Behind The Shop is an ongoing series that features our talented and devoted shop owner community. Each time, we talk one-on-one with a shop owner/s to hear first hand what shop life is all about. Whether it’s a new shop that just came onto the scene or a popular community favorite – we want to share more about their journeys and stories with you. 

From corporate life to barn life to planner life, Lauren Phelps has definitely had an interesting journey.  In 2014, she decided to say goodbye to her 9 to 5 and work full time in her family’s horse farm business. As it turns out, juggling training and feeding schedules for over 500 derby horses required a ton of planning and organization. But, being a paper person and lister at heart, Lauren went to Staples and put together a floral binder filled with calendar print outs and loads of notes pages for all the things. However, she quickly realized it lacked the structure she needed to be productive which led her to find Erin Condren planners and ultimately the planner community on Facebook. 

One day while strolling the Target Dollar Spot, Lauren had an amazing idea. After losing her first Erin Condren planner to a work casualty (in the mud), she decided to take a plastic accordion folder and DIY her first plastic planner wrap cover. Her new DIY cover was perfect for keeping her planner safe, easy to transport and not mess up any of the tabs or coil. She shared photos of the cover in the EC Facebook group and people started requesting her to make more for them. Soon after, she decided to open an Etsy shop -called Paper Problems- to offer functional planner items to the community. It was after more than 100 sales, she realized it was time to take the leap and really put her creativity to work. And the rest is history as they say…well not quite.

We chatted with Lauren all about her planner journey, becoming a shop owner and what’s coming next for Lauren Phelps Designs. Take a listen here: 

LAUREN PHELPS DESIGNS

For the next year, Lauren continued to expand her selection of functional items like planner covers, dashboards and more in her shop. But in 2016, after another work casualty which put her on bed rest, she pivoted to focusing on her shop and decided to offer her first subscription box. She began manufacturing products like stickers, washi tapes and exploring the world of digital creating. 

Since the days of her first subscription box and DIY covers, things have really blossomed. Her Etsy shop business has grown into a full time business, Lauren Phelps Designs (LPD), and transitioned from home office to warehouse with more than 500 products on her own branded website. Now, these days Lauren offers a mix of her own art (mostly watercolors and floral), clip art, collabs and more in her shop with new releases and collections every month. She has been able to refine her design and creation process to develop a brand and products around her signature style. Some of her most recent collections include, Bookish, Breakfast, Planted and Travelers.

With an eye on functional products that are also beautiful, Lauren always goes the extra mile and is very intentional in the design process as seen in her dual function Pencil Boards (which also help with spacing planner tabs), her new Ultimate Storage System (a disc bound storage system which is top loading for maximum functionality to hold stickers, washi, die cut and hold all the little bits) and her signature Vinyl Planner Covers (a homage to her roots but with functional pockets and design elements).  

WHAT’S NEXT FOR LPD

There are definitely many exciting things planned for the next chapter of Lauren Phelps Designs. In fact, the shop recently celebrated its eighth year anniversary which was commemorated with a special collection box, Gran Park Way, which is currently still available ala carte on the website. It is a gorgeous mix of washi, stickers, ephemera and functional accessories. 

In the near future, Lauren plans to offer more lifestyle products that expand beyond the planner specific niche. Plus, there may also be a LPD Planner in the works and coming soon.  Additionally, she would like to renovate and prepare the new warehouse front office to transition into a studio/retail space for shopping, painting, planner meetups and other creative activities for her community in South Florida. So stay tuned! 

For more information, be sure to follow Lauren Phelps Designs on Instagram, Facebook or visit the website to see the latest products.