This is the story of a young 22-year-old college drop-out from a small town of merely 600 people who decided to travel the world. This same woman then discovered she was unexpectedly pregnant while in a new relationship with a different guy. The story doesn’t end there. She created a 6-figure business in the midst of all of this.
Lauren Raye Gordon overcame fear and doubt and pushed forward to create the life she’s always wanted, and she wants you to know that you can too- even if you’re pregnant, young, and a college drop out. I recently had a an opportunity to interview her.
What were you doing before you found out you were pregnant, and what were your first thoughts?
I was still trying to figure out what my passion was. I had tried several different business ideas before. 6 or 7 online business! None of them stuck because they didn’t fulfill me or leave me with a burning passion to keep going. Before I was pregnant I was traveling. I was living in Australia but traveling back and forth between Australia and the USA. I left Australia, then one month later found out I was pregnant while dating a brand-new person.
Not the ideal situation to be in at all, but that’s what happened.
I was trying to make my business work and to be a lot more profitable while traveling and then started dating someone brand new and that’s when I found out I was pregnant.
My first thought was fear. I always knew I wanted to be a mom, but the fact that it came so absolutely unexpectedly at the wildest time possible left me really scared. My business wasn’t at the level I wanted it to be yet and my income wasn’t at the level I wanted it to be yet. Just finding out was a whirlwind of emotions, but mainly fear. Fear of the unknown. Like what was going to happen with this new relationship, what was going to happen with my business, how was I going to make it work especially while pregnant…but then 24 hours later it turned to happiness.
I do believe that everything happens for a reason. As soon as the shock settled in I realized that although I wasn’t planning on getting pregnant, everything happens for a reason, and the fact that I did get pregnant is something the universe was trying to tell me it was the right time, for me, for my business, and that it was the right time for this to happen.
I instilled my trust in that and I got to work
.
Did you ever think you were going to have a child this soon? Did you always want to have kids?
Yes, I have natural maternal instincts I’m the oldest sister of three girls, so being a mother and mother figure had always come naturally to me. I love nurturing, caring, and taking care of other people. So, I always knew I wanted to have kids and actually always knew I wanted girls.
How did this drive you to grow your business?
When I found out I was pregnant the first thing on my mind was what’s going to happen? and how am I going to make this work for my business? Because I was still in that phase where I was figuring out what was working in my business and how I could really scale and how I could get my income up to the level I wanted.
What I did was sit back and say,
I have two choices: to completely throw my business away and get a 9 to 5 job that will never allow me to spend the time with my child that we need and want and deserve, or I could put my head down and work 12 hour days, whatever it takes, to transform my business into one that’ll enable me to spend time with my child when she is here.
I chose the latter and I got to work.
I never looked at failure as an option.
I said this is up to me. I’m going to bring this child into a world that I’m proud of and have created for myself and for us.
I left the relationship I was in and broke up with the guy I was dating and went out on my own and grew my business to 6 figures in 8 months; solely because I had a why I never had before and that why was my daughter. And I never really had experienced what it felt like to have a why that drove you so so so hard every day and I’d wake up and even if I felt tired or sick I’d still do something that would move me closer to my goals of having a 6-figure business.
What thoughts of fear or doubt crept into your mind when you first realized you were pregnant?
It was the fear of the unknown and how it was all going to unfold and the doubt of whether or not I’d be able to actually grow a business while being pregnant. Being pregnant sounded like such a big feat and growing a business sounded like such a big feat as well but I already knew I wanted to grow a business, but the pregnancy came into the picture at a time I wasn’t expecting. What got me over the doubt was my drive to give my daughter the best life possible and to show her that you can live on your own terms regardless of what life throws at you.
How would you encourage other young women who just found out they were pregnant but may have thoughts of fear and doubt? About finances, what other people would say, or if they’d be a good mother?
You can look at this situation in two different ways. You can look at it as an absolute disaster that is going to completely ruin your whole life. Or you can look at it as an opportunity to become a better version of yourself, to completely transform your life in 9 months or less. And that’s what I did, I looked at it as an opportunity to grow as a person, a leader, and an entrepreneur. To any young woman who finds out she is pregnant know that you are still in control. You are in control of how your life looks like until your baby gets here.
I would also tell them to do as much self-care as possible and to take care of yourself as much as you can. And to lean on other people you can trust and confide in because you will need them. It’s an emotional journey. It’s a mental battle and challenge and having a really strong support network is so so so important. So even if it’s only a few close people it’s better than nothing and you really want to have a couple of people to lean on during this time. And everything happens for a reason, even if you find out you were pregnant at a time you weren’t planning on it, just know that life is a miracle and there are women out there who don’t even get to have the opportunity to create a life and you do so that is an absolute blessing.
What do you think of the moms pump here app?
Oh my god! It sounds AMAZING! It is such a unique idea, I hadn’t heard of anything like that and I’m sure I’m going to really really benefit from something like that myself because I travel so much!
In my book, A life with Health, I give examples of many young mothers without college degrees who became wildly successful. I do this because I know how unaccepting the community can be towards them, and I think it’s time we change that narrative.
Unfortunately, society is unforgiving, with biased and limiting beliefs. Beliefs that aren’t true. Beliefs such as young mothers aren’t capable of loving or providing for their babies. Or, college dropouts can’t be successful. Or, unexpected pregnancies are always bad and make life harder. These are messages society sends out every day. So many people bully and say horrible things to young mothers, especially if that mother is a college drop out. We see that with the comments people leave for Kylie Jenner, a successful young woman who is also a wonderful mother. Those comments people make dehumanizing young mothers terrorize women when they find out they’re pregnant and in a similar situation. Sometimes, the fear is paralyzing.
Hopefully, this message will reach young women who are scared, who feel like they failed, or who don’t know what to do- that they are capable, powerful, and that what other people say or think of them doesn’t matter.
And hopefully, it’ll help another person think twice before leaving a nasty or dehumanizing comment.
What did you think of Lauren’s story? What would you do in her situation? Did it make you think differently of young mothers or college dropouts?
Let us know in the comments! Share this with a friend and tag a young inspiring mother in the comments!
