Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Fitzgerald.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Lauren. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I would have never described myself as a crafty person until about a year and a half ago. I was home with my daughter, working in marketing but wanted something else to keep my hands busy when my daughter was napping. I’ve never been the kind of person to slowly get my feet wet, I typically jump in and that’s what I did. I decided that I wanted to try to make her some clothes. So I picked up a sewing machine on Facebook Marketplace, some fabric from Michael’s and a pattern to follow from Etsy. My first item took about six hours to make. But I fell in love with watching it go from fabric so something my daughter could wear, so I started sewing more and more. I decided I might as well try to make a little side money off doing something that I enjoyed and so I started Shop Lauren Fitz. Since that day, my Facebook group has grown to almost 2.5K members and I’ve expanded to more and more clothing items, including bows and swimsuits for babies and toddlers.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
With my background in digital marketing, the road to where I am has been much smoother than I thought it would be. But there have been MANY speed bumps along the way, from sizing issues to fabric fading to sleepless nights up trying to figure out how to do something.
A struggle that I didn’t foresee is how quickly others will downplay a business that is in the start-up phase. For the first year, many people didn’t see it as a real business or the hard work that went into it. That was a much bigger mental struggle than any product issue I could have foreseen.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Shop Lauren Fitz story. Tell us more about the business.
I make baby, toddler, and young children clothing items and bows. Everything is made to order. My bows are even hand-sewn, so kids can’t pull them apart.
I am most proud of the community that I have built. My customers are so supportive of not only me but each other. Something that sets me apart is my transparency with my customers. This can be my biggest strength but it’s also been a pain point as well.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
The things that could be spun as luck are really years and years of hard work. I have worked in digital marketing for six years. The skills that I developed over these years have really helped me to build my customer base and online presence. You could say that I’m lucky that I have this experience. My parents worked really hard to instill good work ethic and problem-solving skills, so finding new ways to make products that last could be seen as luck or those years of lessons paying off.
As far as bad luck, I have had my fair share of trials and tribulations but who hasn’t? Rising above these things and coming out the other end is where I like to put the focus.
Pricing:
- Bows Start at $7
- Clothing Items Start at $16
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shoplaurenfitz.com
- Phone: 14704269273
- Email: fitzgeraldlauren912@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/shoplaurenfitz
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/879576179059046/?ref=bookmarks
Image Credit:
The Heims Photo
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