Lauren Conrad: At USM for Mark campaign

Celebrity and reality television star Lauren Conrad signed autographs at Barnes and Noble’s Southern Miss Bookstore Wednesday.
Conrad, of MTV’s “The Hills,” was in Hattiesburg promoting her New York Times bestselling book, “Sweet Little Lies.”
“I’ve never written a book before so it was a challenge,” Conrad said. “I’ve got two more books coming out in October. I’m going to try producing, my books are being turned into a movie, and I have couple of TV projects I’m working on.”
When she’s not writing, Conrad works with Mark cosmetics to raise awareness and funds for the m.powerment campaign.
Since the launch of m.powerment by Mark in fall of 2008, more than $400,000 has been raised to educate young women about abusive relationships.
“One in five women experience some form of abuse,” said Taylor Waltmon, Mark’s number one selling representative. “Mark has such an impact on young women.”
“I’ve been with Mark for over three years now,” Conrad said. “I liked their brand and their message. They do really good makeup that’s accessible and affordable, which is nice. It provides jobs for young women.”
In the question and answer session before her book signing, Conrad discussed her experience with reality television.
“You adjust pretty quickly; by day three you are used to it,” she said. “It’s not as odd as you think because you get to know the crew you are working with.”
Of the thirty schools that participated in a competition to win a visit from Conrad, USM ranked among the top three.
The other two schools were Florida International University in Miami and Depaul University in Chicago.
Stephanie Piggott, from Gulfport, said “I think it’s great that she came to Mississippi. It surprised me that someone of her status would come here.”
For for information about m.powerment by Mark, visit their www.meetmark.com/mpowerment.