Darlington alumna Lauren Bowling ('05) has established herself in cyberspace as a trusted name in the world of personal finances, using her life experience and wit to help her readers rethink how they use and conceptualize money.
As the owner/creator of L Bee and the Money Tree, a personal finance blog, the Atlanta-based alum imparts wisdom and sage advice for those looking to “earn more income, build net worth, and grow their own ‘money trees.’”
Before becoming a financial guru, Bowling was an active student at Darlington where she served as an admissions liaison, president of Concert Choir and vice president of the Darlington Players, performing in several winter musicals. It was also at the school that the alum discovered a passion and a talent that would later propel her into her calling.
“Darlington had a creative writing class that I took...and loved,” said Bowling. “That’s really where my interest in writing got started.”
“L Bee” used these skills and an interest in finances following a stint in Wall Street hedge funds as a jumping board to fill a void for millennials in dire need of financial advice. A journey north after college to pursue acting was paved with good intentions, impulse shopping, credit card debt and therapy, and she wanted to use her experiences in the real world to enlighten and hopefully save others from a similar path.
“One day my mom handed me a news article about how blogging can keep your skills sharp while also making money on the side,” said Bowling.
The idea for L Bee and the Money Tree was planted, and thousands of blog posts later, Bowling is still helping 20-somethings (and beyond) make spending and saving work in their favor.
“I didn’t want my writing to be all about what I had for breakfast,” said the alum. “I like to help people. Because I made a lot of money mistakes when I was younger, I wanted others to read my work and think about money—to try to do something different and be better about it.”
Now a successful young professional, the blogger uses her expertise as a platform, and has created a full-time career from her gifts.
On the surface, a blog about finances might seem more like an industry publication filled with confusing jargon and limiting, harsh rules of the road. The writer, however, manages to breathe life and excitement into the world of money management, injecting her reflections, stories and research to help readers understand their choices in the matter.
With step-by-step guides on everything from building a personalized budget to DIY home makeovers on the cheap, from downfalls to avoid early in one’s life to how to buy a house before age 30, Bowling has developed her own “database” of financial how-to's that continues to bloom and grow with the current economic climate.
“I write a good bit about reducing debt and being smarter about it,” said Bowling. “I also write a lot about how people can make more money on top of their full-time jobs with a side business.”
The work of the Darlington alum has been featured in Forbes, The Huffington Post, Money, U.S. News & World Report, and a variety of other news outlets.
Bowling was recently featured in the June issue of Redbook, where she opened up and bared her own finances.
“They were looking for women who lived happily within a certain income,” said the alumna. “I told them the angle that I could bring to the story and pitched it.”
In addition to written content and her contributions to other publications, she also hosts Awkward Money Chat, an online talk show where she interviews special guests who are respected experts in a particular focus within money management. The show garnered her the 2014 Plutus Award for Best Video/Multimedia Production for Personal Finance, given by ConsumerismCommentary.com, one of the first blogs to focus on personal finance from the consumer's perspective. The award series takes its name from the Greek god of wealth.
When she is not writing on the benefits of watching pennies and giving talks to college students, the University of Alabama at Birmingham graduate dreams of writing a book.
“Blogging is a lot of fun,” added Bowling. “I’ve leveraged my blog to begin a career and work in digital marketing. I work for myself full time—I have this platform—my brand and my baby.”
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