Lauren is living the dream as her very own modern-day media outlet having seamlessly transitioned from close to 10 years as a national television host and producer to independent, self-made content creator. Since 2014 she’s been creating authentic and engaging content on her YouTube channels, Lauren In Real Life and hot for food. Currently, she is focused on hot for food at home where you can book her personal chef services for in-home meal prep, private events, and more!

You can find Lauren’s famous recipes on hotforfoodblog.com and the hot for food YouTube channel which now boasts nearly 448,000 subscribers and over 43 million channel views since launching in February 2015. Lauren is a bestselling author of two cookbooks with Ten Speed Press/Penguin Random House, Vegan Comfort Classics: 101 Recipes To Feed Your Face, and her second cookbook, hot for food all day: easy recipes to level up your vegan meals. Among other accolades, Lauren Toyota was named Canada's Most Influential Vegan by IMPACT magazine in 2017 and one of the Powerhouse Canadian Women Killing It in 2018 by Refinery29.

Before becoming a vegan culinary innovator, recipe developer, and content creator, Lauren hosted MTV Canada's After Degrassi, where she riffed on one of her favorite shows that she's been watching forever! She even made a cameo in Season 12 of the cult series alongside Chaz Bono. Lauren was also featured on MTV News Canada as a host and producer.

Lauren Toyota started her television career in 2005 moving to Vancouver to host and produce the youth lifestyle series 969 on Razer. This launched her career and helped nurture her insatiable love for music, fashion, and all things pop culture. She wowed young Canadians with her off-the-cuff interviews and quick wit and received a 2007 Leo Award Nomination for Best Performance or Host in a Youth or Children’s Program or Series. An intrepid go-getter, Lauren jumped on the opportunity to do more, including hosting the global music series Ethnosonic on CityTV Vancouver and regularly participating as a guest expert on CFUN 1410 and Breakfast Television. In 2007, Lauren landed a position at MuchMusic as a VJ and Producer in Western Canada. She hosted the weekly music and lifestyle series, Going Coastal, and filed entertainment stories for Much On Demand, The New Music, and MuchNews. With her finger on the pulse of music, culture, and fashion, Lauren also became the west coast correspondent for Fashion Television.

From 2010 to 2014 she was one of the most prominent MuchMusic VJ's hosting the station’s daily flagship show New.Music.Live., interviewing some of the biggest names in entertainment including Katy Perry, Will Ferrell, and One Direction. She stayed extra busy travelling to L.A., New York, and London to deliver the best coverage of star-studded events like The Brit Awards and the biggest blockbuster junkets. Lauren also hosted the MuchMusic Video Awards with celebrity co-hosts like Selena Gomez, LMFAO, Psy, and Kendall and Kylie Jenner. In early 2013 Lauren Toyota was given the coveted spot of hosting the channel's hit reality series The Much VJ Search, which saw her travel across Canada challenging wannabe VJ's with the toughest tasks and eliminating them along the way. While working for Bell Media Inc. as host and producer for MuchMusic and MTV Canada, Lauren became a huge asset to the company’s other specialty channels. She has been a guest host on InnerSpace on Space Channel and InFashion on Fashion Television, she's appeared many times on etalk as a music expert and guest correspondent and had a weekly feature on the M3 Countdown with host Matt Wells.

After nearly two decades of successful endeavors, Lauren became a mother in 2022. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her son and dog Stevie.