Lydia Lauer | On Leaving Corporate, Creating Community, and Staying Connected
by Neha Ruch
I initially deemed Lydia Lauer as a fun follow on Instagram because of her punchy captions and pretty family life in Mexico. What I had gleaned from quick scrolling didn’t do her full experience justice across career, motherhood and living. In taking our conversation offline I got a larger window to the move away from a decade at Nike, the deep-rooted pull to life in Mexico and the feeling of novelty, overwhelm and privilege adjusting to the grey area of staying creative while raising her five-year-old in a new environment (Zoom included). Hear from her below on the reality of the transition and what keeps her feeling connected through the ever evolving flow.
1. At first connecting, I was fascinated by your family's recent move from Portland to Mexico - can you share how you made the decision and what went into making the transition?
‘Fascinating’ is such a generous word, thank you. Moving to Mexico is something our young family had been hoping to make happen in this phase of life. Our boy Mario is six and we are due with our second mid summer.
An international move was something I was working towards in the corporate world. We were open to a lot of places but loved the idea of a Spanish speaking country as both Mike and I speak Spanish, and my mother’s side of the family is from Mexico. Mexico City was actually something I was discussing with leadership in my previous role.
By July 2020 when the Mexico City role was no longer a reality and the absoluteness of our ‘new normal’ set in, read: fatigue of all day Zoom calls, WFH with a five year old, the pending reality of virtual kindergarten fast approaching in September and the opportunity that Zoom and WFH created really allowed us to consider why not work from wherever?
I had been considering a career shift and younger me always figured I would work for myself at some point either in a consulting or small agency capacity. And I woke up one morning and realized that maybe now was the time. This was my opening, or rather my exit.
2. At the same time you left NIKE, took a career pause and now began to freelance and explore alongside - can you describe your experience during those shifts?
My first couple of weeks untethered from the corporate world felt like a mix of a familiar Summer vacation and a bit funereal. I typically take two weeks off at the end of Summer to spend quality time with my son and enjoy our beautiful weather with day trips to the water, exploring parks, enjoying lunches al fresco, and spending time with friends. I jumped right into this as it was natural but at the same time, I was receiving wonderful notes, messages, and phone calls. Bouquets and gifts from my friends and colleagues. Honoring 10 plus years and all the time we spent together working, supporting, and pushing each other. It honestly was a bit out of the body and extremely touching.
After the two weeks of typical vacation mode and answering a lot of ‘what's next!?’ I committed to a ‘brain break’ through the rest of the year. I did not want or need to think about work or the specifics of what was next quite yet. I knew it would come naturally and organically.
This brain break was a complete privilege. Especially as Mario was starting virtual kindergarten, my husband was jumping into a big production out of state and we were preparing our house and lives to move out of the country.
I quickly fell into a spell of domestication that was initially a fun change of routine. I was doing the school work with Mario and a lot of the home chores: meals, clean-ups, organizing, groceries, etc. I told myself I had the extra time now and I could do all these things cause I was ‘just being a mom’.
Looking back on this I took too much on. Because I was no longer contributing financially to our family or spending my time in a productive way outside of the house I felt like I needed to do more than I had ever done before. More cooking, cleaning, organizing, planning etc.
I wasn’t comfortable in this role and to be honest I felt completely isolated and so far removed from my former self. This was when I knew my ‘brain break’ was officially over and I could begin to refocus, transition and flex into my next and new role as an independent creative.
3. Where are you finding creative energy and community alongside your almost two children recently?
Fantastic question. The pandemic has been so isolating in this regard. I truly miss the collaboration and camaraderie of working with a team in person. The before or after meeting hallway chats about a creative presentation or idea were always the most valuable.
Instagram feels like one of the only and few places where I can experience interactions with new creative ideas or personalities. While it feels like there is so much noise out there (looking at you TikTok) there is an abundance of beautifully created and developed content, art, music, poetry, and more. I cannot wait to visit art galleries, museums, and shows to truly fill my cup.
