Growing a Business and Raising Kids with Laura Berens

Join me as I talk with Laura Berens, the founder of Love & Fit. Laura turned her postpartum needs into a pioneering activewear line featuring moisture-wicking, nursing-friendly sports bras, and stay-put leggings. Hear how she evolved from managing her e-commerce business solo to leading a team and coaching other entrepreneurs to success.

Laura Berens launched Love & Fit in 2017 to provide functional and stylish activewear for postpartum women. She also hosts the "Time To Be You" podcast, offering insights on motherhood, entrepreneurship, and wellness. As a product business coach, Laura helps entrepreneurs navigate product development and scaling. Balancing her career and motherhood, Laura exemplifies empowering women to achieve their dreams while caring for their families.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Laura Behrens' experience of founding Love Fit.
• Balancing motherhood and business.
• Laura's approach to keeping her team lean.
• Coaching and mentoring in e-commerce.
• Importance of being mentally present with family.
• Overcoming challenges in entrepreneurship.

CONNECT WITH LAURA:
https://www.instagram.com/itslauraberens/
https://www.instagram.com/loveandfitshop/
https://www.loveandfit.com/

RESOURCES FROM ALYSON:

The Kid-Proof Business Checklist
https://alysoncaffrey.com/checklist

Maternity Leave Planning Guide
https://www.mastermaternityleave.com/guide

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:06

Are you juggling the challenges of running a business while raising your little ones? Do you crave more ease in balancing your professional ambitions with the demands of parenthood? Well, sit tight, You're in the right place. I'm your host, Alison Caffrey, and I understand the growing pains that come with building a business while nurturing a growing household. Think of this as a soft spot to land when you feel like your ambitions are starting to become just a little overwhelming. Welcome to Growing Pains. Hey, and welcome back to the Growing Pains podcast. I'm your host, Alison Capri, and today I sit down with Laura Behrens.

Speaker 1: 0:43

Laura and I met in a mastermind that we are in and we had such a wonderful conversation all around her launching her product-based business and I know that often on Growing Pains, we don't talk about product businesses very often, so I'm really excited about this conversation with Laura. She brings a lot of really cool perspective to the seasons of entrepreneurship and how to be really present, even during some of the more challenging times. So Laura is an inspiring entrepreneur, devoted mother and founder of Love Fit. She's also a podcast coach and a coach for product-based businesses, with a mission to empower women through functional and fashionable activewear. She established Love Fit in 2017, and it started addressing needs of women seeking comfortable yet supportive clothing suitable for postpartum life and beyond. So this is something that is so applicable to some of our mamas on the show.

Speaker 1: 1:40

I know that I really struggled postpartum to find the right things, and so Laura's story about how she developed her first products and how she launched Love Fit is so inspiring, because I know a lot of us and this is true for me. I got so hung up on what to put on my postpartum body so that I could be functional, comfortable and also look good. So I'm excited for this conversation. She's a super inspiring mama. I'll see you guys inside.

Speaker 1: 2:12

Laura, welcome to Growing Pains. I am so excited to have you here. I'm excited to be here. I think like when we got connected, I was like let's for sure have this mom on the show because you have such an interesting type of business and interesting mostly because I have been in services for a super long time and so I am really excited to talk about all things running an e-com business, coaching e-com businesses and also raising a growing family. So for the ladies listening who don't know you yet and are about to get to know you, tell us a little bit about your family and the business that you run.

Speaker 2: 2:51

Yes, of course. So I'm the founder of a business called Love Fit. It is an activewear line and I created it when my first daughter was 3 months old, so I have an 8-year-old. Yeah, I don't know Best time to start a business when you just had a baby. So I currently have an eight-year-old daughter and a three-year-old daughter now, and I started the business out of a need I had for myself.

Speaker 2: 3:17

So I was really I've always been into fitness. I was working out three months postpartum in my living room and I had to breastfeed my daughter. This was the first product I created and I was pulling up a tight, sweaty sports bra and I was like they don't have a really good moisture wicking, clipped down nursing sports bra. Now, this is 8 years ago. Obviously now there's more on the market, but back then there was nothing and I was like I wonder, I think I could create that. Who wouldn't want that?

Speaker 2: 3:45

And along with that product also, I was going out on walks with her all the time and my leggings were always falling down, sliding down, and I was like, oh my god, this is so annoying.

