Inspiring Conversations with Lauri & Robert Stafford of Lauri Lee’s LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauri & Robert Stafford

Hi Lauri & Robert, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In 2018, my husband was suddenly stricken with a health emergency that landed him in the Intensive Care Unit of a local hospital. While in the ICU, he was diagnosed with high blood pressure (hypertension), and was given several prescriptions for blood pressure medication, and firm instructions to lower the amount of salt in his diet. In response to this incident, we decided that some lifestyle changes were in order…starting with the food we consumed each day. Caffeine was the first to go, and then we decided to tackle reducing salt in our diet.

We thought getting rid of caffeine was hard! We had no idea how difficult it would be to get sodium out of our diet. We quickly realized that there are not many low-sodium food options in the grocery stores. In fact, even the foods that were labeled as “Low Sodium” were not only few in number, they were often not very low in sodium at all! And even worse, they almost all tasted kind of BAD! As we struggled to find foods that would keep us under the AMA’s recommended sodium limit (2300 mg per day for a healthy adult, 1500 mg per day for a sodium-restricted adult), we became compulsive label readers. We found that there is sodium in almost everything you buy in stores, sometimes surprisingly so. We have even found vitamins with 90 mg of sodium in every pill! Getting sodium under control was turning out to be a real challenge.

We soon decided that, if we were to meet the guidelines, we would need to stop using as many processed foods as possible, and we also totally stopped using any salt in our meals. We tried many new recipes that sounded good, avoided processed ingredients, and stopped adding salt, and UGH!! Everything tasted so bland! After about a month, our taste buds got somewhat acclimated, but everything was still really bland tasting. We really missed good flavor!

So, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I invented our first ultra-low sodium seasoning blend, the Adobo Seasoning Blend, with only 1mg of sodium per serving. And best of all, this incredibly versatile seasoning was DELICIOUS. With this success, I started creating additional seasoning blends and foods, all with extremely low sodium. Great flavor was back in our food, but without the sodium!

As we happily created new recipes built around our new seasonings, and even more happily ate those meals, we kept talking with people who had the same need to lower sodium, and were experiencing the same difficulties doing this. We now realized that sodium reduction was a very large issue in our country, and that we had seasonings that could really help others, just like they had helped us. We started giving these seasonings to friends and relatives to try, and quickly realized that others loved them as much as we did. They were using up what we gave them, and asking for more when they ran out. We soon decided that we could help folks in the USA kick the salt habit and get healthier, and so Lauri Lee’s was born!

So, around the end of 2022, we went all in…my husband had quit his full-time job, and we put our trust in God and all of our efforts into our new mission: To help others be able to have flavor, without being chained to the salt shaker. We discovered that selling Lauri Lee’s products was pretty easy for us, as we truly believe in our products. After all, we know how great the flavor is because we eat them almost every day, in one way or another! We also found out that our skills and talents were very complimentary, which has helped our efforts immensely. My husband and I are both photographers, and he had been working in videography for a good while when we met. We had photographed weddings, portraits, and concerts together many times, and, using video, we chronicled things like our off-road adventures, and even the lives of a mated pair of Great Horned Owls that lived in a tree in our backyard!

In Lauri Lee’s, I developed our website, and I handle promotion duties on various social media platforms, and a host of various duties required to run the day-to-day requirements of our business. I spend a great deal of time and effort building relationships with our customers and with other businesses. My husband takes care of all our graphic design needs, such as our packaging design and promotional materials, handles logistical issues, and spearheads much of our marketing efforts to retail stores, and much more. He is currently working on our very first commercial ad for broadcast. We both wear many hats! We also share many duties, and we really love working together. We have always been a great team, and that has really helped us in this endeavor.

Since we started Lauri Lee’s, we have also discovered that people who don’t have a need to reduce sodium enjoy these seasoning blends and foods as much as people who do need to reduce sodium. So, if you have a health reason to cut back on sodium, or if you don’t need to, but perhaps see the benefits of doing so, or if you just want to make healthy, delicious foods for your family, please give Lauri Lee’s a try. You won’t believe how good low sodium can taste!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Bob and I conceived the idea of this business very organically, with no past history in the seasoning industry. First there were seasoning blends, then recognizing the need many people have to live in a way that is healthy for them without sacrificing flavor in their meals. Flavor is important to most people! So, our entire journey thus far with Lauri Lee’s is a learning experience. Every day, we challenge ourselves to learn more about all aspects of our endeavor. We have committed our entire energy and resources to building the best company we possibly can, so expending the amount of energy necessary to build a successful business can be extremely challenging sometimes. Correctly balancing our time each day is a constant challenge. There are so many time demands! We gave up 40-hour jobs to work 7 days per week, 12-14 hours per day…but it’s so satisfying, and we are very happy doing it. I would also say that holding the vision for what we would like to accomplish with Lauri Lee’s, and evolving that vision as we progress, is also a challenge. We are so thankful for everything we have in our lives, so we commit to give our very best each day, and learn and grow, and to try and be a blessing for others, as well. It’s a really good (and also really tiring!) recipe, and we are excited to experience it every day.

We’ve been impressed with Lauri Lee’s LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At Lauri Lee’s, we create and sell delicious ultra low sodium seasoning blends and low sodium party dips! We’re bringing great flavor, with low sodium, all natural ingredients, and no junk! You can find us at www.laurilees.com, at various in-person events such as farmers markets, home and garden shows, and festivals, and at a growing number of retail locations spreading across the USA. Lauri Lee’s has a full-featured website, including full information on our entire family of products, our event calendar, a list of the locations of our retail partners, a large section of delicious recipes, and more. You may even find money-saving coupon codes when you log on!

Our current product lineup includes:
Ultra Low Sodium Adobo Seasoning Blend
Ultra Low Sodium Taco Seasoning Blend
Ultra Low Sodium Garlic & Herb Seasoning Blend
Ultra Low Sodium All American Burger Seasoning Blend
Ultra Low Sodium Lemon Pepper Seasoning Blend
Low Sodium Chili Seasoning Mix
Low Sodium Adobo Party Dip Mix
Low Sodium Zesty Mex Party Dip Mix
Low Sodium Garlic & Herb Party Dip Mix
Low Sodium Big Guns Chili Party Dip Mix

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and had a mostly typical childhood, with lots of outdoor activities, public school education, and spending summers on my grandparents cattle ranch in central Idaho. My family moved to southern California in the early 1980’s, where I wanted to be a lawyer, a doctor, or a veterinarian. Never once did I think about starting a seasoning and dip business!

Bob grew up in northern California in a family with three sisters, where he also attended public school throughout his early education. Bob was a little league pitcher, and a straight A student, with dreams of becoming an astronaut, an oceanographer, or a volcanologist. He, also, never once considered starting a seasoning and dip business!

Pricing:

• Ultra Low Sodium Seasoning Blends MSRP $8
• Low Sodium Chili Seasoning Mix MSRP $9
• Low Sodium Party Dip Mixes MSRP $8

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.laurilees.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurilees_llc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1676937135898478/user/100085291095017/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurilees_llc
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-b1xA1ZxGH1BmrzRctKSQ