Transcript

Rowena Preddy
Tell us a little bit about you and what your business The Vibe Tribe is?

Lauren
So I’m Lauren and I am the director and creative behind The Vibe Tribe. We are a digital marketing agency so we offer creatives and rebel entrepreneurs who like to market a little bit different. So we help to make their brand shine both on and offline. So something I’m really passionate about, I love being creative. I’ve always been in different creative industries. So for me, this is a huge love to be able to, you know, do what I love each day. And I make the rules, which is nice. getting to, you know, choose the dreams and make them happen and backing myself into it. I am. Yeah, I love that side of it. I’m a mum of three, three amazing daughters. Layla, who would have been six and Isabella who’s five and Sienna who’s two. Yeah, I’m supported by amazing hubby who Yeah, is the backbone to a lot of what I do, I wouldn’t be able to run a business and be a mum and all the other many hats that I wear without his love and support. So he, yeah, he’s definitely a big part of the tribe for sure.

Rowena Preddy
Shout out to all the hubbies that are supporting.

Lauren
Yeah, he’s amazing like that. Always. Yeah, egging me on to, to do the next thing or whatever I choose for, you know, for that moment, he’s like, we’re all in. So it does make it a lot easier to be able to, to be able to do all the things because you definitely can’t do it by yourself, that’s for sure.

Rowena Preddy
Yeah. And I think that’s the thing you realize most when you sort of step out of corporate and into your own world of your own design, when it comes to running your own business is the sudden realization is is that as much as it is freeing to live by your own rules, you suddenly realize you You’re in charge of living up to them and setting them and being held to account to them as well.

Lauren
Yeah, absolutely. And, and the fact that like, you have your own business, most of us choose that because of you know, and we want some freedom. It takes all of your time keeps you up at night. It is very rewarding. But um, it’s definitely not insta worthy post of what everyone thinks, you know, being a fierce female in business kind of vibe is theres, you know, definitely hard work as well.

Rowena Preddy
Now, before you mentioned that you have three daughters and that your daughter Layla would be six. She is the reason behind why your business was started up and why you have structured it the way you have. If you feel alright Would you mind telling us a little bit about Layla?

Lauren
Yeah, absolutely. I will probably get emotional as I always do talking about her. And so my first born, she was stillbirth. She was stillborn at 37 weeks. So yes, she has definitely shaped a lot of who I am, how I do things, how I see things and why I run the business way I do to give a bit of context. My hubby and I it was our first child. I had a really normal pregnancy. I was feeling great. All my checkups were normal, Everything was by the book doing great. I had finished up at work. I was on maternity leave. I was done. I was at the end. I was you know, had hospital bag packed. I had a nursery all set out like literally everything was done. So yeah, 37 weeks And one day we sadly Yeah, we lost Layla. So what happened was I had a busy day I’d been out and about and doing the last minute things of, you know, waddling around the shopping centres and things like that. And I remember coming home and just thinking, Oh, it hasn’t been as much movement as normal. But I also didn’t know if that was because I was bigger. I was uncomfortable. She was big because it slowed down. And you know, maybe I was distracted throughout the day. So I just kind of thought, it was my first time. So I just thought that maybe that’s how it goes. But I did mention it to Jonathan, he kind of thought the same thing. And then as the night went on, it was just playing on our minds. And we both couldn’t sleep. So you know, and he took me to the hospital. And then you know the rest from there was a bit of a blur. We were then taken into emergency and we were at the maternity ward and they put monitors on me and I do remember the nurse that was there and she was trying to find a heartbeat and she was looking for a while and you could just tell on her face that something wasn’t right. And so she went to get somebody else to come in. And then they called in my ob and you know, this is at 3am and I just knew he came in completely disheveled and Someone was waking him up and I’m like if he’s here, it’s not good and said that they couldn’t find her heartbeat. Yeah and that we lost her. So from that moment everything was crazy in terms of them having to work out how I would birth her what that means do I go natural? Do I not because it was so early in the morning as well. Middle of the night. They gave us some time and we could go home and work out what we wanted to do talk with our family. I just wanted to my mum. And so we did that we went home and we contacted our family and Did all those things and we really spoke through what we wanted and I just didn’t feel strong enough that I could give birth naturally not hear her cry. So for me, I then decided to have a Caesar. But again, that was really hard because it was like, you know, I remember people kind of giving their advice and being like, Oh, you know, you’ve been then going to, like, what about the scar, like, you’re going to have that there forever. And I was like, I’m going to, it’s gonna be a scar, whether it’s physical or not, like, it’s something that’s with me forever. That kind of thing didn’t really bother me, it was just more than also the recovery, we call the ob to tell him that and then literally, within 10 minutes, I remember my waters breaking. So that kind of then changed everything again, because I wouldn’t have been going in until that night, but then all of a sudden, the plan has changed and, and then from that moment, I think I went into shock, because honestly, I don’t remember getting to the hospital, Jonathan, you know, he said, there was so much water I had to sit in, in the car with the towel between my legs, all I remember is them putting me in a wheelchair. And I was, you know, like throwing up and shaking. And I just, I just said, in the end, they said, like, if we’re going to do a Caesar, we need to do this now. And so they started getting Jonathan dressed as well for him to be able to come into theater, and I just said, I can’t like I can’t be awake. And they did it. And then and actually kind of worked out beautifully for us. Because while I was waking up after surgery, and coming to Jonathan had actually had this time with Layla, they gave her to him.

