Lauren’s shaky childhood safety net caused her to seek security for years.
One pivotal moment taught her safe isn’t the same as satisfied.
Now she is unstoppable.
🌟 Welcome to Interview with a Goal-Crusher! 🌟
Hi, I’m Coach Tony, and this is Interview with a Goal-Crusher.
Every month, I sit down with someone who’s crushing their goals and building a happier life in the process. These are real people, not gurus … just like you. Think of it as free mentoring … straight from people who’ve done the hard work and have the wins (and lessons) to prove it.
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I offer you this "dad joke" as a light "amuse-bouche" to entertain your mind before we get serious. My dad joke may be groan-worthy, but it's worth every penny you paid for it, right?
When I got home today, there was an envelope laying on my welcome mat that said "do not bend." I still haven't figured out how to pick it up.
Lauren Was Afraid and Did It Anyway
Happy New Year!
I’m excited to kick off 2026 with one of the most real, raw, and quietly powerful interviews I’ve ever had the privilege of sharing.
Long-time readers may remember hearing about Lauren in a prior Interview with a Goal-Crusher. When I shared Jenn’s story, she introduced her partner, Lauren, and together they were building something impressive in real estate and investing.
Today, you get Lauren’s full story. And I want to be clear going in, this is not a highlight reel.
This is the long road. The uncomfortable decisions. The seasons where confidence wasn’t available yet, but commitment was.
Lauren is now an award-winning Realtor, a coach, a teacher, and an AI expert. She actively operates in real estate and travels the country teaching others how to build real businesses with real systems and real leverage.
But none of that started with clarity or certainty.
It started with a quiet, gnawing truth she couldn’t ignore anymore. That she was meant for more. And the willingness to take one brave, grueling step at a time to build a life that actually felt like hers.
If you’ve ever felt that pressure in your chest. That sense that the “safe” path might also be the smallest one. I think Lauren’s story is going to land exactly where it needs to.
Let’s start with the basics. Who are you, and what do you do?
I’m Lauren. I’m a real estate entrepreneur, investor, and national speaker. I build businesses through real estate, and I help people build lives they’re actually proud of.
But getting here was not clean. It was not fast. And it was definitely not glamorous.
It took me nine years to graduate from college. Not because I didn’t care. Because life hit hard and I didn’t quit anyway. During that time, I worked for the State of Ohio for six years. It was a good job. Safe. Stable. The kind of job you’re supposed to be grateful for. And I was. But I also knew deep down that if I stayed, I would live a very small version of my life.
So I made a reckless, terrifying, very intentional decision.
I graduated with my degree on a Sunday.
And I started real estate classes on Monday.
No backup plan. No safety net. Just a choice to burn the old life down and build something that actually felt like mine.
From there, I went all in. I bartended. I studied. I failed. I rebuilt. I became Rookie of the Year. Built one of the top-producing teams in my market. Helped hundreds of families buy, sell, and invest in real estate. Built a portfolio. Built multiple companies. Partnered with my competition. Went through a divorce. Lost a lot. Learned even more. And I kept going even when it stopped being exciting and started being lonely.
Today, I still actively operate in real estate. I also travel the country teaching agents and entrepreneurs how to build real businesses with real systems, real leverage, and real strategy. Not just to make more money, but to stop being owned by their calendar and their chaos.
I don’t teach from a pedestal. I teach from experience. From scars. From reps. From getting it wrong and doing it anyway.
At the end of the day, I’m not special. I didn’t come from money. I didn’t have connections. I didn’t have some magic head start.
I just made a decision to stop numbing my potential with “safe.”
And once you make that decision, your whole life changes.
What motivated you to pursue your unique journey? What was your vision? Can you share your story?
At first, my motivation wasn’t some big, beautiful, perfectly clear vision. It was discomfort. It was pressure in my chest. It was this quiet panic that my life was going to be decided for me if I didn’t step in and choose it myself.
I grew up fast. I learned responsibility early. So for a long time, my main goal was just security. Don’t struggle. Don’t fall behind. Do what you’re supposed to do. So I did. I stayed in college for years while life kept happening. I worked for the State of Ohio. I chased stability. I checked all the right boxes.
And on paper, I was doing great.
But the real turning point came during my yearly review. I was sitting across from people I respected, thinking I was crushing it… and they told me I needed to slow down. That I was doing too much. That I needed to take my foot off the gas.
And something in me snapped.
