EP. 34 / From Teacher to Baker: Sweet Laurel’s Laurel Gallucci + Kim Gravel’s Hilarious Rapid Fire
SHOW NOTES:
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Laurel Gallucci was a teacher but also a lifelong baker. When she was diagnosed with an aggressive autoimmune disease and told she would never eat chocolate cake again, she decided to do something about it instead of just sitting back and accepting it. Hear how Laurel took her life back when she started baking with whole food ingredients and how she turned that passion into a business, Sweet Laurel, and sells to stores nationwide.
Laurel also shares her top business and marketing lessons that she's learned through the years.
Plus, 2 Kims for the price of 1! Kim Gravel, seven-figure entrepreneur and QVC host shares her really embarrassing parenting moment involving gas and does Rapid Fire (no pun intended) with host Kim Rittberg.
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Show Takeaways:
Turning a scary diagnosis into a business that helps others
Learning to be ok with uncertainty as you start your entrepreneurial journey
Using social media and strategic partnerships to market your business
Quotes:
“I was very scared at the beginning. I came from the world of school teaching, so what I knew was very consistent. So I learned very quickly that I needed to be okay with uncertainty.”
Marketing Her Bakery:
“We've really relied on strategic partnerships and that's really been the driving force behind our marketing. We work with other brands all the time. We work with influencers, we work with people who are strategic partners. Our most valuable marketing assets in the last couple years have been through those strategic partnerships and just knowing the power and the play of how social media factors into all of this.”
“Social media and strategic partnerships are the most essential pieces of marketing for us.”
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EPISODE LINKS:
-The Kim Gravel Show PodcastPre-Order Collecting Confidence By Kim Gravel
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Kim Rittberg (00:01):
Meet school teacher turn Baker Laurel Gallucci will tell you all about how a medical diagnosis changed her life in so many ways. Plus, Kim Gravel seven figure entrepreneur QVC host has fun with some rapid fire and a really embarrassing parenting moment involving gas, sorry. And a real estate agent is locking in clients from showing up with his baby.
This is Mom's Exit Interview the show for moms who want to craft the career and life they want. Each episode, you'll meet inspirational moms across various industries and levels who are working and living life on their own terms, and they'll bring you actionable tips from finance to business development to happiness, to crushing that imposter syndrome. I'm Kim Rittberg. I was a burnt out media executive at Netflix, US Weekly and in TV news. I wanted a career where I was fulfilled at work but present at home with my kids. So I started working for myself and I love it, but not every day was easy or is easy. I wanted to explore with all of you how other moms were creating careers on their own terms. They're carving out flex jobs, starting their own businesses, they're taking back control. Join me and make work work for you instead of the other way around. If you haven't, please drop a five star reading and review and follow the podcast. It helps it reach more people and of course the show is intended to help people and build community. So that would be amazing
And a huge congratulations to Aliza Friedlander on her new baby girl, sunny Logan. Aliza works with Mom's Exit Interview to help get press and comes up with really wonderful topic ideas for the show. She says, sunny is so sweet and cute and I personally can't wait to see her at least on FaceTime and going on in my life. I recently did a mother-daughter trip to California and it was awesome. I want to know, do you do one-on-one time with your kids? I know some of the people I know isolate an afternoon or a morning or a hole overnight every so often with their kids to make sure they're getting that one-on-one time. Do you do it? Let me know. I flew to California for my sister-in-law's baby shower and my seven and a half year old came with me. It was sort of a girls' weekend.
It was so fun. The event was gorgeous. My sister-in-law and her sister are both event planners, so it makes you never want to throw your own party again. <laugh>, just kidding. It actually teaches me how to up my game when I throw parties. Anyway, they had a pizza truck and my daughter appointed herself as the pizza delivery person. I was totally not expecting that. She was pretty much the only kid for a while in the party and she just decided to be best friends with the pizza maker and the pizza preparer. There were two of them. She stood with them, she gave, got their instructions. She would take a pizza, run it over to the table, she'd walk around the party asking for orders. <laugh> like, do you want cheese pizza? Do you want the truffle pizza? Do you want the pepperoni pizza? It was honestly the funniest thing I've ever seen.
