Meet Kate + Lauren, Owners of Ivy Lane Home Staging

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ivy Lane and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kate + Lauren, looking back, what do you think was the most difficult decision you’ve had to make?

Honestly, making the decision to go all in on Ivy Lane was the scariest leap. We both had great careers and young kids at home (during the pandemic while working full-time). There’s already an inevitable stigma that comes with being a working mom, so there was a baseline level of guilt for even considering adding something else to our plates. However, we’ve learned that being fulfilled professionally doesn’t take away from our ability to be great moms…in fact, it enhances it. We feel strongly that when we as moms make choices that allow us to pursue our passions, we can actually show up for our families even better than before. We want women to know it’s ok to be scared about taking the leap – and that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

How did you come up with the idea for your business? 

The long and short of it is – we thought we actually invented home staging. We know how ridiculous this may sound now, but we were quite clueless about the industry!

We used to have walk-and-talk catch ups and we spent countless hours on the phone talking about anything and everything under the sun – all while daydreaming about the lives we really wanted. On one of those calls, Kate told Lauren that she “finally had the idea that was going to make us quit our jobs” and the rest is history. We knew we were onto something unique since our respective backgrounds are in marketing and psychology, and we felt that we could bring a fresh perspective to the industry. We thought a lot of design-based work was very ego-centric in nature and we wanted to do the opposite of that: we wanted to leave our egos at the door. We wanted to make design decisions based on the house, the neighborhood and the ideal buyer.

Ever since that walk-and-talk it was all gas, no breaks. We never looked back. We never stopped to doubt ourselves. We just put our heads down and got to work. We started grabbing coffee with others in the industry and listening to people talk about their experiences, which has led to some truly amazing partnerships and relationships.

What should our readers know about your business?

That we don’t just play with pretty home decor all day. People are often surprised to discover how physically demanding home staging is. It’s basically just moving furniture all day, every day. We’ve grown muscles we didn’t even know we had, and a lot of people are genuinely shocked to see two women move an entire house full of furniture. As our team has grown, we’ve realized we really enjoy empowering more people to embrace their physical strength. It’s incredibly satisfying to feel strong and we want more people to experience that.

We also want people to know that home staging is just the beginning for us. We have our sights set on some pretty lofty goals, and we have no intention of letting those opportunities slip by. It’s important to us that we continue growing Ivy Lane and use it as a mechanism to empower others along the way. We are so proud of the relationships we’ve built with realtors, artists, team members and community members.

What role has risk taking played in your life/career?

In daily life, Kate is more methodical in her approach, while Lauren tends to be a little more risky. However, from a business standpoint, it’s the complete opposite! Kate is far more willing to push the limits where Lauren tends to be a little more cautious. We truly think this balance is one of the reasons Ivy Lane has been so successful. Both of us agree that in anything worthwhile there is almost always an element of risk involved. We both risked so much personally and professionally to chase our idea. People definitely questioned us when we started Ivy Lane during a pandemic with young children, but looking back we wouldn’t change a thing.

Other than deciding to work for yourselves, what was the single most important decision that you made that contributed to your success?

This is a really tough one. It feels like our success is the culmination of a million small decisions. However, if we had to pick one thing, it would be delayed gratification. So many people start a business because they have a lot of creative energy, so they dive straight into the fun, creative aspects of business. We took the exact opposite approach: we front loaded all the unglamorous, boring logistics and spent months researching the industry, meeting with lawyers and CPAs, and outlining our contracts. We feel strongly that if we had delayed that part, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

Alright, so if you’re gonna hang with us for the day – odds are we are going to be at one of the below places:

JEFE’S (Longmont) – We are food lovers at heart. We realize a lot of people say that but we’ve really put in the work searching for the best queso the front range has to offer…and we can confirm it’s at Jefe’s.

BUTTON ROCK DAM (Lyons) – This is where we used to go as friends to catch up and get a quick hike in. Later, it became where we would go to brainstorm about Ivy Lane. Now it’s where we go to reflect on all the growth we have experienced these past few years.

RAYBACK COLLECTIVE (Boulder) – This is our absolute favorite work spot. It’s cozy but spacious, and has some amazing coffee and cocktail options.

CHARM THAI EATERY (Westminster) – We  feel very passionate about good Thai curry. We’ve eaten at an embarrassing amount of Thai restaurants and Charm takes the cake! We promise, you won’t regret visiting.

JONES + CO (Boulder) – Sustainable shopping is something we both really love. The ladies at Jones + Co. are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet and they always have the best selection of trendy clothing, clean skincare items, and curated home decor.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

Our early supporters: Kelsey Gilliland, Cari Higgins, Jennifer Egbert, Anne Carlson, Rich Dana + Kristen Teel, Thompson Yochim team — these folks really took a bet on us before we had a reputation in the industry. We are forever grateful for their input and support in those early days.

Our families: They dug deep right along with us and did whatever it took to support us so we could focus on growing Ivy Lane into something special. In the first year or so of Ivy Lane, we worked absolutely insane hours, which meant we needed rock solid support systems. Our families stepped up and blanketed us in so much support. They helped us be better parents and business owners, and for that we are eternally grateful.

IMM: This Boulder ad agency also deserves a special shout out. We met sitting across from each other at our jobs there. Ivy Lane would not have come to fruition if they had not hired two Midwest girls on their client partnerships team.

How I Built This podcast: The inspiring stories from this podcast were partially responsible for planting the early seeds for the desire to own our own business. We still listen to it now and it helps to fuel us as we continue our own journey.

Website: www.ivylanehomestaging.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/ivylanehome/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/ivy-lane-home-staging/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ivylanehome

Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCgiETS6JuDjUnHx2jUIhWlA

Other: www.ivylanehomestaging.com/shop www.amazon.com/shop/ivylanehome

Image Credits
Kyle Licocci, Victoria Larkins