Ep. 51 The Light Behind Lettie Boutique

I'm Lacey Jones with Elevate the Individual. Episode 51 The Light Behind Lettie Boutique. So if you've had a chance to check out this month's issue of Raising Confident Mothers, you know that today's guest is also this month's cover story. And and I always love hearing the behind the scenes. So I wanted to share the full conversation I had with Lindsay as I prepped for that article. And be sure to subscribe to the magazine to the link in the show notes so you can see all the fun pictures of Lindsay and her adorable family, along with that story that I wrote about all the good that she's doing. Seriously, she is genuinely inspirational. So let's dive into that conversation.

Okay, so I am Lindsay. A lot of people think my name is Lettie, and I will respond to either.

I love it.

But my name is Lindsay. I'm married to my high school sweetheart. We just celebrated ten years last month. And we have two little girls, eight, and just turned three last week. And they're so fun. We live in Idaho. We lived in Austin, Texas for a few years. We lived in Logan, Utah, but we're from Pocatello, Idaho, and we are back here, and it's just so good to be around family. So that's a little bit about us as far as hobbies and interests go.

Lettie is a huge interest.

Kind of.

Right.

Takes up a lot of time, and I wouldn't have any other way. Anybody that knows me knows I love Disneyland. We have so much fun. And I'm also an inner child coach, and that's kind of a more recent one.

We need to dive into that a little bit.

Yeah, we can totally talk about it's. So fun.

Okay, so number one question where does Lettie, the name come from?

So, way back when I started this.

I called it Lindsay's Secret Closet. I started it when I was 18 and out of my college dorm room.

And I just couldn't think of a name.

And I was like, Lindsay, secret closet. Sure, that's fine. And then about it was really like a hobby side thing I kind of do sometimes. And then in 2016, I started taking it more seriously, and I was like, this name has got to go. And my maiden name is Dutton. And I always loved the two T's, how they looked, writing it. So I was like, I want something with two T's in the middle. And I was kind of messing around with a few things. And then I found Lettie, which is Dutch, and my mom's side is Dutch, and it means to give light or to spread joy.

And that's like, that is who you are.

You're so sweet. Thank you. That's what we really try to do.

And so it was just like, yes, absolutely.

That is it.

This is dumb.

But I never realized Lettie is a name. I had never heard of it as a name. Before, so I named it Lettie. And then everybody's like, oh, is your name Lettie?

And I'm like, oh, no.

Is that a possibility?

Yeah, who knew?

I didn't hear that for, like, I.

Don'T know, a couple of years. A lot of people call me Lettie, and I take it happily, I'll take the name.

There's so many pieces of good behind that. Okay, so you started this when you were 18.

Yes.

What pushed you to do that?

I'm a little bit of a brat, maybe. I really don't like working for other people. I never have. My parents are business owners. They always have been my grandparents. Some of my sisters are. It just kind of runs in my blood, and I feel like I'm a hard worker.

It's not that I don't want to do the work.

I just like to do it on my own terms and make it fit what I need, not punching in for somebody else. I went to college in late August, I guess, of 2012, and by December I was like, I got to do something for myself. I don't like going to work for other people. And so I kind of started fiddling.

Around with the idea of clothes.

I've always loved clothes. I've always loved fashion. I've always loved putting together outfits. And then February, we launched Lindsay secret closet.

So how did you launch that? Was that also, like, on Facebook and social selling or how did you launch it?

Yes. So I started with, like, a Facebook.

Page and trying to remember.

Did we have a website right off? Honestly, I don't even remember. I know we had one not too long after I started. If I didn't have it at launch, it was not too long after, and it was on a platform called Store Envy, kind of like Etsy, kind of.

A similar marketplace vibe.

But that's where we hosted our website until 2016, and then we moved over.

To more professional platform.

And so you say we. Is that you and someone else? Is that you growing into more people? What is it?

I don't know why, but no, it was just me.

I do it the same too. And when I'm writing posts or articles and, like, do I say I we?

Yeah, sometimes I take we because it's like, I feel like the Lettie community is so a part of it. I'm like, no, we're all doing this. And as I added employees and stuff, I think we just rolled off the tongue easier, I guess. But yeah, it was just me until 2016, and then when we made the switch, things really blew up, and then I started adding employees. Just me back in the day.

I love it. So how did you find your niche? Because you can explain your niche now. I see it as young mothers, nursing mothers, but it doesn't have to be kind of thing. So how did you find your niche?

