2006-2010
Laura taught herself how to cook after having her first child in 2006 and second in 2007. At this time, she had never cooked in a slow cooker, and most of her cooking-from-scratch knowledge came from her grandmother in Spain, with whom she spent much of her childhood. Laura watched Food Network shows like Barefoot Contessa, Giada de Laurentis, and Semi-Homemade, took notes on the recipes she liked, and tried them at home. She also borrowed cookbooks from the library and learned how to follow recipes as written.
Laura watched Food Network shows like Barefoot Contessa, Giada de Laurentis, and Semi-Homemade, took notes on the recipes she liked, and tried them at home. She also borrowed cookbooks from the library and learned how to follow recipes as written.
2010
Laura began packing lunches for her daughter, Sofia, three times a week to bring to preschool. At first, Laura packed sandwiches and leftovers the school could warm in the microwave. Soon, her daughter began asking for the brightly colored store-bought lunches and packaged snacks her friends ate at school.
Knowing she could make her own Lunchables with better ingredients at home, Laura began recreating them for her daughter. Her challenge was finding a lunch container that would keep ingredients separate in multiple compartments with a single lid. At this time, bento-style lunch boxes did not exist.
Laura set out to design a container where parents could easily pack these bento-style lunches quickly without needing to wash multiple containers at the end of the day.
2010
Laura began packing lunches for her daughter, Sofia, three times a week to bring to preschool. At first, Laura packed sandwiches and leftovers the school could warm in the microwave. Soon, her daughter began asking for the brightly colored store-bought lunches and packaged snacks her friends ate at school.
Knowing she could make her own Lunchables with better ingredients at home, Laura began recreating them for her daughter. Her challenge was finding a lunch container that would keep ingredients separate in multiple compartments with a single lid. At this time, bento-style lunch boxes did not exist.
Laura set out to design a container where parents could easily pack these bento-style lunches quickly without needing to wash multiple containers at the end of the day.
2011
One day, nearly a year into the product development process, with thousands of dollars invested from her personal retirement account, Laura encountered another costly setback. That night, she decided to "sleep on it" before trying to decide whether to quit the project entirely.
The next morning, she realized that after more than a year of packing lunches for her two kids, what she and other parents she knew struggled with most was coming up with healthy ideas for their kids and how to keep them fresh for hours until lunch.
These are the original prototypes she keeps at the office:
That summer, Laura heard of another mom across the country trying to solve a similar lunch-packing dilemma and was launching a lunch container of her own. On a whim, she reached out to Kelly, and in a matter of 20 minutes, Laura realized that Kelly's lunch container was the vessel she needed to share her school lunch ideas.
That back-to-school, Laura launched MOMables.com, sharing easy lunch ideas and snack recipes parents could pack quickly for school photographed inside Kelly's lunch containers (EasyLunchboxes).
2012
In January, Laura welcomed her third child, Gabriel, while juggling her two other kids (Sofia, 5, and Alex, 4 at the time) and the growing popularity of her website, weekly email newsletter, and weekly paid lunch meal plan subscription.
At this time, her only way of promoting her business was through her small Facebook page, sharing photos of her kids' lunches on Instagram here and there, and pinning the images taken with her daughter's simple digital camera and unedited to Pinterest when she could. Company size: 1.
2013
Most of this year was a blur for Laura. During the day, she focused on her 3 young kids, and during naps and in the evenings, she wrote recipe posts and emails to her community, created meal plans, figured out the technology side of running a website and taking payments, and provided customer service.
That fall, a Food Network producer found Laura through one of her homemade Lunchables shared on social media. They asked her to send an audition video recreating a popular American food. Having never been in front of a video camera (she's always been camera shy and scared) and without any video production or editing knowledge, she filmed herself and submitted this homemade Velveeta video.
2014
Laura competed and WON the Food Network show challenge. She learned that video production was fun and that video could be a new way for her to reach new audiences.
That spring, she also launched her website, LauraFuentes.com, to share the breakfast and dinner recipes her family also enjoyed eating.
She also published her first cookbook, The Best Homemade Kids' Lunches on the Planet, and appeared on the TODAY Show.
That fall, she hired a video crew to film videos for her YouTube channel, which opened many opportunities over the years, such as Good Morning America, television segments across the US, and even a pilot television show on Discovery.
2015-2019
Laura continued to publish content regularly on her two websites and hired a brand partnerships director in NY who has helped negotiate hundreds of brand sponsorships to date. (She was an influencer before there were influencers.)
2016-2019
Laura homeschooled her kids, and in 2017, her husband Eric was able to quit his corporate job to help Laura manage the company's finances, juggle parenthood, and travel extensively as a family.
She's published four additional cookbooks with her publisher, for a total of five, and created digital products on healthy eating, dinner meal plans, eBooks, and a podcast.
In 2019, she launched her Spanish website, LauraFuentes.soy, by translating her popular English recipes into Spanish, her first language. In 2022, she hired a full-time person to help her manage this website.
2022
Laura added TequilaO'Clock.com to her portfolio of websites.
2024
FastingwithLaura.com and AyunaconLaura.com were launched, taking successful Intermittent Fasting articles Laura had researched and written on her other websites and giving them a dedicated home of their own.
Present
The team now includes more than 10 employees and contractors across the US, Europe, and South America.
From small and humble beginnings, Laura has singlehandedly created a digital empire that helps thousands of parents feel more confident in the kitchen daily and reduce the stress around meals.