BEING MUM: Lauren Loader

Meet Lauren, Mum to Harvey (her very busy nearly two year old), wife to Brendan, Kindergarten teacher and business owner of Harvey at Home. We chat to Lauren about growing the business whilst juggling being Mum, and her passion to support new Mums as they journey into motherhood. Supporting local is a key motivation that runs through the business with the curation of the very best essentials that new Mums just can’t live without...

You launched a Harvey at Home in Covid Chaos, what gave you the push?

I know! Idiot move right? Haha but in all honestly, I’m so glad I did. I think being home ALL day, EVERY day while the rest of my family were out working (essential workers), I had a lot of time to think, and think, and think…My husband and I had always wanted to own our own business and we knew it needed to be something to do with babies, weddings or the elderly – people are always willing to spend money in these areas! 😊 So when Brendan had to take a pay cut (like so many others), I thought, “The time is now. I’m going to start up a business!”and I did, in literally 4 weeks!

Tell us what it is like being a Mum to a very busy toddler whilst running a start-up business?’

Hmmmmm, well…let’s just say, I now laugh at how “busy” I used to think I was before having Harvey. Running around after Harvey, owning my own business, working as a Kindergarten teacher 2 days a week, looking after a friend’s baby 1-2 days a week, and running a household. I think I am now starting to understand what busy really looks like. And I only have 1 kid! Some women do this with 2, 3, 5 kids! The saying goes, “If you want something done, ask a busy Mum” I get that now. We’re literally super women!

What motivates you to support local?

Now that I own my own business, I have such an appreciation for the blood, sweat and tears that goes into it! All the hard work behind the scenes that you never even knew, or thought about. My respect for small, local businesses is through the roof, and I want to support the people behind the brand as much as possible. 

It’s important to remember that even if a business “looks” successful, it’s not to say that they’re raking in the cash. There’s a lot of “fake it till you make it” going on. So every order is genuinely appreciated by that business owner. 

What are your top 5 key points whilst growing a business and being Mum? (the juggle is real) 

• There’s no time like the present, you’ll always be busy, so just do it. Try and schedule time to “work” – I know this is really hard and I’m still working on this, but even if you make sure you eat dinner or have a cuppa before jumping back on the computer!
• Rely on family/friends if you have them – even if they can watch your child for an hour, while you focus on work! Then you want have to constantly feel like you’re neglecting your child for work ☹ This is a hard balance!
• Don’t feel pressured to constantly be available (another thing I’m still working on too). It would be reasonable for a business to get back to you within 24hrs, so don’t feel that you have to drop everything the moment you receive an email/message.
• Have a total family day/weekend if you can. Remember you are ultimately doing this for them, but time flies and you don’t want to regret missing out on time spent together. This is the MOST important job at the end of the day!

(Disclaimer!!! I am struggling with the work/life balance myself and trying to implement the above points as best I can. However, it’s important to remember that you’re doing your best and sometimes you will not find a balance. That’s okay! We’re all getting by as best we can!)

What are the hopes you have for your business, Harvey at Home?

When I started, I said to Brendan, “If I sell one bundle I’ll be stoked, if I sell a million, even better!”. I am still keeping with that motto.

Although I am working hard to build a successful business, the intention behind it was to support new Mamas as they journey into motherhood and that is still my goal at the end of the day. Whether that be 1 Mama or 1 million. My focus is them!

What are your favourite items in your bundles?

This is a hard one, because I genuinely love them ALL. I decided to only stock products that I had used myself and had loved. Otherwise, how could I recommend them to others? However, if I HAD to choose:

• The cloth nappies/burp cloths/spew cloths – whatever you call them. They’re a lifesaver!
• The hydrogel breast discs. IYKYK.
• The New Edition PUMPD Manual breast pump. This was a non-negotiable for the bundles, as it’s definitely a product that will make the journey into motherhood A LOT smoother!

We've loved having you in our breastfeeding campaign with PUMPD, what are your thoughts on being one of our featured Mums?

Haha! When Bella approached me to do this (I’m a bit of a Yes Man), I signed up right away. However, when I started telling my family and friends that I’d be getting my boobs out on camera and being filmed/photographed breastfeeding, I could feel their uncertainty. It got me thinking, this is our culture! We say we support breastfeeding, we say it’s natural/beautiful/best for baby, but we’re actually scared of it and we don’t know how to deal with women confidently sharing their experiences – especially not on camera! That was it for me, I knew that this was important!

I wanted to be part of a movement that was going to help normalise breastfeeding and offer a supportive platform for new mothers to learn about and acknowledge the beauty, challenges and everyday mundaneness of breastfeeding. I’m so glad I did. It was SO empowering!

How would you describe your style of parenting?

I’m a bit of a contradiction I think. On one hand I’m super relaxed, I let Harvey explore how and when he wants and I try not to interfere with his exploration. The Kindergarten teacher in me loves to see him take risks, figure things out on his own and I’m very aware of not being a helicopter parent (I see a lot of them). However, I’m also a very organised person, with a hundred things on the go at any one time, so I do run quite a tight ship. We’re always out doing things and racing from one place to the next, so I am a bit of a rushy Mum too 😊Deep-down though, I’m the biggest softy.

I hardly put Harvey down for the first few months of his life. I fed him on demand until he was 15 months old, never let him cry it out, never forced a routine, had him in our bed with us (still to this day) and hate it when he’s super upset. So it seems I’m just one big paradox! haha

What values do you hope to instil in Harvey?

I just want him to love life! I want him to be kind, to care about others and to know that he can do anything he wants in this life – with our full support behind him. I grew up in a very supportive family and was always encouraged to do my best, I hope we will do the same for Harvey and support him to be the best version of himself – whatever his best is 😊

Lastly what is one of the greatest things you have learnt about being a Mum?

The love! I am actually teary writing this. My heart bursts with love on the daily. It’s a feeling only parents can describe. In those first few weeks, I wasn’t sure I loved Harvey. I wrote a post about this on my Harvey at Home Instagram page. It was scary, I thought I was meant to love him like crazy straight away – and I did love him, but not like this. It took time for me. But then I became obsessed and now I can’t imagine life without him. He’s my world!

To get your hands on the best in new Mum essentials contact Lauren @harveyathomenz