Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Hey, guys. Michael with the Proper form podcast, really excited for this episode today. I've got a great friend, client, and honestly, I would even say I would love to look up to Lauren and her husband just as parents and as business owners. Really excited to jump into this episode. Lauren, thank you so much for being here.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
[00:00:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Lauren has been a client of ours at Luxury Lifestyle Training. Her and I have worked together on and off for. For, honestly, years. But Lauren's got an amazing story. She's been an entrepreneur herself. She is a mom of two awesome, handsome, almost said beautiful, beautifully handsome boys that are literally growing like weeds.
[00:00:52] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:00:53] Speaker A: And it's really been cool to, like, just kind of see in a way, almost like futuristically where Sophie and I are falling into. We have a third boy on the way, so please pray for us. But I. I will.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: I will pray.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: It's gonna be wild.
[00:01:07] Speaker B: It's gonna be wonderful.
[00:01:07] Speaker A: But I really do, like, I think it's just. I think even whether you have maybe felt it or not, like, even questions I've asked you about the boys, I also am, like, gathering and kind of pulling some of that information, like, okay, that's what Lauren's dealing with or going with now. And this is cool. This is hard. This is just working through, like, the teenage years, and I'm so far from that. But it also is going to come fast. And so I really look up to how you and Brian have nurtured them and loved them and also juggled businesses because you guys both have had and do have businesses.
[00:01:39] Speaker B: We're both business owners and have been. Have been business owners. Brian's was not necessarily because he grew up wanting to be an entrepreneur. It was. He went to college for two years.
He was studying architecture. He hated school. He dropped out. He was working back at the country club on cart staff. 19 years old, and there was a member out there who was in the mortgage industry. And he knew Brian was good at math. He somehow had known that, and he was busy, and he said, I kind of need an intern. Would you want to come and learn the business? And if you're good at math? I just need someone who's a hard worker, and no one works harder than Brian Palmer. And a few years later, he ended up buying the company from him, and he just fell into it. So, yeah, he's a business owner and so am I. And it's really interesting to see what tremendously different personalities own businesses.
It's not all one shape and Just.
[00:02:43] Speaker A: Seeing the type of business that it is. There's no way. Yes, I'm an entrepreneur, but there's no way. I don't. I enjoy math, but I. There's. I could not do what Brian does.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: And it's all in his head. So he can have many figures moving at the same time and then get one answer. Yeah, that's needed. It's. It's. It's not my gift, for sure.
[00:03:05] Speaker A: Yeah, I respect the heck out of it. Well, man, you have some exciting things coming up. You have an awesome book coming out called the France Dance. You guys have to stick along with us to learn more about this. But your journey on. You didn't just wake up. Maybe did you could share with us that, like, oh, I'm going to write this book about kind of my journey and my love for culture and food and European style. Could you just take us back a little bit on, you know, prior to. Really kind of when I first met you, like, you were in the midst of running a. Correct me if I'm on, like, creative agency. You had the art of living beautifully. Shared some of that and then how that's kind of guided where you are now.
[00:03:42] Speaker B: Right. Well, I've been an avid journaler my entire life, from the time I was a child. I'm the youngest by 11 and 13 years. So I grew up alone. My father traveled all the time for work. It was just my mother and me most. Most of the time. And she worked. And so I journaled very often as a way to talk to someone.
[00:04:07] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:07] Speaker B: And so I've always been an avid writer in that sense. I wrote every day. I wrote by hand for decades.
[00:04:14] Speaker A: That's great.
[00:04:15] Speaker B: And. But I went. When I went to college, I studied fashion promotion, and I minored in Italian.
[00:04:21] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:04:21] Speaker B: I had studied Spanish for five years, switched languages once I got to tcu, and as a junior, I moved abroad as an exchange student.
[00:04:31] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:31] Speaker B: And I really like to say that leaving the United States, leaving everything that I. I knew, you know, I grew. I grew up here in McKinney, and then I lived in Fort Worth. That was about as traveled as I was.
But moving abroad, it really broke the exposure barrier of my sight line. I suddenly saw the world, and I saw culture for the first time. And just the way that Italians live or that Europeans live, that's so different than culture here in the United States. And it really resonated with me.
