A mum of two who had £400 to her name and thousands of pounds of credit card debt after giving up her job as a teacher to look after her daughter, developed postnatal depression and was at an “all time low”, now has a successful fashion brand with a salary that “exceeds” her teacher’s wage. Lauren Todd, 31, a company director, who lives with her fiance, Alex Rook, 41, and their two children, Lottie, two, and Isabella, five, gave up her job as a teacher as she had “always dreamt” of being a stay-at-home mum.
But she was diagnosed with postnatal depression, finding it “really hard to function”. Lauren’s mood was worsened by the fact that she could not breastfeed in many of her clothes – but she had a lightbulb moment to sell wrap dresses for women who were similarly struggling and, using her final pennies to buy stock, her product line sold out overnight.
Despite having a second bout of postnatal depression after her youngest daughter was born, Lauren’s business continues to be a roaring success, with a six-figure annual turnover. She now designs a range of leggings for women of all ages, sizes and physical abilities, focusing her expertise on building the confidence of women – looking back on the last few years, Lauren “never believed that (she) was capable of managing this” but is “so proud”.
“I’ve managed to pay myself a salary that exceeds my teaching and I get to work from home with my children,” Lauren said. “But, absolutely nothing beats knowing that people who are lacking in confidence or having problems in their life, like I was, just feel a little bit better about things when they’re wearing something that I’ve designed for that exact purpose.”
When Lauren, from Lincoln, fell pregnant with her eldest daughter she was a teacher, but she quickly realised she would have only about £6,000 left of her salary a year after paying for full-time childcare. Her partner, Alex, also worked, but they both felt as though they would not have enough money between them to comfortably provide for their daughter.
Lauren said: “I always had that sort of pressure when I was pregnant, but we thought we’d suck it and see what happens – we hadn’t had children before so we weren’t sure how much it would cost.” Despite their money worries, Lauren handed in her notice in July 2017, while on maternity leave, because she did not want to work “such long hours” with a baby.
She said: “I had also always dreamt of being a stay-at-home mum and the thought of putting her in full-time childcare was awful. I had no plan of what I would do next, but I knew there was a chance I would have to return if we couldn’t live off one wage.”
After Lauren gave birth in August 2017 she began feeling low and was diagnosed with postnatal depression about three weeks later after her health visitor noticed her mood. She said: “I was at an all-time low – I found it really hard to function at all. I think some of the reason was that I was breastfeeding and none of my clothes fit me, and if I could squeeze myself into anything, I couldn’t breastfeed in it.”
Lauren began having counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy through the NHS, and when her counsellor asked her what she would normally do to “cheer (herself) up” it would be to go shopping. But at that point Lauren had thousands of pounds of credit card debt, from when she first left university, and only about £400 to her name, so shopping was not an option.
She said: “I was breastfeeding too, so I couldn’t buy things on the high street that worked with that, but then I had an idea that maybe I wasn’t the only person struggling with the fashion dilemma. All of a sudden I had a little bit of drive, which I hadn’t experienced in ages, and I found a few wholesalers that sold dresses with a wrap front which would work for breastfeeding.”
Lauren used a portion of her £400 to buy a wholesale pack of the wrap dresses and, to her delight, they fitted her, and she could breastfeed while wearing them. She said: “I had no wifi or working laptop because we couldn’t afford it, so I went into Costa and set up a website on my phone and had the idea to set up a business called Laurella Mama selling those dresses.
“I spent the £400 that I had to my name on a couple of packs of the wholesale dresses and I took photos of me wearing them in a mirror balanced on the baby bouncer in the living room.” Lauren then set up a Facebook page, to promote the items and sell them.
She said: “Those close to me were not keen for me to do it because of my mental health, and they were not sure my idea would work. They told me to just enjoy your baby, and I was like, ‘No, I want to do something for me too’ and I finally had some drive which was getting me up out of bed.
“I thought if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, but at least I would have given it a try.” After launching the business on Facebook, on December 27 2017, at 9pm, from her living room, Lauren woke up to hundreds of notifications and discovered all of her stock had sold out.
She said: “They weren’t even friends or family, they were just people who found me on Facebook, and in the first week I gained about 4,000 followers on Facebook, I just couldn’t believe it. People were having the same struggles as me and just telling their friends about it.
“It really wasn’t what I expected at all.” Lauren explained how it felt to suddenly have success after months of being depressed: “It felt incredible but that wasn’t the cure for depression at all – I did find myself then having to battle my mental health with running a business and having a newborn baby.
“When she turned one, life got a lot easier though.” Isabella had her first birthday in August 2018 and in October 2020, Lauren fell pregnant with Lottie.
This time she had hyperemesis gravidarum – severe vomiting and nausea. Lauren explained: “When I was nine months pregnant, I was more than a stone lighter than I was before.”
Since giving birth in June 2020, Lauren has had postnatal depression, which was worse than the first time, and has received further mental health treatment. She explained: “In January I came off antidepressant medication – I went medicated because it was much worse.”
Lauren has also launched The Zesty Boss, where she is a business coach with over 500 clients, and has a range of inclusive leggings, called Love Lissie, which have a rounded seam under the stomach area, so are more comfortable for those who have had babies, surgery, experience bloating or just want to feel confident about their tummies. Looking back on her success over the past few years, Lauren said: “I think in the state that I was in after having my first I don’t think I’d ever believe that I was capable of managing this.
“I wouldn’t have believed that I could do what I’ve actually done. I’m really proud of what I’ve managed to achieve.”