It kept her amused for an hour and a half and then I could just socialize and drink some wine. It was unintentionally beyond funny. When your kids do something and you think, oh, well, this isn't how I was expecting it to go, but okay, awesome, great. Anyway, that's what's going on in my life. And switching gears, if you're a business owner and you want to make awesome video, grab my download. It's linked down the show notes. It has tips to make awesome video and how to shine on camera to grow your business. So you can grab that. And Laurel Gallucci is on the show today. She was a teacher, but always a lifelong baker, and she was diagnosed with an aggressive autoimmune disease and was told she would never eat chocolate cake again. But instead of sitting back and accepting that she began baking with whole food ingredients, she took her life back and built a business too. All of her baking is made with whole food ingredients and it's called Sweet Laurel, green free, gluten free, refined, sugar free and dairy free. Their company has best selling cookbooks, bakeries, and they ship nationwide. It's a cool story and here she is. So talk to me about what you were doing before, Sweet Laurel. What were you doing before and then how did you decide to launch this? Yeah,
Laurel Gallucci (04:18):
So I actually was a school teacher for about five years be before starting my company with my co-founder Claire Thomas. I was working in the elementary school grade level and also teaching Pilates. I was doing all sorts of things. I was a busy beat pretty much. And one day I literally was hit with this autoimmune condition that started manifesting and over time I was starting to lose my energy. I was highly fatigued, could not work out anymore, could barely teach, and my family kind of circled around me and said like, Laurel, you need to take a year off of teaching school. You need to focus on your health, focus on getting better. So I took a year off and started focusing on healing my autoimmune condition, which is Hashimoto's disease. And in that year I discovered healing through food. I began to remove inflammatory foods like grains, refined sugar, dairy and legumes, and started to see a huge difference in my overall health.
It was in that year that the concept of Sweet Laurel was born. I started making delicious baked goods that were free of grains, refined sugar and dairy. And my co-founder Claire, was like, these are actually delicious. We need to actually do something with these things. And so she encouraged me to take it a step further. And we launched Sweet Laurel in 2015, a beautiful product line available nationwide. We have our cake shop in Los Angeles where you can come and taste and feel the brand and our cookbooks that people use around the world, which I think is really cool that we have people asking us questions from India and from all over the world. Various questions about recipes and Sweet Laurels really branched into this lifestyle brand that people really associate with
Kim Rittberg (06:23):
And talk to me about. A lot of the moms who listened to this show are either small business owners or they have side hustles or they're looking for a path where they feel more in control of their life. Talk to me when you started this, how are you feeling? Were you scared? Were you, what if it fails? What did the beginning look like?
Laurel Gallucci (06:44):
I was very scared at the beginning. I came from the world of school teaching, so what I knew was very consistent. Every day I had my lesson plans, I had the standards that I stuck to. I knew what I needed to do every day, and being an entrepreneur is the exact opposite. So I learned very quickly that I needed to be okay with uncertainty, with unknowns. And that was a big growing point for me because I went from having something that was super clear cut, super manageable in a way to needing to be completely with being outside my comfort zone. And I was nervous at first. I remember talking to my co-founder and being like, but how are we going to do this? And she really encouraged me. She had this big picture vision, whereas I was like, okay, what are the 25 steps we need to get to step one? What do we do after step two? That was where my mind was at. But she was painting the big picture vision for me of she saw a brand, she saw people responding to this, she saw products, she saw cookbooks. And I think that that was really key in having someone with the big picture vision and then someone with the actionable step side of things.
Kim Rittberg (08:17):
That makes a lot of sense. And then what's been the hardest thing? What was, you were saying you learned to be okay with uncertainty. What's been the hardest part of going from, okay, you're making some food, some baked goods for friends, they like it, they think, and now you're this entrepreneur and expanding your company every single year. What's been the hardest part?