So I think honestly, a lot of it started was just when we made that switch over, there was a Facebook. So I created a Facebook group, and that's when things really started to take off for us. And I think it's because that group was being shared into a lot of other mom groups. In 2016, I had a two year old, and it was like, this is who I am. This is who I'm attracting.

It was a really natural just the.

Community was like, these are women that relate to me and are in the same phase of life in the same stage. And we need comfortable, functional, we want to look cute and put together, but I need to be able to breathe and run around and chase kids. And so I think that was a really natural kind of archetype that came out of it. And I've seen that niche shift slightly with me and with all of these moms followed me for a long time. It's like, okay, which of course, there's still moms having little babies and everything, but we're starting to have a little bit older kids now, too. And so it's molded a little bit, and I feel like it's always moving.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Okay, so how do you this one's off the cuff, but how do you decide what trends to go after and what to pull into your line?

So kind of my philosophy with trends, I love trends. I think that they're so fun, but they also change so fast. And we've seen, especially with the rise of Sheen and Timu and stuff like that, trends are changing even faster because I don't want to bash anything or get into anything, but those clothes are.

Designed for one or two use.

And so the trends just change so much faster because they get the really trendy item, wear it twice, and they're like and done. Moving on to the next. So even just in the last five years, I've seen trends turn over much, much faster than they used to. So kind of my philosophy is we keep more classic pieces and then pull in a few trends here and there and do some more subtle takes on trends. If there's one that I can see is jumpsuits came back in 2017, they're still huge, and I knew that would be a long lasting one. I feel like if it's a trend that is more of a silhouette, I'm more willing to go big on it and bring in a lot of it. If it's more a pattern, patterns are shorter lived, colors are a little bit longer. Silhouettes have a long lifetime. So I feel like we kind of try to keep things classic. Always have kind of the.

Easy option.

If you will, and then pull in little trends here and there to make an outfit and accessorize it, if you will, rather than full blown trend changing every three months.

Yeah. Now your house dresses, that seems to be, like, one of the things you're known for. How did that come about, and what do you see for the future of the house dress?

Honestly, I think house dresses have kind.

Of lived their life, and I think.

That we're kind of moving on with them. But, I mean, that was a staple. We've sold tens of thousands of house dresses, and it's been insane. Like, we would have launches that 900 dresses gone in seven minutes. They were just so big for us for a really long time. But I think that that came from same thing. Women were always just asking me, like, I need a comfy dress. Like, do you have anything that I could wear postpartum, like, home from the hospital? And being a mom myself, I'm like, I get it. You just want to be comfortable. When you're pregnant, you're so comfortable. The last thing you need is, like, anything extra pushing on you. So we just came up with a really basic silhouette that would stretch and be really comfy, feel soft on your skin, be functional. And I got to use them with my second baby. Sadly, my first baby didn't get to have it.

But that was the research portion of the dress.

Yes, but it was so great to have it in the hospital with my second baby and for the weeks following, just so comfortable and figuring out nursing and all of that. I think it was really just kind of a crowdsourced need, and.

We just.

Went for it, and it was a big hit.

Responded to it. Yeah, because that's something that you designed yourself.

Yes, and actually, that was another thing. I'd always wanted to design my own pieces, but that felt, like, so big.

And intimidating and out of reach.

And then a vendor that I worked with closely just buying stuff that they had designed. I was on the phone with him one day, just figuring out some stuff they're ordering. He's like, hey, by the way, if you ever want to design your own stuff, we can help with that.

And I was like, Wait, it's that easy?

Okay, tell me more. And he's like, yeah, we can start with, like, 150 pieces and do whatever you want, and you can do the size breakdown, put your tags in it.

And I was like, done. And at that point, we absolutely shouldn't.

Have been buying 150 of anything. But I think I took the leap, and it was something that I was so excited about. The community funded, and they all sold.

And I was shocked.

Well, that's kind of who you are. You know how to market something. You know how to build the anticipation. And so you have several different areas where you shine right. You know how to pick the pieces. Like you said, I know the trends. I know that silhouette.

We do silhouette, color, pattern.

I'm sorry if I don't get the order right, but you know what to go after, and then you know how to get out there. And I think your personality just your genuineness, you know, how to rally a community to get out there and so that the pieces come together. What I see is natural, but you're probably behind the scenes, like, sweating bullets, making sure it's done right.

Thank you so much. That's all so nice of you to say. Thank you.

