An Interview With Lauren Powers: The All American Wonder Woman!

[ Q ] Name:

Hello this is Lauren Powers, the "All American Wonder Woman"!

[ Q ] Born/Grew up in:

I am originally from good ole Los Angeles. I am a true native. Born there then moved to the beach where I graduated from Huntington Beach High School.

[ Q ] Current Residence:

I bought a beautiful home in So. Orange County a few years ago and totally love it. I enjoy the beaches here and the perfect weather. I get to enjoy my 500SL and Harley year round.

[ Q ] Measurements:

I stand 5' 8" and am weighing almost 180 lbs. That is the most I have ever weighed. I am still a growing girl! My biceps are now 15.5 and quads are 26". I am getting bigger and leaner at the same time. Nice trick!

[ Q ] When did you start lifting?

I have always been an athlete, however fairly new to this bodybuilding world. I just started bodybuilding in 2001. I have always been strong and got even stronger while training for the fire dept.

[ Q ] What are your best lifts?

Anything to do with my uppper body is good for me. I am super strong up top! Back, biceps, shoulders, tri's all good. I used to lift heavy when I had to and I would say 315 lbs. on the bench was my best lift.

[ Q ] What does a sample week of training look like for you?

I currently am training with 3 different trainers. I have one for overall conditioning on M, F and on T, TH I train for functional fitness, and Wed. I train with Paulina Talus over at the

Mecca of Bodybuilding

, "Gold's Gym" at Venice Beach. She is building my legs! She is awesome and I believe she has the strongest legs in the world!

[ Q ] Diet?

Well that is another story! I try and stay lean all year round. I have to be ready for

photo shoots

, movie auditions, and appearances all the time. So the diet is pretty much the same unless I am competing.

I just eat clean as much as possible and when it is contest time it takes me 4 weeks to shred up. My diet info is just like everyone else's with a few special top secret tips from my trainers! If I told ya I'd have to kill ya!

[ Q ] Supplements?

Well I feel like all I do is make protein drinks and swallow pills. I take whatever is hot at the time. Of course, I take a multiple,

Vit C

,

Vit E

,

Calcium

,

Potassium

,

Magnesium

,

Fish Oil

,

Glutamine

some products both by

TwinLabs

and

Pinnacle

.

There are so many supplements on the market it is hard to keep up with it. I mainly stick to the basics and try and eat right and with some help of fat burners now and then it seems to work!

[ Q ] When and why did you start competing?

Only 3 short years ago I had never even been to a contest before. I got discovered at the

Ms. Olympia 2001

expo in Las Vegas. My best friend encouraged me to attend and so I did.

That is when I won the Battle of the Biceps contest on stage and got in the magazines. I also got recruited by Jenny Jones talent scout to go on the show, which I did.

FemaleMuscle.com also put me on their website as a celebrity bodybuilder by the time I got home I was on TV and all over the web. So in 2 months, I trained and practiced the mandatory poses from a video and entered my first contest. I took 4th in Open Heavyweight! Not bad for not knowing a thing!! The rest is history...

[ Q ] What is your competition history?

Well then I went crazy entering all kinds of contests! I just went from one to the next. I ended up doing pretty good. I got Novice Overall Champ at the Calif. State NPC show and also 1st place Open Heavyweight in the NPC Orange County Classic, then 1st Place and Overall at the NPC Jan Tana show, and also Overall Ms. Muscle Beach Classic in Venice Beach.

That ended up being a documentary on Travel Chanel. The Secrets of Muscle Beach...

I won the Orange County Classic HW again and missed Overall by 1/2 point. If there is such a thing! What a pose down show that was if I say so myself! It never ended with the crowd going crazy. The middleweight chased me all over the stage.

Anyway I had a great run ending up with Masters 1st place at the Calif. State Championships and a 3rd in the Heavyweight division in the NPC Emerald Cup. That was a great contest with super competitors. Let's put it this way, I have a whole army of trophies.

[ Q ] When is your next contest?

I am taking 2004 off as a competitor and will be working as a guest performer. Jon Lindsay from NPC has hired me to be the sole performer at the Tournament of Champions contest. I get to ride my Harley on stage! I will also be featured at the Muscle Beach shows at Venice, CA.

The next show will be on Memorial Day, then 4th of July, and Labor Day. These are alot of fun and run by my good friend, Joe Wheatly. By the way these contests are all televised by 3 News channels and Discovery, and Travel Channel come down. Last year CNN did a story on me! Great exposure if you know what I mean. Come on down...

[ Q ] When did you get into personal training and why?

I have been a personal trainer for 3 years as well. I enjoy working with enthusiastic people who want to get in shape. I have to admit with the success of my own career I have not been able to personally train others. I am sure I will get back to it in the near future .

[ Q ] Do you do any other kind of training?

I do many things. I love sports such as golfing, surfing, waterskiing, wakeboarding, skateboarding, wrestling, and most of all riding my Harley. As far as training I am always learning new techniques and better ways to do everything!

[ Q ] What is your favorite bodybuilding show to go to throughout the year?

I would have to say the

Arnold Classic

. It is just so huge and all my friends are there. The athletes are incredible and the expo, well it is just awesome. This will be my third time coming up and I am really looking forward to it. I would also have to say the Olympia is a great time.

