Originally from Maryland, Lauren and her family spent many years living in the city before moving to Shrewsbury, NJ in 2020. After spending two decades as an international model, Lauren started her model coaching, advising, and mentoring business, The Model Mentor. Combined with her expertise in Health & Wellness and Pilates, she’s more recently expanded her services to all women, hosting in-person and virtual classes throughout our community. Learn more about Lauren’s background as a model, some of her favorite places to visit as she explores her new home in Monmouth County, and who she thanks most for helping her through parenthood in our interview below!
Where are you from originally and how long have you lived in town?
I was born in Maryland, but knew from a young age I wanted to live in NYC. I attended Fordham University in the city. After 16 years of living in New York, my family and I moved to Shrewsbury fall of 2020.
Child(ren) and Age(s)?
Antonio (4 years old)
Elektra (Siberian Sled Dog 12 weeks)
One thing people would be surprised to know about you…
I’m experienced in Martial Arts and know how to defend myself. I once stopped a person from robbing a senior citizen during a black out in New York.
Anyone special you’d like to thank for helping you through parenthood?
I would like to thank my Mother for being my ultimate role model. As well as my older sister who lost her son, my nephew, to Neuroblastoma when he was just 4 1/2 years old. Whenever I think I’m having a hard day, I think my sister and her perseverance. I’m blessed to be guided by such strong women.
Favorite things to do with your kids?
We love to spend time outdoors. We are a very active family. My son, husband, and I bike several miles a day. We also enjoy taking our scooters to the local parks. We go to the beach year round. In the winter we love to collect shells on the beach, especially after storms. In the summer we enjoy spending time at our beach club and swimming in the ocean. We are also into taking day trips and mini adventures. Recently, we took a Day Trip to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden and the weekend before that we went to the New York Hall of Science in Astoria, NY. Now that we have a puppy, we are outside running, biking, hiking, and exploring as much as we can.
Are you involved in a business venture, a local organization, a creative endeavor, or in the corporate world? Please share!
I’m the Founder and Creator of The Model Mentor, a coaching, advisement, and mentoring platform and safe place for new and emerging Models. After 20 years of working as an International Model, combined with my certification as Health & Wellness Coach from Institute for Integrative Nutrition and my certification in Pilates I created a practice that assists Models in all facets of their life helping them achieve balance in mind, body, and spirit. In the last few years, I have expanded my business to include all women, not just models. I offer private virtual Health Coaching and Model Coaching and most recently expanded my workout method to the public, offering virtual workouts, The Model Mentor Method, is an online community where membership is available monthly or annually. The Model Mentor members have online access to 50+ workouts with a range of focuses from using your own body weight, to guided prayer and meditations, to beach workouts, etc. Most of my coaching is all virtual. I host an in person Masterclass quarterly. My next Model Me MasterClass is in Red Bank in the Fall. For more info on Virtual Coaching or joining the community www.themodelmentor.com.
How has this community been instrumental in getting you to where you are now?
The first people I met when we moved here during a pandemic were our neighbors. Everyone was so genuine and friendly. We received hand written notes welcoming us to the neighborhood, which after coming from Manhattan was just amazing to me. Our neighbors went out of their way to make us feel welcome. We truly love our street and town.
What is your favorite restaurant in Monmouth County?
There are way too many awesome restaurants to have just one favorite. My son loves Pizza, so his favorites lately are Sea Bright Pizza for their Grandma style eggplant pie and he likes Nunzios cheese pizza in Long Branch. We love the Tacos from Woody’s in Sea Bright & Tinton Falls. We eat Acai Bowls everyday and go to Frutta Bowl at The Grove in Shrewsbury or to Playa Bowl in Ocean. For French and seafood we enjoy Avenue, Le Club. We love to go to Char in Red Bank and enjoy sitting outside on Broad Street. However, as much as we like dining out and supporting local restaurants, I do LOVE to cook and spend a lot of time in my kitchen. We mainly eat a plant based diet with a Mediterranean twist and occasionally grill fish.
What is your favorite activity to do with your son in Monmouth County?
We love to explore the Parks! My son and I enjoy the Sprayground at Dorbrook Recreation Center, walking in nature through Holmdel Park and going to Longstreet Farm. Sickles and Victory Park in Rumson are our favorite playgrounds. We are animal lovers so really enjoy Allaire Community Farm and the experience of being able to interact with the rescued animals as well as EdelHaus Alpaca Farm in Wall.
What are your Mom Goals?
My son knowing his roots in important to me. My son is half greek, so his visiting Cyprus to see his Grandmother and visiting Greece is something we look forward to with him. We both took Greek lessons before the pandemic and I’m excited for him to get started again in the fall. I also would like for him to meet his Italian side of the family in Italy. I lived and worked on 5 continents and I want him to see the world as much as he can to be exposed to all kinds of people, places, and cultures. Teaching my son things that school might not necessarily teach is essential. This summer we grew our own garden. Seeing his face in amazement as we watched our seeds grow into cucumbers and zucchini and then eating them at our table was special. My son having a relationship with God is also very important. Our family attends church together every Sunday. I want to teach my son life skills from an early age that will make him a loving, strong, giving, and independent person.
Learn more about The Model Mentor here!
Sponsored by: The Model Mentor