But you need to understand that's what I see. We never really met before, but I think my sister in law shared your group several years ago when we were having babies. I have five boys, and so, yeah, I loved your dresses and your pieces at that time, and that's just who you see online. And I think we saw it even this week when you're like, hey, I have a Lettie girl stuck here. She needs help with this, and that how can we all help?

Kind of thing.

And that's like, wait a minute here. You're not posting about selling a dress or a shirt or pants or a jumpsuit, but yet that endears your customers to you, I think, by sharing that piece.

Yeah. Thank you so much. I think that the community has always been so important to me, and I think Lettie came at just the right time, and I needed so much support, and I felt like I really needed a community in a village. And I've always been really close to my mom and my sisters and everything, but up until the last few years, I've always had a really hard time making friends and keeping friends and feeling secure with friends. And I think that Lettie was just they're my friends.

I'm going to say you have so many friends now, right?

I do feel like I have really good friends now, and I do feel.

Like from the community, I've been able.

To meet and make real, actual in.

Life friendships with so many of those.

Women from across the country, and some of them I still haven't met, but.

It'S like I'm Marco Polo.

There's a couple of gals like Marco Polo occasionally. They've been in the group for forever, and we just check in and chat. And even the friends that I have now, my core group of friends came from Lettie in one way or another, and I'm just so grateful for it. And my ultimate goal, I'm always, like, brainstorming how to make this work. But there have been so many times where somebody in the Led community has needed something. Like that girl that was stranded yesterday.

Or two years ago, maybe there was.

Somebody that moved to a new state, and she's like, I need help.

We just moved here.

And I'm so overwhelmed. Like, can anybody come help me unpack my house? Or just, like, sit and talk to me while I unpack? And, like, seven women showed up. That is my favorite part of Lettie. I love that. So much. And so I'm always brainstorming. I would love to create some sort.

Of directory almost of Lettie ladies across.

The country because I've even had it.

I go on vacation and I'm like.

We were in San Antonio. I was like, hair stroller broke. Does somebody have one I can borrow and one for a couple of hours?

And I just think that community is.

So important in having that village.

And I don't think that a lot.

Of people have that naturally built in, but to have something that brings you together, even if it's as silly as.

Clothes, you have an instant kinship and kind of comfort with somebody that has a similar interest.

I hosted a Disneyland trip for Lettie in January, and there were several ladies that came solo. They were like, I don't know anybody. I'm just coming and we're going to make the best of it. And so many instant friendships happened there that were so beautiful to see. And I know some of them still keep in contact and have planned other trips.

Oh, I love it.

That is so important to me.

And so I do really try to.

Foster that well, and look what you've done. You mentioned you had a hard time making friends, so you've taken that weakness or that desire and you've built a huge strength out of it and you've pushed that and shared that with others. And so now it's like, not only do you have these friendships, you have a whole community. I mean, you brought strangers together at Disneyland and now they have these strong bonds that is taking your weakness and helping it to become a strength. That's pretty amazing.

I think that when we hear weakness.

We think of it as like a flaw. And I think that actually it's just an opportunity to create something. And I think we can get so down on ourselves about weaknesses or perceived weakness or whatever, but so many beautiful things have come out of digging into.

My weakness and being like, okay, what.

Do I actually want here? I also just want to say I think that a lot of this was done unintentionally. I think it was just kind of a need in my soul that was kind of projected out, I guess. I don't know how to say that, but I think that I opened Lettie being like, oh, I'm going to find some friends. But I think it was like a.

Need in me that brought other people.

With the same need. And I think that that kind of happened naturally. I don't think I do it more intentionally now because I know what I'm trying to create, but especially at the.

Beginning, I just want to preface that.

The master plan or anything.

Yes, I think a lot of people.

Have the same opportunity, I guess is what I'm trying to say.

Yeah.

Okay, so you mentioned that now you're more, I guess, deliberate about creating that. Do you have a mission statement or purpose or even unofficially or officially that now drives you through your years of research in doing all of this.

So we do have like our official company mission statement that's in our handbook and it's more professional, whatever, but kind of our heart mission statement. And the fun one maybe is hugs, high fives, and so much love. And I think that that drives our community interactions, how we respond to customer service emails, the events that we put on, the atmosphere we're trying to create in our new store that we're building, what kind of clothes we bring. I think that really encompasses a lot of things in how we try to respond and bring in and what we're trying to do.