And when I came home, I just adopted a lot of these practices into my everyday life. Well, then Fast forward. It's 2013. I've had two boys in three years. They're maybe one in three at this point.
And I had completely lost myself.
I was James and Caleb's mom. That was all there was left.
And listen, if you can be a dedicated parent, if you can be a parent and be a dedicated parent, it will make you the best version of yourself. It will make you such a better human in the long run. If you are a dedicated parent and you're doing that with the Lord, it's super hard. It's not fun. They don't say please and thank you right away. There are little Launching themselves off of furniture and spreading mashed potatoes all over the wall or whatever. Trashing the house.
[00:06:19] Speaker A: Y.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: It's so hard and exhausting. But on. I'm past that now.
[00:06:24] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm in that.
[00:06:25] Speaker B: You're in that. I'm past that now. They just are locusts that eat everything and then need more food. Yeah. But in that time, I got into bed one night and this is at that probably where y'all are. It's like, high five. Hey, roomy. You know, that's. That's kind of how you are with your partner for a little bit.
[00:06:43] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:06:44] Speaker B: And I got into bed one night and I told Brian the only things that I thought about today were about the boys. I didn't have one other thought than about Ninja Turtles, goldfish, sippy cup, nap time, diaper, car seats and seat belts. Like, that was all. That's all there was in my mind. And I decided I need to do something. 1. To have something to think about other than my kids.
It's such an important job, but I never think it's good for anyone to spend every waking moment thinking about the wellbeing of another. You have to take a second to be who you are to pour into your own cup.
Otherwise, you're pouring into everyone else with an empty cup and there's nothing left. So I thought, I need something to think about other than James and Caleb.
And I need to bring back these elements of life that I had loved in Europe, that I loved when I was a young college graduate living on my own when Brian and I were first married.
Cooking dinner and gardening and entertaining. Like, things.
[00:07:58] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:58] Speaker A: Things that brought you life.
[00:07:59] Speaker B: Cultural things. Right.
[00:08:00] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:08:01] Speaker B: I need to adopt those back into my life.
[00:08:04] Speaker C: Love that.
[00:08:05] Speaker B: At this same time, I started wanting to write again, and I realized I wasn't a very good writer. I had mom brain. So at some culmination in 2014 of all of these things happening, I woke up one Morning. And the words the Art of Living Beautifully were just stamped across my brain. And I ended up creating a blog. It. It was about bringing the parts of life back into your life or introducing them for the first time, culturally speaking. Like, what's your own culture, regardless of where you live or how you were brought up? What is your personal culture? How do you want to live? What's your way of life? And so I started a blog. I wanted it to make me a better writer. I wanted it to bring culture back into my life, and I wanted it to take me to the next step in a career because I hadn't been working for a long time, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to get a job with little kids that. Where I'm dictating. Well, I can only work until one in the afternoon.
[00:09:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:09:15] Speaker B: And no weekends. And if my kids are sick, I won't be able to come in. Like, I knew that just wasn't plausible. So I started the Art of Living Beautifully. It started as a blog. I ended up turning it into also a digital magazine, and then eventually a printed magazine. I did that for six years. And then when Covid showed up, I ended up closing the whole thing.
[00:09:43] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: It was the right move for. For sure. It was a. It was sad for me because I had. I would work so hard, but it was the right move. It was. I felt like, think the world got quiet enough that I could. I could. I really couldn't avoid hearing God anymore. Like, I feel like he had probably been saying for a while, it's time like, this has run its course. You need to be done with this. But I was so.
I was so dedicated to keep moving, you know, and that's. That's a.
That's a really important thing. I think as entrepreneurs that we have to be so careful about that we don't turn our goals, our dreams into an idol.
[00:10:27] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:10:27] Speaker B: And that every day has to start with God. What do you want from me today?
Like, let's. Let's move first according to your will. You know what I want, but I want what you want first.
[00:10:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:40] Speaker B: So I stopped publishing the Art of living beautifully in 2020. And over the last few years have been really. Been a really amazing renaissance for me. I've done a lot of traveling. One. One such trip was a trip to the south of France with a company that's here in McKinney called a taste of Paris.
[00:11:04] Speaker A: And did you stumble upon them or did you know of them?
