Hi friends, I'm Emily Lay and you're listening to the Simplified Podcast. If you're looking to simplify your life and organize your home, then you're in the right place.

Every week I invite you to explore practical ways to organize and automate the complicated parts of life so you can focus on what truly matters most.

Well, in celebration of our 15th year in business, we are having our annual birthday sale over at EmilyLay.com. If you're looking for a new planner to kick off the next school year, or something to help you get your home a little more organized, come check it out.

Think about who you were 15 years ago. How much do you recognize that person? What's the same about her? And how much is different?

When you think about the world we lived in 15 years ago, it's wild to think about. 2008 doesn't sound like it was that long ago, but hardly anyone you knew had an iPhone.

Facebook was just on our laptops. We had no idea what Instagram was. Barack Obama was just some senator running for president. And Reese Witherspoon was just L Woods.

15 years ago, I was a newlywed who worked in an office. I liked the work just fine and I definitely enjoyed the people I worked with.

I was 25 and didn't have a ton of responsibilities at work or at home. It would be three years before Brady came into our lives.

I was an English major who missed her creative outlet. So I started to design wedding invitations for other people and sold them on Etsy.

I'd work late into the night to meet my deadlines, and it was hard, but so much fun.

After a couple years, I stepped away from my job and decided to throw myself into Emily Lay paper, or as I call it later, simplified full time.

That was such a defining moment for me, but there would be others that came in my path like three years later when I had Brady on my arm and target and was desperately searching the shelves for a simple planner that would help me get my life in order and couldn't find one.

So then I made my own and it kind of snowballed from there.

I often wonder what my life would have been like if I had never scratched my creative edge and stayed up designing wedding invitations for other people.

I wonder what it would have looked like if Brian had never encouraged me to take my dream job full time.

I wonder what would have happened if I wasn't an overwhelmed mom who decided to create something to simplify her life and maybe help other women simplify theirs.

You guys know I'm pretty sentimental. The milestones mean a lot to me, and this year, along with turning 40, I've hit another one.

This year marks 15 years I've been an entrepreneur and so much has changed since the beginning of this business.

I think about how much I've changed over time, but sometimes it's helpful to get an outside perspective on these kinds of things.

And the person who's been close to me throughout this whole process has been my husband, Brian.

Brian's been my biggest cheerleader and pants kicker since 2008 when I started this company.

He has been in the trenches with me helping me grow the business where it is now.

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