Not in an angry way. In a crystal-clear way.
It was the first time I realized the very thing that made me powerful in the world would always be a problem inside systems built for average pace and capped ceilings. In that moment, I saw my future if I stayed. Safe. Comfortable. Small. Predictable. And that scared me more than any risk ever could.
That’s when I knew I had to find a way out. Not just of that job. Of the version of my life that was being silently chosen for me.
So I went inward. I got honest. I asked myself who I could really become if I stopped shrinking to fit rooms that were never built for me. And once I saw even a glimpse of that version of myself, I couldn’t unsee her.
When I graduated on a Sunday and walked into real estate school on Monday, that wasn’t impulsive. That was years of quiet frustration turning into one loud decision.
The vision didn’t start as money or titles. It started as freedom. Time freedom. Financial freedom. The freedom to decide my own pace. The freedom to build something that couldn’t be taken away from me. The freedom to help people change their family trees instead of just surviving paycheck to paycheck.
At first, the goal was, “Can I make this work?”
Then it became, “How many families can I help?”
Then it turned into, “How many agents can I impact?”
And now it’s, “How far can this ripple really go?”
I wasn’t motivated by confidence. I was motivated by the fear of waking up decades from now, knowing I played small because I mistook safety for fulfillment.
My vision today is simple and heavy at the same time:
To build wealth through real estate.
To build people who believe in themselves again.
To build freedom that actually lasts.
I didn’t grow up seeing what was possible.
So now I’ve made it my life’s work to show people what is, and that is why my mission is to impact 1,000,000 people, changing their family trees.
What was the very first step you took to get started?
I made a decision before I made a plan.
That sounds small, but it’s everything.
After that review, where I was told to slow down, I went home and got brutally honest with myself. I admitted that the life I was living was safe, but it wasn’t me. And once I said that out loud, I couldn’t keep pretending anymore.
The very first tangible step I took was enrolling in real estate school. No big announcement. No perfect timing. Just action. I graduated with my degree on a Sunday and started real estate classes the very next day. That was the moment it stopped being a thought experiment and became real.
At the same time, I took a massive step backwards financially. I went back to bartending to cover my bills while I studied. My income dropped. My security disappeared. My ego took a hit. And I did it anyway.
There was no audience yet. No results yet. Just a quiet commitment to show up every day, even when nothing was guaranteed.
That first step wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t confident. It was uncomfortable, terrifying, and deeply intentional. But it taught me something I still live by now:
You don’t build a new life in one leap.
You build it in one honest step… taken before you feel ready.
What were your biggest challenges in chasing your goals? How did you push through them?
The hardest part wasn’t learning real estate. It was learning how to live with uncertainty after spending most of my life chasing security.
When I left my state job, I didn’t just walk away from a paycheck. I walked away from predictability, benefits, approval, and the version of me that everyone understood. I became the “risky” one overnight. That messes with your head more than people talk about.
One of the biggest challenges was loneliness. Entrepreneurship is isolating, especially when you outgrow rooms faster than your confidence grows. I lost relationships. I got judged. I got misunderstood. There were seasons where it felt like everyone had an opinion about my life except the people actually paying my bills. I had to quickly learn that those who were speaking negatively about me were projecting their own insecurities. I mean, I had a “friend” tell people, “I was probably out selling trailers.” (I have since removed about 85% of the people who were in my life at the time).
And then there was self-doubt. Real, loud, relentless self-doubt. Imposter syndrome. The voice that said, “Who do you think you are?” The fear of failing publicly. The fear of succeeding and still not feeling like enough. That one almost took me out more times than the finances ever did.
How did I push through? I stopped waiting to feel confident and started showing up anyway.
I built discipline before I had belief. I stayed consistent when I was discouraged. I asked for help instead of pretending I had it all figured out. I learned from every bad hire, every failed lead source, every season where things fell apart instead of forward.
And most importantly, I kept reconnecting to the why.
I wasn’t doing this just to make money. I was doing it to build freedom. To prove to myself that my life didn’t have to be shaped by fear, trauma, or someone else’s expectations. To help other people see that they weren’t trapped either.
There were plenty of moments where quitting would have made sense, and most of those times I wanted to. I just refused to let temporary discomfort talk me into a permanent ceiling.
I didn’t push through because I’m fearless.
I pushed through because I decided the old life wasn’t an option anymore.
In 2019, I got a tattoo that says “be afraid and do it anyways.” That was my commitment to myself.
