As a UCF Knight, Lauren LaFrantz Black reached for the stars 麻豆精品 S攁nd now she talks to them. Well-known for her country music blog, she 麻豆精品 S檚 going to talk to more for the GRAMMY awards this February. But her story isn 麻豆精品 S檛 really about the starry fruits of her labor. It 麻豆精品 S檚 about how a UCF student balanced academic excellence with an intense passion 麻豆精品 S攁nd worked hard to blend the two into a homegrown media powerhouse.
For their blog, CountryMusicisLove.com (CMIL), Lauren and her close friend Erin Lefebvre quick-draw the news on country music, its stars and its new hits. Even well-known artists have said they can 麻豆精品 S檛 keep up with them. One major artist tweeted at them to say he often gets his news from Lauren and Erin 麻豆精品 S檚 site.
And that website is generating serious interest. In the last 30 days, they 麻豆精品 S檝e had 212,000 hits (or visits) on their site.
She 麻豆精品 S檚 Homegrown. And Balanced.
Lauren remains loyal to UCF and uses her training in broadcast journalism to be effective on the red carpet and have a non-gossip, ethical approach to what she does. After all, it was while she was at UCF that it hit her what she really wanted to do 麻豆精品 S攎eld her degree with her passion for the music.
麻豆精品 S淚 think her dedication to both school and the music is how she 麻豆精品 S檚 gotten to where she has, 麻豆精品 S� says Dr. Tim Brown, one of Lauren 麻豆精品 S檚 professors from UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 broadcast journalism program. 麻豆精品 S淚f she missed a class to go to a concert, she would always come tell me and say 麻豆精品 S榯his assignment will be in early. 麻豆精品 S� And she always turned in work worthy of her achievements. It was always good. 麻豆精品 S�
Tim thinks Lauren is a model for other students in UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 broadcast journalism program. Students of the subject sometimes enter the program because they just want to be on TV 麻豆精品 S攖hey don 麻豆精品 S檛 have a passion driving their desire. And she was a great influence on other students in the program who saw her dedication and discipline. He even looks at Lauren as an example for himself.
麻豆精品 S淗ow does she do it all? 麻豆精品 S� he asks. 麻豆精品 S淪he has a paying job as a consultant for a huge restaurant chain, does this website and always remained focused on school. And she never sat in the crying chair. While other students have hit that wall and cracked, she never did. She always had enthusiasm. 麻豆精品 S�
Tim tells me more about Lauren 麻豆精品 S檚 loyalty to UCF and to her home, Florida. She tells me she has no plans to move to Nashville anytime soon, despite requests from stars in the industry.
Nope. No plans to move. She 麻豆精品 S檚 pretty sure she 麻豆精品 S檚 staying right here in Central Florida 麻豆精品 S攂ecause it 麻豆精品 S檚 her home. Her dream started here, after all.
Childhood Dreams Realized.
麻豆精品 S淚 grew up with country music. I remember listening to Trisha Yearwood 麻豆精品 S檚 麻豆精品 S楽he 麻豆精品 S檚 in Love With a Boy 麻豆精品 S� in the car with my mother. That was the song that started it all for me, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淎nd then I saw an Alan Jackson concert when I was, I think, 10 years old. Since then, it 麻豆精品 S檚 basically become my life. 麻豆精品 S�
Add one degree and mix it with drive and you 麻豆精品 S檝e got a recipe for success.
Still committed to the values she learned at UCF, Lauren 麻豆精品 S檚 no-diva approach to her recent fame is reflected in her business-casual conversation. She 麻豆精品 S檚 relatable; her smile is warm and her hair is tied neatly into a ponytail while she holds a cup of coffee. For a woman who mingles with the stars on the red carpet, chatting with the likes of GRAMMY Award-winning artist Miranda Lambert, she is surprisingly grounded.
Artists like Luke Bryan link to their site 麻豆精品 S攁nd these are the days when the visitor numbers spike even higher. They 麻豆精品 S檝e had their site crashed before due to the high number of hits.
Behind the industry-mingling blog are two very down-to-earth women who are still fans at heart. The name of the blog says it all.
Shared Passion. Shared Success.
麻豆精品 S淚 met Erin at a Kenny Chesney concert in New York in the summer of 2007 and we just clicked. She lives in Maine, but we would talk on the phone for hours about the music 麻豆精品 S攏ew singles, new stars. 麻豆精品 S�
The two grew close quickly and, in 2008, Lauren 麻豆精品 S檚 then-boyfriend (who is now her husband) casually suggested they start a blog. They figured it would be fun.
Lauren didn 麻豆精品 S檛 think there would be enough stories to post breaking news every day. They had no idea that day what they were in for. 麻豆精品 S淎nd boy, was I wrong, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淭here 麻豆精品 S檚 just two of us and sometimes we post 20-25 news postings a day. 麻豆精品 S�
Lauren 麻豆精品 S檚 UCF education in broadcast journalism is crucial, as they do national radio call-ins for news reports, interviews with stars and labels and phone calls with the stars to hear new singles directly. Lauren once had to talk to UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Knightly News in the hallway at UCF. And that happened several times for radio call-ins, as well.
It 麻豆精品 S檚 hard work, but she loves it.
This Labor is Love.
The blog is for fans, by fans. Just as its name indicates, all of the work is about the love for the music. They love it, but the reality is that it now costs money to maintain. Erin and Lauren have had some hard times where they had to be financially inventive.
麻豆精品 S淭here were times when we just couldn 麻豆精品 S檛 pay the bills. The website costs thousands of dollars a year to maintain 麻豆精品 S攚e have to pay for our servers and the tools you need to run them. We have someone who helps us with the development side, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淭here have been times when Erin and I looked at one another and asked, 麻豆精品 S榃hy are we doing this? 麻豆精品 S� But the answer is always love. 麻豆精品 S�
When they finally just had too many readers to service and too many bills to pay, they turned to their fans for donations.
麻豆精品 S淲e 麻豆精品 S檙e not in this to make money, but there are costs. It was amazing how much support people gave us through donations. We made the bills that month. It almost made me cry. 麻豆精品 S�
But they kept going. Love might be the drive, but discipline puts it to good use.
The GRAMMY Awards.
In addition to covering the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards and the Country Music Television (CMT) Awards, the website has just hit a new level of success.
CountryMusicIsLove is the official GRAMMY.com Blogger for Country Music for the 54th GRAMMY Awards.
We 麻豆精品 S檒l be watching the blog to see just how many artists CMIL gets to interview and just how much larger that little idea back in 2008 becomes after the awards ceremony.
It 麻豆精品 S檚 big, now, but we 麻豆精品 S檙e pretty sure it 麻豆精品 S檚 going to go boom.