Speaker 2: 3:55

And that's when I also created our stay put leggings, so they have grips on the inside of the waistband so they don't slide down your waist when you're working out, walking, picking up the baby, whatever it is. So that was 8 years ago, and now the brand has grown into lots of different items for moms that are in postpartum and also people that aren't moms or whatever it is. So we have non-nursing bras, we have sets, we have crop tops, we have leggings, and so it's definitely grown. As I've grown as a person too, and I'm not in that stage anymore, I was like, okay, I still want to wear active wear, that's cute, what would I want to wear? So it's kind of grown with me. And then, along with that, I also have a podcast called Time To Be you, and then I also coach other product-based entrepreneurs that are looking to create a product and launch it on eCommerce.

Speaker 1: 4:44

It's a lot of irons in the fire.

Speaker 2: 4:47

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 4:49

It's funny.

Speaker 2: 4:50

It's ebb and flow, yeah.

Speaker 1: 4:51

When I interview moms on the show, often none of us are just doing one thing. Yeah, Do you feel like it's a lot? Doing a bunch of different types of things the podcast, the e-com brand and the coaching. Are there moments where you're like Dang, how did I commit to all this stuff? And it feels like it's getting out of control?

Speaker 2: 5:14

Sure, and I was doing coaching 5 years ago and I paused it for a while because the e-com business did get Took more of my time. So it's just the ebb and flow of where I'm at with my life and what I feel like I can take on and not take on, and I just based it off of that and try not to be doing too much at one time. It just is based on Once you've built a company and built it up, you might have a little bit more time, but I would say in those first 3 years of trying to build an Ecommerce business I wouldn't have added more to my plate.

Speaker 1: 5:43

No, that's a lot. Well, talk to me about like going down the product path, because I think a lot of us and this is I'm speaking, maybe from my own experience, but hopefully others can resonate with this and like in motherhood and like having a newborn, that's probably when I felt the most pulled to create a product. So it's really similar to you. You're like, oh my gosh, this life is so hectic. How come nobody has figured this out yet? Right, Like I keep thinking like how come nobody's figured this out yet. So what was that spark where you were like I could totally figure this out, Like what was the next step you took?

Speaker 2: 6:17

I just honestly I had. So I used to work in the music industry and in business development and sales for a couple of larger corporations, so I didn't work in the fashion industry. This wasn't like a natural transition to me or anything. I just thought to myself I want this product so bad Like there has to be other moms that would want this too. And so I just started like one little baby step at a time, and I was on maternity leave at the time from my corporate job, and so I was transitioning this was my first child into motherhood and then, as I slowly got back to work, I was building this product on the side, getting samples done, seeing how it went, and what really pushed me over the edge is I would say it was my daughter was probably 10 months old almost a year, and the whole sales team at our company got laid off and I was like, oh okay, well, I have this product that's almost about to launch.

Speaker 2: 7:12

Let me see what I can do with this before I go and find another job. And I remember going like I'll just give myself like 6 months and see if I can take it off, and if it doesn't take off, then I'll go back and see, go back into business development and sales and that corporate life. And now it's 8 years later.

Speaker 1: 7:33

Oh my gosh, honestly, I love that story because it felt like so many things aligned through the path of creating the company that just allowed you to go deeper and deeper into creating this fitness line and honestly, I have it up like it looks really beautiful and it looks really well made and the materials seem and look and feel really quality. And what was the process like of prototyping? Because I know me like recovering perfectionist over here and even when I like find a clothing brand that I really like, I marry it, like I have every color of the same t-shirt that I absolutely love. And so what was that prototyping process Like? Was it like 700 iterations of stuff? Or did you find a manufacturer like super early?

Speaker 2: 8:18

Um, okay. So I always tell myself I think this is the funniest thing. I was like, why did I try to create a? And now I make nursing and pumping bras. I'm like, why did I pick to create nursing and pumping sports bras? Like it's like the hardest thing to create, to be honest. Like, why did I create like a cool water bottle or something? Um, because it takes a long time, because you have to have all this functionality in one bra. So I wanted to be able to put on a bra, nurse in it, pump in it, work out in it. It's comfortable enough to wear all day. And so my last bra took me 2 years to develop.