Laurel Gallucci (08:37):
We really learned that in 2020 when our company was about to really hone in and focus on retail expansion, we were going to open more stores and we've hit the brakes really hard and we're like, you know what? Not a good idea right now. Let's focus on something that is very important for now and will be important in the future, which is the grocery store. And so we really felt like instead of focusing on retail expansion, grocery was the next natural step for Sweet Laurel. And that was something where we had to do that quick pivot. It was a super hard pivot, so many unknowns. I basically took this crash course in the world of CPG and grocery store chains and still am learning every day about how to do certain things when it comes to the world of cpg. But we are going in it full throttle now and you know, have to be okay with learning new things and being able to make those changes when necessary.
Kim Rittberg (09:42):
And talk to me about learning the new things. How did you learn, what do you find useful for as you're at that next STA stage? You have mentors, do you use the university of Google? What do you do?
Laurel Gallucci (09:54):
Google is always used when Google doesn't work. I do have a network of mentors. I have some amazing mentors in my life who either are in the space that I'm in or have accomplished great things in the space that I'm in or have various strengths that I really look up to. And these are people who will pick up the phone when I call them or text them, and it's really nice to have that supportive group around me and I don't think I could do it without them. Sometimes I need that confidence boost and just to hear it from someone else is really comforting. But these people have really lived it and breathed it, and I'm still a novice in a lot of ways. And so having mentors around me has been invaluable. And I would say another key thing is going into it with an open mind too. There's not one way to do things. You have to understand every business is unique. There's a way for every business to do things and it might not look like what someone else did. So I like to really go at things with an open mind as well to keep us open for innovation and change that could really help us.
Kim Rittberg (11:12):
How does being a parent impact your choices?
Laurel Gallucci (11:18):
I like to say that it helps me stay on schedule, but I have to be flexible also. I like to say I work a certain amount of hours and then I'm with my kids a certain amount of hours and I have to be flexible in that department too because I can't do that every day. But what I really try to do is I have certain hours of the day where I am working, where I have full-time childcare, I have a bunch of people helping me, and then I try to turn it off for a certain amount of hours to be intentionally with my family, intentionally with my children. And that's something where it's a daily struggle and I have to be flexible every single day because every single day is different. But my family has been so supportive in all this and it's turned into a family affair very quickly where my kids know all about my business. My husband knows everything inside out and backwards, and I really like to think that they're growing in it with me and they're along for the ride as much as I am, and it really helps keep me inspired and motivated to accomplish something really great.
Kim Rittberg (12:28):
And you had mentioned the hours you work, what, what's a normal work week for you?
Laurel Gallucci (12:34):
It's different every week I would say. I try to be with my children until I send my oldest off to school in the mornings. So around eight we do that and then I plug in and get to work then. And I work until about four every day and take a break from phone and emails from about four to eight while I'm with my family. And most of the time, probably three to four nights a week, I plug in again at night just to get things off and ready to go. And that's Monday through Friday. And then on the weekends I have to do regular check-ins a couple times a day to make sure everything's good. So our business is 24 7 and that's necessary. Sometimes I try to really take time off on the weekends and unplug, but I cannot stop myself from checking sales, seeing what's going on sweet laurel.com. It's really hard to stay away and I have to be really intentional about that too. So I've been trying to take time periods, three to four hour windows where I'm totally unplugged and that really helped refuel me.
Kim Rittberg (13:48):
Speaking of the business being 24 7, I assume maybe appropriate to say you work a lot more now than you did when you were a teacher?
Laurel Gallucci (13:55):
Oh yeah. Yeah. So back when I was a teacher, it was funny, my husband and I talk about this all the time. We used to come home from work and put our phones on a desk that was by our front door and leave them there. It was actually really cool. We did not touch them until the next morning and I think that that is awesome. We were totally unplugged on the weekends. I don't think I ever checked my email. So it was a different world, it was so different. But the world I'm in, I'm in today is also so it both careers have been so incredibly rewarding, but the impact and level of influence Sweet Laurel has is growing and growing every single day and it puts it into perspective. Both careers are so invaluable and I feel that what I learned as a school teacher directly fed in to Sweet Laurel because if you check us out on social media, I'm on there teaching how to bake things at least once a week.
