Ep. 62 - Where are they now? Featuring 2015 Miss Rodeo America Lauren Heaton

The 2015 Miss Rodeo America Lauren Heaton joins field reporters Lisa Lageschaar Luca, the 2017 Miss Rodeo America, and Katy Lucas, the 2015 Miss Rodeo Canada on this episode of the That Western Life podcast as they chat all things national titles, skills learned, and how they're using them in their career!

Who was Lauren Heaton prior to Miss Rodeo America?

“Lauren pre-Miss Rodeo Oklahoma or Miss Rodeo America was very passionate. I still have a lot of energy and zest towards life, but I was lost … I lacked direction,” says Lauren who was studying a degree in Strategic Communications that had many directions that she could go. Lacking confidence on which one to choose, she found herself in limbo and led to why, randomly, and at the last minute, she turned in her application for Miss Rodeo Oklahoma just a few weeks before the deadline.

"I had always had a lot of passion and drive for whatever I did in life, but I didn’t have the direction,” she adds.

Prior to Miss Rodeo Oklahoma, she hadn’t been a rodeo queen since she was the Miss Rodeo Oklahoma teen at 15 years old, which was eight years before. While staying involved, she separated herself in college away from that world.

How did attending college help you in running for your state title?

Being a state rodeo queen is a job and you have big responsisbiltiyes and big checkins. Having that real-world experience with different age groups and backgrounds. Coming out of high school or even older, you haven’t had that life experience yet. Especially on the state or national title level, it’s great to have that experience.

On the flip side, a lot of girls can be amazing rodeo queens and don’t have that confidence yet, but being a rodeo queen encourages you being more confident and can help someone just out of high school find direction of what you want to do.

Who is the person you emerged as after being Miss Rodeo America?

“I had so much more confidence and what I wanted to do in life, the direction that I wanted to go and even more passion for the western lifestyle,” says Lauren, who also mentions that the amazing community of talented women she has met through that title has been an asset for her growth. If it wasn’t for the professional experiences that she had, she firmly believes she’d be 4-6 years behind or 3 tiers below where she is now in her career.

Working in the United Kingdom

Starting off post her national title in Kansas City, she caught her interviewers off guard as she tried to explain rodeo queening to the corporate world. They quickly noticed that she had great experience and she wasn’t even done with her title as Miss Rodeo America when she interviewed!

Working there in an accounts service position for a little over a year in an out-facing position working with sponsors and rodeo committees; a completely transferable skill for her. A year after there, she had was able to take a job in London - the town where she had studied abroad in college. Making the jump in 2017, she gave herself a time limit for a job and work visa where she was able to find a job where her skills from rodeo queening were vital.

She had experience as a remote worker, being able to report into different people, she had experience in different markets, and had worked with a wide variety of companies. This allowed her to get the specialty visa that isn’t easy to get at all!

“Work ethic and being deadline driven and being really organized and efficient with your time is the biggest things that will propel you in your career and I, of course, credit all of that to being a rodeo queen,” says Lauren, who works with teams all over the globe today. “At 29 I would not be the head of marketing at all if I hadn’t of had those experiences.”

Day-to-Day Role

Lauren currently leads three objectives for Circus Street which are managing the brand (exposure, working with PR agencies), working closely with the marketing company for leads to transfer to revenue and the third is for client account growth (part of the marketing to facilitate events and networking and brand options). Running a team that does everything from social media, to broadcast, to event management, video work with clients, etc.

“The reason I love it, is that no two days are the same. I come in every day with an idea of what I’ll do but knowing that it’ll change,” says Lauren. “The company is also growing really quickly.”

Why London?

Always a fan of traveling, Lauren loves the proximity that London has to the rest of Europe. It’s also fairly inexpensive to travel from there, which isn’t the same in the states. She also gets great exposure to cultural diversity and different groups, as well as making a great pocket of midwest Americans in the UK. Also, the chocolate and the coffee!

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