Rowena Preddy
Anyone that’s been in a similar situation to you being able to even just share a story so that someone feels like there’s that moment where they all they know that other people have gone through it. I was in a situation with my second Born, where I’d had an easy pregnancy the first time around, and everything just went upside down and topsy turvy with her. And it just, I almost felt a level of shame. Like I had done something wrong. And I second guessed everything, because this wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Everyone’s got a story. But every story is individual and even just being able to have the conversation with someone of how I truly felt rather than having to put a face on.

Lauren
Yeah, exactly. And there’s so much of that because I just often think you just don’t know, what anyone else has had to experience. Like, you know, you go through, and you know, I’m guilty of it as well. You go through our, our feed, and whilst I touched on it here and there, you know, if you didn’t read every post, or if you didn’t know, you know, my journey, then you probably just wouldn’t have a clue. I don’t walk around with a sign saying that I lost my child. Most people don’t understand other people’s stories. They don’t understand what it takes, you know, especially in those early years for me, you know, at the time in January when it’s her birthday, you know, I’m pretty useless that week. But most people wouldn’t have a clue why or October stillbirth Awareness Month means like that, like I try and be active and talk about those things when I can because it’s really sad. But it’s six babies a day in Australia that are stillborn. It’s actually it’s ridiculous to me, I didn’t know anything about it until it happened to me, I just didn’t understand I thought there must have been something wrong with her. And there wasn’t they did all these tests, I held her in my arms like she was perfect. Other than the fact that she wasn’t breathing, she, there was nothing wrong with her. And she looked exactly like my other two daughters when they have been born like you know, they just had this full head of hair, and this perfect little nose. And so for me, that was a really, really hard part is to not understand the why like, I think if there was a reason, I could be like, Okay, and then especially going into further pregnancies, knowing if there’s something I could do different, or what to look for or what could help was really hard. You know, I’ve then gone on to have two more daughters and their pregnancies were eternity, I do love being pregnant, but also every little twinge. Or if I’m not sure, I just I go I go straight to the doctors I’m on a monitor. We’re besties I’m there a lot. I actually had the same ob and I went back to the same hospital with my other girls. They were really amazing to me and helped guide me through that. And also I was at a smaller hospital and it hadn’t happened to them in like six years. So they were also really looking for ways to help me and resources, the littlest things like, you know, they moved me slightly out of the maternity ward when I was in recovery because obviously hearing babies cry for the next five days that I had to be in there or being near the nursery or like things like that was heart wrenching for me. So they were really considerate with things like that and heartfelt actually came out and a heartfelt photography is it a group of volunteer photographers that will come out and take photos. So we have these incredible images of us holding Layla and holding my hand that’s now all I have

Rowena Preddy
I’ve seen friends go through similar circumstances. And I’ve seen friends go through miscarriages and I’ve a friend, a really close friend who’s going through breast cancer people care about you. They Just start to do yeah. Anyone ever finds themselves in a situation where they have to support someone through this? What were the things that got you through?