Oh, I'm all about that. That is awesome. And you can see it. You mentioned like, customer service because you deal with the public, you deal with shipping, you deal with a lot of variables that are out of your control and people will respond to those and everyone responds in their own special way, but yet you choose how you respond. And it's always, always even when there's a tone of frustration, oh, I'm so sorry about that, go ahead and send me an email or let me dig into that really quick. Like you can hear and see your unofficial mission statement in how you respond to those kind of frustrating moments or.

Little stressed moments that thank you maybe.

Are outside of your control, but yet it's your company, it's your business, it's on us.

So thank you. I'm glad that that it shines through. Oh, thank you so much. I think the other thing, there's always going to be upset customers, but honestly, overall, we just really don't get that many and we don't get angry emails very often.

We don't get blatantly rude emails or DMs. I truly probably get two to four.

Rude DMs per year.

Because you've set the stage.

Well, I think that that's part of it is like if we get a nasty email and this isn't to bash anybody else or what anybody else is doing, but sometimes I'll see an account.

Like post an angry email that they.

Got or post an angry DM and call attention to it. And I think that that kind of sets the tone of like.

Yes, of what's going on behind the scenes.

Yeah. And of course we get people that are irritated and upset and that happens and we try our best to help them, but just straight up angry, mean comments, emails, DMs we really do not deal with. Hardly ever. And it's so crazy to me to see I have a lot of friends that own boutiques that I've made over the years. Even just a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to a friend and she was like, our customer service girl is out on maternity leave. And so I was answering emails today and she's like, I'm just sobbing and I feel awful and people are so.

Mean and I was like, girl, I'm so sorry.

But that's a common rhetoric.

People can be so nasty in person.

And online, but I feel like it's easier online to be very much though and I'm just so grateful we don't deal with that. But I do think that part of it is because we have a community, they know that they're dealing with somebody and a company that's really trying and that is loving them and responding with love and we're really trying to create a good experience for them versus just like right out the gate flying off the handle.

Yes, very much so. You have definitely done your work to create that platform. Like okay, without saying it, but here's our expectations, here's our standards, here's how we operate. And when you walk into a company knowing that's how they operate, you approach differently, I would think.

Yeah, and I think customer know that we'll take care of them. We 100% make mistakes and we do stupid stuff and we try really hard not to because you're a human. Yeah. And it just happens and there's things that fall through the cracks and training new employees or something slips because the.

Employee is on vacation or whatever, it.

Is our fault sometimes. I'm not trying to pretend that it's.

Not, but yeah, I think that people.

Know we're going to do our best to make it right and they know we're going to take care of them. They know that we genuinely love our community and we're trying to foster goodness there.

Yeah.

Okay. So this kind of leads into the theme of the magazine for July. The theme is kind of I wanted to do something on self care, but I didn't just want to be like, hey, go get a massage and a manicure and everything will be better tomorrow. There is value in those choices, but I think at the root of it, when you know who you are and you know your self worth and your value, your self care actually looks a little different 100%. And I can kind of see that with what you're saying even right now.

Right.

Like when people know who you are as a company, they treat you different, they respond differently, they approach differently because they understand your core values. And so how can we kind of edge that over into how does an individual come to understand their value, their worth? So that how they treat and care for themselves. That can change as well.

Yeah.

Just right off the bat, I think that self care so often is seen.

As like a cookie, a movie, a.

Facial, a massage, a pedicure. And it's like, I love all those things. I am not knocking those things. But I think real self care is like, what do I actually need? What is going to eliminate stress? What is going to make me feel better long term?

Is that calling and setting up the.

Dentist appointment because it's in the back of my brain and eating at me. I have huge dentist fear. That's something that I need to do right now. Is that something that I need to get off of my brain and go.

Call about is that I need to.

Have a hard conversation with a friend because it's eating at me. I think it's really more about creating.

That peace inside than a momentary pampering. Yeah.

So that's my self care tangent really quick.

Oh, I love it. I'm like, okay, great. Amen to all of that. That's definitely the direction. And like you said, more of that long term care. Okay, so you mentioned a couple of little pieces coming up. You're opening a storefront.

Yes.

Tell me a little bit about that and how that came to be.

Oh, gosh, I don't know if we.

Have time for the full story is.

Like.

The wildest story. My husband went to he's a physical therapist, and like I mentioned, we lived in Austin, Texas, for a few years, and I actually left my company here in Pocatello. We lived in Austin, and people asked.

About a store a lot if you've.

Ever been to Pocatello. There's not much here. There's truly no shopping. We just got an old navy, and that was, like, a big deal.

