Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Gaige.
Hi Lauren, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Over a decade ago, I found myself in a position where I desperately needed to provide some sort of income for my family in order to keep the roof over our heads. Just nine months prior to starting Restored 316, I found myself at home as a stay at home soon-to-be mom and six months pregnant with my daughter. After one failed business attempt after another for about six months, I knew I needed to do something in order to provide for my family and teach my daughter what it meant to persevere in the midst of a very difficult time.
One evening I came across a blog that was designed with digital scrapbooking kits. At the time, I was doing digital scrapbooking for my daughter’s milestones. I knew instantly that I could do that too! I woke up the next morning, bought a domain name with the last $10 in our bank account, and Restored 316 was born.
I watched EVERY video I could possibly find on website design, coding, blogging, etc and began offering my services for free to a few people I found through a Mommy Forum I was in. In exchange for doing their design for free, I asked them to do a blog post about me so I could get my name out there. After a few free designs, I began getting consistent inquiries about doing other bloggers designs and began charging for my services. My first paying client paid $25 because I was still scared to death I was going to royally mess up their website!
Fast forward all these years and Restored 316 has become one of the premier places to purchase a Feminine WordPress Theme. We’ve served tens of thousands of customers and sold millions of dollars in WordPress themes alone!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’m the type of person that loves to stay in my comfort zone. Being a business owner, though, constantly pushes me into places that are very uncomfortable given all the changes in the business world over the last 15 years. Learning to adapt and adjust to those changes has been a challenge to not only do because it requires getting very uncomfortable but also keeping up with!
Working from home, especially during the summer months when the kids are home, poses its own kind of challenges as well. Finding our balance and boundaries is always an ongoing process.
Owning your own business, you don’t have someone telling you what you need to do and when, so it takes a whole new level of self-motivation and discipline to make sure you’re showing up on a daily basis.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Given the state of our world, there has never been a better time to start your own business! I am incredibly passionate about not just website design but helping people start a business that is beautiful and profitable.
I’ve had the honor of working with some incredible companies, and seeing them flourish is one of the best parts of what I get to do! I’ve had one client who had this vision for a new line of products that hadn’t been done before, so I created a brand and website for her, and over the last decade, I’ve watched her turn into a brick and mortar store, and have her products on shelves in Target! Another client of mine appeared on Shark Tank and is now one of Barbara’s top investments! Gives me chills just thinking about that… that I played some small role in the journey of these fellow entrepreneurs.
We also provide ourselves in having an amazing and caring support staff that helps our customers! We truly go above and beyond because we know that starting your first website can be incredibly overwhelming… but it doesn’t have to be when you have people like us that know all the things and are here to help every step of the way.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Four years ago, I went through a divorce, and never have I ever been more thankful for the ability to work from home and create my own schedule! Being able to be there for my children when they needed me was so incredibly helpful through that difficult time.
I love that my children get to see their mom working from home, having her own business, and being incredibly independent! Growing up, the example before me was to depend on someone else for financial support, and I knew that I was NOT going to be that person. I wanted to be fiercely independent and show my children that they are capable of anything they put their mind to if they work hard enough to achieve it. Nothing in life is going to be handed to you on a silver platter, but working your butt off to earn that silver platter is so worth it and rewarding!
Pricing:
- 129-149 For a new website theme
- 147-297 To have us install it and set it up for you
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@restored316.com
- Website: https://restored316designs.com/
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/restored316
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/restored316
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCERhLNqdmiyroTswXVz8WFA
Image Credits:
Images by Emily Boone