[00:11:07] Speaker B: I knew them. I knew Lori, who owned Lori Fangio owns a Taste of Paris. She was my resident chef on the art of living Beautifully. So she created all of our culinary content, recipes, things like that. And I reached out to her and I said, I want to travel with you. She leads these culinary centric journeys across France. I went to Provence for 11 days. I cooked my way across Provence. And while I was there, I had an idea for a book and I didn't know if it had any legs. I just was writing there because it's so beautiful. It's so inspiring. For someone like me who's lived in the same town their whole life, leaving McKinney at all is like a. Really as wonderful as this community is, it was this tremendous breath of fresh air and it was so inspiring. And so I ended up writing a book called the France Dance.
It's a fictional novel.
It's about an American ballerina who moves to the south of France.
And that's. I mean, we're just over 96,000 words right now.
[00:12:14] Speaker A: That's crazy.
[00:12:15] Speaker B: That's. Finally. It's. It's finished. It's all done. It's ready. It publishes April 8th.
[00:12:22] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: And crazy. I decided to write another book in November, which is. It's. Which is published. It's called 11 Days in a Carry on and it's a travel and packing diary about the trip that I took to Provence. That inspired the book.
[00:12:39] Speaker A: Yes. So that would be a good encourager for anyone listening to go download that. Get it. You can find the. The 11 day on Kindle, is that correct?
[00:12:48] Speaker B: It's on Kindle, yes.
[00:12:50] Speaker A: But that won't be like a paper copy. Right. Or like a hardback.
[00:12:53] Speaker B: It actually will. I'm working on the. On the. It is going to be so people.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: Could buy it ordered to their house.
[00:12:59] Speaker B: Yeah. And by the time this airs, it may be. It may be ready.
[00:13:02] Speaker A: Yeah. And then they can. They could read that. Would you almost kind of say, correct me if I'm wrong. Wrong on the. The book. And go like kind of the forward. The introduction to the France Dance. Is that going to help kind of set the tone in the p. So.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: You could 100 read the France Dance first? Absolutely. And then be curious enough about it to want to read 11 days. But yes, 11 days is definitely the precursor. It sets. It sets the stage of where I was when I. When I wrote it.
[00:13:33] Speaker A: That's crazy. That's so cool. Okay, so you started writing the book. If we kind of go back a little bit on. You had an amazing trip. Obviously, you love your boys. You love the Boys and Brian. But like, being able, anyone could probably agree, like being able to, to get away from the, the hustle and bustle of your day to day, your madness of your little bubble and a go overseas to a place that's just absolutely beautiful and have such a clear mind. Amazing food, amazing culture. All of that has just kind of brought together you riding the France dance. Um, and when you had that moment that you were like, I think I'm gonna, I'm gonna write about this. I'm journaling about it while I'm here. Like, how did you come up with the, the concept of the ballerina? And I think I know a little bit of like, the dance through that. Could you elaborate maybe without giving away.
[00:14:24] Speaker B: Too much on, on how I came up with the concept of the book? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So while I was there, I knew I wanted to write. I, I, I had this really unique opportunity to go to Europe alone when I have a husband and two children. How does that happen? And I have, I have the most amazing husband who always supports my insane, outlandish ideas. So when I said, I, I want to go to France with Laurie, but.
[00:14:58] Speaker A: I don't want you to go with me.
[00:14:59] Speaker B: Well, and I even said, do you want to go? And he was like, I'm good.
[00:15:03] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:04] Speaker B: And he loves to, but this was kind of more of a female centered trip. And so he's like, I think I'm good. And I said, well, can I go? He's like, go. He, he will do anything, Anything for me.
[00:15:17] Speaker C: Yeah. He's awesome.
[00:15:18] Speaker B: Like, let's make it happen.
[00:15:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:20] Speaker B: So I was in this really unique space where I'm in Provence alone.
[00:15:27] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:28] Speaker B: And I, I knew I wanted to, I knew I wanted to write. I, at this point, it was 2023. I'd closed the Art of Living Beautifully three years prior, and I just hadn't been writing. And I am a writer. I, I love to write and I love to create and I love to pretend and imagine stories.
And so while I was there, I thought I am surrounded with culture and food and flavor and color and beauty.
[00:16:01] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:02] Speaker B: I need to give myself some sort of a prompt other than just journaling. Like, I can journal, but I wanted, I wanted to write a story.
