Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Velten.
Hi Lauren, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My journey as a digital content creator began with a dream at age 12. In 2019, that dream began to come to fruition. At the time, lifting weights was the pillar of my life, so I created workout videos for Instagram. A year later, I moved new city for undergrad and lost touch with creating and posting content due to a busy schedule of working part-time, attending class and studying. After temporarily moving back home because of the pandemic, I became enticed by new age spirituality through TikTok. For two years I spent time creating content surrounding “spiritual” topics I had learned; but something wasn’t right. I became depressed, increasingly anxious, confused about my identity and purpose, stuck in cycles of binge drinking and drugs and was terribly lonely. It wasn’t until one night back on TikTok my world changed, and consequently the creative content I put out into the world changed. Jesus Christ found me broken and lost in my bedroom through a new age spiritual guru I had followed. She professed Jesus as Lord, the way the truth and the life and began dissecting the counterfeit doctrine and practices of spirituality. I renounced my beliefs, practices and identity in my spirituality, accepted Jesus as the truth and began reading the dusty Bible in my bookcase. At this point, I had tried everything else but Jesus.
As I grew closer to the Lord and learned more about him through his word, I began to share my new-found faith on my socials. After being baptized, receiving the Holy Spirit and joining a women’s group at my church, I felt called to take a break from socials. For years, it was about the views, the likes and wanting to go viral. Being introduced to the truth that everything we do is for the glory of God, I realized I wanted my socials to reflect that notion. My heart needed refining. So, I took a year break from truly posting content and focused on getting to know the Lord through the word, prayer and Godly community. I prayed, and continue to pray fervently for him to change my heart to become a good leader who helps others come to know Christ. I battled with wanting to post content but I kept hearing “I love your excitement for wanting to share me with others Lauren, but you are not ready yet”. With trial, error and a whole lot of God’s grace, he brought me to a place in fall 2023 to get back into creating content on socials. Through knowing Jesus and continual refining through lessons, I am where I am today. Overall, my story as a creative entrepreneur with an online community has developed from me-centric to serving God and serving others-centric.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Circling back to my struggles along my path, the biggest challenge and reward has been the refining process. As a leader to people, I submit to and am led by my God. It’s not easy to humble and deny yourself before God, but it is always worth it. For a long time, the content I made for social media was for my glory. In pursuit of personal glory, I became obsessed with numbers and found my worth in how well a post was doing. This left me always feeling empty and confused. When I realized I wanted to create content for God, I made room for God to teach me how to find identity and fulfillment in him. The process of this was and is still difficult. It’s scary to let go of control and give your biggest dreams to him, but the fruit I have reaped and the goodness and grace he continues to show me is worth it. The impact of sharing Jesus with others is worth it. I have more joy, peace and love than I ever have with him being at the center of my life. I truly have never been more fulfilled giving my biggest dreams to God and allow him to guide my journey.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
With the Lord, I’ve created an online community on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube focused on strengthening and encouraging the children of God through EDM and country dance, specifically shuffling, shaping and Texas two step. There are many other creative ways the Lord works through me, such as a podcast I am developing and other projects in the works to provide tangible resources to the community. The creative aspect of what I do is what I love the most. I feel honored to serve and provide value to others through such fun avenues, all while helping them grow closer to Jesus!
My desire for individuals who find my platforms is for them to get plugged in to an encouraging community that values creativity, provides dance tutorials and tips and teaches the pillars of building and growing a strong and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Something most people may not know about what I do is my vision for the future. God and I have so many wonderful plans to increasingly provide tangible resources to the community. However, I believe in announcing new projects when he has released me to do so. There is so much more coming in his perfect timing, so get connected to stay tuned!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beacons.ai/laurenvelt
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/lauren.velt?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@groovysoundsasmr?si=iimMoKJesef7V8Hm
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@laurenvelt?_t=8mUCZFqKnSU&_r=1
Image Credits
The professional, high resolution photos are shot by Karli Damery. The dance photos were shot by Lauren Velten.