And once that decision is final, everything else becomes figure-out-able.
What goal-setting or success habits have worked well for you that you’d love to pass on to others?
The biggest habit that changed my life is simple but not easy: I set goals based on who I need to become, not just what I want to achieve.
Early on, I used to set surface-level goals. Money goals. Production goals. Titles. And they helped for a while. But everything truly shifted when I started asking a different question:
“What kind of person does this version of my life require?”
That changed how I showed up every day.
A few habits that have made the biggest difference for me:
First, I stopped waiting on motivation and built my life around non-negotiables instead. I don’t rely on how I feel to decide whether I show up. I decide who I am first, then I act like her regardless of my mood. That’s how consistency actually happens.
Second, I plan in seasons, not just years. I look at my life in 90-day windows. What does this season require of me? What am I building right now? What gets eliminated so I can actually win this chapter? That keeps me focused instead of overwhelmed.
Third, I do a lot of future pacing. I spend real time imagining the 5-year version of me and asking, “What would she stop tolerating immediately?” Then I clean house. Habits. Relationships. Commitments. Environments. That exercise alone has saved me from years of distraction.
Another big one is tracking reality, not just dreaming. I look at my numbers. My time. My energy. My calendar. My bank account. My pipeline. I don’t romanticize potential. I study patterns. Data tells you the truth faster than feelings ever will.
And lastly, I surround myself with people who call me higher, not just cheer me on. I don’t need hype. I need honesty. The right rooms will stretch you in ways comfort never will.
If I could pass on one thing, it would be this:
You don’t rise to the level of your goals.
You fall to the level of your standards.
Raise your standards, and your life has no choice but to follow.
Oh, and what they say about “you are the equivalent of the 5 people you spend the most time with” is absolutely true, for both the good and bad. Choose your friends accordingly.
What else would you like my Operation Melt readers to know about you, your work, or the journey you’ve taken?
The truth is… I probably shouldn’t be here.
I grew up inside chaos, wrapped as a perfect white-picket fence family, tied in a bow. I was raised around addiction and narcissism. I learned how to read a room before I learned how to rest. I learned how to survive before I ever learned how to dream.
There were days I had to call the fire department because my dad thought our house was being taken over by leprechauns. There were times I had to call the police on my own father for driving intoxicated with my little sister. These are examples of tough decisions I had to make. Not once. Several times. As a kid. I learned very early that safety wasn’t guaranteed.
My parents divorced when I was 13, and everything I knew disappeared almost overnight. By high school, I switched schools and left behind my friends, my teams, my identity, my sense of normal. I was the new kid carrying old grief and adult-sized fear in a teenager’s body.
And then my dad died when I was 17.
I was the one sitting by his bedside that last night of his life.
I was the one who watched his chest rise and fall for what we thought was the last time, but visiting hours ended, and he didn’t pass until morning..
And I was the one who had to clean out his room after he was gone.
No one prepares you for that.
There are a million statistics that say I should have stayed stuck. That trauma should have hardened me. That I should have chosen numbing over building. That I should have repeated what I was handed.
But I didn’t.
And not because I was strong.
Because somewhere along the way, even in the middle of all of that, I knew my life was meant for more than just survival.
My work today isn’t about success for the sake of status. It’s about proof. Proof that your upbringing does not get to write your ending. Proof that you can outgrow what you survived. Proof that the rooms you come from do not get to limit the rooms you enter.
Everything I build is rooted in that truth.
Every business. Every stage. Every person I help see themselves differently.
I’m not here because life was easy.
I’m here because I refused to let hard become my whole story.
So if someone reading this feels like their past disqualifies them, I want them to hear this clearly:
Your trauma does not cancel your potential.
Your grief does not get the final word.
Your survival story can still become your leadership story.
I am not here because I was protected.
I’m here because I chose to protect my future when no one else could.
And I will never waste that.
What’s one thing you do that might look lazy or indulgent from the outside, but is actually essential to your success?
This is still something I am learning, and it is a work in progress, but I put my phone on DND, and I rest on purpose. And I protect it like it’s part of my job… because it is.
From the outside, it can look indulgent. Slow mornings when I can. Sitting in silence. Taking a walk with no podcast playing. Leaving my phone in another room and not answering for hours. In a world full of noise and notifications that glamorizes burnout, it can look lazy.
It’s not. And that is something I just learned this year.