[00:16:11] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:12] Speaker B: And I made these goals for myself when I first got to France. Like, what are my goals for this trip? And one of them was to figure out what, what I want to write next.
[00:16:23] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:24] Speaker B: And so I gave myself a prompt. I was staying in this wonderful little village called Saint Remy.
And I thought, well, If I were to write a book that took place in this village, what would it be about? So that was the first prompt that I gave myself.
And one night we were at dinner, and it was myself and my group was six other women. And then Lori and I didn't know any of these women. Like, I, I, I just flew to France and met some strangers and Lori, and we just cooked and ate our way across.
[00:17:02] Speaker A: But they were all.
[00:17:03] Speaker B: They're all American, this area?
[00:17:05] Speaker A: No, no, from all over. Oh, okay.
[00:17:08] Speaker B: Yeah. She leads people from all over the country.
[00:17:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: Anyway, we were sitting at dinner one night, and Lori was telling us that she had belonged to a ballet company in her youth.
And she ended up leaving the company because of a very unhealthy weight goal they had given her. Like, she's a little teeny, tiny thing, and they had given her this really unhealthy weight. And she just realized, this isn't for me.
And it seemed like such a full circle moment for me, because Laurie was in the south of France, having led all these American women to appreciate flavor and food and gastronomy.
And she probably wouldn't have been doing this if she had stayed and pursued that career or at least with that company. And not to say that that industry is bad. I love ballet. I'm a former ballerina myself. I think it's the most beautiful art form in the world. Truly. It's just amazing to get to watch ballet.
But for these, in this conversation and seeing it was obviously the right move for Lori to leave and to develop. She's an entrepreneur, to develop this business herself. And I just couldn't stop thinking about a ballerina that leaves the stage for Provence.
[00:18:51] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:18:51] Speaker B: And so that's how the story came about.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: That's so cool and kind of in a very unique, similar, but completely different way. Like, there's still so much beauty that it sounds like Lori has been able to, like, create through these experiences and through the food and through the culture and just the, the bringing ness, if that's a word, of people together, the gathering. Thank you. So few will be like, here he goes, making up words again.
But, yeah, they gathering of, like, you just had, like, people all over the U.S. you, you just jumped on a plane and you're entrusting her to lead. And.
[00:19:25] Speaker B: Yeah, there's.
[00:19:25] Speaker A: There's some really cool beauty in the dance of that. And so.
[00:19:28] Speaker B: Exactly. And you know, you, you bring with whatever you.
She brings such grace and elegance with her to this day.
[00:19:41] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:19:41] Speaker B: And what she does, which is a testament to her Back to ballet training. Like, it stays with you. The great always take the great parts with you. Leave the bad and take the great with you.
[00:19:53] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:19:53] Speaker B: Because there will be good in parts to all things that you do in life.
[00:19:57] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. That's really good. And it's hard to not kind of, like, mourn and maybe the bad of things or the bad pieces or parts of you from a past or from another experience, but to, like, be okay, that. That wasn't perfect. To acknowledge it and then just to continue to move on and continue to blossom and grow, and that's super cool, man. All right, well, I wanted to ask you if you got a cool little bio. If you guys haven't, you can check out all of Lauren's links and her Instagram. I want to get that. When we finish up, we'll have you shout out all of those, but you also have your Amazon storefront. Is that correct? For the book?
[00:20:36] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:20:37] Speaker A: And not all three, but both the 11 day and then the Franc dance will be on there at this time.
[00:20:43] Speaker B: Correct. So it's an Amazon author page. So you can go to Lauren Palmer, author. And up will pop my page with whatever books have been published.
[00:20:53] Speaker A: Sweet.
[00:20:54] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:20:54] Speaker A: And you've got a cool bio on there. And I really loved how you talked about I've got it here. As a writer, Lauren strives to create escape for her readers, something she accomplishes through whimsical settings and relatable characters. This is a cool part. I was like, I want to dive deeper into this. Her writing is full of both color and flavor, two elements she believes always lead to healing. I'm sure there's a reason why you said color and flavor are elements that lead to healing. Could you share personally how that has impacted you, color and flavor, and then also how you have brought that into your writing and how you feel like that can impact your readers or your audience.
