Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Battistini.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Lauren. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve been obsessed with color since I was a small child. My grandmother Mi-Mi always bought me fresh boxes of Crayola crayons and coloring books, and my artist uncle kept me stocked with easels, paper, paints and pastels. My interest was less about creating art and more about experimenting with color combinations and pigment mixtures. I recall sitting for hours mixing watercolors or finger paints and just observing the shifts in color.
During my teen years, I observed my stepmom (affectionately nicknamed Boukie) who was a certified color analyst with BeautiControl cosmetics. She held color clinics in women’s homes, where she taught them their best seasonal color palettes using coded fabric drapes. Though I was unaware then, those observations of color analysis formed the foundation for my work in color as an adult.
Fast forward to 2005, when I was pregnant with my third child and busy being a stay-at-home mom. I wanted to dabble in something entrepreneurial and work around my family’s schedule. A friend asked me for style advice, so I helped her revamp her wardrobe and recommended colors for her that I thought would harmonize with her skin tone.
From there, I decided to become professionally credentialed as a color analyst. A business was officially born, and I DID work it around my family’s schedule! Since that time, I have conducted color analysis on women and men from around the world, with 70% of clients flying in or driving from out of town to have their “colors done.”
I’ve hosted color workshops for both women’s groups and corporations, worked with such retail brands as Chanel, Dior, Estee Lauder, and Lancôme, and retailers Macy’s and Dillard’s, and have been featured as a color expert on both locally and nationally syndicated television.
In 2017, I expanded to offer a wider range of color services, so I became certified in a new full spectrum color analysis system called ebhues www.ebhues.com. Basically, I use a series of color boards to create individualized color palettes for women, where no one color palette is exactly the same!
LFB Color Consulting expanded again in 2018 to include color specification services in paint interiors + exteriors, along with bridal consulting and working with corporations to specify colors for logos, marketing collateral + products or packaging.
Anywhere you can specify color, I operate. As far as I am concerned, everyone and every business can use the help of a color consultant!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
This has not been a smooth road at all, and I am the first to admit that we women CAN have it all, but not all at once. What I mean is that there were times when I had to choose between running my business and being wholly present for my children. I would take months off from the business at a time just to take care of matters at home. My biggest challenge has definitely been in balancing motherhood, entrepreneurship and self-care.
It is easy to neglect my nutrition and working out while juggling both home and business, and my advice to young women just starting their journey is to be patient with themselves. Understand that we cannot do all things well all of the time, and that there are seasons in life in which some things need to be put on the back burner.
My last bit of advice is to write down goals. From 2013 to 2016, I also attended fashion design school at Houston Community College. I wrote down the following 4 goals and managed, by God’s grace, to achieve them all:
1. Graduate with a 4.0 GPA
2. Secure a scholarship in any amount
3. Overcome personal adversity
4. Complete the program in less than 3 years
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into LFB Color Consulting story. Tell us more about the business.
I am a full-service color consultant for individuals, brides, businesses, and homeowners. I am best known for being at the forefront of my industry by offering the most advanced color services.
For individuals, I determine a unique set of at least 36 colors for women to utilize in makeup, hair color, wardrobe, and accessories planning. All colors gel perfectly with skin tone and make for seamless mixing + matching of wardrobe pieces. Once you know your best colors, you save thousands of dollars for years to come by not making color mistakes or buying pricey items in the wrong colors!
For brides, I have fun working on color for the bride, her gown, her wedding party and all of the wedding décor.
For businesses both large and small, I work to create color palettes for logos, branding, marketing collateral, products themselves and product packaging. My job is to make businesses stand out from the competition with their color choices and ultimately grow sales!
Last but not least, I work with homeowners in a home or at my client’s store, SRH Paint Co. of Spring, Texas, to select their best paint (and any other surface) interior and exterior colors
Of what am I most proud? I am most proud of the years I have spent expanding my color knowledge to be able to offer full-service color consulting. I don’t just offer any one service. Now, I can do just about anything with color that clients ask.
What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
I do not believe that there are barriers to female leadership, and call me naïve if you need to!
Especially, here in the United States, we are blessed with the same technology and access to the digital world as anyone else, male or female. Because of this, we can decide how local or global we want to make our businesses, and we can create opportunities and recognition for ourselves without having to hire a PR firm.
We women create our own opportunities if and when we feel limited by anything, any institution, or anyone.
Remember those words. We create our own opportunities because we are resilient, resourceful, relational and indomitable!
If you are the CEO of your own company, that alone entitles you to contact any other CEO (and his or her executive assistant) in the world with whom you want to engage or do business. I always remind myself of that when I want to broker a deal with a corporation especially.
I also believe that women executives are more collaborative as a whole and that we serve one another by cross-promoting and offering mentorship to those in need. That goes a long way in the business world and will only encourage more female leadership.
Contact Info:
- Address: The Work Lodge
118 Vintage Park Blvd Ste W
Houston, TX 77070 - Website: www.lfbcolor.com
- Phone: 281-989-4086
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/lfbcolor
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/lfbcolor
- Other: www.pinterest.com/lfbcolor
Image Credit:
Julian Sierra
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
