Made for Mothers: A Podcast For Moms in Business

5. Finding Your 'Enough' in Business and Motherhood with Sleep Consultant Lauren Engler

• Mariah Stockman

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I have a super special guest on the podcast today - Lauren Engler!

Lauren is a mom to three beautiful girls and a former elementary teacher turned sleep consultant. If you didn’t already know, I’m a big fan of sleep coaches. They’ve played a HUGE part in my family’s life since having my son, and funny enough... Lauren was actually the reason we connected and ended up working with our sleep coach!

In this episode, Lauren and I talk about what it looked like for her to leave her teaching job to pursue something that allowed her more freedom, rest, and peace as a wife and mom. We’re diving into the pivotal changes and growth her business has seen over the last few years, how vital the right tools and systems are in all areas of her life, an unexpected and very impactful health crisis she’s experiencing with her oldest child, and more.

Lauren is navigating a variety of roles these days, from wife and mom, to business owner, teacher, nurse, and beyond. She believes in prioritizing choices because she knows HOW precious time is (both as a mom and a business owner), and it’s not something she is willing to sacrifice in this unique season of life. Lauren is passionate about providing the best holistic and well-rounded care for mothers and families because she knows how necessary and life-changing quality sleep is.

Lauren is a beautiful person, and her incredible story is one you won’t want to miss!

Venturing into entrepreneurship as a mother? Lauren Engler provides a priceless perspective, offering advice to mothers contemplating starting their own businesses. Her emphasis on finding your "enough" and avoiding the pitfall of societal comparisons is a must-listen. We also stress the importance of creating an encouraging community for moms in business. Don't miss this heartwarming conversation that sheds light on the triumphs, trials, and rewards of being a mother and entrepreneur. Appreciate the unique dance between motherhood and business, and open doors to a world of possibilities.




Connect with Lauren on Instagram @via_graces_sleepcoach

Learn more about working with Lauren and her team by visiting her website

Connect with me on Instagram

Learn more about booking a Biz Therapy session and working together by visiting my website

Ways to Connect Outside the Podcast

  • Follow CEO & Founder on Instagram: @mariahstockman
  • Follow Made for Mothers on Instagram:@madeformothers.co
  • Join the Virtual Village: A community and monthly membership for business owning mamas! Special promo for our podcast listeners, get 20% off your first quarterly enrollment with code TWENTYOFF at https://www.madeformothersco.com/membership
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Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome to the Made for Mothers podcast, your one stop shop for candid and relatable conversations about motherhood and entrepreneurship. Think of the show as your new mom friend, where we dive into all things marketing, branding, mindset money, child care and growing your business. While we all navigate our roles as both CEO and mom, I'm your host, mariah Stockman, and I wear a bunch of hats. I'm a boy mama, I'm serving as a marketing mentor for mothers, I'm running a six figure marketing agency and on top of that, I'm the proud founder of the Made for Mothers community. This show is about sharing the real stories and the practical strategies from fellow mother run businesses. So dive in, grab your headphones, reheat that coffee and let's go.

Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome to the Made for Mothers podcast. I am very excited to introduce our guest today, lauren. Hi, lauren, hello. Lauren Engler is a wife and a mama to three beautiful girls. She's a former elementary teacher turned pediatric sleep consultant. If anyone listens to this podcast, they are soon going to learn how much I love sleep coaches. She's the founder and owner of Via Graces and she's helped almost 300 families over the last four years. She helps tired families and newborns babies and toddlers transform the bedtime experience so everyone can sleep. I love it, lauren.

Speaker 2:

I love my sleep. I need others to sleep too.

Speaker 1:

I know. I know I can't wait to hear how you started your business, a little bit more about you, but I do love a good sleep coach. I shared I had another guest on recently how a sleep coach just changed our world. Actually, funny enough, you're the reason why I connected with our sleep coach. You were on maternity leave. I was about to have a baby. Yeah, no, yeah, that's right. You were on maternity leave. You were very, very, very, very pregnant.

Speaker 2:

And I remember being like I can squeeze your head right, I can do it. And I was like no, I'm literally going to have a baby.

Speaker 1:

I'm literally going to have a baby, and it all worked out. I did find my sleep best over at Lake Country, so it was great. Yeah Well, lauren, you are a super special guest. You're one of my coaching clients. What is your friend You're? What else are you? You are a mom and are made for mother's community here in Loudoun County, and so I'm just so excited for you to share with our listeners a little bit about your business, what you do, so, how you got started, all of that. So why don't you start with just sharing us a little bit about you know, your work and what you do?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, of course. So, like Mariah said, my name is Lauren Angler. So I am a mama to three girls right now, but my oldest is six. Six years ago I was not a sleep consultant. I had no idea what sleep consulting was, but so we had our oldest. I was an elementary teacher. She was due in August, so I actually went back to work for the like, getting my classroom ready, super pregnant, open house, met all the families and was like I don't see you in 12 weeks. But so I had my Olivia and I was on maternity leave.