[00:21:35] Speaker B: Sure.
So after I. After I closed the Art of Living Beautifully, I had to take some time to heal from the sadness that that brought. But also that when I look back at that time, those six years, I can't believe I survived. It was the hardest I have ever worked in my life.
Just the grueling hours that I put in.
[00:22:11] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:12] Speaker B: Coupled with having little children.
[00:22:16] Speaker C: Yes. Yeah.
[00:22:17] Speaker B: I mean, they were 2 and 4 when I started it. Like, I had a kid. I had a kid in diapers in a crib.
[00:22:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:26] Speaker B: It's hard to work outside of the home when you have little ones, but I was working in the home.
[00:22:35] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:36] Speaker B: I was I was a stay at home. I had like two full time jobs. Stay at home, mom, and the art of living beautifully.
[00:22:43] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:22:43] Speaker B: So when I. When I closed that down, I had to take some time to heal, like I said, from the sadness. But what I had put myself through and this a little bit goes back to being careful that things don't become an idol, because idols don't work.
They just don't.
They have zero amount of strength to do anything, but you put every. All of your focus into it.
[00:23:12] Speaker A: It just takes everything from you.
[00:23:13] Speaker B: It takes everything from you. It rips out your insides. So I had to heal from what I had done to myself by forgetting for making something, an idol, which I completely had. I didn't even know. I didn't even notice that I had. Because I'm praying the whole way, help me do this. I would decide what I wanted and then I would say to God, help me do this.
Instead of stopping and saying, what should I do? And then being quiet and listening. That's a key part. And having a relationship with God is like. It's not just about you.
[00:23:53] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:23:54] Speaker B: It's about what. What the creator of the universe, who knows literally everything, wants for you.
[00:24:00] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:24:02] Speaker B: So while I'm. I'm. I'm healing from this, I. I realized I had just. I had just lost myself, like, who. Who I was. I've always loved color.
Just the element of color. My mother is an artist, and so I grew up with her art studio.
[00:24:23] Speaker A: That's cool.
[00:24:23] Speaker B: And I. I was always surrounded by art and art supplies and color and paper and paint and markers. So color. I just. I just love the element. I need a lot of color around me. It feels. It literally feels good for me to have color around me.
So I close the art of living beautifully. I start healing. And the. The only thing I know to do is how can I feel the most like myself?
[00:24:51] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:24:52] Speaker B: What does. What does that even look like in the most. On the most basic level, I love food.
I love to cook, and I. And I love traveling too. Those are the most basic things that I know. I like.
[00:25:08] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:25:09] Speaker A: It helps. It brings you life.
[00:25:11] Speaker B: It brings. Yes, it brings me life. It brings me inspiration.
[00:25:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:25:14] Speaker A: And does that tie in a little bit to. Sorry to interrupt. You know, the. The other piece in your bio says that culture can be personalized to fit one's authentic self, regardless of geographical location, upbringing, or surroundings. I thought that was really cool.
[00:25:29] Speaker B: Yeah. So it's.
Creating a personal culture for me is the definition of the art of living beautifully.
That's how, that's, that's how for me, that's how I would live beautifully. The art of living beautifully is creating a culture that's, that's a way of life that is beautiful to me, that's healing to me. That's uplifting to me, that's healthy for me. That looks the way that I want it to, that feels the way that I want it to, and all of these elements that go into culture.
[00:26:03] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:26:04] Speaker B: And so as I, as I was going through these, these healing years, flavor, color, travel, all those things made me feel the most like myself. Of course, coupled with holding the hand of God and.
[00:26:26] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:26:26] Speaker B: And inviting, inviting him in to heal me from what this, what I had, this broken world and the distractions had done. And that's what I think, that's what I think leads to healing is when you find the, the elements of your. Of yourself that feel the most like you and restoring those.
[00:26:52] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:26:53] Speaker B: That's what's healing to me. And regarding creating escape. You know, I've been a mother before of young children and even some days now with a 15 year old and a 13 year old, but especially when they were little, when they physically and emotionally need you much.
I didn't have the opportunity, I didn't have the funds to take off to France.
I, I would have loved that, but that wasn't really where I needed to be. I needed to be with my dudes at home.
[00:27:28] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:27:29] Speaker B: Mothering them.
