In honor of Women's History Month we sat down with Mini Bloom's founder Lauren Wolk-Goldfaden to talk running multiple businesses, transparency, regulation, accomplishments, and what she wishes she would have known.
What compelled you to start Mini Bloom after successfully launching the skincare brand Goldfaden MD?
I wanted a stable, natural product I could use on my newborn that I didn’t have to whip up in my kitchen everyday come bath time. I was having a hard time finding clean and effective products in the market for newborns. Sure, I can mix together an at-home cleanser when necessary, but that wasn’t going to be a realistic practice for me as a new mother. I needed a line I could trust, and when I was researching products and reading the ingredient labels of brands that were available to me, I was neither comfortable with what was listed, nor confident in the company’s honesty beyond the label. Beauty is still a widely self-regulated industry. At Goldfaden MD we choose to fully disclose our ingredients because it’s important to us — so I wanted to create that kind of trust and started a five-year long development journey to create Mini Bloom, my longest pregnancy to date!
Mini Boom products are clean, effective, and we’re 100% transparent about what ingredients are in each product. Mini Bloom is gentle enough for the most sensitive of skins and powerful enough to tend to the toughest of jobs. As a mother, I want products that are effective, clean, and provide a need for babies, little ones, and mamas.
What are the highs and lows of being an entrepreneur?
The journey and day-to-day is never easy and is filled with challenges, failures, and setbacks, as well as joys, thrills, and celebrations. I think that in order to remain steady in any business, you have to find balance — learning how to work smarter, remain passionate, and take moments of rest. I find that some of the best breakthrough ideas / growth momentum energy comes from a place of stillness.
What's one thing you wish you knew before starting your businesses?
How much time, energy, and money it really takes to grow a business and that nothing (absolutely nothing!) happens overnight!
How do you balance being a wife, mother, and founder?
I am always searching for that “right” balance, but I do thrive off of off routine. I truly believe in taking care of yourself first, and for me that means daily movement, proper sleep, and a clean diet. If I can’t feel my best, I can’t show up in any life role giving my best self. I also work really hard to be fully present when I am in whichever role: wife, mother, friend, founder. Lastly, I try to put away phones and focus entirely in the moment. It certainly helps!
What's been your greatest accomplishment to date, and what are your biggest goals for the future?
I think it’s so important to celebrate achievements — big and small, personally and professionally — because life goes by so fast and if you don’t take a moment to have those celebrations, what’s all the work for anyway!? That said, there is no greater accomplishment for me than having my children — they are my entire world, and raising good humans is the most important job in the world for me.
What's your best piece of advice for working mothers?
Set a routine, prioritize your tasks, and don’t throw away your own self-care.
What’s the most important thing you wish to instill in your children?
It’s my ultimate goal to raise self-reliant children who have high self-esteem, so I know that it’s vital for me and my husband to be role models for them. We take care of ourselves by finding the balance of both physical and mental health on a daily basis and we share the same values that we want to uphold in our home: to be authoritative parents rather than authoritarian figures to our children.
Children learn the most from their parents and role models, so I am determined to show them my best self so that they can learn what healthy relationships, boundaries, and values look like from the beginning. I try to refrain from complaining, self-shaming, and having negative conversations, always!