Carina Lawson is an award-winning entrepreneur, the founder of Ponderlily Paper & Planners, and a Time Management Coach, working to create thoughtful, intentional schedules that place wellness at the front and center of the agenda.
Carina balances a corporate 9-5, a husband that works full-time, and being a mum to six-year-old twin girls, all while living in a different country to her family. She has 15 years of experience working in finance and higher education management, holds an MBA From the University of Liverpool, and a Diploma in Executive Leadership.
Tell us about who you are and what you do.
I’m Carina Lawson business efficiency consultant and personal productivity expert, and the founder of Ponderlily Paper & Planners, an ethically sourced stationery brand centered around intentional, inspired, and sustainable living.
Tell us how you created this brand and what was the sole idea behind it.
I created the Ponderlily brand based on my desire to move through their days with ease and grace, from work to weekend. The idea behind it was to help women make more empowered decisions with their time to accommodate their personal and professional endeavors.
Go in detail and tell us about how your brand works. You may keep this from the audience’s perspective.
While the brand primarily focused on productivity tools to fulfill clients’ personal productivity needs when we first started, it seemed natural to provide a more holistic approach to include solutions to support their lifestyle through business and personal time management mentorship.
What is your giveaway idea through this interview? Highlight something that may interest the readers on a one to one basis.
Everyone has a unique planning personality that influences your approach to goal-setting and their ability to get things done. I’d love to offer a 1:1 business and personal time management session to offer an understanding of how to become more effective while remaining focused on key business goals.
Explain the challenges you went through while you were working on brand creation. What are the challenges you go through on an everyday basis?
While working on the brand I sought the help of a branding agency and while they produced beautiful work they didn’t seem to understand our clients’ needs. The colors, for example, were too strong and we wanted to evoke the feeling of calm and balance. For that reason, we had several iterations of the color palette. Going back to the agency to make the changes was unfortunately not possible as they had already scheduled to take on other projects so for a while we had a brand we were not happy with and didn’t necessarily resonate with our audience so we decided to restart the process to get it right, which was the best thing we could have done.
How do you manage your finances through the services you offer. Any fundings etc received?
The startup capital for the company was entirely self-funded. We have a dated product and our sales are seasonal so we partner with our accountant’s firm to ensure that projected cash flows and budgets are set to serve seasonal periods, accordingly.
Tell us your future vision about the brand. How far do you want to take it? What is your dream about taking it to the next level?
We’re very excited about the future of the brand which now encompasses a personal brand as part of the Ponderlily Ltd. family. My dream to take the brand to the next level is to work with a designer again to ensure both arms of the company are cohesive, elevated, and recognizable.
What message would you like to give to anybody who has a plan of creating something of their own and making a living through it?
Make sure that you work with an expert and ensure that part of who you are is reflected in the brand you’re building so that you’re a living and breathing representation of your brand. Don’t stop until you’re happy you’ll have to wear your brand colors every day.
Carina Lawson is a Time Management Coach and the Founder of Ponderlily Paper & Planners. See more at www.carinalawson.com