Moms on Mondays - Laura from Little Indies

Today I am so happy to feature a mama who I've followed on IG for a long time, Laura from Little Indies.  Her shop has recently gone through some rebranding and I am so happy to be able to share her "new" shop with you!  Read her post below and then go support this awesome mama!  She sent Lemon and I matching Brave and Free shirts for the 4th of July, they were so cute and comfy!

What is the name of your shop and how can we find you?

The name of the shop is Little Indies and you can also find us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Tell us about what you make/sell in your shop. 

The shop is West Coast inspired fashion for kids and adults. Right now we sell t-shirts and hopefully in the future we can expand to hats, sweatshirts, etc. We are trying to go for designs that represent that California surfer/skater look.

How/why did you start making these products and open this shop?

It may sound silly to some, but having a children's clothing line has been a dream of mine for years and years. I've always loved fashion, and once I had kids I loved to find fun things to dress my kiddos in. We lived in Northern California for a while and completely fell in love with the culture and the scenery. There's something about Cali that just speaks to me. I always say that there's a special part of my heart that will always be there. I think that's why we wanted to have our clothing line centered around west coast designs. We really feel a connection to it. And, my husband and I are totally skater/surfer/hipster wannabes. We call it "skipster". . . it's our own style haha.  {Love it!}

How long have you been in business?

We have been in business since the beginning of June, but we have planned and dreamed about this for years.

What is your background (college/career/etc.)?  Tell us a little bit about your family. 

My husband, Will, and I (Laura) are adventurers. We love to take leaps of faith and do things out of our comfort zone. So, when we got married 6, almost 7, years ago, we decided to move from our hometown to a different state. In the 6 short years we have been together, we have had 3 kids, lived in 7 places (6 of those moves were cross country), had multiple job changes, and lots of new endeavors . . . But, we did it all because we don't just like ordinary. We love to live free . . . Each move was a move of the heart that brought us into a deeper understanding of ourselves, and how to love people better. Our goal with our lives is to live and love out loud. To run hard after dreams and goals and kick fear in the face. We have many more dreams to come, and this clothing company is one of those. Something that we've always said in regards to making clothing is, "What if??" And, we don't want to say it anymore. We are finally just doing it. We also love music. My husband is the guy with more guitars than I can count. He has 3 CDs and we also made a kids' CD together. We are about to start working on our next CD. I think our biggest passion is just doing things together and not taking life for granted.

How does this company help your family?  Or you?

I've got a big, dumb fear of failure. I know it's dumb. So, me jumping out and finally doing this was a big deal for me. There's a lot of details that go into starting a business, and each step that I take makes me more confident. This company has honestly helped me just to not be afraid. It's been really cool to see my designs actually printed! 

Did you ever think you'd be doing this?  What did you think you'd be doing instead?

Yeah! It's been a dream of mine for a long time. First and foremost, I just love my kids. We live for family. So, I just started homeschooling and I'm doing life with my 3 kiddos. And, on top of that I'm also trying to fulfill some personal dreams of mine too. 

Does anyone help you with your shop?

My husband. I truly would be lost without him ha! He is a techie guy. His full time job is a web engineer and he's really good at it. His other job is with YouTube making web development tutorials. So, he does the website for Little Indies and does the mock ups for the t-shirts. I basically just have ideas and designs and he makes them happen electronically. 

How do you find time to run your shop and create products? 

We make time. We really don't have it but if you wait to have time, you'll never live out your dreams. Currently, we just made a cross country move from California back to our hometown in St. Louis, I had a C Section a couple months after that, so I've been taking care of my new baby and my two toddlers, homeschooling, and my husband has a few businesses he does. And, on top of it all we are about to start building a house on 21 acres of land. One of the things that's been on our heart since the beginning of our relationship was to start a farm and be more dependent on our own land. So we can't wait to start that process. 

What do you love about this businesses?

I love the creative aspect. It's so fun to just come up with designs and see them come to life. We also LOVE fashion and dressing up our kiddos. Living in California gave us a new love for the culture and the surf/skater look. 

What is the most challenging part of this business?

Like I said before, finding time. We have so much going on but we just love doing this. The creative process, the time spent together, seeing designs come to life. It's all so much fun so we always make it happen. Even if it means staying up until the wee hours of the morning even though your infant will wake you up all night (whoops!). 

Where do you see your shop in the future?

I hope that the word will get our about our shop. Our end goal with this business is to have a very concise look to all of our products so people can tell it's our brand. We only have a few designs now, but have many more in the pipeline that we can't wait to share. We would love to ultimately have designs that are fun but also have positive messages. Like our 4th of July "Free" and "Brave" designs. We love to tell our kids all the time what their identity is. That they are mighty, they are brave, they are free, etc. So, many of our designs go hand in hand with that.  

Tell us your favorite product or your most favorite thing you've created?

So far I'm loving the 4th of July shirts. Like I said, the meanings are great. It not only talks about our rights as Americans but also tells of our identity as humans. Love seeing my kids wearing them!

Do you have any advice for future mom-entrepreneurs?

You'll never know unless you try. I think that's a big thing I've learned. When you're afraid of failure like I am, there's a lot of excuses to hold you back. It's the moment that you say, "Who cares if I fail!" and you charge at your dreams no matter the cost. You'll succeed no matter what. Even without a single sale, you still prove to yourself that you're capable. And, you learn a lot of lessons in the process. 

What are some of YOUR favorite shops/products, besides your own?

A great shop that I've always loved, because of their surfer vibe, is Of One Sea. They have really high quality products and they're based in Hawaii which makes it special. I just bought my husband a pair of their 4 way stretch swim trunks and he loves them! I'm also in love with Albion Fit for their feminine style and their swimsuits are to die for. I just recently bought a swimsuit from Kingdom and State and have loved all of their products as well! 

Thanks Laura, wishing you the best of luck in ALL of your adventures!  XO