Speaker 2: 8:53

Now, my first bra actually did not take me 2 years, but I was like, okay, this works. It was just a nursing-only bra. But, yeah, we went through multiple samples, multiple fabric. Again, I was new to this industry so I didn't know what fabrics to choose. I was like, oh, this feels good, this is great.

Speaker 2: 9:10

Now I look back. I have a picture on the wall of a little piece of fabric from my first bra and I look back at that, going like, oh, my gosh, now to what I create now versus what I created that first time. So it just took a long time. I went through multiple different factories, all different types of countries I've tested out and it definitely takes a while because you have to find I'm a big fabric person. I'm not going to just choose some cheap fabric that's in stock. So a lot of our fabrics are customized to get it that super, super high quality soft. So a lot of our fabrics are customized to get it that super, super high quality soft, thicker fabric that's not see-through, squat-proof and it feels good on your skin. I'm a bit of a perfectionist on that. I actually have a pile of fabrics behind me and I just literally go through multiple tons of different fabrics and I can kind of. Now I've gotten really good at feeling what will work and what won't.

Speaker 1: 10:06

What was that process like to then I mean, you had a 10 month old and then like growing into it. If you're looking at like that whole trajectory right, like you're in the toddler years and you're doing all the stuff, like what did your home life need to look like for you to be able to really dedicate some support to prototyping and or excuse me prototyping and then making sure that the business is getting off the ground and staying profitable and all that stuff?

Speaker 2: 10:31

yeah, so I will say I was pretty blessed because I had I had, um, some great jobs leading up to this, all right. So I had some, some savings that I used to start the company. Um, again, I started it the idea of it on my maternity leave and then when I went back, I was still able to balance and work a little bit on the side and grow until that time that I got laid off. But I was able to take some of the money and the savings that I had from working in corporate and put it into this venture and see, okay, what's this going to look like.

Speaker 2: 11:03

Balancing it with a young child was definitely hard because I was back into working corporate and building this on the side and raising a child. But I will say I think I set myself up good because I had built up savings, I had built up a workflow. By that time I was working from home. It was a corporate job that I was working remote, so that helped as well. If I had to go into the office every day, I think that would have been really a lot harder.

Speaker 1: 11:35

What does the business look like now in terms of your team and how it's currently managed and all of that stuff? Where are you now looking back? You said you look back at some of those like first, you know iterations of some of your products like what, what do things look like now and what's your core role over, you know, in your business?

Speaker 2: 11:52

Yeah, so I still have a small and lean, lean team. I think that, um, I think that's always great, especially like as a smaller business, just to kind of keep things lean. Uh, the beginning I was doing everything, of course I started, so I was doing the shipping, the customer service, every single thing from A to Z, and I think that's great for people to do that in the beginning. Don't go and start spending money and hiring people. Learn how to do it yourself. Learn how to do the emails, learn how to do the social media, learn how to do the marketing, because then when you hire, you know exactly what they're going to do and you know either to show them how to do it and they might be able to do it better, but at least you understand how to ship, how to do customer service. So I did that all in the beginning and now I have a team of around 5 that do a lot of those tasks. So some of the design, email, the ads, shipping and inventory and then customer service.

Speaker 1: 12:44

That's fantastic. That's so exciting. Where so exciting? Where did you find your passion for coaching? I know that that's another thing that you're super excited about getting into or picking back up again, I guess I should say but what was the inspiration or the spark that started there?

Speaker 2: 13:02

Yeah. So it was funny because, as I was building the company, this also happened in another business that I had slightly started. I was doing fitness coaching and nutrition coaching years before that, and whenever you start doing something, people start seeing it. They always ask like, oh, how'd you do this, how did you? And start doing fitness competitions, how did you do that? And so, as I was building the company and we started to become a little bit more successful, other small businesses were like Well, how did you do that? Or who are you doing this for? And blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 2: 13:32

And so I just naturally started falling into it and it really excited me because I had learned so much.

Speaker 2: 13:39

If you can just imagine, day in, day out, for 8 years now, all I do is like Ecommerce, like all aspects of Ecommerce, from production, manufacturing, to advertising, to social media, instagram, tiktok, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 2: 13:54

And so I had a lot of knowledge, and so I saw these other small businesses that were starting, but they didn't know which way to go, and so I really had a passion and I feel like I just my brain just explodes when I see, when I started coaching, people were like, okay, here's my website, here's this. And I'm like, okay, we got to do this, we got to do this, we got to do this. Do you do the strategy? And a lot of my, a lot of the things I do are grassroots. I'm not telling you, like, hire a PR agency and do this. I understand people don't have the funds right away, so I come up with different strategies like, oh, have you emailed an article? People who write articles, have you gone on LinkedIn and emailed them? Just back end ways that don't take any money that I did when I was starting out and so I think, sharing some of those, I guess you would call it secrets or ways to do it without having to spend so much money in the beginning.

