Lauren Malta shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Lauren, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What’s more important to you—intelligence, energy, or integrity?
Integrity. Nothing else matters in life or business if you don’t have integrity. It doesn’t matter how smart you are or how fun you are to be around, if you cannot be trusted. When trust is absent, there is nothing left to build on. I love the quote, and I can’t remember it exactly or who said it, but something along the lines that “even if the outcome wouldn’t change or no one would know any different, always choose the right thing, because you will know”. Integrity is the foundation of character that dictates every single decision we make. I’ll take a person with integrity over the smartest person in the room every time. We can teach someone how to do anything, we cannot teach someone the passion of always doing what is right. Intelligence builds businesses but integrity builds legacies.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Absolutely!!! I’m Lauren Malta, the founder and owner of Tanlines Optional, a luxury sunless spraytan and red light therapy boutique studio. We have been in business just over 11 years ago with a passion for perfectly tanned skin and giving women a confidence boost to conquer every thing that comes their way. This dream has evolved over the years, to not just building my own dream and community but the dream to help other women own their business and strengthen their own community. Based on a model that the best customer service comes from within, we have a value system that develops and elevates our employees, giving them the ability to give our guest a premier experience, every time. We have now taken this model and developed it into a franchise!!! We are so excited to be officially launching our franchises November 2025! We are ecstatic to be able to share this proven concept, build up new business owners as they are able to build wealth for their families and make their communities stronger by small business ownership. We are also working on clean, skin and spraytan friendly products for our owners and clients. We live by the mantra that Life is Better Tan® and we are so excited to share the glow!!!
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
I used to think that success was for certain people, a reserved group of people. Almost that they were “pre-picked” for success. That we would all have some level of success but that anything beyond “normal” was not accessible for the rest of us. I now understand that we all have access to any level of success that we are willing to put the work in for. It doesn’t just happen, or just happen to other people – it happens with a slightly delusional mindset and killer work ethic. But, it will happen. If we relentlessly keep forging ahead, do it faster and better than everyone around us, success cannot be denied. And I love this – whatever we want, isn’t just for “other people” it’s for us – let’s get after it!!!
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
We live in a current culture that glorifies comfort. But comfort is a slow death. Who I am today was forged in my times of struggle and deep discomfort. There are no lessons in success, but suffering – that is where character is defined and refined. Early on in the beginning year of this business, I lost everything and gained a lot of debt that wasn’t mine to take on, but it became mine. Those days were uncertain, scary and seemed never ending. I never gave up, took it one day at a time, trusted God in His larger plan and knew that good or bad, all things eventually end. Now that I am far past that 3 year struggle, I can say with 100% certainty, I would go back and do it all again. I learned that we can do far more than we think we can. I learned that when we think all is lost, God always has a little gift of His faithfulness shining in the darkness. I learned that everything is solvable. I learned that the right thing, is always the right thing. I learned that if you’re willing to never give up, you will win. I learned that we should do something every single day that makes us uncomfortable. I learned that struggle and hard work equips you in ways that books, podcasts and motivational talks never will. So welcome the struggle – it will mold you into the person you always wanted to be – the real reward is in our journey to success, never the success itself.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
My faith in God. It is the foundation of my life, the cornerstone of every decision I make and ultimately dictates how I run my company. I wouldn’t be alive today without the undeserved mercy of Jesus Christ and every single day I am reminded of His goodness and grace. I am far from perfect, but I serve a perfect God and that gives me unrelenting hope and joy. There is such a peace in knowing that God is in control and we are here to glorify Him in all that we do and ultimately to make heaven crowded. What an honor!!!
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24
This verse has been such a compass for me in all my work, but much deeper since opening my own business. There is so much work, that no one ever sees, no one ever notices or recognizes, but it makes the experience for the client so much more elevated. When I fully grasped that all we do is from God AND for God – it makes it so much easier to do it with excellence every single time. Even when it isn’t noticed by anyone else, God sees all. Work is our reward – I feel like lately our culture has dismissed hard work, for ease and comfort but we are not wired that way. The confidence that is built in working hard and working with excellence, cannot be achieved any other way. So it’s ok if no one ever notices, we’re not working for them, we’re working for God, which is a total game changer in our approach and attitude towards work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tloglow.com
- Instagram: @tanlinesoptionalusa
- Facebook: Tanlines Optional
