The Organized Creative: Lauren Messiah

1.) Take us through a busy day in the life of a stylist/blogger/business owner.

7:00am- Wake up. Check emails. Write a to-do list for the day

8:00am- Pilates at Circuit Pilates in Hollywood

9:30am- Get dressed in my favorite room of the house – my closet/dressing room

10:00am- Morning meeting with my assistants

10:30am- Answer emails

11:00am- Create mood boards then shop all day for my clients

5:30pm- Finish shopping/ bring clothes back to styling studio

6:00pm- Eat (at this point I’m starving) while my assistants set up the studio

7:00pm- Pre-style looks for client fittings

9:00pm- Work on projects for School of Style

10:00pm- Blog for LaurenMessiah.com

11:00pm- Answer more emails

12:00am- Pretend to go to bed when really I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

12:30am- Read

1:00am- Sleep

2.) What’s your go-to day-to-day planner of choice?  Are you a pen-to-paper kind of girl or is it all technology for you?

I am a mixture of an old-school paper kind of girl and a technology junkie. To be completely honest I do both but in a crazy OCD kind of way. I like the pizazz of technology but I feel most comfortable with pen and paper.

Each and every day I create a to-do list because I love the satisfaction of scratching things off of my list.

I also rely heavily on my iPhone. That is where I keep all of my styling contacts, check my emails, see what’s on my calendar, and geek out on all my social media apps.

3.) What is one tech accessory can you not live without?

My iPhone. Sadly it’s like an extension of my hand. Although sometimes I wish we could go back to the good old days where people couldn’t reach you 24/7. Remember answering machines and pseudo text messages on pagers? Yeah, those were the days.

4.) Is your organization more OCD or organized chaos?

Oh, we are definitely deep into OCD territory. I have a system for everything! I’m talking folders, charts, lists … you name it. I’m sure it drives my 1^st assistant crazy, although she is pretty good at pretending she loves it.

5.) How do you get and/or stay inspired?

My dial is always turned to high when it comes to getting inspired. I live, breathe, and love what I do so staying inspired isn’t really a challenge for me. Whether I am developing a new class for School of Style, creating a new image for a client, or writing content for my blog – my brain is constantly boiling over with new ideas.

Of course those ideas stem from hours and hours of research. I read books, magazines, blogs, I collect thousands of images that inspire me, I people watch, I watch documentaries, and I try to connect with successful people within my industry to find out what makes them tick.

6.) How do you organize and keep all of your inspiration?

I collect a lot of imagery so I keep detailed folders on my desktop for them. I also add a lot of images to Pinterest – although sometimes I get lost on that site and end up looking at pictures of baked goods and puppies.

I also carry around a mini Moleskine notebook in my bag. I never know when an idea will hit me so I like to be prepared with pen and paper.

7.) Where do you get your best work done?

I definitely get my best work done in my house, which also happens to be home to my office and my styling studio.

8.) Any advice for fellow creative ladies trying to achieve the balance between work, blogging, and reaching their goals?

I am constantly trying to find that perfect balance, which is hard especially when you love everything you do.

The best advice I can give is to carve out some “me time” – even if it’s only an hour. For me, it’s going to Pilates or watching Gossip Girl (without my iPhone sewn to my hand).

Also, listen to your body. Your body will tell you when you need to chill out and rest.