Speaker 2:

12 weeks was the longest I could possibly stretch it out, and going back to work was so hard. I cried every day leading up to it. I actually avoided pumping for several weeks as a newborn, because I knew that I was going to have to pump in order to go back to work. And it was like but I don't, I don't want to, so if I don't pump, I don't have to admit that I'm going to have to pump to be able to feed her. It was kind of strange, but to me it felt like something that I could still control. Yeah, finally started pumping so I could go back to work, cried. The whole three minute drive there. Didn't walk that day, cried the whole drive there. What's? Excited? To see my co-workers. I had worked there for three years already.

Speaker 2:

I love teaching, love being a teacher, taught first and second grade, multi-age my favorite age group by far the best setup, the best co-teacher. But I felt like I was raising 25 kids and not my own. I would leave this precious baby. I would nurse her in the morning, I would pump during lunch, I would pump during my planning period, so like constantly working through to make sure I could feed my baby. But also, as a teacher, you've got a lot of work to get done. I would leave the moment school is done to go get her so I could nurse her right away, and then I would do work again when she went to bed in the evening. But when she went to bed was like seven, but then also seven, 30 and also eight, and eight and 30, bedtime was like what is bedtime? It's just when she eventually falls asleep and Jason and I just keep taking turns. So going back to work was hard, yeah.

Speaker 1:

I was kind of nightmarish.

Speaker 2:

It was and we didn't have another option. Jason was in school, was working very part time, so it was the only, it was literally the only option. So even sleep wise summer break was when she was 10 months old. She was waking up four to seven times a night and I was like I'm not the teacher and the mom and the wife I want to be. I know she could be getting more sleep, and the only tangible answer people kept giving us was you're just going to have to let her cry.

Speaker 2:

So the famous cried out method is actually how we sleep trained her, I laid her in her bed in our walk-in closet because Northern Virginia we were in a one-bedroom apartment laid her in our walk-in closet and I sat outside her door crying as she cried. It worked, but I really didn't like it. And so soon after, when we got pregnant with our second daughter, I was like, okay, listen, let's do 10 months of sleeplessness again. Also, can't do the cried out method again. There has to be an in between. And so that actually led me down this rabbit hole of like what is sleep consulting and what do these people called sleep consultants actually know? How can they actually help me? And so, a couple of months into my pregnancy, I was like Jason, this is what I'm going to do.

Speaker 2:

I love all things pregnancy, birth, parenting, reaching a big part of sleep. Consulting is teaching, and this was like my ticket to help my own family get the sleep we needed. This is my ticket to help my friends who were struggling just as much as I was. I could finally have the answers for them, but also my ticket to be able to still make money. I love working. I love feeling like I have something outside of my kids to focus on and to kind of stretch myself in. But I wanted more time with them, so I not until the day my second daughter was born. I came on from school like I think I'm in labor, had her that night and from there was home, sleep consulting and being lava. Wow, wow.

Speaker 1:

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. Okay, so many things to unpack there. So first I mean, I'm sure people want to know how did your second one sleep better?

Speaker 2:

Great, from the start she was a newborn, of course, like you've got to have realistic expectations, but she was also really sleepy newborn, like she probably liked her sleep more than most newborns do, and I mean I could and I could. Finally, I think it was. I mean that was such a blessing that again one I knew what to do now, but also she was just a naturally sleepy baby. But this was the first time I got to be home with my now two year old Olivia, so it was also like I actually get time with my two year old toddler that I feel like I haven't had because my newborn is sleeping, which which was such a gift.

Speaker 1:

Wow, oh my gosh, that is such a, that is seriously such a gift. What a different experience too, I mean. And then eventually you had a third, and so you got to be home the whole time. So we've really done. You've done some combination of working full time, phasing out of working full time to being full time, you're like with each of your kids. So I mean, really you're, you know, a goldmine of information here and wisdom on you know, systems and processes and tools and mindset and all of that to make it work.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, back in those early days when you were starting your business, I'm sure you were scared. I mean, I'm sure that was like a fearful bump, right. I mean, yeah, I view teaching as a very secure, consistent, predictable industry to work in. Right, I mean, you have, yeah, yeah, and all of that is, you know, comes with the job. And then you step into entrepreneurship, which is none of those things Not Not. Well, it becomes that, but you have to really have to grow all of that, right, you have to grow the consistency, grow the security, grow the revenue, all of that market, all that. So what was sort of that like for you in terms of the early days of selling your services, of marketing yourself. I mean, what did that look like? Because I only know Lauren, I only know Via Graces. Now, with everything so polished together, but what was that like?

Speaker 2:

Which I'm kind of thankful for, because it was probably not great I mean. So I came out of my training program like so confident I could help families with sleep, but everything else, like business-wise, I was honestly really clueless. So it took a long time to get there and I was scared to spend any sort of money on those systems and processes I had heard all about, because I was like, okay, listen, I just spent money to get trained. I need to make this back to show that this is actually something that I can do. So my first year especially was like spend as little as money possible to actually see if we can do this, which even hindsight it totally worked.

