The Journey Begins

A little about me… Lauren Camarena

Picture this, a mid-90s Sunset Boulevard morning in Hollywood. My grandma and I were usually up and about getting our morning coffee from McDonald’s. The six-a.m. caffeine gave us the jolt for completing the daily duties of managing an apartment building. My grandmother was the manager of the apartment building, and I was her little helper. We collected frequently-late- rent throughout the month. My favorite part was meeting the different characters inhabiting the apartments. Sometimes they were interesting characters, like the two roommates who were prostitutes late with the rent because one of them was now visibly pregnant which led to a slow month client-wise.

My grandma’s tough-manager-exterior was often cracked by belly laughs, jokes and the stories the tenants would share. After an ample amount of laughs she would leave and kindly ask them to please pay the rent soon. This quickly taught me the importance of storytelling for survival. And that is how I have managed to never pay rent (kidding). Enrapturing an audience and taking them through every detail until the big payoff of a gasp or hardcore giggle is exhilarating. That is how I would describe telling a great story. It makes me feel like a Chicago Bulls era Michael Jordan making the game winning slam dunk. I plan to take my love of storytelling and write for a mass audience in the comedic television space.

A link to my writing projects

https://airtable.com/embed/shr1Yls0L1KLLh1fV?backgroundColor=orange