In CafeMom's monthly series, Work It, Mama, powerful moms detail how they navigate their professions and home life.
Most of us don’t know what we are capable of until we are in the position to have to show up or advocate for ourselves or the ones we love. That is almost never more true than after we become mothers. They’re not kidding when they say a baby changes everything. Suddenly, our priorities change and we want more out of life, not just for ourselves but for our children. Wasting time is a luxury that we cannot afford.
Successful entrepreneur and mom Laurel Smith parlayed a personal necessity into a thriving business and her company, Laurel Denise planners, was born. CafeMom had the pleasure of interviewing Laurel, and we know that you'll find her journey as inspiring as we do.
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As an entrepreneur, you successfully transitioned from a jewelry business to planners. What inspired this shift, and how has your entrepreneurial journey evolved with Laurel Denise?
"I've read before that in order to run a successful business, you need to listen to why your customers come to you. Which one of their problems are you solving? We've always been very involved with our customers, even in such a digital world, so answering this question has felt pretty seamless. For a long time, that problem was finding a meaningful and truly thoughtful gift at a reasonable price," Laurel explains.
"We answered this for years and I built a jewelry business that I was really proud of. In 2021, I felt a distinct shift in the answer to that question. My customers loved the jewelry, yes, but what they really wanted was the planner and the systems and the content surrounding the planner. And when I truly asked myself what I wanted to talk about, it was without a doubt all about the planner. In many ways, the shift was the easiest thing I've ever done and in so many other ways it was the hardest! I'm so happy I'm through that transition now and love building the Laurel Denise brand."
Your planners are unique, allowing users to view their monthly, weekly, and daily schedules simultaneously. Can you share the 'aha' moment that sparked the idea for this patent-pending design and how it has resonated with your customers?
"As so many good products are made, I created this planner because I needed it! My brain doesn't seem to retain things unless I write them down and I can get easily overwhelmed if I don't think I have a grasp on everything going on — not an amazing combo for a person running a team of employees and also staying at home with her children!" Laurel tells us.
"I, like so many others, am really just touching the surface of all that there is to know and love and experience with neurodiversity. For a very long time, the group of would-be customers with neurodiversity has been largely ignored by the planner world where every layout offered followed a very similar formula. The Laurel Denise planner layout is here as an offering for that enormous group of forgotten customers who also have big dreams and lives they are trying to balance. This design is a necessity for me and the way my brain works and I'm so grateful that I've found so many that resonate with its one-of-a-kind layout."
Being a mom and business owner can be a juggling act. How do you manage work-life balance, and do you incorporate any special planning techniques from your own products into your daily routine?
"My husband jokes that I use my planner not to really manage my time — I'm late to meetings and get the times wrong just like everyone else — but I use it to get as much done as possible in the time I'm given. Sometimes that leads to burnout — I'm learning and getting better and sensing that coming — but many times it really helps me do whatever it is I'm doing in a focused way," Laurel explains.
"If I'm at work, I am handling that task list and crossing things off because I've used my planner to create that list, and when I'm at home, I'm snuggling on the couch or hanging with my girls or taking them to one of their many activities. I use my planner in order to hone in on the tasks that I need to be doing — relaxing time, mom time, and work time!"
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Your planners are known for thoughtful details, from luxe covers to gold foil detailing. How do these design elements contribute to the functionality and overall experience of using Laurel Denise planners?
"Customers often remark on our 'unboxing' experience and it makes me so excited that they notice all of those details. When it comes to aesthetics and design, I am so very specific and intentional. I want that touch point — when you open your planner or use your pens or watch one of our videos — to be inspirational and special. I want it to be different and so thoughtful. I want it to be something you've never seen before, but find that it just makes sense," Laurel says.
"When you're holding something that feels special and luxe to you, you're more likely to want it close to you. And when something like a planner is close to you, you'll use it. And when you use it, you're a customer for life. All of these things work together to create what the Laurel Denise brand is known for."
You started selling small quantities of planners online alongside your jewelry, eventually making the bold decision to go all-in on planners. What factors influenced this decision, and how has the response been since the official launch during the pandemic?
