Allison Lanier is an American actress, podcast host, and producer, probably best known for starring in the CBS soap opera “The Young and the Restless” — “Y&R.”
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Early life
Allison V. Lanier was born on 4 August in the USA, but her birth year is uncertain. However, based on her education timeline, most likely in 1992. Similarly, Allison has yet to confirm whether she was born in Georgia or North Carolina. However, she revealed that she was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, and has an older brother. As a child, she had a dog named Shadow and enjoyed riding on the back of her dad’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Early education
Allison matriculated high school in Georgia, and then moved to New York City, US, to pursue a career in acting and modeling. In 2010, she attended one semester at a community college in North Carolina before dropping out. Allison received a D mark in printmaking and an F mark in her acting class, and admitted to having anxiety during the first few months there.
According to Allison’s LinkedIn account, she enrolled at The City University of New York in 2012, and graduated with an industrial and product design degree in May 2016. Allison then received acting training at the William Esper Studio and The Upright Citizens Brigade Training Center in New York City.
Career
In May 2010, Wilhelmina Models hired Allison as a professional model, and she worked for the company until April 2015. Afterwards, she worked as a server and bartender for Shiraz Events until 2017.
Allison created her Instagram account, @allisonvlanier, in 2013 and has since amassed over 12,000 followers. She primarily uses it to post photos of her nationwide trips, as she enjoys long car rides alone or with a friend, and to remote places such as Jakarta, Indonesia. Moreover, Allison has shared modeling shots taken by her friends, or professional photographers such as Kate Moore, Chloé Horseman, Sammy Tunis, and Emma Pilkington Mead.
Allison has occasionally opened up via Instagram, such as when she admitted that she suffers from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression. Thus, she spends winters in warm places such as Los Angeles, California, US.
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Early acting
Allison signed a deal with Global Creative in April 2014, and was represented by the agency for four and a half years. She also signed with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), a typical practice, and in 2017 made her movie debut as Megan in “It Happened in L.A”, and debuted on TV as Annabelle in six episodes of the “Red Oaks” series. The following year, Allison only had one role, as Bella in the film “Fish Bones.” In 2019, she played Anna in the movie entitled “Mia.”
Allison worked various odd jobs to finance herself while waiting for a role that would kickstart her career. On LinkedIn, she listed providing sales and client services for Coming Soon New York from January 2018 to January of the following year. She worked as a freelance assistant prop stylist for Macy’s from March 2019 to February 2020 and various other companies between December 2018 and November 2020, when Allison landed a full-time job as a marketing and sales representative for NEWEL, a furniture trading and staging company in New York City.
Hosting a podcast
In May 2019, Allison premiered her podcast, “undeclared,” which she co-hosted with Scott Fogleman. As someone with a university diploma, Allison was initially interested in discussing higher education. She shared her experiences and how her credentials affected her work for companies that she included on LinkedIn, and those she only told her friends, family, and listeners about, including Up&Up, PepsiCo, and Verizon Wireless.
Allison invited recruiters, vice presidents, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), and teachers as her fan base grew. Through episodes aired in 2019 and 2020, Allison sought to learn how attending a university impacts students’ return on investment (ROI), and investigated the ins and outs of social media and digital marketing careers.
Following the premiere of the second season in July 2020, Allison shifted her focus to business-related topics such as branding, raising awareness, company mergers, and surviving an economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, after broadcasting 85 episodes, Allison halted the production of “undeclared” in October 2021.
Chin up!! Nothing lasts forever in Soap Land pic.twitter.com/DcpItH3RNO
— Allison Lanier (@AllisonVLanier) June 30, 2023
Becoming a producer
Allison switched things up after quitting her job at NEWEL in October 2021. She found employment as an interim agent and a producer at LALALAND GROUP, a media company in New York City. She stayed there for about eight months before PAL PRODUCTIONS offered her a better deal in May 2022; as of early 2024, she remains a producer for the company.
Starring in “Y&R”
Allison briefly portrayed Summer Newman-Abbott in the 72nd episode of the 47th season of “Y&R” on 17 December 2019. Still, her role went largely unnoticed because she temporarily replaced actress Hunter King. Moreover, several actresses have portrayed Summer since 2006; twins Elara and Rhea Kerwin played Summer as an infant. The writers rapidly aged Summer to a teenager in 2012, and the character had become an adult by early 2022 when Hunter left the show to focus on other roles.
The soap operas began recasting the role in late 2021, and considered actresses Kristen Alderson and Lexi Ainsworth but settled on Allison by April of the following year; she debuted in an episode aired on 17 May 2022, and has since appeared in over 225 episodes.
Passions
According to her CBS profile, Allison’s hobbies include volunteering at animal shelters, visiting flea markets to look for interesting knick-knacks, and following and practicing interior design. Her Instagram shows that Allison also loves photography, particularly taking pictures of nature’s wonders – flowers, sea, and objects. Due to popular demand, Allison created an alternative Instagram account, @love__lanier, dedicated to posting pictures of the items that she discovered on her excursions or found aesthetically pleasing.
She has a white cat, and enjoys early dinners, typically around 5 p.m.
Sexuality
Allison came out as a lesbian around 2014 and has attended Dyke March and Pride parades since. Furthermore, she celebrates National Coming Out Day annually on 11 October. Allison stated that her sexuality is ‘not a phase but a process.’
Dating JD Samson
According to Allison’s Instagram post, she started dating American singer, musician, songwriter, and music producer, Jocelyn “JD” Samson, on 21 April 2017. JD is a member of the Le Tigre and MEN music groups, and an assistant arts professor at Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University Tisch School of the Arts in New York City.
The couple shares a birthday, which they learned about on their first date and bonded over, but JD is roughly 15 years older. In her POPSUGAR interview, JD stated that she has always experimented with her gender identity, but came out as lesbian at 15. She now identifies as non-binary, gender-nonconforming, and lesbian, and uses she/her and they/them pronouns.
Physical characteristics
Allison has blue eyes and light brown hair, sometimes dyed blonde. She is 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, weighs about 125lbs (57kgs), and has a slim figure. Allison’s distinctive facial features are a dimpled smile, freckled nose, chiseled jawline, and plump lower lip. She also has a distinctive mole on the front of her neck.
Net worth
Allison’s net worth is about $1 million, primarily from modeling and acting. She’s promoted Raie Eyewear, About Arianne, UNIQLO, and Kordal brands on her Instagram.
Cars
Using Instagram, Allison informed her followers that she drove a golden-colored Jeep nicknamed ‘Goldie Locks,’ from 2006 to 2016, which she replaced with a heavy heart.