Community comes in many forms. Part of why we moved to a sleepy beach town in Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit was so that we could live a more connected and community-based lifestyle than January thru June allows in the Pacific Northwest. The weather down here makes outdoor living an expected and natural gift. With this, we are always outside and have made friends with locals and ex-pat families creating a loose bubble to experience this time with as parents, creatives, and entrepreneurs.
I also find so much comfort in group chats with friends & family. From a creative perspective, I have work-related group chats where we share new ideas, trends, or feedback on work. And then from a true community perspective, my fave chat is one we call ‘Married with Children’ and we share mostly the ups and downs of working mom life, the occasional partner rant, and a lot of ‘is this normal!?’ texts as it relates to work/parenting/relationships. It has been a really big value to me to have this non-judgemental space with close girlfriends.
4. While flexible work alongside family life is flexible, it still takes a fair amount of expectation setting. How do you tactically make room for your creative work alongside the kids?
During the early months of the pandemic when I was still working in corporate America it was a STRUGGLE. Our son was home full time as all care was closed and the world was shut down. I would squirrel away in our basement office or up in our guestroom but Mario would ALWAYS find me for a question or distraction. It was rough and I was pulling my hair out, but I found comfort in knowing I was not alone in this bizarre time.
As for right now, I am fortunate that Mike is in the same industry. Where I used to be the one leaving the house every morning and coming home for dinner and bedtime we are now obviously both home. I have a pretty good example in him of what works and what doesn't.
I tend to leave the house when I have work to do or a Zoom Call to remove all the distractions. I rotate between a few local cafes for lunch and work or coffee and work. If I am out of the house then I cannot be bothered and my work comes first.
And similar to life before, I get a lot of work done after dinner and after Mario is in bed. Often staying up late at the kitchen table or on the couch putting together decks or pulling inspiration for ideas.
5. You have such a peaceful vibe - what rituals or routines help you to maintain that for yourself and your family?
Really? The only true ritual I keep is working out. I run, do weights and cardio six days a week. This is dedicated time to myself. I workout in the mornings usually while Mario is at school or Mike is on parenting duty.
To add the extra layer of ‘me time’ I listen to a podcast. Currently rotating The Daily, Second Life, Under the Influence by Jo Piazza, Comments by Celebs and sometimes even GOOP.
If I do not workout before noon I most often won’t find another window to workout and then am grumpy. So it is very important that I get my workout in before noon!
From a parenting perspective, Mike and I both do not take things too seriously when it comes to parenting. It allows us to be goofy, relaxed and fun but also flow in and out of schedules and routines. Now that our son is six though our loosey-goosey-ness is biting us in the butt a bit as Mario is a total character both charming and whatever the opposite of charming is. Haha.
One routine we do have is around bedtime, which is usually Mike’s domain. They read books and get this dedicated time together while I usually pick up our dinner, wash dishes, but also get to put my feet up and be off duty and zone out for a bit.
QUICK CHIT CHAT:
+ Product you'd gift every mother
The gift of time to herself & dedicated/consistent time with girlfriends. Especially in the early years. This does wonders and is so important and allows you to not just shrink into the background of this new phase of who you are.
More practically I would gift Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen cause sunscreen is important and it feels so so so good on. And if one more thing, then a baby Baggu tote bag. It seems like an impractical size but I use mine nearly every day for all sorts of things.
+ Most meaningful marriage advice/learning
Mike and I started dating in our early 20's and after some ups and downs, back and forths, etc. we ended up getting married in our late 20's, earlier than most of our friends. The biggest thing we remind ourselves is that we are ever-evolving people. Neither of us are the same people we were when we got married and won’t be the same in another five or 10 years either. We are actively building a family and life together but regularly check the temperature on big topics or issues to see how we can continue to grow together.
+ 3 INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS THAT INSPIRE YOU:
Only three!? that is so hard... here is where most of my current saves are coming from right now:
@TMagazine : always gorgeous, interesting, and sometimes provocative design-focused content.
@shoplatinx : memes, products, chit chat & inspo for my daily serving of Latinx joy.
@annabrockaway : Founder & President of Chairish and a vintage fanatic. Her photos always transport me to another place and time.
You can follow more from Lydia on Instagram or web.
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