Hi. Hello. Hey. We’re back with another installment of our “Meet the People of Uncanny” series. Last week, you were introduced to the lovely Jess. Next up, Lauren, our content strategist!
The three words I (Ashton) would use to describe Lauren are: warm, hilarious, and imaginative. Talk to her for 5 minutes and you can totally tell she has a knack for coming up with big ideas that are as engaging and fun as they are genius.
I loved getting to know her and her brain at the retreat (we also bonded over Taylor Swift and our love of Diet Coke, so yeah, she passes the vibe check.)
Now it’s time for you to meet Lauren, brand photographer and the content strategist of Uncanny Content!
State your full name, for the record:
Lauren Hansen aka Lauren Peachie.
Where do you live?
Phoenix, Arizona.
Who do you live with?
My husband, Ryan, and our corgi Luna!
Don’t forget pets:
Ha! See above 🙂
What did you do before working with Uncanny?
I have been a professional photographer and marketer for over 12 years. I started my career at an ad agency here in Phoenix specializing in PR and social media. I moved into account management and strategy before focusing on building my own business specializing in content strategy and brand photography.
A note from Ashton: Lauren took our brand pics at the Uncanny retreat and she’s just so good at what she does. She has great skill for making people who are a little camera shy (meeee) feel comfortable behind the lens!
What’s your favorite movie? (Latasha let us pick two only)
I looooooove The Mummy — literally been a Brendan Fraser stan since the 90s. He’s the best. Also, Rachel Weisz? DEAD!
What’s your favorite book?
Oh no. Please don’t make me! For the last couple of years, on average, I’ve read 3 – 6 books a week. I LOVE to read! I read 98% romance with my favorite sub-genre being historical romance (specifically Georgian and Victorian era England) and my favorite trope is fake dating/marriage of convenience!
If you could travel anywhere, where would it be?
It may be boring to return to somewhere I’ve already been to but I’d love to go back to Scotland. I have been there once and it wasn’t enough. I truly adored the Highlands — the weather, the scenery, and the energy. I didn’t want to leave and I constantly think about going back and how I could spend more time there!
Who was your first crush? How did that end for you?
Matt (Last Name Redacted) in kindergarten. He complimented me on my new sneakers after other boys had made fun of me. I was instantly smitten! He was my cute and precious knight in shining armor. Unfortunately, the love affair was one-sided, and also that of a 5-year-old, so I moved on quickly.
What’s your favorite part about your work with Uncanny?
I love helping clients see possibilities where they otherwise would not. Seeing places in their business where there is hidden content and marketing gold!
We help clients build a strategic content plan that fits them and their businesses, which means understanding both them and their businesses. I love getting to know our clients and their goals so I can find fun and new ways for them to talk about what they do, how they serve their clients, and how doing both in their marketing can be easy and impactful.
A note from Ashton: She’s really good at doing this just in general. She’s kinda like the therapist friend without trying to be. She’s really good at helping you see past the surface.
What do you wish more people knew about the work you do?
A strategic marketing plan is not just a filled-in template or a rehashed mishmash of prompts. A truly strategic content and marketing plan will be customized to your strengths, your business, and your audience.
Not everyone needs to be posting on Instagram (or TikTok or YouTube) or any specific platform. I wish more people knew how much easier marketing can be when you learn to lean into your strength and find ways to strategically repurpose and restructure content across channels.
What’s the hardest part of the work you do?
Finding new ways to talk about things we’ve discussed before and not necessarily to keep the audience engaged but to keep our clients creating and engaged! When we are our business, we can easily get bored with creating content around the same topics.
I find it challenging, usually in a positive way, to find ways to keep our clients excited to share content around topics that align with their business, even if they’ve covered them before. There is always something new to share if you’re creative enough!
When you’re not working, what do you like to do?
On a daily basis, you can find me voraciously reading on my Kindle, trying to get better at not spending all my money on Starbucks, and showing off my latest nail color on Instagram Stories.
On a weekly basis, I love a nature walk (not a hike with elevation), where I can get moving and enjoy the sunshine! Also, I love planning happy hour fun with my friends or even co-working time with my other WFH girlies. Oh, I’m also a hockey fan so you can typically find me checking in on the Arizona Coyotes when it’s hockey season or watching hockey clips just for fun!
The bigger fun things I love to do is travel with my husband to Disney parks or the UK and plan girls’ trips with my best friends. I always love having a trip on the horizon.
A note from Ashton: Oh she’s a hockey fan alright.
What’s one goal you have for yourself in the next year (not related to work)?
I would love to get more adept at my nature walks so I can advance to real hiking! I’m very nervous about steep places so I’m working on building my confidence!
Also, I’d love to learn more about drawing and using my iPad to make fun illustrations!
Do you have any secret talents or fun party tricks? (You will be asked to do these at a future team retreat.)
Nope! But I do love to karaoke and I love encouraging other people to karaoke too! I’m terrible but I love to put on a show!
A note from Ashton: I don’t even like karaoke but I somehow just feel like Lauren would make me feel confident in my broken-violin-string-style vocals. TBH we all need this kind of hype-(wo)man in our lives.
You can follow Lauren on Instagram at @laurenpeachie! You can also catch her on Uncanny’s Instagram feed, @uncannycontent!