I'm from Moscow, so I'm up north Idaho. That's where I grew up. And I left Moscow. But I said, listen, as soon as you get an old navy and a Target, I'll move back. And so we got the old navy and then target. I think it's been two years now that they've had Target. And I'm like, oh, man, I got to go back. That's what I said I would do, but I don't know. So, yes, I understand completely.

There's just not a lot here, and.

There'S really not many boutiques.

There's a few home decor stores that stock some clothes. But as far as I am aware, I could be wrong. But I've lived here my whole life, and I don't remember there ever being a women's clothing boutique. And my mom has lived here her whole life, and so is my grandma, and they've said the same thing. So amazing. People ask me a lot, like, are you going to open a store? And I was always like, when we get done with PT school, I know we're going to be moving around. I know that's going to be kind of a crazy phase of life. So maybe after PT school. And then my husband graduated in 2020.

Oh, of all years. Right.

So we were actually in Texas for his last rotation, and I'm sorry, I'm making this long winded. I'm trying to contain it.

Anyways, end of 2020, I started being.

Like, okay, well, no, even then, we had kind of pulled back. Lettie I had a new baby, and my two main right hand employees also had babies in 2021 of them had twins and one of them had a baby at 30 weeks. That was in the NICU.

Oh, wow.

We were like beyond just 2020 and beyond my family moving back from Texas.

And COVID and all of these things.

It was like the Lettie team had massive life changes happening. We had kind of pulled back and shrunk operations a little bit. We weren't launching as much, really kind of pulled it back.

And the store all started because I.

Actually said a prayer. And I was like, thank you for helping me pull this back a little bit. We had just moved it back into my house. We hadn't been in my house for years, but I was like, I think it'll just be easier and smaller and it'll be so nice. And my response to that prayer was, I need you to build a store.

And I was like, that's literally the.

Exact opposite of what I have.

Goosebumps. I love stories like this.

So anyways, that was September 2020. And I kind of tried to ignore it for six months because I was like, I can't right now. We had just bought a new house. We had a month old baby. COVID is still running rampant. Our supply chain is a disaster. I can't get product half the time. I was like, there's absolutely no way I'm doing this right now. And then my friend Cassidy, we had taken a trip back to Austin and she was like, are you going to build a store or not? And I was like, I want to, but I'm terrified. She was in the process of building a wedding venue. And she grabbed my phone and put the phone number in my phone for the guy that owned the land. And she was like, Just call him. And so I did. And then even between that, it was.

Two years of miracles and hitting walls and more miracles. Wow.

And now it's opening in about six weeks if everything can stay on track with construction.

So it's been the most wild ride. That was completely divinely. Led.

Oh, 100%. So is it a standalone store or is it part of like, a strip mall?

So there's two of us in the building. We have half and the other business has half, and we'll have our storefront. And then in the back is our warehouse office.

That's amazing, that stuff.

So the plan has changed a lot. I originally was going to have a shared building with someone else, and then I had a standalone building. And then we sold the land.

And truly, it's just been completely insane.

But I'm so grateful for where we're at, and it's going to be amazing.

So that was one of my questions, is what's one thing you have been able to do through your business that.

You never thought would be possible?

I mean, did you see yourself doing this whole process of building a store and going. Through all of that.

I remember telling my husband way back, I was like, I just want to stay small. Like, I never want employees. I don't want to deal with that. And now we're hiring a lot more employees to help. You are doing all these things, and I think I've learned so much about myself, about my relationship with God, about what I'm capable of, about the support that is truly tangible all around me if I ask for it and reach.

Out for help, and the community and.

Our Lettie Disney Day. That was amazing. And just so many things. I don't think I could even narrow it down to one. There have been so many beautiful things.

That have come from ten years in business.

Yeah. And then I'm thinking about, you have two daughters. Is that right?

Yes.

Now imagine what they see. They're watching their mom do this. This is their life.

Right.

And they're in it, and they're involved, but they're watching you do this and tackle the decisions and the seeking answers and the receiving answers and taking leaps of faith and praying and that whole physical side, but also the spiritual side.

Of it that's required.

And so that example that you're providing for your daughters is amazing. They're growing up in it, and you mentioned watching your parents do that as well. That's just beautiful to me. I'm like, you get out there and.

You go after it.

Right?

Like, go you for making that happen.

I held a lot of guilt over it for a long time because my mom was a stay at home mom, and my dad kind of ran the business, and I think for a long.

