Paige Lorenze Felt ‘Non-Human’ as an N.Y.C. Influencer. So She Uprooted Her Life and Moved to a Farm (Exclusive)

With a million-plus followers to her name, Lorenze opens up to PEOPLE about escaping life as an influencer in New York and returning to her "real life" roots on a farm

Paige Lorenze is cultivating a new life.

In pursuit of a college degree and a desire to "create," the 26-year-old Connecticut native initially moved out of her small town to head to New York City. Eventually, that vision took a unique turn when she amassed a million-plus followers across social media.

"Create" is just what she did upon graduating from The New School in 2021 when she successfully navigated the then-untraditional path of becoming an influencer, a title she has grappled with and sought to redefine for herself in the years that have followed.

To the hundreds of thousands of followers that subscribed to Lorenze's YouTube and social pages in the early years of building an online presence, they were wide-eyed at the glorified lifestyle of living in N.Y.C. It appeared she had it all through her vlogs, though, the screen was just a facade.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Lorenze opens up about "doing the New York thing" and "fully leaning in" before a desire to leave bubbled within and drew her to a place that is beyond opposite from the big city: the farm.

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"I never felt like I was at home and I never felt like I was fully satisfied and comfortable with myself," Lorenze tells PEOPLE about her time living in N.Y.C. "I feel the most comfortable and confident when I'm home in this environment... Connecticut is the best, truly. I love it here."

With sights set on increased time spent in nature and a longing to "slow down" from the concrete jungle's hustle-bustle, Lorenze made the move to the Southport suburbs in September 2022. She's now situated 45 minutes away from where she grew up.

While many would assume that leaving the city-turned-breeding ground for content creation was a daunting move for a person whose career depended on it, that was not the case for the self-described "business-minded" Lorenze. "I believed in myself a lot," she says with confidence.

To no surprise, Lorenze didn't make the move herself — she brought the million-plus she's influenced along for the ride. Now, instead of feeding her following hot-spot recommendations and sought-after city scenes, she in part wants "to inspire you to cook home-cooked meals" and "make your home more beautiful."

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The city-turned-country content switch-up was "intentional," as is "everything" Lorenze pursues across both her personal and professional endeavors. An entrepreneur to the core, she evolved a passion project into a business with the launch of Dairy Boy.

Though founded in 2021, her relocation a year later allowed Lorenze to go all in on the brand that was inspired by her love of — you guessed it — milk, specifically dairy as opposed to the popularized nut and oat beverage alternatives. Going "against the grain of the trends" is at its core.

Dairy Boy doubles as a lifestyle and clothing brand nostalgic to Lorenze's childhood upbringing. "I grew up next to a riding school. I grew up on a lot of land. I grew up spending a lot of time in nature and around horses," she says of her "girl-next-door lifestyle" she knew and loved.

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The brand allows her to intertwine her interests with the country-living aesthetic to create more than just products, but curate a vision and aesthetic that inspires others to emulate within their own lives. "I'm not trying to be Miu Miu. I'm not trying to be Prada," she says of Dairy Boy.

"It's like the simple pleasures of life," Lorenze makes clear. "It's shopping locally, going outside, going on walks, going on hikes, horseback riding. It's a little bit more suburban and more country living."

Think "cottagecore," the TikTok trend that went viral for romanticizing rural living and a simple way of life that encapsulates everything from fashion (delicate-floral dresses and ruffled-eyelet socks), hobbies (baking and gardening) to home decor (gingham tablecloths and rustic wooden furniture).

Lorenze then expanded Dairy Boy with the recent launch of American Charm, its home brand department. "Moving back home and just realizing what I actually think are the best parts of life made me just so much more confident and comfortable in myself," she says.

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There's no denying that Lorenze's "simplified" way of living is her newfound identity, and this she knows! "Of course, I also go to New York City and I go to fashion events and I also go to tennis tournaments," she says in reference to supporting her boyfriend, pro tennis star Tommy Paul.

Lorenze isn't afraid to call her social media a "highlight reel," admitting that she likes to "romanticize" her content through the "art of the curation," which she says "is 10% of my actual life." That's where her "aversion" to the influencer title stems.

"The world is not just aesthetics. We're complicated people with real lives and real problems — and I think the hyper aesthetics on Instagram due to influencers can be harmful," Lorenze says. "I just want people to view it as a source of inspiration, but not a Bible."

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Putting her time and energy — and "heart and soul" — into Dairy Boy is what makes Lorenze at ease with the "influencer" title she grappled with when she was strictly uploading day-in-the-life content when she was living in N.Y.C.

"I think there is something non-human about just... constantly talking about yourself, constantly you, you, you all the time," Lorenze says. "I think when I removed myself a little bit and started focusing on products and lifestyles and working with the team, it made me love my job more."

In comparison to the influencer day-to-day she lived straight out of college, Lorenze has created a brand that makes her feel "this sense of purpose that is greater" than what she described as a "self-serving thing" of the past.

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"Now, I have a whole team of people that I work with and I love the collaboration," she says. "That was something that was really difficult for me in my early 20s... it really wasn't this collaborative process and I wasn't learning a lot."

Lorenze is "pushed," "challenged" and "held accountable" by those she works with and surrounds herself with today. "It's real life," she says with a sense of relief. "I'm working with other amazing people and it's so much more than just about me now."

She concludes, "I feel like a normal person."