Day in the Life: Lauren Chan, Founder of Henning (BONUS EP)

0:00Hey, welcome to the Female Founder World Podcast. It's Jasmine. I'm the host of the show and the creator of the Female Founder World Universe. Today is part two of our conversation with Lauren Chan, the founder of plus-size fashion brand Henning. If you didn't listen to the first episode, go and listen to that. I think you're going to want her tips. You want her story about how she's building the business, but she's somebody who has bootstrapped a plus-size fashion company and recently it's been acquired. So I wanted to understand just, you know, based on my own like obsession with how people spend their time and productivity and what people's routines look like.

0:34I wanted to know what a day in the life looked like for her as she was building Henning and also just what it looks like now. Like what happens when you sell your business? What does your day look like? Okay, let's jump into the chat. You are now entering Female Founder World with your host Jasmine Grinsworthy. Okay, Lauren, we've got a little bonus conversation here. I'd love to know what you do in the morning to get yourself set up through to like what time you go to bed and what you're running through at work and in your personal life during the day? So when I was running the business, a day in my life was long.

1:09Being on the other side of acquisition, I'm taking some time to rest and I'm like, whew, I don't know how I did that. But I live in Brooklyn and I have a dog. So I would get up around seven o 'clock, take the dog to the park, hug a coffee and try to get an outfit on that was semi-presentable so that if I had customers coming to the studio or meetings with vendors or wholesalers, I looked all right. That said, I did run a fashion business. So I did always have something more professional to change into at the office had I needed it. And then I would get on the C train and head to Chelsea, which took about 45 minutes-ish.

1:53We were in the WeWork on 25th Street, so I would get there around 9 o 'clock. We would pack any orders from the day before off the top of the day and take it down to the mailroom. And then we would go through what everyone was doing that day and get to work kind of solo time, either on our computers or having morning meetings. the glory of having a work face was that we could have people come through we wouldn't have to be running around much like I did when I was an editor interviewing people I was on other folks turf all the time and so it was very luxurious to get a little message and say so and so is here to see you at the front desk and then to be honest I was so busy those days I would like have to remember to have lunch at like two o 'clock.

2:48So we would go to sweet green or Bettino and get a salad or a sandwich. And then I would generally do all of my errands in the garment district if I had any, because I work in the way that I'm really good at computer work from about 10am until 2pm. And then I kind of have to be either up and about or having a conversation or tactically doing something. And then I can come back to the office and round out the day before I pack up my stuff from about four to five. And we really were out of the office by about five o 'clock every day. If Jordan is listening and it was six, I can be stood corrected.

3:30But we really did. We didn't email after work hours. We were out of there at a decent time. And then I was doing a lot of after work happy hour or dinner meetings for the purpose of a hard and fast conversation or simply networking because that was so important while growing a business and just getting face time with old friends in the industry, new introductions, cold meet and greets. I would probably get home around 730 and wind down with a terrible reality show or a social and then go to bed and do it all again the next day. Yeah. Okay. Awesome. And then what's different now? Everything. Is it better?

4:18It's different. I wouldn't say better. I am on the other side of the acquisition of Henning. And so I'm now head of partnerships at Universal Standard. And I work part-time on that, not full-time. And the other part of my work life is I am back to modeling. And so some days I'm on set for other clients, but I kind of wake up a little later. I'm like seven 38 o 'clock. I mosey over to the dog park. I come home, I drink, not chug a coffee. And then I opened my inbox and my schedule and kind of see the pressing things for that day. I do them right away. I'm still the kind of person who really gets the most done sitting in front of a screen from about 10 AM to 2 PM.

5:01Then I'll do some of the things like styling for future social content or tv appearances and i'll have my calls in the afternoon generally so i now work with a pr firm and a few agencies and so keeping us all on the same page and and moving towards the same strategy is really important and i really call my day at about four. I walk the dog again to put a period on the end of the work day. And then I do something around the house. Like I'll clean or I'll meditate or I'll do a workout, make dinner at home or go out to dinner locally here in Brooklyn. And I'm really enjoying that really long afternoon from about four till, I don't know, I guess I go to bed around 10 now in my home or neighborhood.

5:54about the hustle and bustle of all of that networking and running in and out of the city. So I know one day I'll miss it, but right now I'm really, really liking luxury eating in my own pace and my own space. It sounds like a dream. It sounds perfect. I am interested in if there's anything that you've learned about how to be most productive, how to get the most out of your day, whether productivity should even be the goal. I think that I've learned through work and personal life that everything comes in seasons. And so there's a season for you to hustle and work 14 hour days. I mean, I did it for 10 years.

6:29And so in my mind, I'm now quote unquote, it's so terrible to say, I'm quote unquote, allowed to relax for a while. And that's the season of my life right now. And then I know I'll be motivated to start a new business or a new project. And I'll have that energy that keeps you up at night, whether you like it or not, because you're so impassioned by what you feel called to accomplish. And so knowing that this ebb and flow is unavoidable, lets me be present in the moment of rest and on fucking board when that moment of motivation comes back to me. I don't knock on over productivity. I don't knock on under productivity.

7:14I just think that we've got to listen to ourselves and our work and what's being asked of us in the moment. Amazing advice. Thanks so much for chatting with me, Lauren. Thanks so much for having me. Quick shout out to all of our business bestie subscribers. If you are loving this show and you are building a consumer CPG or e-commerce business, or you're about to build one, this membership will give you access to the people experiences and the tools that you really need to build your dream business. Head to femalefounderworld.com forward slash subscriber for more.