Time, I felt like I'm so grateful to my parents.

I had a really wonderful childhood, and I think for a long time, I was worried that I wasn't giving my kids a good childhood because I was doing it different, and are they going to feel jaded or ignored or whatever? And then I kind of started to realize, no, they are like you said. They are learning such beautiful things and.

Seeing hopefully, I take being a mom.

Really seriously, and I try really hard to be a good mom for my girls.

And I'm not a perfect mom, but.

I think I am a really good mom.

And I hope that I feel like.

I have a really good relationship with both my girls and I can talk.

To them and be like, I'm so sorry.

I really messed that up. I've never been a mom before. I'm sorry that you have to figure you're the one I'm figuring it out on.

But I think just being honest with.

My kids, and sometimes they'll be needing something, I'm like, okay, or want to play, and I'm like, I would so love to play with you.

I have to figure this out.

I need five minutes, like you said. Sometimes I'm like, I got to go.

Say a prayer really quick and figure.

This out, because I think that is self care. I need to get this off of my heart and figure out a solution. I need five minutes to go pray about this, write it down, and then I will come and play with you. And I think that is so good.

For them to see, one, my relationship with God.

Two, that, yes, I would love to play with you, but I trust you to be okay for five minutes.

And also, this sounds funny, but, like.

Set a boundary for myself a little bit that I don't get.

Overbearing or.

Like, sucked into them all the time. They're 100% always my priority.

But I think I hope that when.

They become mothers, they will know that their needs are just as important too, because they saw my mom said, I really need five minutes. And even if that five minutes is.

Like, I need to go eat a.

Brownie in the pantry for five minutes now, come and play with you. But I think that setting that boundary is so good for me and hopefully good for them not only in their potential future motherhood, but also just in.

Other relationships life yes.

That they can know my needs are.

Important, and it's not my job to.

Make other people be okay or comfortable.

Or kill myself to provide for their needs.

And obviously, that is my job, to provide for my kids needs. And I take that very seriously. But just an overarching, there's some priorities and some levels of importance that, yes, I want to come play with you. I need five minutes, and that is okay.

Well, yes. And it goes both ways. Sometimes I've got to spend more time over here, and I'm coming to you. Like you said, five minutes. And then there's sometimes where it's like, oh, wow. I understand that you do need me right now. I am able to put this down. I'll tell it five minutes and yes. What do we need to do over here that kind of ebb and flow and actually in this first issue of the magazine, one of the articles was on that of understanding as you juggle all these balls, some are rubber, some are glass, and sometimes work is glass and family is rubber. And so if you drop a ball and it's rubber, it's going to balance, but the glass ones, they're going to shatter. And sometimes work is glass, but sometimes family is glass. And so understanding that balance and the shift and how things kind of change.

I've had to do that.

We're working from home and then noticing.

Oh, wait a minute, I got to.

Step back from this. I've got to focus on my family. This kid over here is made of pure glass. Right now, 100%, this work needs to bounce over here and then making changes so that, okay, let me realign what.

I'm doing so that I can whatever.

Be more available here or there kind of thing.

And I don't think, like you say, it doesn't have to be one or the other.

I think that's something that I'm really.

Grateful to have learned. So the fashion district in Los Angeles, I go frequently to buy product, and there's different markets I go to throughout the year. But we were living in Austin, and this was, like, such a huge deal for me. But my daughter was three at the time, and I wanted to go to La. For the first time, and I was like, she has to come with me. Like, my husband's in school. I can't fly to Idaho and drop her off with family and then fly to La. That's too many flights and so expensive and extra rental cars and everything, and so it's like, she's coming with me, and that's the way it's going to be.

And on that trip, it's like everything.

That could have gone wrong went wrong, but there were also such beautiful miracles and so much safety in it as well. Anyways, I have my three year old, I have my stroll, and I'm, like, walking into Showrooms, and a couple of people yelled at me, like, no, you can't be in here. Don't bring your kids in here. And people are really abrasive. And I took that very personally. And I just was crying, and I called my mom. I was sitting in the Whole Foods parking lot, and I was sobbing. I was like, mom, I should have even come out here. Like, what am I doing? I am such a bad mom. I don't know why I thought I could bring my three year old to downtown La. With me. What am I doing? So she's trying to encourage me and call me down, and I was like, I got to cancel my next appointment.

I'll call you back in a minute.