Lauren
Yeah, it’s a really, really good one because it is hard. It’s really hard to know what to do. Even though I’ve experienced it. I’ve then had other people that I’ve known experienced it. And even I was like, Oh my gosh, how can I reach out? What can I do? Naturally, people don’t want to make you more upset. So often, they’ll they’ll avoid talking about her, Or avoid using her name. And it’s probably the opposite. I do talk about her all the time and refer to her and she’s got two little sisters and not to be worried about talking about it would be one thing, because whether you say something or not, it’s always in our head. We’re always thinking about them. And I think just to, you know, feel okay, having those conversations, I would say as well, I went to a counselor after that, which was great for me to have somebody just out of my world, who was, you know, who wasn’t hurting, like, we were to give me some perspective and just talk through what I was feeling. And they were really great. That helped me actually going back to work. I worked in the events industry, I worked at a venue and did sales and marketing. And so for me, that was really hard. Like, I was going back to a job that was exactly the same position exactly what I was doing before. But I wasn’t the same person. I didn’t have this maternity leave. I hadn’t planned to be there for a year all of a sudden, now it’s just, you know, like, What do I do? Am I meant to go back, it was really hard to navigate. One thing that they really helped me with the counselor was to actually email all my coworkers before I started to say, look, I get it, I know, it’s really hard. And I know you may not know how to approach me, but here are a few subjects. So here are a few topics that I am happy to, you know, break the ice, I’m happy for you to mention her name, it’s makes me happy. Whilst I might get teary or I might struggle sometimes, you know, I worked with a lot of females. And we were all at very similar ages starting to have kids and pregnancies. And so I knew a couple of my friends that were pregnant were you know, like, I didn’t want them to feel like they had to avoid me or not talk about their own joy because of what happened to me. So I think putting that all in an email and then coming back to work. They were like, Oh my gosh, thank you, like you gave us permission to feel okay or know what to do. Or just give us some guidelines, I found that really, really helpful. And then little things I love when people choose like little ways to remind me that they do think of her or that they remember that she is such a big part of me. You know, I’ve had beautiful friends who have made donations on her birthday to say something Ah, you at like the age that she would have been. I’m a dancer, I used to dance my whole life and have taught at four or five years old, I’d be like, Oh, she’d probably start dancing at this age. So we’ve made a donation to the ballet on her behalf for her birthday or just like really thoughtful things like that, especially, you know, as time has gone along, and as I’ve had more kids and things like that, that she’s still part of part of me

Rowena Preddy
From the get go. Layla was a big part of your why. And your family was a big part of your why can you tell us a little bit about how you’ve shaped your business around your family and around doing Layla proud?

Lauren
you know, after losing Layla, 12-13 months later, we then welcomed Isabella to the family. So when I had her, I took a bit of time, and then it got to the stage where I was like, I don’t want to go back to what I was doing. Like I am such a different person Now. I’m also at a stage where I had obviously craved and longing for a healthy baby for so long, and then went through a really long, nine months to welcome Isabella. So after that, I was like, if I’m going to work, it needs to be for something that I love. And I’m so passionate about that, you know, leaving her and taking time away. makes sense to me, I was in a position where I did need to work. So I was like, I need to, you know, be bringing in money. But I just need it to be joyful, like I need to feel good, I need to feel useful. And I think a lot of that also comes down to the fact that for so long, I felt like I had let or my body had let me down and let Layla down and I guess maybe having some control over something that I could, you know, run with and own.

Rowena Preddy
All I ever wanted was a little girl and she put me through a lot from the start. And she was a really, really hard baby and a really, really hard toddler. And control becomes a big part of it. Because it’s a way of you feeling like you can actually figure out what the future is going to hold because when you’ve had that level of fear, and that level of you know, questioning, controlling your whole life control feels like the answer at that point.