[00:27:30] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: And even in a way that would have, that wouldn't have been the same trip that you've, you've had over the cut. It would have just been an escape to breathe, not to enjoy the art of beauty that you define as.
[00:27:41] Speaker B: Sure. Exactly.
[00:27:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:27:44] Speaker B: So that's with my books. That's what I want to create. For a mom who maybe can't head off to the south of France, but needs a little escape from our everyday life. We all need a little escape from our everyday life. And that's what I want to create with my books is just a little escape for you. You can, if you have 10 minutes, go read a chapter, escape a little bit. I'm my. I focus a lot on my settings.
[00:28:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:13] Speaker B: There's a lot of color, a lot of description. I focus a lot on, on these whimsical settings. Places that don't look like where I live.
[00:28:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:23] Speaker B: And then these, these relatable characters. My, my characters are our flawed people.
[00:28:29] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:29] Speaker B: They're coming from flawed situations just like I was.
These situations that were not good for them.
And I try my My books aren't necessarily what I say, Christian books. They probably wouldn't fall under that genre, but I think you see the Lord woven through these stories, and that's. That's what I. That's my goal.
And I want them to be approachable for people who maybe don't find themselves necessarily going to church or.
[00:29:07] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:29:08] Speaker B: In prayer or relating with. With Christianity or a faith. And I. Because I don't want it to scare them away.
[00:29:17] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:29:18] Speaker B: If this is just a Christian book, I don't want them to think, well, I'm not. I'm not a Christian, so I don't want to read that. I want it to be available for anyone who just wants a fun read. And I want my characters to be approachable and relatable. They are coming from a flawed place, but I take them through a journey where you can be in a dark, dark place, but there is light, and you invite the light in.
[00:29:49] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:29:50] Speaker B: You invite love in. You can find healing. There's color, there's flavor. In my books. Yeah.
[00:29:56] Speaker A: That's so cool. Well, I'm excited to. To personally read it, listen to it. Either one, because I feel like, in a unique way, I've been able. I've had the opportunity to hear.
[00:30:05] Speaker B: I know you've heard. Yeah, you've heard the way.
[00:30:08] Speaker A: It's really cool because I'm like, I'm such a visual person. And the way you've talked about your trips, like, you're writing based off of places you've actually been. You're not just this Texan girl. Imagine what it would be like in Europe. And through it, like, you have walked these streets that you're walking that you're writing about. And so I'm excited to, in a way, be even more connected to the book because I'm in McKinney. I've been in the same bubble you have. I know these streets. Like, you know them, but I don't know those streets in that area. And so, like, I feel like, in a way, you've kind of already painted some of that picture through some of our time together, training. And I'm excited to, like, actually read it even more.
[00:30:51] Speaker B: And I. Six months after I returned from Provence, I went back. Yeah, I went back in February of last year.
[00:31:01] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:31:01] Speaker A: 24.
[00:31:02] Speaker B: Yeah. For five days. It was a whirlwind trip. And I literally went back because I needed to see three or four places again so I could get the description right.
[00:31:13] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:31:14] Speaker B: And, yeah, I went back. I stayed in the same place and kind of re. Re established those Same footsteps.
[00:31:22] Speaker A: And that kind of helped, like, put a confidence seal on, like, as you.
[00:31:27] Speaker B: Were wrapping up, it didn't have a choice. Like, well, I guess I'm doing this because I'm going back and finishing this book. So there's. I think it's good to remember, especially as a creative, as a creator, your work is never done, but it is due. Like, you. You're gonna have to just stop. I will be one of those people in 10 years if I. If I open up the France dance file. I'll. I'll move words around still 10 years later.
[00:31:57] Speaker A: Or, like, change the story a little bit.
[00:31:59] Speaker B: Well, yeah, like, I don't like this sentence. I will wordsmith forever. But you do have to just decide, well, it's due, so we're gonna just be done.
[00:32:08] Speaker A: That's great. That is. That is good for entrepreneurs and just, like, perfectionists to hear. Like, you can do it, but set the due date. Like, find a finish line or you'll.
[00:32:19] Speaker B: Mess with it forever. Yeah, I. I say this same thing to Brian because he's such a thinker. Yeah, He. He needs to think in order to process. He's. He's. He needs to schedule think time. Yeah, it's his think time, but his think time needs an alarm to go off or he'll think about it forever.