And she's like, okay, just call me back. And she's like, do I need to fly out? Like, what do I need to do? So I called my next appointment. I was like, hey, I'm sorry.

I need to cancel our appointment.

I was like, I have my daughter with me. And I'm sorry I didn't give you adequate heads up.

I kind of didn't realize that it.

Would be a problematic, I guess. And they were like, oh, we would love to meet your daughter. Please bring her. They're like, when will you be here? And I was like, I can be there in, like, 20 minutes. Are you sure that's okay? They're like, yes. Have you guys eaten lunch yet? And I was like, no, we haven't. They're like, we'll order pizza. So we get there and they'd send somebody out for pizza and goldfish and.

Puzzles and coloring books, and they just.

Took us in and loved us, and it's still one of my favorite vendors, and my daughter still loves them. And now they've met my second daughter, and that was such a beautiful experience for me to be like, I'm not doing it wrong. I'm learning who I want to work with. This does not have to be one or the other. And my daughter at the time was like, so shy. If somebody shouldn't know looked at her, she would literally lay on the ground until they went away. Like, she was so shy. But through taking her to these appointments and giving her the opportunity to sit at the table with adults and feel like she had a place at the table, she is the most social person now. And I think that that whole experience was so good for me to see, no, I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm not hurting my kid. This isn't a bad mom move. This is giving her beautiful, important lessons and so good for her coming out of her shell.

And there have been, like, several things.

That I've learned through letty and my motherhood combining. Like, that was one of the most beautiful and life changing for me.

I feel like I'm like a bucket.

Of tears over here. Right.

I cry every time I tell a story.

But how beautiful, because guess what you just realized in the beginning. Okay, people who you're going to bark at me for having a daughter? No, not my people.

Yeah.

And then all these people who went out of their way to make you feel comfortable and make your daughter feel comfortable and went, got stuff. Those are now your cherished vendors. So that as you have issues pop up, guess what? They're going to probably work harder to help you remedy those issues or you guys are just going to have a better relationship. It's exactly. You've attracted what you put out into the world. That's who you are as a vendor to your customers, and you have aligned with your vendor. It's just this beautiful line of vendors and clients and people and sometimes you're the vendor, sometimes you're the client, but you've attracted exactly what you put out into the world.

Yeah. And I think that that's so true and so important. And I think speaking on self worth.

And self care, what are we putting out there?

Like, what are we actually telling ourselves about ourselves and how other people perceive us?

I think that that is really our.

Thoughts become our reality. And I think that's so important to remember.

Are we letting ourselves win?

Are we looking for the good that we're doing?

Are we looking for the things that.

We are accomplishing even if we still have a long to do list? Or are we looking at that undone.

To do list and saying, wow, I'm.

The worst because I didn't do my laundry today.

Where are we letting ourselves win with my kids?

I ate my vegetables. I said, I'm sorry if you have a rough interaction with your kid, are you looking at, wow, I'm a terrible mom because we had a little argument are you looking at? We learned something, and I went and told them I was sorry that I raised my voice and I'm a really good mom.

Where are we sitting in that? Yeah. Okay.

So you mentioned earlier that you are a coach, and I can hear it in you. I can hear it in your philosophy. So tell me. We have like I'm like, oh, my gosh, we have, like, eight minutes left, but tell me kind of what that is.

So coaching is actually really new to me. I just finished my certification in February and then it was, like, full blown letty building, so I have not done pretty much anything with it.

Where did you get certified?

So I actually worked with Liz Hayes.

Okay.

She's an inner child and she has, like, a lot of energy work.

Okay.

So I worked with her. So I actually just got my first paid client last night, which I'm so excited about.

Congratulations.

But I just honestly haven't I've been.

Like, let's get the store open and then I will keep working on this. So I just haven't really even done much with it. Inner child work is a lot of what I do and really it's a lot of, like, emotional and some of it is, like, energetic, but kind of finding where your emotions are stuck and, like, what stories we tell ourselves around those emotions that really get so deep seated. I mentioned that I've had a hard time making friends and trusting friends and feeling secure there. And that was kind of my first introduction to inner child work was I was like, why do I feel like everybody hates me all the time?

Yeah.

Why do I feel like everybody's so mad at me and hates me and I'm such a burden and all of these things? And then I did an inner child session, and it turns out it was something that a friend said to me when I was six year olds old.

That.

I have not thought about. My adult brain completely knows what was happening there is okay. My inner child took that as, you're annoying, you're inconvenient, your needs are a burden on other people. And so that was such a powerful be like, oh, okay, now we can heal that and move on. And I can feel okay. A lot of it is just finding.

