Lauren Bateman recounts a defining personal moment: while working as a contractor at a pharmaceutical company she went on a cruise that featured folk-style open mics. Performing there inspired her to pursue music full-time. After returning to her cubicle she researched how to phase out her job, began performing, recorded an album, and taught music on the side to provide income before quitting her job.
The defining moment in my life. I was working for a contractor at a pharmaceutical company and I went on a cruise that was just like a folk festival on a ship and I brought my guitar and I'm up on stage. I was performing at the open mics and I was just having so much fun and I got back to my office in my little cubicle and I was like how do I do music for the rest of my life? So I put in a Google search, I was like how to phase out your job to do music? And I started doing that, I started performing, I recorded my own album and then I started kind of teaching on the side so that when I quit my job I'd have some income, I wouldn't be like the starving artist. But I knew when I got back from that cruise ship I was like I need to do something with music cuz that's calling me.