Speaker 2:

Now that I actually have systems, I'm like I spent so much extra time doing things that I should not have had to do manually, or I mean the things that I did to not spend money were actually pretty absurd, but it worked for me. And after a year it was like okay, something you know. Slowly it was like something needs to change, what can change, but help me still feel safe. So, yeah, I mean those early days everything was manual, even like sending a contract I had to do I would read the email 10 times before I sent it through and it was very manual and probably like a slow and grueling process, but at the same time I had my hands and everything. So now that I have more systems in place, I knew exactly what I wanted and when and how. Because I had been and all it was so long, I knew exactly which direction I wanted to go.

Speaker 1:

It's literally like brick by brick. I mean, that's what it reminds me of building a house brick by brick. Some things were so fixated on what kind of furniture we're going to put in the house and that's. There's so many steps in between there.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, my front door was like a curtain for a while and now it's actually a door. You know like it's.

Speaker 1:

I want to hear about these systems and tools, but I am curious how did you get your first clients Like? What was that like Like? Where did you go? Did you go to like Facebook groups? Did you tell your? Friend Facebook Facebook came through, which is funny, because now Facebook is like not as much of a.

Speaker 2:

Thing.

Speaker 1:

I know.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, my first three clients were people that I kind of distantly knew. I taught in Thailand for three years, so one of my first families was a toddler, still over in Thailand. The parents were like she's got to sleep, she's crazy. So another was actually a former student parent for their baby of like we've got three kids, we need this baby to sleep. And who was the third? Oh, and the other was just someone from church. So I literally posted like I'm doing this thing, would love to help you. I got those first three real quick and then it was really slow after to start getting more clients.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that which is is very, I think, common. I the literal ebbs and flows, the peaks and valleys, the waves, the what is it? What do we say? The feast, and famine, and entrepreneurship is very real. But I do think getting a feast season in the very beginning is what keeps you there, because you're, you know, you can convert a client now, which I think that's, I think that's, you know, a huge piece of the self-esteem and confidence that goes into being able to run your business. All the tools, all the systems, all the marketing, all that is like learned. But if you can sell yourself and you can as a client, I think there's obviously an adrenaline rush and dopamine hit. Yeah, totally. But to actually be able to close a client is the best feeling when you're brand new, you know, because you now you're saying and also terrifying, like I hope I can really help them.

Speaker 2:

I know.

Speaker 1:

And I can totally relate to these hand-written contracts or whatever. I used to send these contracts, like these PDFs. You know they weren't even fillable. You know what I mean. We're just like, oh yeah, exactly. I was like it's like so cringey to think about my clients having to figure out my, or old technology Okay, tools and systems. So what do? What are you doing now with nothing? You're not manually doing everything. I know that you outsource. I know that your business looks a lot different four years later. What are some of those things? Also, I mean a mom of three, come on. I mean that's you have your hands full and you're, you are a hands on mom. So I know that you are balancing a lot out there. So what's that like?

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well. So I think the very first system that I paid for was Dipsado. So finally having some sort of client management system was gain. Changing for someone to be able to buy my services online and walk through the contract and the questionnaire, like be on my calendar, without me having to do anything, not only was freeing to me, but I was like this is actually surfing my clients more. They're not waiting on me to send them everything, they're just a system in place.

Speaker 2:

So having a CRM, having Dipsado, has been a game changer and that's what, like I could go back to, lauren, the first year, that's what I would have been like just hop on now. It's worth it. It's worth the money and the time setting up because it just organizes everything for you. So Dipsado was the first, the first system to set up and then, honestly, mariah, like this summer working with you, I feel like, was the next big, the next big jump up for just social media and marketing in general. I was doing everything manually and on my own social media templates. I would just make them based on what I was feeling that day and I was just wasting a lot of time, and so it's funny you and I, I feel like have kind of been like following each other for a couple of years. I had seen you on social media.

Speaker 2:

I got random headshots taken at your place shortly after COVID, like I've been watching you. And then you had Henry and came to me and I was going on maternity leave and then I was in this place this spring or summer and I was like, okay, this is it, I need help. And it's Mariah, like it was just for finally here. Yeah, I remember saying to you I was in. This space of time is so valuable for anybody. Time is so valuable. As a mom, time is so valuable and as a business owner, time is everything. And you put all those together Like my time is valuable and I was wasting it. So I would. My husband also works from home part of the time, so we kind of balance our schedules around each other and I'd be like, okay, great, I've got an hour ready, go and I would sit there like social media time to post on social media. What are we going to say on social media today? And I would waste so much time. Such a dream.

Speaker 1:

Streaming.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yes, and then. Okay, what's my image going to look like? Oh, I'm just not feeling this today, and sometimes I just wouldn't post and I was like I just had all this time and I didn't do anything with it, or I just spent an hour for one reel or for one post. I can't spend my time that way, right? And social media is important and I get a lot of, I get a lot of clients from social media and so I think to you of, like Mariah, I've got so many ideas and so much I want to share and I have no idea how to do that, how to organize that.

