For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had the “design bug”. Always creating, painting, building, rearranging... even staring at other people's homes daydreaming about 'what I would do if I could just get my hands on this'. As I grew up, I continued that love of design into my adult life by creating spaces personal to me. When friends and family would say to me, “You should really do this professionally!” I thought, (after much deliberation and talking myself off the ledge of self doubt), “Well why the hell not?“ The thought of getting paid for doing what I absolutely love seemed like the perfect reason to just jump right in. And by "jump" I really mean dip my toe in the shallow end. I started so small. The babies were babies and I stayed home with them, so I had to just toe-dip (to the soundtrack of "when I dip you dip we dip"). I would do a project here and there, and I was dirt cheap. I remember a client saying, "I have to hire you now before you blow up. Because I won't be able to afford you, and trust me when I say you're gonna blow up". I blushed. I doubted. But a part of me, deep down, also trusted that feedback and I held it close to my heart.
Brocato Design + Co was born in 2015; and then over the last few years it did just what my client predicted. It kind of just blew up and continues to do so in incredible ways right before my eyes. As this business continues to grow, I’ve needed more help with the behind the scenes work so that I can prioritize my time designing. I’ve always been a one-woman show- I pour my heart into creating unique spaces for my clients and pride myself on my do-it-til-it’s-damn-near-perfect work ethic, which takes up a lot of my time and headspace. I know the importance of a social media presence in today’s world- especially as a growing business- but quite honestly, I just couldn’t make the time for it.
Enter Lauren.
Lauren (Lolo) and I have been friends for almost 7 years. We first met in a neighborhood mom’s group when our oldest boys were still toddling around. Playground meet-ups, stroller walks and Panera lunch dates were our go-to hangouts. As our friendship grew, our kids became fast best friends and the two- block walk between our houses is one we can now make with our eyes closed.
Several times over the years I had joked that “one day” maybe we’d work together. I’d design. She’d handle all the social media platforms. Take all the photos and behind the scenes shots I wouldn’t think of taking. I’d make things pretty, then she’d show off the pretty. I’ve always admired the way Lauren handles social media. She has a PR degree so... ya know, she knows a thing or two about PR. She has this incredible way of seeing a moment, quickly capturing it before you even know that she's doing it, and posting it all to social before you can say "anbesol" (yep. That just told you I'm in my 40's without telling you I'm in my 40's). The point is, she's damn good at social media and she truly enjoys it, so I was basically one step shy of begging her to consider working for me fo'real.
So with all of our kiddos headed back to school, more time to actually tackle work, and some crazy ideas thrown around, we took the plunge and started working together over the summer. What happened next, I sort of anticipated, but not quite to the degree (or speed) that it went down. You guys. If you're reading this and you're an entrepreneur, you need to go find yourself a Lauren like yesterday. I knew that it would help having her, but mannnnnnnn. Remember how things were blowing up before? Well now it's like we need a whole dang team to keep up (and are slowly making that happen!).
As the months have progressed, we have found our rhythm (and continue to) and I have to say she is far more than just a social media manager. While that's clearly her main role, she wears all sorts of hats and truly makes me feel organized so that I can focus on my actual job. She's my assistant on jobs: we joke that she's my coffee bitch, my trash bitch, my pick-up-my-children-when-meetings-run-over-bitch. She's truly the bomb. (I'm slightly worried the SEO's may flag me since I keep talking about blowing things up and bombs over here.) The point is, this leap has made a world of difference in how things are rollin' over here.
And let's not forget the fun. You guys, we have SO. MUCH. FUN. We take our work so very seriously and yet we don't take ourselves too seriously at all. We definitely know how to kick back with a glass of wine at the end of the day and cackle with laugher. There's truly nothing like working with your bestie and wanting good things for each other.
So what's the point of this post? 1) go get you a Lauren. Don't hesitate. Find a good fit and then go for it. It's truly worth every penny. 2) Don't be afraid to grow. Lauren and I are both growing and learning from each other every day and it's absolutely paying off in this business. More to come there! 3) If you're a client... hang tight! We're plugging along and getting to each and every one of our projects with joy and gratitude, so that quality and attention to detail are never ever compromised! 4) Be ready y'all... there's much more in the pipeline and we are so excited for what the next chapter holds!