I'm Lauren, a 22-year-old journalist from North London. 

I knew from the age of 16 that I wanted to get into journalism but it took two years for me to pluck up the courage to actually write. I pitched my first music review to an online blog called Sicka Vision and got into the habit of writing about recent releases before starting my own column -  'Reload It' - to house my articles within the site. 

I thoroughly enjoyed music and particularly discovering new artists, so with a friend I met in college, we created a radio show for Wizard FM. The show, An Hour Underground, showcased 'underground' music from upcoming artists and provided them with a platform to reach new audiences. We were lucky enough to conduct interviews with innovative rapper Trezzor,  BBC Introducing Artist of the Year, Nia Archives and beautiful soul singer BINA.

My stint in radio was fun, productive and helped me unlock skills in production and social media management, but after a year of An Hour Underground, I chose to focus on written journalism - particularly about music and culture. I worked on perfecting my craft, which saw me being featured in the likes of gal-dem, NME, Clash and landing roles as a regular contributor at Frontline Magazine and Mixtape Madness.

I've recently transitioned into hair and beauty journalism, having had the opportunity to write for Refinery29 UK, Refinery29 Unbothered and stylist Melissa's Wardrobes' blog, It's A Lifestyle Hun. As well as forming reviews and opinion-pieces, I share my thoughts, tutorials, tips and hacks via my Instagram Reels and TikToks.

Whilst working freelance, I completed my Journalism degree at the University of the Arts London and landed a job at Reach PLC as part of their new Optimisation team, where I created surveys, widgets and optimised evergreen, SEO content. Following an exciting two-month secondment, I took up a role on The Daily Star's showbiz team, before progressing into my current position on the newly-formed US team at The Mirror, working as a US showbiz and TV reporter.