My school teaching traits have come out in so many different ways. We actually started the company as a workshop entity. We used to do workshops and classes in LA and teach people how to make brownies that were, and that was how we started. So that teaching and education has always been the backbone of the company really comes through in the cookbooks and in what we do on social media and we share all of our recipes like we are an open book and it's because we want to help people nourish themselves and heal. I think that that is directly a result of my years as a school teacher and my desire to help people learn how to help themselves and feel better, do better, do better things like bake better things for their friends and family. So it's come full circle. Really.
Kim Rittberg (16:00):
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Laurel Gallucci (17:24):
So I would say make sure you have some clear cut goals that you can come back to and check in with every couple months have an active to-do sheet. I'm like one of those people that always has a notebook with me wherever I go. I also have a Google Doc for almost everything under the sun. So I think active to-do lists are really important, and I think surrounding yourself with people who are supportive of your goals is the most important thing, whether that's your family and friends, your mentors, just people in your life that are cheering for you because there's those days as an entrepreneur where you feel like you are down and you cannot get up and you need those people in your life to remind you of the why, the impact and what you're doing. And I think that having that support group is very important.
Kim Rittberg (18:15):
And talk to me about marketing. What are your best marketing tips for business owners?
Laurel Gallucci (18:20):
Oh man, that's a really good question. So for Sweet Laurel, we've really relied on strategic partnerships and that's really been the driving force behind our marketing. We work with other brands all the time. We work with influencers, we work with people who are strategic partners. And I think that these people that you can find that will support your brand and work with your brand and share with their communities are so important. And there's a lot of cross pollination opportunities when you do that. And I think our most valuable marketing assets in the last couple years have been through those strategic partnerships and just knowing the power and the play of how social media factors into all of this. And that was something from day one, my co-founder was really big on, was having a strong social media presence. And that was something that drew so many people to Sweet Laurel in the early days. This was the 2015 version of Instagram that is so different than the Instagram of today. And it was a really essential piece of our brand and it's something that we've always had as a central point to draw people in. And it's our primary way of communicating with our community and educating our community and inspiring our community daily. So social media and strategic partnerships are the most essential pieces of marketing for us.
Kim Rittberg (19:49):
What are the pros and cons of your situation broadly life being a business owner and a parent?
Laurel Gallucci (19:56):
Well, honestly, I struggle. So I really struggle with the work-life balance and I was just talking to a colleague today about how I want to start a support group for working entrepreneur moms because I'm struggling and I often need someone to talk to. It's something you have to really be okay with the amount of work and hours it takes to be an entrepreneur, but it's a big sacrifice too. I would like to be with my children more. That's an honest statement. I would like to be able to be in fully engaged with them when I'm with them and not have to worry about the phone ringing and a million text message and messages and all the meetings I have that day. I would really like that. But I've made a choice and I know that this choice is what I've been called to do and it's impacting so many people and I need to find the balance of what works for me. My deep heart's core knows that if I was not doing what I'm doing with my company, I don't think I would be creatively, this is the largest creative outlet in my life and it's been a place where I can really grow as a person and it's an essential part of my life. So balancing those two things and finding where the sweet spot is has been a daily journey for me.
Kim Rittberg (21:29):
Are you happy?
Laurel Gallucci (21:30):
Yeah, I am. I'm happy. I am constantly working towards finding that balance, which there's days when I'm like, oh my goodness, this was such a good day because I got so much done at work, I was able to pick up my son from school. We ran an errand together. It's great. And when I'm able to do all the things I love in one day, it helps so much.
Kim Rittberg (22:00):
I know you do a lot of teaching education about how people can eat in healthier ways. What's like something someone could walk away with some tips or advice if someone's trying to eat cleaner at home?