[00:32:38] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:39] Speaker B: And you have to, like, don't. Don't let your gift be a curse, you know?
[00:32:44] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:45] Speaker A: That's really good.
[00:32:47] Speaker B: Set yourself a deadline.
[00:32:48] Speaker A: I mean, that's awesome. I'm excited. I. I really appreciate you sharing. And even. Just as we've talked through this, like, I think even if you guys look through Lauren's social media, you. You see her stories, you see her. Her platforms, like, consciously, subconsciously, now that you hear her story, like, you're just going to, like, I just see color and flavor throughout your page, throughout your personality, the way you dress, the way your personality is, the way you hold yourself. I think there's. There's beauty in that. No pun intended, to the art of beauty. But it's just. It's cool to kind of hear and understand even more of that story. Like, I'm looking at your purse across the room. That's not, like, even. That's full of color. And it's just. And even your. Your house is obviously beautiful. And, you know, humble brag has, like, been featured in a couple. It was in a magazine.
[00:33:37] Speaker B: It was. Yeah.
[00:33:38] Speaker A: And it's just. It's. There's a breath of fresh air, I think. I feel. And I think others would agree that are in your circle and that love you and care about you. That would agree with. Yeah, all those things. You are full of color, life, flavor. And I'm excited to see the France Dance.
[00:33:53] Speaker B: Thank you very much. Yeah, I'll save you a copy.
[00:33:56] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:33:56] Speaker A: Thank you so much for coming on here. So as we, as we do wrap up, can you share the exact date that it's going to be available? We're going to have this podcast coming out right then around that same time. And then where can people find you? Where can we follow you all that?
[00:34:12] Speaker B: Sure. So the France Dance. Well, first of all, 11 days in a Carry on is available on Amazon now. Right now. It's an ebook, but it will, it will be available. Spoiler. Yeah, you heard it here first.
It will be available in a paperback as well. And that's. That's coming. But the France Dance will be available hardcover, paperback, also in an ebook format. And then we will see about audible moving forward. But that's available April 8th.
[00:34:44] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:34:45] Speaker B: Okay. On Amazon.
[00:34:47] Speaker A: All right.
[00:34:49] Speaker B: My website is lauren palmermedia.com you can stick your, your email in there. And if you want to keep up with things, I just send out emails with announcements. I don't sell those. I don't even. I wouldn't even know how to do that, but I don't. It's just me. Yeah, it's just updates me. I think the best way to keep up with me, though, is Instagram.
And my handle on Instagram is the Art of Living Beautifully. I never changed it after we stop publishing because I, I still. It's kind of the theme of my life is.
[00:35:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:35:24] Speaker B: Developing a personal culture and living beautifully. Yeah. So the Art of Living Beautifully is where you find me on Instagram. And, and that's kind of. I don't have Tick Tock. I don't have Facebook. I have a personal Facebook, but I never post on it. I don't have YouTube. Like, I don't have all these different channels. I really just have Instagram. So that's. That's the best place to go. You. You don't need to follow me on every platform there is because I'm not there. I'm really just on Instagram. The Art of Living Beautifully.
[00:35:57] Speaker A: You started a France Dance.
[00:35:59] Speaker B: The France Dance does have a. A handle on Instagram, but it's. It's connected with the Art of Living Beautifully. So you'll. You'll see me either way.
[00:36:08] Speaker C: Yeah. Cool.
[00:36:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:09] Speaker A: Well, Austin, thank you so much for coming on today.
[00:36:12] Speaker B: Thank you for having me, truly. We talked about this months ago, like, past possibly doing something, and now here we are. It happened.
[00:36:18] Speaker A: It's. I know when I was putting together kind of, you know, this next round of shooting, I'm like, oh, my gosh. Like, we were talking about this and it's already here. So, yeah, I'm glad we got it scheduled and got you on and we're able to have the conversation and talk about the France dance.
[00:36:31] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:36:31] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:36:32] Speaker B: Thank you very much.
[00:36:33] Speaker A: That's all we've got. Thank you so much for listening to this episode with Lauren Palmer of the Proper Form Podcast. Can't wait for you guys to hear more. See you later.
