Losing her job forced a new career. Now this self-taught director is up for a major award.

TAUNTON – Leaving a job and diving into your passion sounds scary, but Reko Lauren took that risk and now she's an award-nominated director. 

The journey after losing a job during the height of the pandemic was not easy for Lauren, but she persevered.

"I had to direct a lot of music videos for free to put my name out there. It was a big investment in myself," Lauren said.

The self-taught director spent hours online learning the newest editing technique and finding different ways to be inspired by looking at the world from a director's lens.

"My biggest muse is people. I like capturing people's emotions; people are my muses of creativity. I get inspired by colors and architecture," Lauren said.

Boston Music Awards nomination

After one year of taking her business, ReekShotMe, seriously and pushing content consistently, Lauren was nominated for videographer of the year by the Boston Music Awards, which showcase exceptional music talent across Massachusetts. 

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"I was so honored and humbled to be nominated for the award. It feels good to get recognition for your work, especially because I just started taking directing seriously last year," Lauren said.

Lauren specializes in music videos but wants to branch out to short films and series. A recent music video Lauren has under her belt Damaged Feelings by Neemz gained 256,000 views on YouTube and Toxic Attachments debuted on May 12.

"I'm a one-woman team. I direct, edit, and shoot all my videos. The process for me is creating a vision board with my shot list and planning out the music video frame by frame. I also love to drive and listen to the song from the artist to find more inspiration from the scenery, especially the colors," said Lauren, who is from Taunton.

A perk of the job is traveling to different states to make people's vision come alive.

"I've been to Texas, Los Angeles, New York, and the East Coast. Life feels different when you're traveling and doing something you love for work," Lauren said.

How she gains inspiration

Whenever Lauren feels uninspired and needs to gain momentum, she hops in her car and drives around the neighborhood listening to Tupac and soaks in everything around her.

There's something about the natural colors in life that sparks creativity, Lauren said. 

As a kid, Lauren's parents encouraged her to be unique and use her imagination to be original and make things with her hands.

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"My mom was super creative and artsy. She would make things out of anything. My favorite thing was creating art as a family, the energy of the room was indescribable," Lauren said.

Moving forward, Lauren hopes to become a significant player in a primarily male-dominated career field. According to the Center for Study of Women in Television and Film, women make up only 17% of directors working in the 250 top grossing films in 2021.

"I want my art to change how people view women in film and similar spaces," Lauren said. 

Enterprise staff reporter Alisha Saint-Ciel can be reached by email at stciela@gannett.com. You can follow her on Twitter at @alishaspeakss and Instagram at Alishaatv. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Enterprise today.