Speaker 2:

But then, yeah, putting systems in place. So I, I now know kind of the topic I'm posting about for the month. I have all of my ideas organized. You got me set up on later. So I, I mean, this whole past month I had my posts scheduled to go. Some of them were saved as drafts because I wanted to still have flexibility to fly by the seat of my pants. But instead of taking an hour for one post, I can spend an hour and schedule my month, month, which is a game changer.

Speaker 2:

I either have more time to focus on more business dreams or on my girl? We're getting the sleep I need because you're.

Speaker 1:

You're also like the dream client, though just to be clear. I mean, when you did come to me for coaching, you had your Branding, you had your services, you had your messaging, you had four years of business under your belt. You knew your clientele, you knew your market, you knew you were just someone who needed to put like a bow on it. You know what I mean. You were ready, you had the right mindset, you had the right confidence. I felt like you were so eager and energized by your work like you were definitely not. You weren't Unclear at all. You know what I mean. Like you did not need any help. Yeah, you actually just needed the tools and I feel like so many moms Cool, our entrepreneurs can relate to that, like they can totally relate to. I love what I do, I'm good at what I do. I have clients who pay for what I do. I, you know I've gone through the branding, I've gone through the messaging. I have the website and, of course, all of that gets tweaked and stuff and we did tweak, you know, some of your, your templates and we up level some of that. But you had, you had a wonderful, I think, running start and Knowing that now, what you used to waste hours on a day, right, you can do in just a few. I mean, people really focus on On how these tools and systems work and instead I feel like what we should focus on is what do we get to do better now Because we have the system. So my guess is that you probably have even better customer experience, probably even better journey, probably even better customer support and service, like I'm sure you email your clients faster or whatever. You have more time for administrative work, you have more time for strategic thinking and you get to be with your girls, which is just, yes, that that's like that's the goose bump moment, right Is that? You get to be and do all this? But I love that.

Speaker 1:

You said dubbzado. I am a big fan of. Dubzado is just a CRM and you know the scheduling. But invoicing, the contracting, all of that, all the automation you mentioned later for social media scheduling obviously love that. You mentioned canva templates, all of that and I think, like ours combined, I mean that's that's a pretty robust back end of your business. And now you know, moving forward in 2024, you can think, okay, what systems you know what processes, what am I gonna do next, which I know you have all sorts of big goals around that, yeah. But you know, once you have those baseline systems put into place now you get to even have more. You know fine tuning of systems and you get to have more, more Pinpointed systems. You know for, like, maybe courses or membership, or you know wherever you want to go next, right.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, yeah that's exciting.

Speaker 1:

I love it. I do love it. And you should definitely check out Lauren's Instagram, which will be linked into the show notes, and give her a follow and see her new templates. You can scroll back and you can see the difference and maybe DM her and be like good job. You know it's a lot of work. It's a lot of work.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I love that. So now you have all this time you know, you know you're with your family of you've invested in your systems. What does sort of your what's business look like for you today? That was how you got started going on Facebook and pitching yourself and you know working with your Always say like working with your neighbors, which is basically like you know you're you're people.

Speaker 2:

Pretty much.

Speaker 1:

What does that look like today, though, for you?

Speaker 2:

Well, I so I think even kind of Rewinding and almost patching everything together that we've chatted through I think, kind of the full Styrical moment. So my oldest is Olivia. She's the reason I became a sleep consultant, you know, first baby, so I wanted to stay home. My business name, via Grace's, is actually after her, so she's Olivia Grace. I remember googling like how do you name a business? And it was like after your kids. I thought that was really weird and I thought about and I was like wait with grace, and parenting is hard and sleep is hard. We all need a lot of grace. So she's the reason I'm a sleep consultant. She's the reason I named my business via Grace's.

Speaker 2:

But then also, a little over a year ago, she was diagnosed with cancer. So just a couple days before her fifth birthday I was 37 weeks pregnant. Thankfully my business was already shutting down from maternity leave. So we got her diagnosis and it was like hey, like my hands are off my, my systems is in my best friend who is gonna be in my email and sending people on over to late-country sleep. So systems you know, quote-unquote were in place.

Speaker 2:

But I had this like we have no idea what the next Three days, let alone three months, let alone, you know, three years, years. What is? What is life gonna look like? And I love this business, but this is not my priority right now, like how am I gonna come back from this? What will that look like? And thankfully, once she started treatment, she was doing well, my newborn was, thankfully, sleeping Well, I was able to slowly start kind of coming back in to business and had just fired on a team member, which was a total gift because I knew that when there were days or weeks that I had to block off, my business could keep running, because now, instead of sending people outside of my business to get sleep, they could stay within via graces.

Speaker 2:

But obviously that was a big deal and I didn't know what things were going to look like. And so talk about Time being valuable. My five-year-old had cancer and what was our time with her going to look like and how were we going to manage this life in general? And so, again, fast-forward. She sticks, she's still in treatment, but she's doing so well. We are so thankful. But talk about perspective and we're, we're homeschooling now. We never expected to be homeschooling, but we, here, we are Homeschooling and that takes up time and I'm still running this business that I love, but I have to be able to.

