Unfiltered with Lisa Danielle | The Powerful Woman Project.
E6. The Powerful Woman Project, Lisa Danielle.
From beginning her career in fashion as a makeup artist at 21 to building her presence online and becoming the founder of Louie Bloom, Lisa Danielle Smith is a creative force to be reckoned with.
Delve into the world of Lisa as we speak to her journey of motherhood, her career success and the upcoming relocation to her idyllic French countryside inspired new-build nestled in the Byron Bay Hinterland. Between spending time with her husband and daughter, running her brand, and building a home, Lisa leads a balanced life.
In this episode we discover her aspirations for the rest of the year, how she maintains a healthy work-life balance, her personal favourites from Louie Bloom, and more.
You are a mother and now the founder of Louie Bloom - congratulations, what an absolute dream. How are you navigating this new reality?
Thank you, first of all! It has been a juggle, I am not going to lie! First of all, Gigi is always our priority and the absolute best distraction to being productive in other ways (ha!). I made a conscious decision lately to try and be as present as possible during these precious younger years. That can be stressful running two businesses and also we're building a home which we just moved into (it's not finished quite yet but we just wanted to have a base and get in!) but ultimately we're so happy when we have each other!
What was the catalyst for beginning Louie Bloom?
We have been working on the brand as an idea for around 4 years before it came to life - the designs and product came together whilst we lived overseas last year, but the brand idea and branding was actually in the works for long before it was the exact product! I had always dreamed of creating handbags as I found it hard to find exactly what I was dreaming of.
What does a typical day in the life look like for you currently?
It is SO varied. Lately our build has been all consuming! Now we are settling back at home, we wake each morning with coffee and breakfast as a family and three days a week Gigi goes to kindy/day care. On those days, Jamie and I try to get through as much work as we possibly can. He is a photographer so sometimes he is travelling or on shoots, so I would be planning or editing content, going through jobs with my manager or working on Louie Bloom. Then when we both have days off, we shoot the content. My full time job is really content creation and social media, and Louie is like the side hustle at present.
How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance? What are your non-negotiables?
I really try to keep the weekends as free of work as possible - even though Jamie and I don't work office jobs it is something we try to do. I also am really close with my family - so I always put any family gatherings (birthdays etc) before any work. Once again reminding ourselves that Gigi is only this age once and we want to embrace that with as much family time as possible! We are lucky that she is just a little adventurer like us and loves travel too, so she is always with us for our work trips.
Tell us more about your current build project, Jardin Bloom?
We were really lucky that our dream block of land came up for sale last year. My husband Jamie is pretty spontaneous and decisive and we just dove in, sold our house and got this block of land as we fell in love with it. We knew the vision right away was a modern farmhouse with a bit of french persuasion - something that fit in the Byron hinterland with a nod to our most loved overseas places. The build will occur in two stages, a studio which we have just moved into and then a main house which will be built later down the track. We are SO happy to have finally moved into the space this week.
How would you describe your day-to-day style?
Pretty minimal for my day to day - I really love an oversized jean and a basic, or a button up shirt. I definitely opt for a plainer outfit and then switch up accessories. When it comes to the evening or travel, this is when I love to get more colourful, daring and fun with prints or different silhouettes.
Which Louie Bloom styles are on rotation in your wardrobe at the moment?
I love The Holiday basket to death. It is with me ALWAYS! The Louie is a classic too - I love taking this out at night and its so versatile. We have a new bag coming that has the most gorgeous chocolate hues and I just adore it. I love them all for different reasons, ha!
What do you hope to achieve this year both professionally and personally?
Personally was to get into our place and get settled - we won't be travelling as much as usual so making our house a home! Professionally, we'd love to get some new Louie designs into works as we have so many beautiful ideas!
Is there a negative time in your life you wish you could go back to, and give yourself a piece of advice?
Overall I am a pretty optimistic person so I am fortunate to say I haven't had a negative time in life - however I would say there was a time I was in a career rut, not knowing what to do next. I worked at a job for 8 years and got comfortable there. It took me a lot to change jobs, get out of my comfort zone. I ended up moving cities, then moved back up this way for a dream job which has lead me to so many opportunities I have today! I am not sure I would change anything, but perhaps tell myself that eventually I would be clear on my direction and achieve the things I never would have dreamt of.
What has been a stand out moment in your career thus far?
Aside from being able to launch my own brand in Louie, I would probably have to say my collaboration with Spell. I worked for Spell for over five years in a couple of different positions and I was able to travel the world with the team. To create a capsule collection with the team was a dream come true. It felt effortless and it was so well received by everyone. Since then I have had a couple of other epic collaborations, with Lu Goldie and By Billie - I think being able to work in a product based project is really satisfying because you get to create them and then see people enjoying their life moments in those pieces you helped design - it is so exciting! Oh and also another little one was last year being able to attend Paris Fashion Week to see Zimmermann - that was a dream come true!