Laurel Gallucci (22:15):
So I think the biggest thing we can do is eat and for me might not be for you. So for example, I feel best without grains, refined sugar and dairy in my diet. Those are very common inflammatory foods that most people if they removed for a week would feel a difference. Those things have health benefits too. So grains can be really good for you, but they can also counteract all that with being inflammatory. So that's why I like to say for me might not be anti-inflammatory for you, but for the majority of people, if we removed grains, refined sugar and dairy for a little bit, you will feel a big difference. And I know that that was a huge piece in healing from my autoimmune disease, but also in just feeling great and optimizing your health, I think it's a nice reset that you can try to see if you feel better.
Kim Rittberg (23:18):
And are there any ingredients you recommend people replacing? Like I saw some of your baked goods had almond flour instead of regular flour. Like are there easy replacements people can think about at home?
Laurel Gallucci (23:30):
Absolutely. So Sweet Laurel uses five core ingredients. So if you have the Sweet Laurel cookbooks, the methodology, there is five core ingredients in your pantry. You can make any recipe in the book. So we use almond flour for our flour. We use coconut oil for our fat or oil. You can also use olive oil or avocado oil. We sweeten our product with 100% maple syrup. We use Himalayan pink salt in place of table salt. And our recipes that call for eggs use organic eggs. So with these five ingredients, you can pretty much make any recipe in the book. We formulated the recipes to be so simple. So it's not anything you would've learned in culinary school, which I never went to culinary school. And our method of cooking is very outside of the box in the sense that it's a bowl, it's a spoon, it's stirring it together, not worrying about all the fuss of over mixing it or anything and baking it and getting a beautiful, simple and delicious product. So that's really the concept of Sweet Laurel. And I encourage anyone who's curious to check out our cookbooks, we also have a blog on sweetlaurel.com with tons of recipes. If you want to take a peek and see what we're all about, I encourage you to try it out. It's a simple but delicious way of prepping food and enjoying food.
Kim Rittberg (24:52):
Awesome, thank you so much. Laurel’s Company can be found at sweetlaurel.com and they ship nationwide. Kim Grael seven figure entrepreneur and QVC host is just a beacon of light and so fun. I was on her podcast a little while ago and we had a blast. Kim hosts the Kim Grael show and has a book collecting Confidence available on pre-order. She joined me for some rapid fire. Okay, Kim, I'm ready for rapid fire.
Kim Gravel (25:21):
Let's do it.
Kim Rittberg (25:22):
You ready for rapid fire?
Kim Gravel (25:24):
Okay. Yes ma'am.
Kim Rittberg (25:24):
Let's do it. Weirdest job. You've had
Kim Gravel (25:28):
The fry girl at Bojangle's Chicken.
Kim Rittberg (25:31):
Who did you ever burn yourself? Did you ever get burnt?
Kim Gravel (25:33):
I got held up at gunpoint and I quit the next day.
Kim Rittberg (25:39):
That sounds right. Yeah, that sounds so scary.
Kim Gravel (25:42):
It was fun. It was fun.
Kim Rittberg (25:45):
Where is this? Is this in
Kim Gravel (25:47):
Atlanta? I was 15. It was my first job. And so I said, you know what, we're not going to do fast food. I'm going to go work in a hair salon. So I was wa. Then I went and washed older women's hair and I learned so much about life doing that.
Kim Rittberg (25:58):
Oh, you get all the wisdom. Surprising skill you have.
Kim Gravel (26:02):
I can ride motorbikes.
Kim Rittberg (26:03):
Oh, mm-hmm
Kim Gravel (26:05):
<affirmative>
Kim Rittberg (26:06):
Funniest thing your kid ever said.
Kim Gravel (26:08):
Oh my gosh. He said I went and kissed me. He goes, mom, I love you. Don't touch me. And he's been saying it ever since.
Kim Rittberg (26:18):
Surprising fact about you.
Kim Gravel (26:21):
I'm a homebody. I re-energize being alone, not with people.