Speaker 1: 14:44

You'd call like secrets or you know ways to do it without having to spend so much money in the beginning. That's so incredible to be a resource like that. I think that coaching is such a natural lead in right from something else that you're doing, whether that's in fitness or in business or in motherhood right. There's a lot of things that we figure out and then we're like, hey look, this is how to go and do that for yourself, or here's the way I did it. At least you can share, and then they can take that and iterate on it However they feel like is important to them. So do you. When you coach folks through this process, is it mostly in the fashion industry, or is eCommerce kind of like? Is it all over? Is it all different types of products?

Speaker 2: 15:27

All different types of products. All different types of products. I've coached Someone had customized different types of tumblers that they sold for bachelorette parties or baby showers. I've done quite a bit of apparel as well, and then I've done some tech too, Just different tech like running vests and things like that. So as long as it's a physical product, then you know it'll follow the same suit.

Speaker 1: 15:46

That is so exciting. Honestly again, just not a world that I am like super duper a part of, but I've always been interested in. I feel like when you look at their like you know, product marketing it's very different right Than service marketing or thought leadership marketing or any of that stuff. So it's really really cool. Have your kids been involved? I think your daughter's older Like has she. Has she been like involved in the business at all? Oh yeah, I get them out and they ship.

Speaker 2: 16:08

No, they actually do Like, but I mean, do they actually help? I don't know. Yeah, so they'll. Yeah, I've, of course, and you know they're now that my daughter's eight, she's a little bit more helpful, but like, yeah, she'll help, like, when we have big launches she'll come in and help ship, put the labels on. She's definitely seen me. I started it when she was three months old, so she's seen me start this and grow it. So, the little one, she comes in and just messes things up, but we still have fun.

Speaker 1: 16:40

Oh my gosh, that is so great. I can imagine too, with a physical business packing, shipping, doing that kind of thing that it's easier at times to get the kids involved, cause, like when I'm up here working, like I work upstairs in our home, and whenever I go up, the kids are always like bye, mommy, have fun at work. Like have fun. And my son Frank, he's four and he asks me. He's like mommy, what do you do up there when you're working? And he's like sometimes I hear you and sometimes I don't. And like there's like the conceptual, like you know, what am I doing in a service, you know, based type of industry, it's super interesting to me and to like try to explain it to their little brain. But if I'm like hey, put this thing in this package and then we're gonna go to the post office together, like when we do that at Christmas, and they like take the little adhesives off, and it's super, super fun and cute, so I imagine that they have a blast when they're able to help you with that.

Speaker 2: 17:34

Well, yeah, and just recently my oldest has like a couple times came home from school and was like so I'm going to sell these bracelets at school. Like she's already came up with like ideas of what she's going to sell, and so it's kind of it's cool to see that.

Speaker 1: 17:53

That is so, so fun. Are you excited about having those types?

Speaker 2: 17:55

of entrepreneurial conversations with your kids. Yeah, definitely. I mean I want her to take whatever path she wants. Entrepreneurship obviously is not easy. It's definitely all over the place. It's ups and downs, so I want to make sure I show her that too and I think she sees that. But I think it's great for her to test all different ways of what she wants to do and then decide which direction.

Speaker 1: 18:17

How has your like role at home evolved over that time? Like, I imagine, when you've got like the littles and then now when you guys have, you know, like older kiddos at home. Like older is, relatively speaking, right, because my kids are very, very little, but I bet your role at home has changed. Of course, your role in the business has changed. What's different now than when you first started the company?

Speaker 2: 18:39

Yeah, I would say when I first started the company. When I look back, I'm it's like I was like I can't even remember parts of it, because it was all encompassing, it was all. I was like I can't even remember parts of it, because it was all encompassing, like it was all. Like I'm like I have this baby, you know she's. She was either like one or two and I was starting the company.

Speaker 2: 18:54

I mean, there was times where I had to go to trade shows and daddy and her would come and visit you know, and um, obviously it's amazing to have a support system of you know, a partner, husband, um, cause I definitely don't think I could have done it without that.