For most of my life, my nervous system lived in survival mode. Hyper-vigilant. Always bracing. Always scanning. Always pushing. Rest used to feel unsafe to me. But I learned the hard way that you don’t build a clear business or a clear life from a fried nervous system.
So now I slow down on purpose.
I used to think success meant being exhausted. Now I know exhaustion just means I’ve stopped listening to the most important person in my life, me.
Stillness is not a reward after work.
It’s part of the work. We need the white space on our calendar to let our creative minds flow.
And protecting my energy is the reason I can show up at the level I do when it actually counts.
If you could go back and give 18-year-old you one piece of advice, what would it be and why?
I would tell her this:
You do not have to earn your worth through suffering.
At 18, I thought pain was the price of admission. I thought if I just worked harder, stayed quieter, carried more, and asked for less, I’d eventually deserve peace. I didn’t realize how much of my identity was built around being “the strong one.” The dependable one. The one who didn’t fall apart.
I would tell her that strength doesn’t mean swallowing everything until it breaks you. That being high-capacity doesn’t mean being available to be drained. That just because you can carry it all doesn’t mean you should.
I would tell her that the feeling inside her chest that says, “There has to be more than this,” is not arrogance. It’s instinct. And if she learns to trust it sooner instead of apologizing for it, she will save herself years of trying to make the wrong rooms feel like home.
I would tell her she’s going to walk through grief that most people her age can’t imagine. She’s going to feel abandoned, misunderstood, and alone in ways she never asked for. And none of it means she’s weak. It means she’s becoming dangerous in the best way.
And I would leave her with this:
You are not here to prove you’re unbreakable.
You are here to build a life that doesn’t require you to be.
Stop shrinking to be digestible.
Stop over-functioning to be needed.
Stop mistaking survival for success.
You are not behind.
You are becoming her.
And one day, everything they tried to dim in you will become the very thing that lights up rooms.
Where can people go to learn more about you or connect with your work?
The easiest place to really connect with me day to day is on Instagram. That’s where I share the real behind-the-scenes of my life, real estate, business, travel, wins, struggles, and everything in between. It’s where most people get a true feel for who I am and what I actually stand for. @laurenlucas_re
For anyone who wants to go deeper into the work itself, whether that’s real estate, building wealth, systems, or scaling a business, all of my programs, events, and community live online through my education platforms and private community. That’s where the real transformation happens because it’s not just content, it’s implementation and support.
And if someone’s looking to work with my real estate team directly, buy, sell, invest, or just start a serious conversation about what’s possible, they can connect through my real estate brand online as well.
No matter how someone finds me, my goal is always the same:
To meet people where they are and help them build what’s next.
The only thing I can say about Lauren’s story is this: holy shit.
Not because it’s flashy. Not because it’s perfect. But because it’s honest.
What stayed with me most wasn’t just what she built. It was what she refused to keep tolerating.
The moment she realized safety was slowly shrinking her life.
The decision to move before confidence showed up.
The discipline to keep going when motivation wasn’t available.
And the courage to rest and protect her energy in a world that glorifies burnout.
Lauren didn’t wait to feel ready. She didn’t wait for permission. She didn’t wait for certainty.
She decided who she wanted to become, and then she started acting like her.
That’s the part I hope you don’t miss.
You don’t need a dramatic origin story to start changing your life. You don’t need perfect clarity. You don’t need to blow everything up tomorrow.
You need one honest decision.
One step taken before you feel ready.
One commitment to stop playing small in ways you’ve already outgrown.
Lauren’s story is proof of what happens when you do that consistently, even when it’s lonely, uncomfortable, and scary.
Be afraid. Do it anyway.
Lauren Is Project Managing Her Life Like a Pro!
Lauren’s success wasn’t accidental, and it wasn’t luck. It was internal passion, intentional commitment, and many goal-crushing best practices that helped her stop playing small and build her empire.
Many of Lauren’s goal-crushing strategies perfectly illustrate my Project Manage Your Life (PMYL) principles. Here are just a few examples (confession: it was hard to limit myself to only including these examples):
✅ Set SMART Goals:
Lauren committed to a big goal. She decided she was going to go into real estate because it provided her the freedom she sought and wouldn’t tell her to play small.
Her goal was deeply personal and the culmination of every day of her life to that point.
Did she know she would end up being a national speaker and award-winning Realtor? Probably not. But she probably wouldn’t have ruled it out because she was tired of being less than she knew she was capable of. She knew her “life was meant for more than just survival.”