Kim Rittberg (26:26):
Surprising hobby that keeps you sane
Kim Gravel (26:29):
Shopping. And I don't just, it's so bad, Kim. I don't shop for just me. I shop for everybody like total strangers. I'm be like, girl, you need this. I bought these two books for a girl that I don't even know if this one of those moms. I'm just going to walk up to say, honey, I'm telling you you need this.
Kim Rittberg (26:45):
You could be my personal shopper. I have periods where I don't, I went to Bloomingdale's last week. I was like, Ugh, I don't even want shop. Maybe you could shop for me. I'll give you my my credit card?
Kim Gravel (26:54):
We'll go together, Kim, we'll go together.
Kim Rittberg (26:56):
Yeah. Oh, you'll come to New York and we'll go shopping in New York.
Kim Gravel (26:58):
Deal. Done. You I'll buy, I'll buy lunch. I'll buy brunch.
Kim Rittberg (27:02):
I'll buy lunch. I'll buy the shopping spree. <laugh>.
Kim Gravel (27:04):
Okay, you got it. <laugh>.
Kim Rittberg (27:07):
An embarrassing parenting moment.
Kim Gravel (27:11):
I passed gas. It was just recently too. You know, because you get older and things just come out like you don't, you're not even aware, you're just happens. I pass gas in front of all his friends. It wasn't loud, but you could smell it. And he went, mom <laugh>. And you know what, Kim? I didn't care.
Kim Rittberg (27:31):
Don't forget to listen to the Kim Gravel show and her book. Collecting Confidence is available on Pre-order. I love sharing wins of moms on this show, so please keep sending in your stories of success or funny moments with your kids. I will run them here, as you know can hear, I do play feedback and wins. I wanted to share a win that I've had recently with a real estate agent, client of mine, he's dad. And one of the things that I do with my clients is we dig in and come up with a really, really solid strategy that brings up that person's unique point of view. What makes you unique? What makes you different than other people? And how do we make sure that's really clear in your videos and on your social pages, on your website, that brand messaging and making sure it feels unique to you and separates you from other people.
Now we've been working together for several months. We've been in execution mode on videos for about a month or two. It's already bearing fruit, which is so exciting. He texted me, I got a text from this former client saying, I loved your Instagram video. Let's get lunch. I got an email from someone else and it's definitely because they were looking at my social content because I'm showing up more. And he's not only showing up more, but he's showing up in a strategic way. We've been making sure to put him at the forefront. So he's on camera talking and it's not selling. Again, my belief in content for your business is like the majority of content should feel journalistic, should feel educational or entertaining. So he's talking about things he's excited about in the real estate world. He's bringing you into his life, he's bringing you into his own personal life is home renovation, his baby, his wife, and it's really working.
And so for me, I'm very invested. I'm very competitive. I was a competitive athlete in high school. It's been a long time, but I do have that competitive drive and I really love to see my clients win. So it's been really, really fun to see it coming together and to see the work we've been doing, the strategy we've been putting forth because it does take strategy and I like to make sure everyone's using their time well. It's really important to be very efficient with your time. And so everything you're putting out there is laddering up to your main strategy. So the sticky note strategy, put your goal on a sticky note, put it on your computer. If it doesn't align with that sticky note, don't make it.
Thank you so much for being here. Please follow the show and drop a rating and review. It helps spread the word to more people and the whole point of the show is to create community and to help people get where they want to go. And I love getting feedback on what resonated with you. So let me know what you like from the show, what you want to hear about upcoming topics. You can find us everywhere. kimrittberg.com, or you can find me on Instagram at Kim Rittberg. I read and respond to every single note, which is either awesome or pathetic. <laugh>. You get to decide. And if you run a business and are looking to up your content and social media to grow your business through video, reach out to me. I do one-on-one coaching to get better on camera, to make better videos, specifically to grow your business. So that's linked down in the show notes. You grab a free download, how to make great video on How to Shine on camera. And this is Mom's Exit Interview. I'm your host and executive producer Kim Rittberg. The show is produced by Henry Street Media. Jillian Grover edited this episode and Lisa Friedlander is our publicist and editorial producer.