Meet Lauren and Maddie Orlando
Meet Maddie and Lauren Orlando, the sisters behind “The Sister Diary” a podcast discussing fashion, beauty, health, fitness and more. Both Lauren and Maddie are known for their work in the entertainment and social media industries.I sat down with Lauren and Maddie to discuss their relationship as sisters, the fashion and entertainment industries, why they decided to start a podcast and more.
Lucy: Tell our readers a little bit about yourselves and your relationship as sisters!!
Maddie: I’m Maddie, I’m 23 and the oldest in our family. There’s 4 of us in total. I graduated from university in 2018 and now am working full time on our podcast, my YouTube channel and my clothing company, Artless.
Lauren: I’m Lauren! I’m 15 and the youngest in our family. I have been on social media for 7 years, since I was 8 years old, which is so crazy to think about. I’m mostly on YouTube and Instagram, and now of course have the podcast with Maddie.
Lucy: What made you guys want to start a podcast?
Maddie: I have been a big podcast listener for a long time so it was always something that I wanted to do. I felt like the people that followed me on Instagram didn’t really know me, because photos are obviously very surface level. Both Lauren and I wanted to connect with our audience on more of a genuine level. We didn’t know how to start a podcast, how to get it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or anything... I literally Googled everything, found a studio, and we just started recording episodes. It definitely wasn’t something we planned or thought about for a long time.
Lauren: For me, the podcast started off as a fun activity for Maddie and I to do over the summer last year, while we were living in Los Angeles. We started with the intention of just doing it until the end of August, but everyone seemed to gravitate toward the conversations we were having and Maddie and I also really loved recording. I wanted to start a podcast because working in the entertainment industry, I’ve met people and have so many friends who are doing interesting things. I wanted to share those stories with others, and also allow our audience to get to know my friends (many of whom are actors and influencers as well) on a different level.
Lucy: You guys spend a lot of time together, do you ever get sick of each other or fight? I know I do with my sisters lol.
Maddie: I honestly think we spend more time together than any other family, like there’s never any alone time in our house. It’s nice though and we usually do get along. I hate to admit it but Lauren’s actually super mature for her age, which helps because I think I can relate to her more than I could to an average teenager. We fight but we’re able to work past it most of the time.
Lauren: Agreed, we fight but since we work so closely together, we have to figure out ways to get over it quickly.
Lucy: Maddie, you’re in the midst of starting your own clothing brand, how is that going and what was the inspiration behind that? Lauren, are you also into fashion? Do you see yourself doing something in that industry in the future?
Maddie: I’m so excited for the clothes to come out!! It’s been a massive work in progress and a huge learning experience for me. I’ve been working on it for over a year now, and unfortunately it’s delayed because of everything that’s going on with coronavirus, but I’m making sure everything’s perfect and ready to go when we launch in the meantime. The inspiration behind the brand mostly comes from my own love for fashion, the clothes I like to wear, the places I’ve travelled etc. I describe the vibe as “feminine streetwear” - it’s a blend between masculine and feminine elements. It basically came out of my desire to find streetwear clothes that were cool, but also made for women’s bodies.
Lauren: I’m excited for Artless to come out too, and yes, I’m also super into fashion. I would love to have my own clothing line in the future, and it’s definitely something that Maddie and I have talked about.
Lucy: You both are pretty popular on social media, how does that feel? Is it weird to be noticed in public, and how did you guys adjust to that lifestyle?
Maddie: It’s a pretty cool feeling to have a platform like we do! I guess it’s kind of weird to think about thousands of people looking at the photos that you post, but you also get used to it. Our audience is so supportive of everything that we do which is so amazing.
Lauren: Yeah, and we love to meet people in real life who support us online. It’s such a cool feeling and it’s so fun when people come up to us and we get to chat. It’s kind of similar to what we’re able to accomplish with the podcast - connecting to people in a more personal way and being able to realize that we’re actually all the same.
Lucy: Being someone who is starting to have more of an “image” if you will, I have been getting some hate comments/ DMs, how do you let that roll off your back?
Maddie: To be completely honest, I struggle with the hate comments. They definitely make me second guess myself. If I liked a photo but then people started to comment rude things, I’ll be like “wait, is it a bad photo? I didn’t even notice the thing they’re pointing out!!”. But, like everyone always says, hate comments usually come from people who are jealous or insecure about themselves.
Lauren: I feel like I’m pretty good at ignoring the hate comments just because I’ve been dealing with it for so long. I just think that strangers’ negative opinions of me don’t really matter that much because they don’t know me.
Lucy: What is an issue that you guys are really passionate about? How do you advocate for/against that issue through your work?
Maddie: This is definitely something that we want to focus on more in the future!! Personally, I’m super into animal rights and ending factory farming practices. It’s not something that I speak about that openly on social media at the moment, but I
absolutely want to. I think we have a responsibility as people with a platform to speak up about things we care about.
Lauren: I totally agree. In the past, I’ve worked with a foundation called Cyber Smile, an anti-bullying organization that focuses in particular on online bullying. This is something that’s super close to my heart!
Lucy: What are you looking forward to in the future, in terms of your careers?
Maddie: I’m most excited to finally release my clothing company, Artless, in a few months! I’m also looking forward to recording and releasing more podcast episodes, growing our community online and posting more content on YouTube.
Lauren: I’m excited to get more into acting, it’s definitely a goal of mine!
Lucy: What does a typical day look like for you guys?
Maddie: Every day is very different, and obviously things are very weird right now. But on a usual day when I’m in Toronto, I wake up around 7:00, have a coffee at my desk in my room, journal and make a to do list for the day, do a few hours of work, workout at home or go to a workout class, then work all afternoon. At night, I like to help my mom make dinner and take my dogs for a walk.
Lauren: I still go to regular school, so on a usual day pre-coronavirus, I wake up around 6:15, have breakfast with my mom, and get on the bus for school at 6:50. My school is about a 40 minute drive from my house so I have to leave super early to make it on time. My school goes from 8:00-4:00, then we have a co-curricular activity (like a sport or club) after school, so I don’t get home until around 6:30 or 7pm. When I get home, I have dinner with my family and do my homework!
Lucy: If you could give advice to younger girls that want to get into the social media/ entertainment industries what would that advice be?
Maddie: It sounds very cliché, but I would say stick to the content that feels genuine to you. People are drawn to authenticity online, and I think if you truly love what you’re posting on social media and you’re being yourself, your audience will feel that. Stay in your own lane. Other than that, post consistently and your numbers will grow!
Lauren: I think collaboration with others is so important, especially if you’re just getting into the industry. Don’t be afraid to reach out to other creators, make friends online, and lift each other up. I think girls in particular are naturally competitive with each other, but you can actually get so much further by helping other people.
Big thanks to Lauren and Maddie for chatting with me! You can follow Lauren at @Laurenorlando88 and Maddie at @Maddieorlando!
