It’s been a while, and so I’m taking this opportunity to reintroduce myself. I’m Laura Martin Bovard, principal at LMB Interiors, mom, wife, sister, friend, and “recovering perfectionist.” Over the years, I’ve learned to release the hustle for approval, healing the parts of me that used to seek self-worth through achievement, comparison, and caretaking.
Human behavior fascinates me. I love how stories connect us to each other, and I love how stories connect us to life. What kind of life are you creating with the stories you tell? A wild, joy-filled adventure? Or are you spinning tales of fear about the condition of our world? We can stay connected to the Source that fuels our creativity by writing stories that keep us empowered.
We are absolutely mirrors for each other. It takes real slowing down and real wisdom to be able to see that. Triggers and shadows are stealthy. They hide out so we can’t see that the person pressing our buttons isn’t the issue. We are unable to see that their behavior is triggering a core wound. If we can remember this fact the moment the trigger happens, we can use it as an opportunity to witness our emotional response and shortcomings.
If you knew that the pain you are going through was going to become your greatest learning and would set you free if you could just be with it, would that make it easier? Ok then.
Somewhere along the line, our culture decided we should do anything we could to avoid pain. Take a look at the pharmaceutical industry, for example. Got a headache? Take an aspirin. What if that headache had some information to offer you about something you are ignoring or unwilling to be with?
I am the beloved daughter of the motherf—ing Universe, in all of her glory. I take a stand for myself. I take my personal power back. I ascend this fear that seeps its toxic poison through the cells and tissues of my body. I claim a spontaneous healing of this fear and anxiety that is not mine and does not belong to me. I will prevail and rise like the phoenix I am, from the ashes. I stay in my own lane and allow all souls to have their own life experiences. I take responsibility where it is mine, and relinquish all other responsibility for anyone but myself.
We’re here to wake up together, to walk each other home, to turn on each other’s lights when we forget, so that no one has to sit in the dark. You can have a sister turn on the light for you. There’s no need to ask who is more wise than the other… instead, think about what level of unfolding you are in. You don’t make a peony wrong, whether it’s a tight bud or a full bloom.
When we realize our simple, ordinary, mundane lives can be portals to the divine by practicing presence in this now moment — that is the moment our awakening comes on line. The other day I was sitting in traffic, and observed as my habitual thought patterns turned toward annoyance. My ego didn’t want to be in traffic. It wanted to be napping… hiking… anything but that. Then I remembered, even sitting in traffic I could choose to let it be a sacred moment.
I can tell I am in my ego when I vacillate between feelings of inadequacy and feelings of thinking I am special in some way. And I don’t mean ‘special’ in a good way. I mean ‘special’ in that awful way where I can feel superior because I think I know better, or am better in some ways because I work on myself. But when I am in my heart, all of that duality disappears, and then I am love. And from that place, I can forgive myself for feeling inadequate and special.
What would it be like if you realized that every thing, every person, every moment of your life has been for your awakening? One of the most beautiful takeaways from my journey into the shadows via plant medicine, network care, and the myriad of other tools, is that this reality isn’t reality. It’s an illusion filtered through my perceptions.
Once upon a time, a few years ago, as my now-multi-million-dollar business was growing rapidly and I was riding the waves of intensity, I had a conversation with another woman-business owner, Catherine Baldi, who runs a large painting contracting business, Arana Craftsman Painters. She said to me, “Your business is an entity separate from you now. Ask it what it needs.“ Indeed I have come to see my design business, LMB Interiors, as its own separate being. I revere her. I treat her as a lover. I ask, “What do you want, business?”
Sex and pleasure! That is a forbidden topic! If you know me, you know that I was raised Pentecostal. Pentecostals do not like us to talk about pleasure and sex and in fact, it is such a taboo topic, I still don’t talk about it easily, at 53 years old, even though I left that home almost 40 years ago.
I have to tell you, it has been through recognizing the importance of sisterhood and community that I have come into my own as a woman, expander, teacher, mentor, business owner, boss, and leader. I am so much better at and more connected to these roles because of the sisterhood that I have surrounded myself with, in the last few years. In connection with these women, I have experienced the truth that one of the most powerful ways for us as humans to find ourselves is through the witnessing of others.
I have to tell you, it has been through recognizing the importance of sisterhood and community that I have come into my own as a woman, expander, teacher, mentor, business owner, boss, and leader. I am so much better at and more connected to these roles because of the sisterhood that I have surrounded myself with, in the last few years. In connection with these women, I have experienced the truth that one of the most powerful ways for us as humans to find ourselves is through the witnessing of others.
I had to get over my own programming around lack in order to build a successful design business serving a high-net-worth clientele. I'm hoping if I share my mistakes, you can learn from them now and build the business you want even more quickly than I did.
My real, practical how-to tips for making the Wim Hof method more accessible to women, and how to take your breathwork practice to the next level. Wim Hof is a lovely man, and his way of teaching is very masculine. So this share is from my feminine, my awareness of what the feminine loves, and my experience as a devoted Wim-Hof-er, with a dash of Joe Dispenza thrown in!
How I create more fun, joy, and play in my life, how I found my voice… and realizing everything we are doing, all the self-inquiry and biohacking we do, is channeled through us, each of us, alchemized, and then transmitted to those around us — through our unique, potent voices.
That time my husband and I headed to the coast well-prepared but without a plan, and fell in love with each other — and life — all over again… Recently my husband Scott and I took a trip to the coast, to escape the smoke. The air had been so bad! So, we got in the car with the intention of just going where we could breathe.