Lauren
I remember somebody telling me that you only know your version of hard and bad looking at other people, you know, they’d whinge about being up all night with their baby and I would be like, Are you kidding? I would kill to be up all night. With a healthy baby, they haven’t experienced my experience. So that Is their version of bad and hard and now, two babies in and one who doesn’t sleep, I get it like, that is hard. We all have our different versions of what we’ve had to experience. And it’s not easy. And then yeah, it definitely has shaped the business as it’s grown, because starting out, it probably did save me in terms of keeping me occupied and keeping my brain creative and giving me another outlet other than just being a mum or worrying about you know, there was a lot of fear even once my daughter was here that anything could possibly happen to her after losing Layla, Jonathan and I would check on her and we still do it, we check on the girls multiple times, you know, a night that they are still breathing. I don’t know how normal that is. But that’s our vision of Normal because you know, of what we’ve gone through. As the business has grown, it’s definitely shaped my values. It’s only in the last year that I’ve put a really big emphasis on nutting them out, like getting clear on what they are, and what my brand is and what our business is. Because, you know, I feel like we’re at this point where we are really building and going to a new level. But ironically, like I love writing I’ve got about a million notepads everywhere and just scribble all these thoughts and lyrics and just quotes and everything. And it was only that when I do something like this or do an interview or something like that, that I was reading back over some of my notes from like, back when I started, I was like, Oh my gosh, I am doing exactly what I’d set out. It is the same intention. I’m just, I’ve just matured into it. Like I just am more confident in knowing that that’s the direction and being able to articulate it. And so we’ve now landed on our values, which for us is about being straight up. So it’s just about you know, being honest and straight to the point and say what you mean and mean what you say and just you know, lead with clearness and kindness, we’re big on impact, you know, this business has impacted the way I am and how I go about my life. But I understand what that business journey means for so many other people as well. So when we work with small businesses, I want them to feel like wow, they care, we weren’t another number like she’s in this she gets it the team put you know, I have an incredible tribe of creatives from our copywriter to graphic designer to web developer, like we have a team of amazing humans who care like that’s a big one for us. Another one is intuition. And that’s Huge for me and I think that plays to the fact that you know, my business is called the vibe tribe. So I’m big on vibes and big on feelings I maybe have not always realized that up until now that since Layla. I’ve leant into that a lot more. And also, I feel like that’s her kind of guiding me sometimes being like red flag red flag, you know, you can doesn’t feel right. There’s a reason when it does, and it doesn’t make sense then also, that’s, that’s amazing. And just go with it. And then collaboration is there other value, we are doing it together. Like when we’re stronger together, I definitely couldn’t build the business without the the amazing humans that helped me and whether that be family and then you know, the girls in the in the team, but also with our clients like we have been able to create some amazing projects and campaigns that blow my mind and have had an amazing effect for our clients. Because, you know, we listen to them, and we gel and we are innovative that way. I think Yeah, I’m super proud that it’s led to that.

Rowena Preddy
And intuition is one of those things where when you’re first starting out, it can be really, really scary to follow it. Yeah, being that This is the brave issue, what would be some of the ways that people can sort of start to be brave by following their intuition like, for you What are the signs?

Lauren
Starting out Like, yeah, I kind of get a feeling about this that I don’t know, when you know, you don’t want to upset anyone or you go with the flow of it, you’re trying to build. So sometimes it’s hard to trust that. But now I just it’s my thing. Like, I think my husband jokes that it’s like my superpower. Because even to the point where you know, one of his mates will introduce me to one of his girlfriends. And then later I’ll be like, Nope they won’t be together. Like, I just get this feeling of like, when it fits, I know. And so that’s the same kind of thing with you know, whether that be people but also clients, I literally had this the other day where a client was talking to me on the phone, and I got off the phone. And I was like they just started to like me, if I say yes to this, it’s going to be more work than it’s worth, but also they’re not going to appreciate the value we bring to it. And these are the clients that always end up going wrong. Like I just know now that I’m getting that feeling for a reason.

Rowena Preddy
For me, I genuinely feel it in my gut. I feel like butterflies and swooping sensation often you only know that it was there, after you’ve acted suddenly you feel that lightening and that freeing. It’s one of those things where just stretching your intuition muscle can really have such positive influence on your business that it just becomes instinct. Once you see the results of following up on your intuition and seeing what comes from it. There’s no way you wouldn’t want to follow that in the future.

Lauren
I love just that knowing sometimes if you’re in a situation or you’ve been somewhere and you physically get signs that you’re not okay? That that’s also your intuition. Universe is only showing you the right way. It’s not trying to lead you up the garden path. If you listen to it, it’s gonna be for the good. A lot of times intuition can be like you refer to it in terms of guiding you from something bad, but I also love that it’s for the good like I get it. I love music. So I will most of the time be working with my music blaring in my ears, or when I’m driving and you know, belt out a bit of a tune, its in those moments as well. Sometimes there’ll be a certain song at a certain moment. And I just think, Oh, yeah, I’m in the right place the right time. My life has had some incredible heartache, both with Layla and other other losses in our family and obstacles, the good is still good. I’m very blessed. I have incredible husband and kids and a wider family network of friends and a tribe that I wouldn’t trade for the world. And I think Layla plays a huge part in that view on life, we definitely enjoy the small things now and make the most of that

Rowena Preddy
a lot of what you do with social media marketing, and what you do with your tribe, like you said, you do things a little bit left field, and let’s be honest, a lot of people are feeling very oversaturated with social media, what are some of the ways that people from a social media point can start to start that process of how they can make themselves shine out against a world of same same.