Speaker 2:

Every Tuesday she's at the hospital, so I don't work on Tuesdays. I can't work on Tuesdays. And knowing that I can still put publish on social media and I'm not just gonna look like I don't exist anymore or, for you know, her make-a-wish trip is next month and my business can keep running in the background without me actively running it, I can actually unplug and be a part of that trip. I can take her to treatment and not constantly be worried about what's filling my inbox or what I haven't been able to do because I have those automations or I mean right, I could just completely unplug.

Speaker 2:

I don't have to keep posting on social media on my make-a-wish trip. That's okay too, but knowing that when I need to step away, when I want to step away, I can and my whole business will not shut down, is a really big deal and I feel like that's the freedom that not only bringing on a team member, but having a marketing plan and strategies in these again, even social media it seems like such a silly thing, but it's not a silly thing in 2023, having a System in place that can keep working without me, brick by brick, is a game-changer Because I have to be mom first and now. Mom also means cancer mom and homeschool mom, which was not our original plan. But I can keep being business owner Because I I have the space and the energy to do that because of all these systems.

Speaker 1:

I mean, can we all just like take a bow? I don't. I mean, lauren, I don't even know, and sometimes I think about your story and I think about your like, day-to-day experience. You've told me once not on now, obviously you told me off, off to the side, you don't even know like this is just normal, like this is just your. Your day-to-day is this is your daughter's diagnosis and your daughter's treatment, and you know the big cancer pills that you have to put these. I remember you said I have to wear these big gloves. Remember that you're telling me you're actually put these gloves on Just so that you can touch the pill to give it to her.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so she can swallow it and I can't even, and she has to swallow it. She can swallow it, but you can't even touch it with your bare hands. And I remember you telling me that that is just your normal. You like, you don't even feel like, you're not, like, oh, this is like, we're not, like cancer family, quote-unquote even though that there's truth to that. But that, yeah, just so, such like the normal day-to-day. And so what I hear is Wow, you have choices. You know where so many moms who are not even Nearly in the you know health trauma that you're in are Drowning without choices?

Speaker 1:

whether that be, I have to go back to teach and I don't want to pump on a break, or I have to go back Mm-hmm corporate office that won't give me any PTO to go to my kids Classes or whatever. You know, I want to take my kids to school and I can't because I have to go commute, or, you know, I have to work for someone else who doesn't respect her life. You know, family life, right, I already think that what family life has taught me is just that society in general doesn't give us a lot of choices. I mean, I just look at the way that additional school systems are set up and it's like, yep, you know, you get penalized for taking your kids on vacation, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some families literally cannot take their kids on spring break and winter break because it's it's the busiest, most expensive time of the year to do anything. Yep, and so, anyway, there's so many rabbit holes to go down with.

Speaker 1:

You know, sort of these traditional systems and family life, but choice, entrepreneurship and you, motherhood and voice in places where we don't feel like we have a lot of choice. I mean, I even think about my own birth, which was like so traumatic, but how much that taught me about choice, like right right away, like I birthed my baby into the world and I was like I'm an advocate and I'm I have a voice and I have to use it and I get to use it for me, my health, my son, all this and how all of that is such a strength that moms bring into running a business. I mean I see what you're doing of this like balancing, and I'm like there is no person on this planet who is better suited to work with families when they are feeling their own particular brand of trauma from lack of sleep, because I am here as a mom who had to hire a sleep coach. That was a season of trauma in our in our world, when no one was sleeping. I mean we weren't sleeping for like months and I was losing my mind. I mean I was like he was only contact, napping, he would only nurse. I mean it was just I was losing.

Speaker 1:

Talk about needing grace, losing my mind. I think about what you've been uniquely served in this life, right With your daughter, and I think about your unique gift that you already chose in your career and how, like any family who works with you, is going to be so lucky that you can be like OK, let's just sort through this, these stressful times, this stressful moment, no, you don't have to cry it out, you don't have to do that. Like we can have a more holistic, attached style to sleep training, which I think is a huge misconception.

Speaker 2:

Choice, another choice you have this choice, Choice, choice choice, oh my gosh.

Speaker 1:

And she's doing better today, right? I mean, that's the idea. Right Is that your daughter's health is now than it was then. But the choice to homeschools is the choice to keep her close and and not yeah, and keep the girls close and yeah, and the family unit close. I love that so much, so good. Do you disclose all that with your families? Do they know? I know you talk about it openly on social, but is that that ever comes up Like?

Speaker 2:

yeah something I know what's interesting is when I mean so families who find me on social media. They know because I do try to share openly, I think even as a business owner, but as a mom, business owner and serving other families, like I want people to feel like they know me and can trust me because they're. They're coming to me, like you said, in a traumatic time or exhausted or their marriage is falling apart because sleep is hard, and so they want to know that they're working with a real person, not a robot. And so I do. I absolutely try to share. What's interesting is when families come to me through Google or through a referral. They don't always know and there's not always really a space. I think I'm kind of learning of like there's not always a space to share it and it's not me hiding it, but there's it's always a place to say it.