Our bodies store trauma.

Whether it's big trauma or little trauma, it stores all the same. And it can cause so many problems. We can self sabotage. We can do so many so much harm if we don't speak those emotions and allow them to move.

And a lot of what I do oh, I love it.

I'm all for all of the things. Like, that is awesome. So you have the storefront coming.

Okay.

So you have the storefront, you have online and coaching. What's your vision for the future?

That's a good question. Vision changes. So often. But I feel like the main mission is that I want women to know their value, know that they are loved, and know that they are capable. And I think that we try and do a lot of that in the Lettie community currently. And as funny as it sounds, even that Lettie Disney Trip being like, no.

You are worth going to Disneyland by yourself.

You don't have to take your kids or make it a family vacation. You are worth that all by yourself. You are worth making new friends. You're worth spending the money. You are worth that. I think with the storefront, we want to do a lot of different events, and I would love to do some coaching events there. I also would really love to expand we did like our Lettie Disney Day. I would love to expand that into other girls trips and retreats.

And I think there's something so powerful.

About a girls trip, honestly, they're so good, so fun. If done right, you walk away feeling so good and so refreshed.

Yes.

I'm like, oh my gosh, yes. The reason I stepped into coaching was I totally interrupting you here, and I'm so sorry.

Please feel free.

But the reason I stepped into coaching was I was in the crafting world. I was doing vinyl lettering signs for years. And then we did craft nights, and I would say, okay, get your girls together. Here's the four projects. You tell me what you want, ABC or D, and then I'll bring all the supplies to you. We'll come to your house, girls night, and we'll craft. And I realize what you said there was if they're done right, because as I stepped into that, I realized there's.

A lot of content.

Like, I just didn't like the environment because it was bagging on church and the husband and the kids. It was a lot of frustration. And I think that when women come together, if done correctly, you can actually build and uplift and develop community and serve. That's why I got into coaching was, oh, we're going to have these events with the coaching tools so that we leave better than we started.

Yeah. And I think it's so easy in that environment for it to get a.

Little, like, wrong direction venting, which I.

Don'T think there's anything wrong with venting, but then to Ranting.

I think that.

There'S a place for venting, and you do need to let those emotions out, but we can really harbor and harp on things sometimes. And then we have the natural human tendency to be like, oh, me too, and then somebody else has a story and it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse. But I think that there's such an opportunity to do that in a really good and fun way. So you feeling refreshed, not going home, angry at your husband because everybody think you're at their husband's and that's what you bring home.

Yeah.

So I would love to expand that.

Disney is not everybody's thing. That's totally okay. So I would love to do other girls trips so that other people can be involved, and I would love to do a couple of night retreats and.

Do some coaching and just sisterhood, I'm all for it.

I think that women so powerful, and I think that we just really hold ourselves back a lot of the time. That's a lot of what I try to do with my coaching too, is.

Really if you can sit with yourself.

And be okay with yourself and really find peace in that, I think that that can shine outwards and help other people be okay with themselves, and then you can really link arms and do something amazing.

Amen to all of that. Yes. And I have to tell you, I shouldn't be in awe, but I am in awe because as I look for people to interview for the podcast and now the magazine right? I'm realizing with the magazine, I want to feature several women each month, and then in the podcast, I want to share coaching tools but also feature several women each month.

And I'm like, wow, I've got to meet some people.

I've got to put myself out there. I've got to invite, I've got to ask. I've got to do that. And so I look for these opportunities. Really, I feel like, all right, Heavenly Father, you got to guide me to some of this. And I know I have to act because this is a new thing for me to, hey, can I interview you? That kind of thing. And so it's just so interesting that when I saw your name and I saw you.

I think it was when.

You posted that that woman needed help and let's help come together. I'm like, oh, interview her. I'm going to act on this before I get too scared and totally ignore it. And so, to me, feeling totally inspired because of what your message is and just the stories that you shared, I'm like, all right, Heavenly Father, thank you for pushing me to do that, because you've got a great message, and you are doing things that are so outside.

Of, I would think, your comfort zone.

Or maybe where you saw yourself doing. But yet the whole purpose is to share light and bring people together.

And so it's kudos to you for.

Doing the hard work to overcome whatever hurdles you might have to to make it happen.

Kind.

Thank you so much. It was such an honor. I'm so grateful you asked me. It's so fun.