Shop Small with Big Hearts.
meet laurin, trent, auddi and eisley.
As many of you know, teaching my son to be a compassionate individual, one that sees oppression and works to free others from it, is my biggest goal as a parent. And when I find small businesses that are doing the same, I get excited and want to share their mission with everyone I know.
That is exactly what Free To Be Threads is doing.
A small business that puts God, family, and the rights of humans first in their creative and high quality clothing.
Where are y'all from?
We moved to Minnesota from Iowa about 3.5 years ago but oddly enough, Minnesota has felt more like home than Iowa ever did. We absolutely love living here! There’s always somewhere new to explore or something exciting going on.
How many children do you have?
We have two awesome little humans! Auddi is our almost five year old son who is our wild, yet caring soul. He is wise beyond his years and has more personality than you would expect from a four year old. He’s always cracking jokes, so you never know what is going to come out of his mouth. Our daughter, Eisley just turned two. She will draw you in with her big blue eyes and a sweet, “Hello.” She is already a strong and independent little girl who is willing to stand her ground. She will be a force to be reckoned with.
What is life like as busy parents and small business owners?
As parents of a toddler and preschooler, life is always busy. Throw in a small business on top of that and life can just be straight crazy, but it’s all about finding the right balance. We always make sure to leave room for family time. Whether that’s tearing all the couch cushions off so we can turn our living room into a giant fort, playing our favorite music and having dance parties, or jumping on the trampoline, our kids will always come before our business. Even though they are younger, we try and include them in FTB Threads by modeling, packaging orders, and talking to them about how God is working in our business.
How has parenthood changed the both of you? Parenthood has made us less selfish. You stop thinking about your own needs and think of their needs over anyone else’s. As much as we teach our kids things, they have a funny way of teaching us so much more. They’re always busy, yet they make us stop and appreciate the value of a moment - to slow down and just be.
Describe life as a small business owner. The life of a small business owner is super exciting and busy. You definitely have your days where you question, “Should we even be doing this? It would be so much easier to quit,” but then you think about all the reasons why you started and how far you’ve come. It’s been such a neat experience getting to know other small business owners and turning some of those relationships into friendships. The small shop community is super tight-knit and we feel incredibly blessed to be a part of it.
Why did you decide to start Free To Be Threads? God placed this dream of Free To Be Threads in our hearts to make fun-loving clothing for the whole family while raising awareness for victims of sex trafficking. Free To Be Threads is here to encourage you to live your life knowing who God created you to be and help put an end to sex trafficking. With every purchase that is made, we donate a portion to A21, a non-profit organization who believes in a world without slavery. This is our mission, simply because it’s what God called us to do.
What do you hope your costumers gain from purchasing your products? We want our customers to gain high-quality, fun, and comfortable clothing that wants them to keep coming back for more. We also want our followers and customers to have an awareness about the reality of sex trafficking and the huge part they can play in helping to save the lives of these victims.
What do you hope your children learn from your small business? Ever since we became parents we knew we wanted our kids to grow up being truly comfortable in their own skin and to not let anyone put limitations on their potential. We want Auddi and Eisley to live their lives knowing who God has created them to be. Even at a young age, we want to teach them the importance of following their dreams and to have a strong work ethic.
To shop Free To Be Threads high quality design go here.
To shop Christian's cute Raglan go here.
