7 minute read
Laura Fuentes
A magazine created to recognize, inspire, educate, and empower Louisiana's women.
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Laura Fuentes
Woman of the Season
Founder and CEO of MOMables and Fuentes Media helps overwhelmed moms achieve their lifestyle goals, transform their mealtimes, AND LIVE THEIR BEST MOM-LIFE!
Have you ever experienced the 6 o’clock mealtime struggle ?
How about packing daily lunches for yourself or kids? Laura Fuentes, turned that daily struggle into a business in 2012. To date, she’s helped more than 2 Million families simplify mealtimes with weekly plans, eliminate processed foods and eat healthier with her 30-day Family KickStart Program, as well as being the author of 5 cookbooks!
Meet Laura Fuentes
Laura has been referred to as the “Queen of Mom Entrepreneurs,” and once I checked out her online presence, I understood why. With a combined total social following of 200,000 on Facebook and Instagram, and nearly 100,000 YouTube subscribers, more than 1 Million website visitors per month, and 100,000 active email subscribers, all I could think was, “Who IS this woman?”
So, I dove into an all-day digging event to learn everything I could. I found that she’s competed on Food Network (and won!) and has appeared numerous times on media outlets like the TODAY Show and Good Morning America. And to think, this mompreneur-turned-media CEO has been hiding in Madisonville, Louisiana, this whole time.
I was stoked to find that instead of being arrogant, like someone with that level of success could be, she was definitely the opposite and I couldn’t wait to learn more about this woman who started a business from home with three young kids.
Laura turned out to be charming, confident and funny, with a persistently encouraging and positive attitude about living life. After the interview, I shared on social media, “Laura was even cooler than I thought she’d be!” To my surprise, she shared it, tagged me, and added:
Laura’s reaction to my post gives a glance into her personality. Her actions are in sync with our vision for Louisiana Women in Business Magazine, which was created to recognize, inspire, educate, and empower women. She has quickly become one of my favorite people, and it is my honor to introduce her, our first Woman of the Season!
So how did this “Queen of the Mom Entrepreneurs” get to where she is now? As with most success stories, Laura’s business began with an idea to solve a problem and then evolved. Born in Madrid, Spain, she moved to the U.S. in her teens without speaking English. After conquering her language barrier, she now speaks four languages. She earned a Bachelor’s in Global Economic Relations in California before moving to New Orleans to earn her MBA in Marketing and International Business Development. It was in the MBA program that she met her husband, Eric, and after graduation, she worked in the medical marketing field.
Shortly thereafter, Hurricane Katrina changed Laura and Eric’s life. Having lost their medical businesses in the South Shore and finding herself pregnant and unemployed, they moved to St. Tammany Parish to start their family. At the same time, Laura realized she needed to learn how to cook for her family. She did just that by watching Food Network and borrowing cookbooks from the local library. As she learned, she began to simplify recipes and implement time-saving shortcuts.
Laura believes that “in life, we all experience things that shape our skills and talents. Choosing to use these as opportunities is up to each of us.” Her formal education taught her how to create business processes, and she used that knowledge in the kitchen to create processes for efficient cooking.
Around 2008, when Laura’s daughter began attending a Mommy’s Day Out program, Laura used her creativity in the lunch packing arena. “On days where I ran out of bread, I’d whip up pancakes for breakfast and use those to make a sandwich. Or, I’d heat up leftovers and pack them in a thermos.” When the other moms asked her for recipes and tips for packing their kids’ lunches, she started an email group for the moms in the program, all while realizing she was on to something. To make the recipe sharing process more efficient, she built a website, MOMables.com.
Laura soon became passionate about sharing helpful content in the form of recipes and articles that solved a problem for moms like herself, while providing value and growing a loyal tribe. “When you discover something you’re passionate about and can live it and breathe it day in and day out while helping others... it’s incredible. And if you’re lucky enough to turn it into a career that supports your family and team, that makes my life worth living.”
Her mantra is “mindset is everything.” Meaning that mindset plays a vital role in every aspect of our lives. She has overcome many challenges and credits her mom for teaching her to keep the right mindset when things happen that are difficult or outside her control. Whether it be the loss of a job or business, having a deformity (which she has) or disease, or going through a rough time, keeping a positive mindset will make you unstoppable.
Laura said, “People often find me through my recipes and articles, because they think, “I just need a solution to...” Then, they often opt into my email list and discover that there’s much more to learn about themselves or find a solution to a struggle (like picky eating). Most importantly, they learn that transformations often happen by changing one small thing and creating better habits for themselves. My content and recipes are just a tool for them to use to improve their health and wellness and, most importantly, their mindset.”
She continues to create recipes and content on LauraFuentes.com and MOMables.com. In the last decade, she’s built not only a business but also the strategies needed to succeed in a digital world. “While social media can help a business be more visible, if you want to connect with your audience, email still remains to be key.” In fact, she sends out more than 7 million incredible emails per month! Those emails are handcrafted to include her recipes, videos, and articles, as well as insights “from the mom-life trenches.” After reading them for months now, I’ve found Laura to be real and down-to-earth, and I can see how she stays connected with her community.
Laura is obviously a very busy woman, and in her words, she loves the hustle.
Behind the scenes
When I asked how she maintained the balance between her business life and her personal life while growing a media company, her advice was “done is better than perfect.” Laura starts each day by asking herself, “What am I going to do today that takes care of me first, so I can be in a better position to take care of everyone else?” The answer could be a run or a spin on her Peloton, to sleep in, or a cup of coffee -- always first in Laura-land. She stated that,
That takes good habits and practicing self-care, defining self-care as “caring enough about yourself to take care of yourself.”
We also talked about what has factored into her success. She said, “You need to practice discipline in all areas of your life, not just in your business. You must also apply it to how you manage your time, your health, your mind and body. Discipline is about pushing through the “boring” to get to where you want to be. It’s hard work. Discipline builds habits. Habits create success. All of this builds your self-confidence, and you begin to believe you can achieve anything. Bringing it all full circle can help you live out your best life.”
The answer to my initial question... "Who IS this woman?" I now refer to her as Wonder Woman!
So, what’s next for Laura? Get ready for more video content! Laura and Eric bought a house, gutted it, and turned it into a film studio so she can expand her in kitchen content to mindset, health and wellness, and so much more!
From her small home in Madisonville, Laura has built a media company, works with some of the biggest brands we all know and love, manages her remote team, and writes cookbooks. Her newest cookbook, Clean Treats for Everyone, is available now, and she is sharing one of her favorite recipes with us, so make sure to check it out! Order your copy at http://bit.ly/cleantreatsbook
Clean Treats For Everyone
Laura's 5th cookbook. Released October 6, 2020