Speaker 2:

Totally totally, and so sometimes, but sometimes they'll come out where you know, hey, I'm so sorry, we have this check and call scheduled, we have this random appointment with our radiologist, I need to reschedule, and I'm like, oh wait, I kind of have to explain that where I, you know a mom, you know you can cancel an appointment anytime, you can reschedule. But but I I want to explain it a bit more and I think it yeah, trying to find the way to share that. When people don't know, I don't want to come out of left field and be like surprise because people, that's heavy and that's my day today, and so sometimes I forget the heaviness of that. It's just our norm.

Speaker 1:

That's kind of. What I was referring to is that it is really heavy for people to hear, and but for you it's right, the weight of it never goes away, I'm assuming, but it's. It doesn't feel as heavy as it did day one.

Speaker 2:

Because I have to function day to day. Life has to happen. We can't live under the weight. It's always weighty, but we can't feel that all the time, otherwise we could.

Speaker 1:

Because she with two other girls and you know, for your daughter's sake, right, who's also just like a six year old, right? And yes, yes, can I ask you about her? Make a wish trip? Where are you guys going?

Speaker 2:

Yes, we're going to Disney. Of course we're going to the Duff when else would we go? Yeah, which I'm so excited for. And my girls, like they have no idea what Disney is and we're trying to explain it. And I have no idea how to explain to them what Disney is. But they are all things, princesses, all things dress up. They're not big movie people but they're big book people. So like they've read all the books, they know all the stories, they love animals and you know, we get like sea worlds and animal kingdom. I don't even know what they're called. I've not been there in so long. They're allowed to choose if they want characters to come talk to them in a bed at night. And my four year old is like what if they don't know the bedtime song, mom? I'm like no, they don't actually have to do bedtime, they'll actually talk to you.

Speaker 2:

We're just trying to give them a feel. Yeah hopefully, but they can't brush my teeth. So, yeah, we're going to Disney and we're going to be there for five days and living it up. I have yeah, we're starting to talk about it more to try to get them excited and I'm like I have no idea how to communicate this to you how big of a deal this is going to be Such I mean it's such a big deal.

Speaker 1:

We were, we were a Disneyland family when we were little, so we grew up in California so we go once every summer to Disneyland. And then my grandparents lived in Orlando so we went to Disney World Disney World once in the summer and then I married into it's amazing, I married into like a crazy Disney family, which I'm not like a Disney person Like, I'm not like a Disney diehard person at all, but we did just go, my husband and I just went a few years ago, right after we got married, and it is, as you know, a 30 plus year old. It is so magical. I mean it is so Right, you know right, the way that like they put like smells into the air as you're walking into different lands and like it's just so crazy and the Antelope kingdom is going to be so what are?

Speaker 1:

you going to take Henry. So we actually were thinking about taking him, or thinking about taking him this spring. But let me tell you, where did we just take him? We just took him to, oh, we just took him to our church's harvest festival. Ok, so let's just let them set the stage. Let's set the stage.

Speaker 1:

We took him to the church's harvest festival, which is like one one hundredth Of what does any world would be, right? He like lost his mind. I mean, there's, there was a little, there was camels and there was llama, there was like a little baby kangaroo, there was cows, like there was like, so there's like this petting area, and then there was carnival, right, and these jump houses. He, I mean, he literally was so overstimulated by the joy that all we had to do was all we had to do was give him a balloon on a string and that was it. All we wanted to do was play with the balloon. For the rest, that's all he wanted. I mean this, this was on Halloween, right? So then we went trick or treating and stuff like that.

Speaker 1:

Loath, our friend, oh, my word and we we took the balloon home and the balloon ended up from the car, you know, ended up from the harvest vessel to the stroller, to the trick or treating, to the car, to home, to then the next morning, to then the next morning, to then the next morning, and then the balloon, obviously lost his life you know, with the helium.

Speaker 1:

It was so fixated on this balloon, lauren, that I said to my husband I was like I just don't think we're ready for this. He can't even look past like the one shiny object over here to even see the most, like he did not care about the camel. I'm like we're going to wait. We're going to wait just a little bit.

Speaker 2:

He's going to remember like the ice cream cone and not that's what I mean.

Speaker 1:

I'm like he is going to, he's going to freak out with a tram. You know the train that gets you into the park, right? So, and you know I am, you know we are in a different season. We have one child, which you'll appreciate is we are still so stressed about naps that I get a little overwhelmed. Thinking, thinking I'm too dizzy because I'm like I'm not scheduled.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I mean we would not be going to Disney if it wasn't paid for it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean, but this also I've told you this before is like sometimes I think we need to have another baby because we need that forced flexibility, right, yeah, I was like being less rigid. Um, I forget where I was going, but I messaged you and I was like, oh my gosh, I don't even know if we can do this, because how is he going to nap, you know? Oh, I think it was camping or something. We took him on his first camping trip. He slept great. He slept like 13 hours a night on the camping trip because he's sleep trained Amazing, forget.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, the guilt that we taught him. Well, I just appreciate you sharing, you know your story with your about your daughter so openly. I think that for any moms who are listening and they're you know anyone in their family has a health crisis or you know they're going through a diagnosis or they're going through some sort of you know walk, specifically with cancer, um, you know capital C, so big, so scary, so unknown. Knowing that, yes, you can ramp up or slow down as much as you need in your business and it's not going to fall apart, it's not going to disappear, it's not. You know, people don't have to, people don't have to not know about your business because you're, you know, busy doing this over here. That is obviously the yeah Of the priority. Just that you get to, you get to have that flexibility and that freedom and liberation that comes from, you know, having these systems in place, which all moms need. Oh my gosh. Just, we all need, you know, yeah.

