and started the massage. Everything was going great until they brought in hot stones. My eyes popped open as they placed these burning hot stones on my back. I clenched my teeth and sucked it up, so I didn’t make a fool of myself. Needless to say, it caught me off guard haha.

As an influencer, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

This is such a tough question because there are so many people in need of good. However, my heart has been and always will be for the needs of the thousands of children in our suffering. There are so many children living in foster care, going hungry, living homeless, coming to school with trauma. I would love to be able to create student centers within schools that would attend to the mental health and physical health needs of students. I picture it kind of like a little plaza. There would be a place to get clothing, a place to get food to take home, licensed counselors, and therapists for students to talk through any issues with, doctors. Almost like a tiny village with all the resources kids could ever need. I know this would obviously cost a lot of money, but schools and individual teachers are already taking on much of this work themselves. Schools have Community closets and food pantries, but until we have mental health care for our students, that crucial piece will always be hindering children’s education.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you’d like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this. :-)

I would love to have a private breakfast with Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun from Twenty One Pilots. They are my favorite musicians, and I love their message! My students even listen to them in class daily! They will literally beg me to play Twenty One Pilots ever since I introduced them to their music. They’re also from my home state, which is really cool.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

All of my social media accounts are @mrs.woolleyin5th ! I’d love for you all to join the Woolley fam!

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.

About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.