I have moments, where I have to express my grief. We might think, we may have been trained as women, not to be messy, not to deeply feel and cry. But there is power in grief. Feeling our emotions unbinds a stuck energy and this enables us to grow into a new version of ourselves. When I am in a wave of grief, my greatest fear is that I will get stuck in it and not have the energy to re-emerge. But that is why we have practices. Our practices can help us make sense of, move through, and harvest the energy of our grief.
This time of sheltering-in-place due to COVID, is a rupture. The thing about rupture is, if we can actually sit with the uncomfortable feelings that come up, what’s on the other side can be liberation. As humans, especially in Western culture, we get addicted to certainty. Have you noticed? We don’t like it when things change. Especially if the change is seemingly bad.
Recently my husband Scott went away on his own for a week, to go rock climbing. For my birthday. We made this plan for him to go alone because as our relationship has evolved over 20 years, it’s so clear how different we are. I am an entertainer. I enjoy having people over. Scott is an introvert. So I gave him, and myself, a gift. I said, “I’m going to have a birthday party, and I want you to leave.”
I like to imagine that we all have a Divine Hustler inside of us. I think it’s safe to say we all experience the daily struggle in varying degrees. And it’s likely most of us at one time or another have had the experience of being in what I call the Divine Hustle, of being so inspired and empowered, that everything — from your perception of what is happening, to the outcomes that you desire — is available.
Want more Divine Hustler wisdom, at your leisure, and in a longer format? I am delighted to announce that I’ve started a podcast! You can find me on Spotify: Talking about myself and my work in Episode 1 AND Talking with one of my influential mentors Anna Scott, in Episode 2
When the idea for Divine Hustler started to form inside of me, I didn’t really know what it was going to become. I knew I felt called… that I had hard-earned wisdom to share. That Divine Hustler was inside of me, and others, and we all need to wake up, bring her out. Basically, I’m a wannabe-preacher’s daughter. All my dad ever wanted was to be a preacher. He wanted it so much he forced us, his six children, to be his congregation; and he would hold church on Sundays in our living room, and require us to do bible studies.
In my workout at the Dailey Method the other morning, I was thinking about sisterhood. Mama Gena talks a lot about the power we have when we lift each other up. For me, as a survivor of domestic violence, trust was not my first thought when it came to connecting with others. Over the years, I have worked to shift this, and it has shifted dramatically. What Mama Gena helped me recognize was how the separation that was my automatic response is not only typical of survivors of trauma, it’s also embedded in the culture.
If you’ve been following me here, and on my insta, you know I’ve been thinking a lot about healing from perfectionism. I had another revelation recently. My perfectionism, especially when I turn against myself is about controlling whether people like me or not. What would happen if we stopped caring about being liked? I have realized that the thing that keeps me stuck in not stepping out and saying what’s true for me, is trying to edit and restrain my bigness.
I may have started out feeling like I wanted to shout my discoveries from the rooftops, to create my own goddess pulpit, share my wisdom. And this is what I want to do, what I am doing. AND… What I am realizing now is that more than a preacher, I want to be a teacher. Because a teacher is sharing knowledge and wisdom gained to an audience that wants to learn.
In my role as the Divine Hustler, I am an inspire-er, a teacher, an uplifter. I remind people who they are. I offer tools to women who want to awaken the Divine Feminine in their creative entrepreneurship — including and especially other Interior Designers. It’s my intention that by sharing my discoveries, the things I’ve learned and done (and learned from some more) while growing my design firm, I can be of service to others on this path. As Interior Design principals and solopreneurs, we are whole beings.
Every Divine Hustler needs a prayer practice. As the woman, business owner, goddess, I am, and am always expanding into — this is a foundational tool for me. When I’m resourced, I try to write one every day. Please note: I don’t do this perfectly! Here is one from a recent Monday morning: Sweet spirit, I feel your presence so deeply this morning and truly feel the connection in allowing my mind to still. I know and feel the grace of oneness the awe and beauty of my humanity and the miracle of my soul.
As entrepreneurs in the world of design, we all stand to gain so much by working together and lifting one another up. Value and worth are an inside job. In this episode, Kimberley talks to Laura Martin Bovard about how we can find and channel the mature business owner we dream of becoming.
As the Divine Hustler, I hope to inspire all women who are making our way to greatness in this divine hustle of work and life, AND I have particular wisdom to share for my younger companions on the business of Interior Design path. Hint: Running a successful Interior Design firm is an “Inside Job” — pun intended.
Are you ready to take a “big leap”? Below is a short list of books that have inspired me as a woman, wife, mother, interior designer, and business owner. Have you read them? What books have inspired you? Please share your favorites in the comments!
How dare I create this website, this IDENTITY? Who am I to share this wisdom? There are so many teachers, healers, lightworkers, wisdom sharers. Why should I take up space in the field? These are thoughts that have held me back for so long. And now, I am stepping into the light. I am sharing my wisdom, my experiences, what’s up in my life right now, what lessons I’m learning… In the hopes that it will benefit you in your life, in all the roles you are performing or aspiring to perform.
Come warm your hands, heart, and soul. If you are here, chances are you are a Light Worker. You feel a drive to change your own life and the lives of others by shining your light, brightly. Individually we can all light one candle at a time. But, if we come together, we can stoke a larger fire. I offer this site as a place to come for inspiration about transformation, to discover the tools that foster growth, play with universal principles, develop our practices.
