Writer/ Rebecca Wood
Lauren Lowrey, weekday morning anchor for WISH-TV, stands at her front door. She welcomes guests with her signature smile; the same one that shines through the TV screen. It’s midday, and she just arrived home from work. If she’s tired from her 2 a.m. wake-up call, it doesn’t show. She bops around the house and engages in a lively conversation with the ease of one well rested.
Lowrey refers to herself as a busy bee. And after listening to this petite powerhouse, few would disagree. Lowrey is not only a broadcaster; she is a talented vocalist, skilled chef, budding triathlete and a seasoned home renovator.
Talking with Lowrey is like gabbing with a girlfriend. She flutters between topics and gushes over her favorites. But when the conversation turns to Zionsville, her adopted hometown, Lowrey becomes animated.
“I’m obsessed with Zionsville,” said Lowrey. “My commute is 19 minutes. It never changes. I drive through Main Street every day. To me, it is such a quintessential part of the separation between work to home.”
Lowrey is a Zionsville transplant with Southern roots. She hails from Pawleys Island, South Carolina. Florida State University is her alma mater.
A career in TV news was not in Lowrey’s original plans. She entered Florida State as a Theater major, but a broadcasting course changed her path. After the first class, Lowrey phoned her mother and proclaimed, “This is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. This is what I want to be.”
Two months after graduation, Lowrey landed a job at her hometown station in Myrtle Beach. Reporting in a beach community included hurricane coverage. Lowrey remembers covering several storms for up to 13 hours straight.
“I was out on the beach. You can’t imagine how cold you can feel. You are soaking wet,” she said. “Then comes sustained wind at 80 to 90 miles an hour. The sand is hitting you in the face. It is miserable!”
In 2008, Lowrey ditched hurricanes for snowstorms when she moved to Toledo, Ohio for a morning anchor position.
She chuckles when she recalls referring to a particularly chilly October day as “winter.”
Her Toledo producer scoffed, “Winter? This is fall!”
Lowrey laughs, “I thought, ‘Oh, I’m in for it.’ I didn’t even own a coat!”
In 2011, Lowrey acquired a position with WISH-TV. Within seven months of her move to the station, Lowrey secured the morning anchor spot on “Daybreak.”
Lowrey and her husband, Blake Lewis, toured around the north side looking for that perfect home.
“When we pulled onto Main Street, I slapped Blake and said ‘This is where we are moving,’” said Lowrey. “It felt like a Hollywood backlot!”
Lowrey and Lewis purchased a 50-year-old “well-maintained” house in the village. Over the next three years, they remodeled every square inch of the home by themselves. Lewis, who used to build houses and currently works in insurance, enlisted his wife in the process.
Lewis refers to his wife as the “cut man.”
“But I only cut wood, not tile,” Lowrey adds. “I’m a greater painter.”
She recounts all of her contributions to the remodel including the 40 hours she spent painting the exterior of her house alone.
“Our mantra is why pay someone to do something we can do ourselves,” says Lowrey.
The couple had little time to savor their handiwork; they sold that house in October. They just moved into another 50-year-old home within the village with plans to remodel. And so their process begins again. Lowrey admits that real estate investing is their shared passion, and they plan to continue to show love to older homes.
When Lowrey isn’t clutching a power tool, she is engaging in her favorite pastimes. She is an accomplished vocalist who regularly sings at Pacer and Fever games. Lowrey admits that singing the national anthem is terrifying.
“It makes me extremely nervous,” she said. “If I screw up, I’m a YouTube video! Blake calms me down. After a couple of notes, I’m fine.”
Lowrey cooks too. Her husband says her dishes rival those prepared at restaurants. Mexican food is her specialty.
“Cooking is the only completely sensory experience we ever do,” said Lowrey. “It is a de-stressor, and you get to create. Then you’re eating; what’s wrong with that? It makes it even more enjoyable.”
Last summer, Lowrey and Lewis participated in their first sprint triathlon at Eagle Creek Park. Lowrey walked away with a fourth place in her age division. She was “hooked” and hopes to participate in a Half Ironman within the next year.
Lewis and Lowrey met over eight years ago. Lewis was walking into a Subway when he saw Lowrey teaching ballroom dance lessons at a studio next door. Five minutes later, Lewis entered the studio and enrolled in Lowrey’s classes.
Lowrey laughs, “He paid a lot of money to hold my hand every Tuesday.”
The couple married in Ireland in 2012. They are parents to Tyce, a six-year-old Belgian Malinois.
Lowrey recently re-signed with WISH-TV. Her morning anchor position is secure for the next few years.
She addresses the news that WISH-TV will lose its CBS affiliation starting in January.
“I think a lot of people have this misconception that we’re closing our doors. We’re not closing the doors. We’re going to continue to do news, and more news at that.”
Lowrey touts the fact that WISH-TV has been a consistent news presence in Indianapolis for almost 60 years and plans to bring that same level of newsgathering and reporting for years to come.
With the upcoming changes, Lowrey will increase her airtime. Beginning in January, she’ll be reporting from 4:30 a.m. to 9 a.m on weekdays.
Lowrey and Lewis are thrilled to have more years in Zionsville.
“Zionsville represents for us a great lifestyle and ease of living,” Lowrey says and flashes a smile.