"I was intentional about asking myself hard questions: Was my heart still in the jewelry business? Was I still excited to talk about it? Where was my passion?" Laurel tells us.
"Jewelry lived a long and beautiful life and my energy surrounding it was changing. In order to market a product in an effective way, you need to authentically talk about something you're passionate about. And that passion switched from inspirational jewelry to planners in such an easy and fluid way it barely even makes sense to me. That transition isn't logical — jewelry to planners — but for Laurel Denise and our customers, it somehow worked."
Your company is proudly woman-owned. How has your identity as a woman and a mother shaped Laurel Denise's ethos and the way you approach the business?
"I create products that I need and I think the way I use the products — how much I'm balancing as a woman and mother — really shows how far this product can be stretched. There's a lot on my responsibility plate, as there is for every woman and mother, and running a business is like a Thanksgiving dinner on top of that responsibility plate pile. To be able to do all of the things that I do with relatively few balls dropped is a testimony to our products and business focus," Laurel says.
"My team and I are also committed to showing up exactly as we are in a truly authentic way, which is a huge part of Laurel Denise's ethos. We want people to feel seen and to feel like part of the family. We are all a mess and dropping balls, how about we do that together and help each other out with tips and ideas on how to balance it all? That's what we hope we can do at Laurel Denise."
Launching a business during a pandemic is no small feat. What challenges did you face, and how did Laurel Denise's existing loyal customer base from the jewelry days contribute to the brand's success during such a unique time in history?
"I think the pandemic removed a lot of the filters from the people who show up online. We were all freaked out, raw, and just trying to do the best we could. I think that since Laurel Denise has never had a big filter up — I've always been approachable and part of the nitty gritty parts of the business — people felt like they could be themselves and be comfortable," Laurel tells us.
"We've never pretended and that honesty keeps a lot of customers sticking around — even when you lose an entire pallet worth of inventory and ship a product three months late because of pandemic overseas shipping! I never want to go back to that, that's for sure, but the way we help put people at ease will never go away."
Being a former jewelry designer, busy mom, and now a planning and organization expert, must keep you on your toes. How do you incorporate self-care into your routine, considering your dynamic roles? Any Laurel Denise planning secrets you can share for maintaining that work-life balance?
"I think I'm most comfortable on my toes, so it works for me to live with all of these moving pieces and that includes self-care pieces! Exercise has always been really important to me and my exercise classes are usually the first thing I put into my planner each month and I always have a calming activity planned out at home that I can do bits at a time (puzzling is my current relaxation obsession). I think planning well actually helps us see how much time we have to relax and settle in and practice self-care! If I can't see my time-blocked schedule, I only see my tasks and sometimes a task list can feel like it will take all day. When my schedule is laid out visually, I see so much open time and it helps bring me work-life balance. I'd advise people to pick their No. 1, non-negotiable self-care routine and work it into their schedules first. Plan everything else around that. Remind yourself that if you aren't well and calm, nothing on your schedule or task list will be done well."
Given your role as a founder and a busy mom, finding balance must be quite the juggling act. How do you approach being a working mom, and are there specific strategies or rituals you've developed to navigate the challenges and joys of both entrepreneurship and motherhood?
"Everything sort of mixes together which I think pretty much every entrepreneur will say. My children have never known me as a mom that didn't own a small business, so they've grown up around all of this and are even pretty interested in some of the things — my preteen is even starting to weigh in with feedback on products!" Laurel tells us.
"This wasn't always the case, but recently, I really try not to work much after I get them home from school in the afternoons. It's dinner, cuddles, puzzling, and family time after 4 p.m. Before that, I'm super focused at work and delegate projects I know I don't have time to get done even if I have the skills to do them!" she explains.
"I have to be realistic about the time I'm given each day and my days of working well into the evenings are over. My task list that I make for each day — a list that builds as I go through the month and assign tasks a day to get done — really helps me to find the focus I need at work so that I don't have to be completing projects at home."