Vegas is close for me and always a blast. I have a great time at all the shows to tell you the truth. I love seeing everyone in shape and love to watch the fitness routines. Going to the shows all over the country is my social life!

[ Q ] Coolest person you've ever met?

That is a tough question as I have had the opportunity to meet so many cool people. Really I have made some really good friends in this industry from promoters, to male athlete's to the figure girls as well as my buddies the other FBB's.

Everyone has been so nice to me and very supportive. We all kind of stick together! If you have seen my website then you will know I am pretty good friends with alot of the Pro's!

[ Q ] Tell us about your fire fighting days.

I started my career as a firefighter at the age of 32. I had to go to school full-time to take all the classes before going to the full-time academy. I must say it was very challenging and a lot of hard work. I was competing with 18 year old boys!! I worked for 2 different depts as a paid reserve and volunteer.

I got a lot of experience in the field. I was involved in the El Nino floods in Laguna Beach for a full week eating Red Cross food etc and working around the clock. It was a fun, exciting, and hard job all at once.

[ Q ] Why did you stop fire fighting?

I was discriminated by the men on my dept. They wanted to say of all things, that I did not have enough upper body strength! Well that was a big mistake, HUGE. Needless to say I made some changes for females all over the country who are trying to get into firefighting. I gave up my career for the gals coming up behind me. I felt it was the right thing to do.

[ Q ] Do women fire fighters get treated different?

Well in my personal experience I would have to say yes. I am pretty easy going and certainly know how to fit in anywhere. I did all the work and passed all the physical tests with flying colors and it still was not good enough. My dept. did not want an aggressive female on the dept full time and that was that!

I also knew several gals on many different depts. and not one said they were treated as an equal. Oh well the "Good ole Boy Club" prevails. I love firefighting and in my heart I will always be one. I am really not bitter about what happened to me as I said I made change and that is awesome. I respect the boys all over for I know what it takes to be in their shoes. Keep up the good work guys!

[ Q ] Any other interesting jobs that you have had?

I have been in sales, advertising and marketing my whole life. I have done so many things it would take all day to tell you. Ask me if you really want to know and I will share. I have been a CEO, President of my own company to selling cars, ad space, to cell phones. From A-Z I have done at one time or another... Now I just sell myself.

[ Q ] How did you become successful in the industry? Why do you think you are successful?

I know I am successful because I work my butt off! I am at all the shows, I have competed in plenty myself, I have a successful website, I link up with all my friends, I love meeting new people all the time, and let's face it, I market and network like crazy. If you don't know me yet, you will is my motto...

[ Q ] How does someone else become successful in this industry?

It usually takes perserverance and desire is what I say. If you want to be successful as a fitness model or competitor in this industry you can, well if you have the ability I should say. You have to really want it from within and go after it. Talk to people and introduce yourself to everyone you can at one of the shows.

Meet the different companies that are at the expos. Ask questions? Talk to some of the people you admire and ask them how they did it. Trust me, we all like to talk about ourselves and our accomplishments so it won't be hard to find out. Go for it!

[ Q ] Have you been on any TV Talk Shows? If so, which ones? What were their reactions?

My first appearance was yes a talk show. It was the Jenny Jones Show, which was crazy. It ended up being the number one episode of the season. There were at least 11 bodybuilders on and my good friend

Brenda Kelly

. In fact, that is were I met her and my other friend,

Carmen Garcia

. I ended up being a regular on the show up until the end. I always got a huge response everytime one of the shows aired. My email box always filled up with fans wanting to talk to me.

It was a lot of fun. Since then I have done a few films, commercial, game show, Arliss, Monk, and many different appearances. I also produced my own video which is on the market, "Groovy Baby" it is an hour long with lots of fun stuff.

[ Q ] What about in public? Do you get a lot of people staring?

I can not go anywhere without someone knowing who I am or asking who I am! People always stare and comment, but honestly I am oblivious to most of it.

My friends always point out all the people talking about me wherever we are. I don't mind, it is part of the territory. I am very approachable and I do try to talk to everyone who asks me questions. So if you see me in public, just come up and say "HI"

[ Q ] One thing people may not know about you.

I have a whole other side to me that the general public does not see. I am very much into my home and my dog. I love nice things and am a true girlie girl. No one can believe it until they see my home.

It is all Pink, flowers, and feminine. It will be in some upcoming videos, don't worry. I am also a very sensitive person, the body is just armor for my protection. Now it is out! My big secret, so be nice to me now.

[ Q ] Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I see myself as having my own talk show. I will also be financially independent, even more! I might be married, but I doubt it! I will also own my own special kind of gym. Now that I can't tell you yet!

[ Q ] Sponsors:

Always looking! I have a few people I work with now. I love to be in the Bodybuilding.com booth at all the major shows. I think we have the most fun and definately give out the best free stuff! The crew is totally awesome and we are like one big family.

I get tanning products from Instant Summer and clothes from GoddessWear! I am always looking to promote other companies with their supplies and products so let me know!

[ Q ] Website & E-mail:

www.laurenpowers.com

&

lauren@laurenpowers.com

[ Q ] Anything else you'd like to share with the crew here on Bodybuilding.com?

Russ and the boys you ROCK. Keep up the good work. Will, the website is amazing, I don't know how you do it! To all the gals out there, keep going you can do it!

Thanks to all my fans for all your support. I am always available to you, just ask me!

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Thanks,