This conversation with Lauren Blitzer-Wright centres on what happens when the community you relied on suddenly disappears - and what it takes to rebuild connection without losing yourself in the process.

We talk about growing up in New York and learning early that even the biggest cities can feel intimate when you find your people. Lauren reflects on building a career in music, creating culture inside corporate environments, and what it felt like to leave a company after more than a decade and realise her identity had been tied to one room.

There is a recurring thread throughout this episode around control versus presence. Between micromanaging outcomes and allowing life to unfold. Between staying inside safe systems and choosing to build something new.

We also talk openly about LGBTQ+ family, legal adoption, safety, and what it means to raise children in a world that feels uncertain. This conversation isn’t about success in the traditional sense. It’s about accountability, belonging, and the quiet strength of showing up for each other.

What comes up in the conversation

In this episode, we talk about:

• Growing up in 1980s and 90s New York and finding community inside chaos
• The difference between control and presence
• Career identity and what happens when you leave a company after 12+ years
• Starting Lone Wolves and rebuilding connection after layoffs
• Mentorship, generosity, and paying support forward
• LGBTQ+ family, legal adoption, and protecting your children
• Accountability and having the conversations you’d rather avoid

About Lauren Blitzer-Wright

Lauren Blitzer-Wright has spent over 15 years in the music industry, working across brand, marketing, and business development. She is also the co-founder of Lone Wolves, a community built to reconnect music industry professionals navigating layoffs and transition.

Earlier in her career, Lauren wrote Same Sex in the City and worked in nonprofit advocacy with GLSEN, supporting LGBTQ+ youth. She lives in New York with her wife and their twin boys.

Links & resources

Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lulu_blitzer/

Lone Wolves on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lonewolvescommunity/

Lone Wolves website: https://www.lonewolvesclub.co/

Buy Same Sex in the City on Amazon: https://a.co/d/09CoGnWe

About the podcast

12 Steps to Success is a podcast about what happens when the path you were on stops making sense.

Hosted by Eric Mackay, the show centres on honest conversations with people navigating change, pressure, identity shifts, recovery, and redefinition. These are not success stories or instruction manuals, but real conversations about how people live inside uncertainty and keep moving without false certainty.

Stay connected

Website: https://twelvestepstosuccess.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/twelvestepstosuccess