Lauren
on social media at the moment, there’s a lot of people being like here, here’s your five top ways to get better engagement or cut through the noise. And ironically, I actually don’t think that’s what they are. To me. It’s about meshing it with being human. So taking it from socials and telling your story being really honest and transparent with what you’re about, and who you’re looking for and what you’re offering. But we are about surprising and delighting people, like we love those out of the box kind of ideas. So, for example, during COVID last year, we had our graphic designer, do some beautiful designs of our clients. So almost like your work like those beautiful kind of caricature with it with all the bright colors. We did those for, you know, 30 of our old clients, current clients, you know people who touch base on socials, people that always interact and share the love with us, we turned them into postcards. So their own face was the postcard and I wrote handwritten notes to all them saying, like, I get it small businesses hard. COVID is hard. You know, we can’t wait to keep cheering you on through this love from the tribe. That kind of stuff is what I love. No one expected that it wasn’t this huge financial gesture. You know, it wasn’t like a gift that we delivered or something like that. It was just something really heartfelt. Like, I spent the time writing individual notes for each person, they were people that really do mean something to us. So I think it’s those things for businesses like think how you can you know, maybe it is using the voice memo, you know, option in your DMs instead of just like typing to the person hearing the voice is so much it just adds another layer like you feel you know, them and I do that for new clients who then you know, we start following socials, I’ll do a little video and be like, hey it’s Lauren. Thanks so much. You know, we’re so excited to jump on board with you in the next few weeks. Those kind of things, I think make a difference. Yeah, with the team, we often sit down and think how can we just do this a bit different? or How can it be more impactful than just an emoji on their post? And I get it social media is a lot of pressure to be posting all the time and I’m like Do I need to be doing it twice a day? Should I be in stories should I also be on Facebook sometimes we’ve been terrible at our own at some points because you then dive straight into Looking after your clients and making sure everything’s happening and then sometimes I think oh my gosh, what am I What do I need to say but last six months I’ve invested a lot of time and money in different courses and I’m learning myself be more development just I’m what my messaging is and what I want to say so if you do come across my posts like you feel like you know me you feel like you know the tribe you feel like we are your friend which you can trust us you would you would come to us because you know, not only is it going to be an incredible looking feeling campaign, it’s going to deliver and it’s going to make you stand out so I think bringing that all together is really important and yeah, I think bravery plays into that a lot across everything you know, whether it’s life and business just being confident enough to go with it. At the start I I think I actually messaged you this that for me, my business is this beautiful magic and space of being able to be incredibly brave but also be broken. And I think that constantly like it started as that because I was definitely and then still am like incredibly broken in terms of layla and life and I’m standing with I don’t mean but sometimes I just think the bravery also is doing it anyway, even though I feel like oh my gosh, I have no idea what I should be, should be doing or feeling but doing it learning and allowing myself to have those good days and bad days. Also for my team like they I’ve got mums, fur mums, you know incredible entrepreneurs everyones doing their thing. And so they have a tribe where we’re all being raised together. It’s pretty epic

Rowena Preddy
I think, today’s culture with everyone having to sort of like, in a lot of ways break themselves down and pull themselves back up again through COVID has helped people to see people for people a lot more.

Lauren
It’s not business to business anymore. It’s human to human, that messaging, I see you, I get you, here’s what I think I can do that, you know, help you along the way or support you. And that’s big for us. Yeah, we’re really quite honest. Like, if I don’t think we’re going to add value, and we’re not going to be able to make the impact, then I’m not going to take the client on I’m that type of person. Like, I literally would not be able to sleep knowing I didn’t deliver something to the best of our abilities, or I let someone down like those things, bug me and eat me up. So I think that’s why that is such a big value for me because I like sleep. And I like sleeping at night, knowing that I really did everything in my power to to make it happen and to work well be in a space where I feel more comfortable and more brave and be who I am and and that was the other thing that you touched on as well as that. Yeah, we are quite straightforward because I think no one has time for bs like I know I don’t. between the kids and planning our lives and you know, friends and doing all the things that you want to fit in. I don’t have time to waste time.

Rowena Preddy
Now from the quote Queen, what would be one of your tips for people that are wanting to feel a little more brave?

Lauren
Your track record for getting through hard days is 100%. So far, they’ve had the worst of worst days. I still got through it and I’m still here and like so I think that for me is what bravery bravery is getting through the tough days when you don’t think you can