This Was the Plan (Even When I Thought it Wasn’t)

October 4, 2025 · 7 min read

A creative brief of everything I’ve built (and what’s next)

If you read a recent post of mine, you already know that one of my grand desires in life is to influence the creation of Havenleigh Centers. These are healing sanctuaries that embrace alternative healers and methodologies, and are free to the public. That vision stands.

Inventions

Corner-Weighted Baby Blanket

I became a first-time mom in 2000. One thing that drove me nuts: the blanket flying off the stroller right after my baby finally fell asleep. I’d drape it over the opening to block light and noise… a gust of wind and — gone.

Same problem at the beach. I’d lay a blanket down for tummy time and, with every wiggle, it bunched up and filled with sand —basically useless.

So I made a corner-weighted blanket. I sewed small patch pockets, filled them with non-toxic sand, and stitched them into a home-sewn blanket: denim on one side (because I didn’t want the cutesy “baby” look) and soft flannel on the other. The weights kept it anchored on the stroller, on the beach, anywhere. It worked perfectly.

I only ever made two, but I still think it’s a simple, useful idea for parents of babies.

The Lullaby Blanket

When my second daughter was born, I was determined to sleep-train her so I wasn’t confined to rocking or lying down with her every single time she needed to sleep. I’d learned my lesson with the first.

Still, I wanted a soothing method that wasn’t her thumb, a pacifier, or full-on crying it out. I pictured her in the crib, alone and upset, and asked: What would she want? What could I give her that actually calms a restless night?

My voice. A recording of my lullabies.

This was 2005. I found tiny voice recorders on Alibaba, bought baby blankets with a little plush animal head sewn into a corner, opened the seam, recorded my lullaby, tucked the recorder inside the head, and stitched it back up. A soft lullaby that played Mom on demand.

It worked - she settled. It was a gentle reminder that I wasn’t far away.

My oldest, who was five at the time, wanted one too. Of course, she got one. When my son was born, I made him one as well.

I actually made about 80 of them and sold them at a local farmers’ market. It could have gone far. I even took it to an investor, got “guidance” from some major players, realized they were shady, and walked away. I had to survive and pay bills as a single mom of three.

The idea still makes sense to me: voice as medicine, comfort stitched into something a child can hold. I’m sure they make something like it now.

The group that got me noticed

I started a monthly women’s night out at local restaurants. Part sanity, part community, part dine local. It began because I was at home, being swallowed by agoraphobia, and I needed a way out. (I talk about all of this in earlier posts.)

One table turned into many.

That little experiment put me on TV, in magazines, and in front of hundreds of women each month. I learned how to create gravity, build rooms, and move people to show up… consistently.

This was 3+ years working with an angel investor and his assistant, learning the ins and outs of building a startup in a format that didn’t have a playbook. Category-first. Messy. Real. If we launched it now, it would be a different game entirely —better tools, bigger appetite, and I’m sharper.

My mentor, the investor, once told me, “You may not have attended formal university, but you have certainly earned your master’s.”

We ended on a hard note (mostly my fault), but I still keep that sentence close.

The Master Challenge (the big one) - only conceptual

And now we’ve reached the version of me that still wants to play. Still wants to learn and perform. Still wants to show off new skills. Yes, I was a dancer my entire childhood… can you tell?

Sometime in the early 2010s, I was sitting in a motivational conference — pumped up and uncomfortable at the same time. All that speakers’ energy pulled me back to the last place I felt powerful, good at something, seen: dancing. And it wasn’t just the dancing I craved. It was the hours of practice, the camaraderie with classmates, the costumes, the rehearsals, lying in bed running the routine in my head, hearing the music even when it’soff. It was the nerves right before you step on stage, the paralyzing fear that nearly stops you, the rush when you realize… I did that.

I wanted it all back. And I couldn’t find anything for adults that gave me that full arc.