Speaker 2:

And even if business knows, we just need systems in general, right Systems in general.

Speaker 1:

So what is next? What is next for business for you? I mean, I know it might be, you know, tricky thinking about the future, you know, with everything going on, but what is, you know, what's those, what are those that kind of like, what's that look like on the future for you?

Speaker 2:

Oh man, that's a good question. I mean I feel like right now I'm just in the excitement of like I actually have systems in place so I feel like I can take the time off and watch things continue to grow and build. But yeah, I brought on a team number six months ago so continuing to kind of grow in that and just kind of see where it goes. I remember on your questionnaire and we started working together it was like what are your big dreamy dreams? And I was like it's scary to even talk about that or answer that. But yeah, I mean, just in the world of babies there's so much there's, you know, lactation consulting.

Speaker 2:

I've loved nursing all three of my girls We've become obsessed with like craniosacral therapy and I love all things birth and home birth and so I would love to grow into whether it's me becoming a lactation consultant eventually, or bringing a lactation consultant onto the team, or just continuing to serve families in more ways surrounding pregnancy, babies, parenting because it's all really hard and we all need a person in our back pocket to navigate that with us. So again, even now, coming back to the systems, having the systems in place helps me think more through those bigger dreams and what that looks like for me or for the business, or growing, and how to keep serving families the way that I would want to be served. That's how I started as a business owner. What would I have wanted as a mom? And kind of continue to go from there.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh, I mean that's the whole birth, literally of Made for Mothers, which was what do I need and how do I fill that gap? When I had Henry, I and I got out of the hospital and I was home, so let's see. So and I took, like, my first shower at the house. I got out of the shower.

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

I said to my husband I was like I just need a lactation consultant who can come and blow dry my hair, like I need someone who can help me with breastfeeding and then maybe someone who could like wash my hair. And like I need someone who can like cook me like a nutrient, dense stew, right, and also like to help me with breastfeeding. Like I like that post doula.

Speaker 2:

They can see me naked, but also make me something delicious, and like just my.

Speaker 1:

Just remember. My hair was like so long and it just got anyways.

Speaker 1:

I just remember feeling like I needed so much help in so many different ways that I never even thought coming at all and I love what you're thinking about and, and you know, just thinking about like what's possible, like the possibility of growth and what excites you, and I guess those big dreamy dreams are scary, I think, when you're in the position of, like we got to put pen to paper and actually like, answer the question about that, but you'd be so surprised at how fast people actually build those out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, put like like some concrete energy into them. You know, like even just putting it down in a questionnaire makes it one step closer to being real, you know. So it's like yes, absolutely have a lactation consultant. They have a postpartum doula, they have a cranial sacral specialist, like they have. You know, all of these. It's just, it just keeps adding on to your goal of this very holistic, well-rounded care for moms and families.

Speaker 1:

And, yeah, newborns, which I think is, and you know, obviously the older ones too, toddlers and so on. Yeah, the preschoolers, man, the preschool sleep is not something I'm looking for. They're a world of their own. I know, I love that so much. So, if anyone's listening in there, you know they're, maybe they're starting to like hear the. You know the call or whatever of maybe I want to start my own business. I don't know if I can do it. You know, what do you have to say to moms who are on the fence of entrepreneurship and they want to dive in, but they're scared, nervous, fear. You know all of that. Will it work? Yeah, look at my first client. What kind of? You know, what can you offer them in terms of support?

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I want to say just do it.

Speaker 2:

I think I always mess up expressions, but you can have your cake and eat it too. Like you can be a great mom and you can run a business. And you can run like a teeny, tiny business one hour a week or you can run a huge business with so many employees under you, I think I mean the world tells us what moms should look like and then we tell us what we think we should look like, and those are probably both pretty wrong. I was at a conference last week and someone was actually talking about money but I think it applies everywhere where she was like hey, with your sales goal, like what is your enough and that's it. Like you don't have to go higher than your enough, find what's enough.

Speaker 2:

But I think with money and also moming and business, just like what is enough for you, is this a hobby? Because if it's a hobby, awesome, and you can make a little money with a hobby, or you know what, what do you need? What do you want? What is your enough? And get it because you can and there's people to help you, but you can. So just start and enough is going to look a lot different season to season, year to year and I think that's the fun of it.

