At 56, Lauren Clement walked onto a pageant stage for the first time in her life. She won.

But this conversation isn't really about pageants. It's about the years before — being dismissed by doctors, losing herself inside her own roles, and quietly wondering whether the interesting part of her life had already happened.

Lauren is a DNP-prepared nurse executive, nurse faculty member, author, and patient advocate. She's also a breast implant illness survivor who spent a long time being told her symptoms were nothing. In this episode she and Angela talk about self-advocacy inside a healthcare system that doesn't always listen, about what reinvention actually costs, and about the moment she stopped asking "am I too old?" and started asking "why not me?"

If you have ever thought your story was already written — this one is for you.

💬 WHAT WE TALK ABOUT

Saying yes at 56 — and what it cost to do it

Breast implant illness, and being told it was nothing

Advocating for yourself when a doctor isn't listening

Who you are after the roles change

Why reinvention has no age limit

📖 ABOUT LAUREN CLEMENT, DNP

Nurse executive, educator, speaker, advocate, and pageant titleholder. Author of Accidentally Crowned, a memoir about identity, aging, confidence, and discovering that the life you never planned becomes exactly the life you needed.

Titles include Universe United Miss Elite International Queen 2026 and Mrs. Middle Tennessee America 2026.

Find Lauren:

📘 Accidentally Crowned —

📧 accidentally.crowned@gmail.com

👥 Facebook: Accidentally Crowned

🎙️ REAL LIFE REWRITTEN

Hosted by Angela Renee. Real people. Real stories. Real growth.

New episodes weekly.

▶️ YouTube: @RealLifeRewrittenPodcast

🎧 Spotify: Real Life Rewritten

🍎 Apple Podcasts: COMING SOON!

🎵Music Courtesy of Music: Reckoning by Lucjo https://soundcloud.com/lucjomusic

License: Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0

Free Download / Stream: https://links.al/ksL

Music promoted by Audio Library: https://links.al/youtube

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📌 A NOTE

Lauren shares her personal experience as a patient and advocate. This conversation is not medical advice and is not a substitute for care from your own clinician. If something in your body feels wrong and you're not being heard, keep asking.

#RealLifeRewritten #Reinvention #BreastImplantIllness #WomenOver50 #MidlifeReinvention #PatientAdvocacy