So there I am in the conference room, and my friend/mentor noticed my thoughts were spinning and slid me a yellow legal pad. By the time the speaker finished “motivating” us, I had an entire business plan sketched out.

It looked like this:

10–12 people
3 rounds learning brand-new skills: trapeze, ice skating, improv, diving, ballroom (etc.) — disciplines that terrify and delight in equal measure
Each round ends in a performance in front of friends and family
Filmed like a doc-series for YouTube (and now, with live streaming, we can bring people in real time)
Winners each round
A final champion crowned “The Master” at the end of three rounds, with a meaningful prize

Entertainment meets personal growth meets community: fear alchemized into joy, strangers into a cohort, spectators into participants.

It’s not a reality show; it’s a reality intervention. People are starving for awe and courage. This gives them both — in public. Scalable to major cities worldwide.

Have I moved it beyond that yellow legal pad since that day? No. But it hasn’t left the front of my mind, because all these years later, I still want to be in it. I still want to play.

Now, let’s get into more present-day passions that are closer to seeing the light of day.

Havenleigh Farmstand + Microgreens

Okay… okay. This one feels a little ridiculous right now… and still, I know it’s mine. Maybe it’s the dream I bring to life when I finally slow down.

Here’s the picture: a front-yard farmstand where I sell my bread and sauces, simple household + bath/body goods, and a few tinctures. I’ve already learned how to grow microgreens (the whole “how-to” is filed and ready).

But not yet. Not until my kids are fully self-sufficient. Not until I’ve stabilized our income in other lanes. Not until I can carve out real time to make the goods on a rhythm. A farmstand runs on consistency — bake days, grow cycles, pickup windows. My life isn’t built for that cadence… yet.

So I’m calling it what it is: NOT NOW, NOT NEVER. I see this happening — for me, for us — when the season shifts and the systems are in place. Until then, I’ll keep the recipes dialed, the microgreens guide ready, and the vision warm. When life exhales, I’ll flip the sign to OPEN.

Naturally Lazy

When I started making products for myself, I kept thinking: other people could make these, too - but most of us are busy, overwhelmed, and not looking to turn our kitchen into a lab at 9 p.m. So I built a line of plant-based essentials anyone could either buy from me or make at home: tooth powders and pastes, skin serums, gentle detox kits, laundry wash — the kind of formulas clean enough that, if you can’t get them from me, you can still take back control in your own kitchen.

What have I done with this??
Deep breath, Audra.

I’ve spun up three different websites and kept bouncing between them because I wasn’t confident I was nailing the message. Truth: I’ve had too much on my plate. I’m recovering from burnout, and being at a business’s beck and call hasn’t been realistic. I’m not quitting… just tiptoeing. One steady step at a time.

Right now, I’ve got the site live on Shopify and pared the catalog down to one hero product: the Healthy Aging Skin Serum. It’s one of my favorites that I have used daily for two years now. And I already have a few loyal customers who remind me why I started.

The assignment now is simple: give this venture the same consistency and energy I give my writing… when fewer plates are spinning. Sovereignty over scale.

NaturallyLazy.com

Havenleigh Spaces

I’m building this one now. It’s where I put my energetic practice to work in professional spaces — corporate retreats, conferences, offsites, day-to-day offices. I tune the space so work can actually happen: regulation first, then strategy. Less static, more signal.

I’ve worked in corporate; I know the cost of a dysregulated space —decision fatigue, side-eye, performative “alignment.” This is a necessary investment if you want to keep high performers and protect a productive culture.

(Website going live soon!)

Havenleigh Life

And then there’s Havenleigh Life… the container I’m building for all things Audra Leigh. The thread that stitches every venture together. This will be the beating heart: my writing, my PMDD advocacy, the tools I’ve built for women living inside monthly hurricanes. Havenleigh Life is where the rewiring happens in public— practice over polish, truth over performance… all of it under one roof.

HavenleighLife.com

I am determined to do things differently. To fill a void. This craving is who I am. How I fulfill it… only time and consistency will tell.