Speaker 2: 19:09

But those first 2 years were definitely rough, because if you're not able to have a ton of funding to hire a whole team, you're doing a lot of this on your own. And so I really struggled those first 2 years with balancing the time with her and also the time with the business. And even if I was with her, there was times where my mind was still racing about like, oh, did the manufacturing, did those units come in, did they not? And so now I've gotten to a place where it's taken me a long time to learn this. Something else I'm passionate about is how to really mentally keep space and be present for your family, friends, kids and then be present for your business. It's still a struggle for me, but I definitely think I've gotten a lot better at it. Where it's not all encompassing.

Speaker 1: 19:59

Let's double click on that, laura, because I actually think that a lot of women who either have been on the show, listen to the show I know I suffer from this is that we are very type A right, we want to go out and get it done and make it happen, and that leads to, I think, being mentally scattered.

Speaker 1: 20:23

And mentally scattered not in the sense of being like forgetful or anything like that, it's just that we have a lot of things that are on our mind. We're constantly thinking new ideas for our business, or thinking about that running list of to-dos, or thinking about did I eat today or not? Right, like those types of things that happens all the time, yeah, yeah. So, like I want to double click on this because I actually think this is a super relevant conversation for a lot of these high-perform who have business, business, multiple businesses, multiple kiddos at home, lots and lots of irons in the fire. So what was the very first thing that you started doing when you were? Like man, I'd like to be more mentally present with whoever's in front of me.

Speaker 2: 20:59

Yeah, I honestly, one of the biggest triggers was a couple years ago I was talking to. It happened like two, two different women I was talking to in like two weeks and I was like, okay, this is a sign. And they're older, their kids are grown and they're CEOs. And I was having conversations with them connecting and this topic came up and they said, laura, your kids are only little for this time.

Speaker 2: 21:24

If there's one thing I regret, I regret that I didn't spend more time with my kids or be more present with them when they were little. And they both told me that and I just felt like, okay, this is a sign that I need to restructure what's going on, because I thought I was doing a pretty good job. But then, after I heard that from them, I was like, let me relook at this again and see how I can be even more involved. Obviously, you're involved as a mom, but I was like, how much more can I step into this and really, really be present and not be thinking about the other things that are going on in the business? And it's hard because there's fires every other day when you're running. It seems like it when you're running a business, just in general, I think, and so that was my turning point, my trigger, where I was just like I don't want to, I don't want to regret not being there and then be like 20 years old and being like, oh, I just wish I would have been more present and more involved when they were little, and so that was kind of a trigger for me and so I started changing and, just, you know, a lot of it was just mentally too.

Speaker 2: 22:31

I'm always present, I'm there, you know, I'm, you know getting the food ready or whatever. But it's not about being there, it's about are you actually there? Are you actually listening to them? Are you actually saying, oh, what was that happen at school? Oh, let's talk about it. You know, a lot of times it's like, oh, that happened at school. Okay, cool, great, okay, we got to go, we got it, you know, and I was always kind of so busy and, like you said, scatterbrained and so pausing and just really, you know, being able to talk to them, be present in a lot of those moments when they're home, right, and then when, when they're not home and they're at school, then that's your work time.

Speaker 1: 23:08

Yeah, that's super interesting, I think, for us, like we started doing I think it was it was last year, in 2023. That was like our family planning time and we were talking about technology and its role like in, like our time with our kids and even like the television. So our kids are little and we didn't ever really have a ton of TV time. But when we were renovating this current house that we're in, um, you know our, you know our time in front of the television did uptick right when we were like, hey, let's go and put you in front of the TV, we'll go do these projects or hammer out these things.

Speaker 1: 23:44

When we were moving in and we did a hard reassessment in 2023 at the beginning of the year and we were like, okay, we really really need to not to look at our phones like before or after six o'clock, like that doesn't happen in our house, and I think like things like that creating some of those boundaries where if we're coming down to have dinner together, there is no phone, like I don't think my kids have seen me on my computer in a really long time and that was even something that we had discussed like the computer stays in the office and like, if I'm sitting down here I'm going to be doing those things. So did you create some other boundaries like that? That helped you kind of be more mentally present.

