Define yourself . Who is Lauren Lake ? I am an attorney , an author , a designer and a singer . I ’ m a multi-faceted woman who believes in living life limitlessly , which means to its fullest .
Yeah , you ’ ve really done a lot . You star in an Emmynominated court show , you ’ ve sung background for Mary J . Blige and Jay-Z , you ’ ve been a designer on HGTV , you ’ ve owned clothing stores , you ’ re a lawyer and we could really keep going ! Tell me about your life growing up . How did you discover so many different talents ? I was very blessed that I had parents who kind of nurtured my zany personality . I was always that crazy little girl who had on a crazy hat , polka dot pants , a striped shirt and a purse , who would ride in a big wheel around the city . Most people would be looking like , “ Something is wrong with that child !”, but my parents allowed me to experience and live out my creativity and figure out who I was . They would go out and leave me with the babysitter , they ’ d come home and I ’ d drawn a mural on the bathroom wall . It would be spanking worthy but instead , they knew that there was something in me ; that later on , I would end up designing homes .
Right , but ultimately , when you came of age , you took a pretty traditional path . You went to college and then straight on to law school . What happened ? Well ( chuckles ), that was not my dream . My dream was to be a singer . I grew up in the age of “ Fame .” You ’ re probably too young to remember that show , honey , but when the show “ Fame ” came out , it was
MADE FEATURE XXXX all about if you had any kind of talent , you were going to go to New York and go to the school of Fame . I remember saying to my mother , “ I ’ m going to go to sing and I ’ m going to do this .” Both of my parents had PhDs . They were professors in Detroit . Their thing was , “ We know you can sing and that ’ s a good thing but what you ’ re NOT gonna do is go running off to New York at 16 years old , talking about you ’ re going to live your dreams of being a singer . You need to go to college .” When I got to college , I really thought I wanted to be an Anesthesiologist , but then , I started to feel like , “ I don ’ t want to spend my life in the hospital .” When I told my parents I wasn ’ t going to go on to medical school , they weren ’ t having it . They said , “ Look , you need to come up with something else ; You have 24 hours .” I honestly sat down and thought about my gifts , because I always wanted to help people and be that voice for the voiceless and I ended up going to law school and loving it . That ’ s how I got there .
So , you finish law school , you eventually get admitted to the Michigan bar and begin your practice . Then one day , you up and move to New York . What prompted the move ? The FAME dream ? I was a professional singer all while I was practicing law . I used to travel back and forth to Atlanta making trips there to record my own original music . I ended up opening a music production company with a fellow producer . As we searched for talent , I stumbled upon two rappers I thought were amazing and actually got them deals with Ruff Ryders / Interscope Records and then
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Sony Music . They were based in New York , so we felt that the best way to see these deals through was to record these albums in New York . That ’ s what brought me to New York . When I got to New York , I took the New York and the New Jersey Bars there because I wasn ’ t licensed in either of these states . Now I ’ m licensed to practice in all three states .
And in no time you ’ re on camera and singing background for major talent . That ’ s virtually unheard of , especially in a place like New York . How did you move into those lanes so quickly ? There ’ s a part of my life we kind of missed . When I graduated from law school , I moved to Los Angeles for a brief period . I got off the plane and a friend of mine , Simone English , was there with her husband , Tony , who is a base player . He said , “ I have a session to play before I take you back to the house .” I said , “ Ok .” He drives me to a session , low and behold , when he goes into the music studio , the chair spins around and it ’ s Dr . Dre ! They play their session and afterward Dre says to me , “ Tony tells me you can sing .” I replied , “ Yeah , I can .” He said , “ Well , alright , I ’ m having auditions in a few days . I need background singers for the MTV Movie Awards , come out to the auditions if you want .” I came out , I auditioned and I got it . It was my first time singing with a major artist . So , when I arrived in New York , with the music production deals , I was already working as a professional singer . I just started to audition and I ended up linking up with one of my very best friend ’ s brother , a celebrated music producer named Bink