Speaker 1:

What is your enough. What a great question. Yes, I remember when Amanda Armstrong spoke at our made for mothers event and she said a guiding mantra that she likes to say is says who. You know. Like I can't do this. I love that. Says who, like you know what I mean. Says who. I love that. Says who. And I love this idea of what is your enough. You know what's your enough.

Speaker 1:

I fall on the other spectrum of that where I always want more and more and more Like. I want to just keep. I like things to grow big and grow fast, and a gift that motherhood gave me is actually I don't have to like operate like a house fire. I can operate like a bonfire, which is like slow and cozy and intentional, and you know we sit around a bonfire, we run away from a house fire, you know. So it's right. I like this idea of something that like draws you in and finding out what's in that and letting it like nurture you. I like that. I'm going to remember that Like did you get clarity around that money talk, because I love a good money talk.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm still getting there. That's always the hardest part for me making that goal, because I feel like I can't have a goal or it's scary to have the goal and what if I don't get there? So that's, that's honestly the part of my business I usually ignore more than anything.

Speaker 1:

So conversation for another day, hopefully in 2024, you'll have more flexible of thought, more you know flexibility of thought, more time or Yep. So you know, 2023 was the year of priorities, choice, systems, outsourcing, 24. That's the year of strategic thinking, goal setting, all of that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Well, lauren, I just adore you so much and I love hearing your journey and your story and how you make CEO, founder, mom, wife, nurse, teacher. Yeah, mom, you know all of these different homeschool, you know classrooms, that, all of these different roles that you're navigating and juggling every day and how you, you literally are such like an epitome of showing up with Grace, and I can't wait to watch and see and have you in this community and just see what comes next and how we can all show up for each other. Thank you Well.

Speaker 2:

I'm so thankful that you've made this space, because I feel like, again, you recognize that space as like being a mom and a business owner is kind of world of its own, and you've created this, yeah, this community that makes it feel safe to ask those hard questions or say the scary things or admit you don't really have a sales goal or whatever it looks like. I feel like you, yeah, you've made that space for moms to come together and do that, which is not I don't think that's very common. So thank you for having this space for all of us.

Speaker 1:

I love it. The Made From Mothers podcast is definitely going to be the space where we can share the stories and highlight what moms in our communities are doing really like bravely, courageously and wad yeah, I know, messily.

Speaker 2:

That's going to happen, messily, yes.

Speaker 1:

So where can we find you? Where can we follow you? Where can we work with you? What is all that?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you can find me on my little corner of the world via gracescom. Instagram is via underscore graces underscore sleep coach via graces sleep coach. So, yeah, come follow me. Hey, ask any questions you may have. I love connecting with people. That's what I do all day long.

Speaker 1:

I will say, okay, plug real fast for, via graces, what Lauren and her team do really well besides helping family sleep. Obviously, take a page from their book, because I sometimes watch you do this and I say they are so good at your weekly questions, your Q and A. When I tell you this all the time, I love, I love your, I love your, I love your story poll. You're not your poll, your story questions. I love that you open up conversation. They do live sort of coaching. You can ask them any questions about sleep. I mean I literally just I just asked a question when you were at your conference. It was like what's your sleep questions of the week or whatever.

Speaker 1:

And I was like, um, my 21 month old has officially zipped. He knows how to unzip his sleep sack and it's ruining everything, oh, toddlers. And I got like five different suggestions that I could have spent like so long Googling. But I got five different suggestions and I was like you're right, flip it inside out. You're right, turn it around, turn the sleep sack around.

Speaker 1:

And then the best one I got was maybe he needs to go to bed 15 minutes later because he's not tired enough, so he's looking to play, which let me tell you there is nothing more exciting to a 21 month old than a zipper. So, yeah, yeah, you even have like a zipper song, and so I'm like why did I teach this zipper song? Anyways, so amazing are looking for easy ways to boost let's see engagement, boost credibility, boost confidence within your you know customer base. Look and see what Lauren and her team at Via Graces um, see what they do with their story questions and I think it's a great example of you know how to pour your thought leadership into your marketing and it's pretty. I think it's a pretty low lift in terms of it's probably like time and energy back, but it's not like designing graphics.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, totally, totally yeah.

Speaker 1:

And once you're in the zone, you just go, yeah, and you and Mora, right, Can you contact right back and forth? Exactly so, anyways. Well, thank you so much for jumping on here with us. Thanks for having me. Yes, and thank you for tuning in to the Made for Mothers podcast Again, if you want more information on anything we talked about in this episode, it's all linked into the show notes and we will talk to you soon.

Speaker 1:

Yay, you just finished another episode of the Made for Mothers podcast. As always, you can find more details about today's show in the show notes and be sure to give us a review. Subscribe so you don't miss a chance to grow your biz from fellow moms. Are you wanting more one-on-one support or are you looking to learn how to market your business in a way so you can spend more time with your family and less time stressing about what to do next? Then follow along on Instagram at Mariah Stockman, or book a one-on-one biz therapy session with yours truly and let's find that work mom-ahood harmony we all deserve. Until next time. This is your host, Mariah Stockman, and thank you so much for tuning in.