Speaker 2: 24:25

I think that boundary you created is really good. My initial instinct was like, oh, that's going to be hard for me because a lot of my manufacturing they are on a different time zone and so I have to speak with them at night. But see how that triggered. Right away I was like, oh, that would be hard, you know.

Speaker 1: 24:43

But you can have a looser boundary, looser boundary, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 24:48

So mine is. I do that work after the kids go to bed. So, like you know the different time zones, I do that after they go to bed. Yeah, I think that when they came home from school that's when I would. So my computer always stays in the office so it's never out and about. So that's a rule I already have. But I go and plug my phone in when they come home from school so I'm like, okay, it's plugged in, it's charging, and now we're doing dinner, we're doing homework, we're doing this, and that's just been helpful, just going like, okay, go plug your phone in in a, in a place that you're not going to see it and get triggered to like, respond to something. Unless it's like an urgent thing that you know what's going on that day, I try to put it in a different room that I'm not going to be in for the evening.

Speaker 1: 25:32

I love that.

Speaker 1: 25:33

How about like like other relationships and things like I imagine in the home is different, but like if you guys are going for us, like we see a lot of our family, you know, on the weekends and all the stuff, and I feel like there are times and I'm saying this in a public forum but sometimes we feel, I think, like a little bit like it throws us off of our routine.

Speaker 1: 25:54

We're like, oh, we're going to go see and hang out with somebody and it feels like we take the whole weekend and then I'm like, oh man, I could have spent this time like getting this other thing done. And so did you have to let go of like being present in some of those relationships and or sorry, not let go Did you have to let go of feeling like you need to be productive in order to be present in some of these relationships? Like if I could just get this one email out or if I could just go quickly respond to this Slack message, it would feel like I was doing more work or I was moving things along, versus like being actually present and like sitting with somebody and just like taking time and pausing.

Speaker 2: 26:36

Yeah, so like weekend stuff. So I have this trick and I don't know if it's the best trick or not, but in order for me to like fully be present at wherever we're going. So if we're driving somewhere and it's an hour or two hours, the kids are usually napping and I bring my computer and I work on the drive and I get all my things done that I feel like I need to get done on the drive because you know the kids are sleeping, you know we're just driving like no one really needs, we're not being present at all. So I just focus in on what I need to get done on that drive and then close the computer and then I'm present for wherever we're going, if it's like a family function, if it's a fun trip for the weekend, so I choose the times where I'm to work. When no one is, I'm not, I don't need to be present.

Speaker 1: 27:16

Does that make sense. Yeah, no, I like that a lot. I walk a ton in the car as well, like when the kids are napping, and I do think that that's really, really helpful. Like walking into a situation and sometimes, honestly, laura, it's gotten me in trouble. I'll be like driving out to my parents, or we'll be going to a barbecue, and then I'll like jump in and be like, ooh, let me answer a couple of quick emails in the car, and then I'll be like reminded of some crazy thing that's going on, or like a fire gets brought to my attention. And then there's like these times where I'm like, dang it, I shouldn't have even opened my computer. And so then I get like mad at myself and I'm like, oh man, how can I create more of these boundaries? Have you felt like they've changed as the kids got older?

Speaker 2: 27:59

Yeah, definitely, Because you know when your kid is a little bit more self-sufficient and not, you know, in diapers and needing to be fed, of course, when I course, when I was breastfeeding and pumping too, that just was all encompassing. It took up so much time. And so now Are you pumping the car? Yeah, that's pretty, I did pump in the car.

Speaker 1: 28:18

So funny yeah.

Speaker 2: 28:19

Yeah, so those have definitely changed because they don't need as much time for their needs. You know what I mean, because they can get dressed on their own and that kind of thing, and so that's definitely shifted and it's been. It's been easier, as they've gotten older, to be able to balance you know, my work time and time with them.

Speaker 1: 28:43

That's amazing. What's on the horizon? What do you? What are you excited about?

Speaker 2: 28:45

So I'm really excited. Love and fit. We've kind of been transitioning and kind of up leveling some things. I'm trying new things. Today, actually, we just launched our new shorts with like a cute oversized graphic tee. I've never done. I've never done like a graphic tee, like more style, kind of like mom pickup summer fun with biker shorts. So I'm super excited about new designs that are coming and just things that are that For me, I have to be passionate about what I'm creating, and so what I'm creating is probably going to be something that I would want to wear or something that's in my the phase I'm in, and so I know that's probably different for big activewear brands.

