Bathtime and Beyond: Parenthood Unfiltered is our interview series getting into the real day-to-day of raising little ones alongside home, work and everything else that makes up this season of life. For this edition, we’re chatting with jewellery designer Laura Vann about what an ordinary weekday actually looks like for her, from being in the studio, to spending time with daughter Marlowe as well as getting ready for a new baby. It's fair to say Laura is one busy and inspirational lady.

1. For anyone who doesn’t know you yet, how would you introduce yourself and what does your life at home look like right now?

I’m Laura, founder of jewellery brand Laura Vann. Mum to Marlowe and soon-to-be Mum to another baby girl! Up until a few weeks ago, life felt pretty chaotic working a five-day week in our office in North Birmingham while juggling the day-to-day of running a business with a nearly five-year-old.

This week marks the start of my maternity leave though, so life at home suddenly feels much slower in the best possible way; nesting, sorting the house and getting ready for baby to arrive.

2. Talk us through an ordinary weekday: where do you work, how do you spend time with Marlowe and how does pregnancy/baby prep fit into all of this?

Up until a few weeks ago, an ordinary weekday started with a busy morning getting Marlowe ready for school, dropping her at breakfast club and dashing to the office for 8.45am. I’m usually in the office until 5pm because so much of what I do involves collaborating with the team and working with physical products. The business is also in a really exciting period of growth right now. We have a team of eight and it’s genuinely the best team we’ve ever had, so getting to work alongside them every day is a real pleasure.

After work, I’d head home for dinner, playtime, bath and bedtime with Marlowe, before usually picking my laptop back up again at 8 or 9pm for another couple of hours. Truthfully, I was frazzled. The house was a state and I was completely unprepared for another baby.

We’d originally planned to move to a bigger house to accommodate our growing family, but when the sale fell through we decided to stay put and instead bring in some extra support at home. Last month we hired a part-time nanny/housekeeper and it’s already made an enormous difference. In reality, we’ve simply swapped a bigger mortgage for more support at home and, as fate would have it, that’s turned out to be a far better investment for our family. 

3. When you think about your jewellery brand and your home life side by side, what helps them work well together?

Without a doubt, having a supportive husband who genuinely shares responsibilities equally has been fundamental over the past five years. He also runs his own business, so we both share the same pressures and demands. He took shared parental leave when we had Marlowe, which allowed me to return to work part time after four months knowing she was not only well cared for, but also building such a special bond with her dad.

That being said, the past five years have been hard doing everything ourselves. We’re lucky to have parents who help where they can, but we’ve never had regular childcare support, so Marlowe was in nursery full-time from a young age and often for long days. We knew we didn’t want to repeat that with a second baby if we could help it.

Having extra support at home now means I can stay involved with work in some capacity during maternity leave without feeling like every spare moment needs to be spent cleaning or catching up on life admin. Instead, I can spend that time with my girls. I’ve definitely learned that you can’t do everything on your own, and sometimes creating more time and breathing space for your family is the most valuable investment you can make.

4. Has becoming a parent changed what you’re drawn to creatively, or the kind of pieces you like designing?

Becoming a parent had the profound effect of making me care far less about what other people think! Creatively, that’s incredibly freeing because I design pieces that genuinely resonate with me, rather than second-guessing what buyers or press might want. Ironically, I think that authenticity is often what buyers and press connect with most.

We’ve actually seen more growth in the years since I became a parent than in the eight years before Marlowe, which has made me realise that motherhood can bring a clarity and focus that really helps a business thrive. 

5. Is there anything in your current routine that really works for you, a habit, boundary or setup you’re quietly proud of?

Like I mentioned, the team I’ve built at work are fantastic. While I intend to stay involved in some capacity during maternity leave, I’m trying to create boundaries so the work I do is more focused on bigger-picture thinking rather than getting pulled into every day-to-day detail. I’m very guilty of working “in” the business instead of “on” it.

So while I’m loudly proud of the team and confident they’ll handle me being out of the office for a few months, I’m quietly proud of myself for resisting the temptation to constantly check in.

6. And to end on our favourite part: once bathtime’s done and the house is (sort of) quiet, what does “beyond bathtime” usually look like for you?

Beyond bathtime now usually looks like chatting with my husband, watching a bit of junk TV, finally preparing for our new arrival, or doing work without guilt. I feel very grateful to genuinely love what I do, and proud that we’ve built a life and support system that allows me to focus on my business, my family and now more than ever before, myself!

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