And she keeps pursuing goals and has a clear vision for her life. Today’s goals are based on becoming the version of herself that the next stage of her life requires.
Want to be unstoppable in your life? Commit to a goal that’s as personal and identity-shaping as Lauren has.
✅ Build a plan that works for you:
Lauren’s story is the definition of committing to your own plan, not someone else’s.
Lauren referred to her plan as a “reckless, terrifying, very intentional decision.” This worked for her because she grew up with a safety net that was shaky at best. This was clearly formative for her. It caused her to seek safety and security for years.
Then, after a pivotal performance review, she discovered that the safe path would never be the satisfying one.
Today, Lauren has found the ideal planning tool that works for her. She plans in seasons and starts with a powerful question:
I plan in seasons, not just years. I look at my life in 90-day windows. What does this season require of me? What am I building right now? What gets eliminated so I can actually win this chapter? That keeps me focused instead of overwhelmed.
Focusing first on being who she wants to be, and deprioritizing everything else, is superhero-like planning. I might actually steal this for my own quarterly planning!
Ask yourself:
How is your past shaping today’s choices?
Is that what you want?
Who do you want to be?
After answering those questions, it’s time to create a plan. Don’t hesitate to create a plan that scares you a little, as long as it also lights you up. Focus on who you want to be, be afraid, and do it anyway… just like Lauren.
✅ Measure progress every day:
Lauren believes in one of the key truths about crushing goals: “if I can measure it, I can manage it.” So she grounds herself in reality by looking at the data.
Another big one is tracking reality, not just dreaming. I look at my numbers. My time. My energy. My calendar. My bank account. My pipeline. I don’t romanticize potential. I study patterns. Data tells you the truth faster than feelings ever will.
What does your data say about your goals? Does that story match the one you are telling yourself? If not, it might be time to adjust your story.
✅ Expect and plan ahead for problems:
Lauren mentioned her “future pacing” in her story:
I spend real time imagining the 5-year version of me and asking, “What would she stop tolerating immediately?” Then I clean house. Habits. Relationships. Commitments. Environments. That exercise alone has saved me from years of distraction.
This is a master class in planning ahead for problems and proactively avoiding them. By eliminating distractions and anything that’s a barrier to your future you, many problems are avoided from the beginning.
When you think about who you want to be in five years, what things in your life might hold you back (habits, mindsets, people, etc.)? What can you do today to start clearing those barriers?
Your Turn… Your Success Story Starts Today
Are you ready to stop reading other people’s success stories and finally create your own?
Here are two small but powerful steps you can take today to start writing your own goal-crushing success story.
Step 1: Join My Free Goal Crusher Coffee Chat
My next Goal Crusher Coffee Chat is a relaxed, honest roundtable where we take the pressure off perfection and start turning intention into momentum.
The theme of this session is:
You’ve Got a Friend in YOU! A BFF Pep Talk for Your Hard Days.
We’ll talk about the self-talk that keeps us stuck, and I’ll introduce you to my BFF Exercise, a simple but powerful tool for rewriting the stories that hold us back.
We will also have an informal roundtable to answer this question:
What is one thing you wish your BFF would tell you on the days you’re hardest on yourself?
If you’ve been hard on yourself lately, this conversation is for you.
Click below to sign up for this free event that will help you become your best friend instead of your own worst enemy.
Step 2: Grab the Project Manage Your Life Starter Kit
If you’re ready to move from inspired to in motion, the Project Manage Your Life Starter Kit will help you build a goal that actually fits your life, create a plan you’ll follow, and start building real momentum.
You don’t need more motivation. You need a system that supports who you’re becoming.
Click below to grab your Starter Kit and start building momentum today.
💥 What if you had to choose between being safe and being happy? What would you choose?
Will you choose to be afraid and do it anyway, and stop playing small like Lauren?
It just takes a few bold steps. You can figure out the rest as you go.
✨ I believe in you, let me help YOU believe in you! ✨
Meet Coach Tony
Tony Weaver is a master life coach, technologist, consultant, writer, and founder of Operation Melt.
He helps project managers and other left-brained high-achievers pursue their biggest goals.
Through free resources, personalized coaching, and his proven Project Manage Your Life system, Tony empowers clients to move their dreams from “someday” to success… one step at a time.
Learn more about Project Manage Your Life, the system my clients and I use to crush our goals, at OperationMelt.com/PMYL/
Meet Coach Tony