Speaker 2: 29:29

They go with trends and stuff, but for me it's my brand and I have to be passionate about what I'm creating. So I'm really excited about stuff that's coming in the fall and into 2025. That's just going to be new. And all of our products are innovative because they either have some type of innovation in them so they're not just like some regular apparel leggings. They're going to have leggings with pockets, with grips on the inside. The bras, obviously, are super innovative because they either have sewn in padding stuff like that or they're a nursing and pumping bra. So it's like a dual functionality. So everything I create, I want to add some type of innovation or functionality to it, so it's not just like oh, here's just some regular old leggings and a top.

Speaker 1: 30:08

Honestly, you've got me sold on sewn in padding. How come companies don't do that?

Speaker 2: 30:21

Like more often for a female bras. Yeah, I have no idea, probably because maybe the person creating it isn't a female or don't understand what females want. I don't know.

Speaker 1: 30:26

Yeah, honestly, you've got a new customer, because as soon as we get off, I'll probably jump in and be like, okay, where are the sports bras at, with the sewn in padding Cause? I don't know about you.

Speaker 2: 30:35

but now and I've honestly, I've gotten better about it, it, but I'm just shoving those dang things back inside of the little openings like every time I do laundry and even with, like, our crop tops, they don't have sewn in padding, but I secretly like made it a way that the pads will not fall out in the washer and they won't spin, because I do. I do know some people don't like padding, so I was like, okay for the people that don't like padding. So I was like, okay for the people that don't like padding and might want to pull it out, let me still give that option. So for our crop tops there is padding and it can be removed, but it will not come out in your washer or dryer.

Speaker 1: 31:12

I love that you've thought about all of these things. I think that part of the reason why, like honestly, the product side of running a business super duper is daunting to me is that I am so particular like, so so particular with that sort of thing, and I feel like I would translate that to a lot of the products. So how particular do you get? Do you really just let yourself say, no, I'm going to nitpick this thing until it's absolutely perfect? And when do you know where your boundary is?

Speaker 2: 31:43

So that's been really hard because I'm uber uber perfectionist and it's taking me so long to launch products because I want them absolutely perfect and I want everyone to love everything about them. And I basically that's why I honestly ask all of our customers I ask Instagram people like give me your feedback, good and bad. Give it to me Like, what's the good stuff, what's the bad stuff? Because the bad stuff I take and then I put it into the next design, like oh, they didn't like this. Okay, cool. Like you know, obviously you're not going to please everyone Like that's just now. I've learned that.

Speaker 2: 32:16

But I will say I've gotten better at just letting go and being like okay, we've worked on this product long enough. It's almost perfect. I don't know what else I could change, so we need to launch it Before. It would take me so long. And now I'm like okay, I don't know how to say I let go and don't think it's perfect. I just get it to a point of that I feel like everyone's going to love it, it's great. And I don't go crazy like I used to, where it would just take so long to launch something and then maybe whatever I wanted to perfect wasn't even a big deal to the customer.

Speaker 1: 32:54

How do you facilitate that feedback and what has been the best and worst piece of feedback you've gotten on your product, something that comes top of mind?

Speaker 2: 33:03

Yeah. So how do I? I ask friends. So I have a lot of friends that wear my leggings or wear the bras and I'll be like well, what did you like about it? What do you know I like about it? You know, and also through the DMs, instagram. So if someone, whatever, bought our stuff, a lot of people will message me through there and talk about like, oh, I liked this, but I didn't like this. Oh, really, that's awesome. Yeah, and so I, I'm fine with that. I'm not offended at all If they didn't like something.

Speaker 2: 33:29

Uh, the worst thing that that's hard, it's usually. I don't know. If there's like a worst thing, I would say it usually comes down to some type of a sizing issue. It is super hard to create a nursing and pumping bra and get the correct sizing for everyone, because sometimes, as a postpartum mom, you don't even know what your size is anymore, and so being able to try to get like this is the bra, this is what it measures. I mean that's probably been the hardest, and probably the. I what it measures. I mean that's probably been the hardest, and the and and probably the. You know, I guess I don't want to say the worst feedback, but like the feedback is just like getting that sizing right and that's just hard because everyone's bodies are different and and it's been hard to kind of zone in on like getting the right size for everyone and your boobs change right like I remember yeah, that's what I'm saying it's like you're saying, it's like different sizes throughout the day.

Speaker 1: 34:19

It's different sizes.

Speaker 2: 34:20

So I'm trying to build a bra for like someone that's going to be a C cup and then a D cup, and then trying to like, just explain that to a new customer that's a new mom, because, like, when you're a new mom, you're like I was, like I had no idea my boobs are going to like double in size. No idea.

Speaker 1: 34:37

In fact, it was like alarming, yeah, very, very alarming, laura. Well, thank you so much. I feel like this whole process, first of all, like I said, feels really exciting and a little bit daunting. To like launch a product company and it seems like you're doing such amazing things and, like I've looked at all of your products, like everything looks really awesome and just so well explained and like luxury feel and I really honestly I feel inspired by you, know everything that you've created and now coaching and the podcast and everything. So where can folks get in touch and follow along with all the things that you're doing, see the new products that you've just recently launched and really just follow along with?

Speaker 2: 35:23

you know all the stuff, yeah, so my personal, like you know, coaching Instagram and the podcast is at it's Laura Barron's, and then the activewear company is at love and fit shop, and if you want to shop it it's love and fitcom.

Speaker 1: 35:36

Oh, fantastic. I'll link all that stuff in the show notes so that moms can take a look, because I imagine that we have a lot of mamas listening who are looking for stuff to stay in place. I remember how uncomfortable isn't the right word, because of course it was uncomfortable but I just felt like so unacclimated to like my new body, like after I had our first and even our second son, because they were different. Even like after the second one, I was like whoa, gravity really does have pull.

Speaker 2: 36:09

Like yeah.

Speaker 1: 36:10

And I was like wow, but I remember going through that and so I appreciate, like what you've created and how thoughtful a lot of the pieces do seem after this conversation, because a lot of those things I have also thought like why does my stuff keep falling down? And like I already know that I have a recovering postpartum body, I don't need my leggings to remind me that I have a recovering postpartum body slide down my waist. So it's definitely super confronting. But what, laura, what do you want to leave listeners with, anyone who's growing a business and growing a family something that they can, you know, expect from you in terms of moving forward, or anything that you want to say to encourage listeners who are growing a business and raising a family?

Speaker 2: 37:01

The advice that I got. Your kids are only young once, so make sure I'm never going to say I'm not going to say never, but the word balance isn't there. It's just that there isn't anything as balanced. For me, it's an ebb and flow. So whatever season your business is in, whatever season your kids, you're ebb and flowing from one to the other and just being present as you flow to one and being present as you flow to the other one. That's how I like to look at it, and what I've learned in 8 years of running this business and raising 2 daughters is it's not going to. Don't push yourself to be like I have to be balanced. It has to be 50% here, 50% here. It's just going to be. It's not always going to be balanced, but in order to be present, you want to flow into the moments where you need to be there and be more present.

Speaker 1: 37:42

I love that. I love the permission too, because I think a lot of us do try to strike that 50-50 or spend majority time with our family or our business, or one way or the other. But I do believe that it does change in seasons, especially at the time of this recording. We're about to enter fully into summer mode, right, which I feel like for most moms is just, I mean, pure chaos, right, most families, right, it's either back and forth from camps or doing a bunch of different things with the kids. Vacations and, you know, seasons of business is also pretty challenging. I feel like, right, some folks have like really really hectic summers in the industries that they're in, and so I just appreciate all the encouragement, laura, and for you taking the time to kind of pull back the curtain and show us all the things that you've been working on and how you've built your companies. It's super inspiring.

Speaker 2: 38:28

Oh, thanks. I've enjoyed being on and hoping to help as many people as we can.

Speaker 1: 38:35

Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of Growing Pains. I know that you have so many things vying for your attention right now, so I am so grateful that you just spent the last hour or so with me. So I hear all the time from mompreneurs Allie, allie. What systems do I need to have in place in order to thrive in business and in parenthood? If you go over to alisoncaffreycom slash checklist, you can grab my kid-proof business checklist and it will get you started in the right direction around making sure that you build a business that doesn't steal all of the time away from your family. If you loved today's episode, I would be so, so, so honored if you would leave a review on the podcast. It helps us reach even more incredible mompreneurs just like you and give them the resources they need to be wildly successful in business and wildly present at home with their families. Thanks so much again and I'll see you next time. Thank you.