Life Anchored Home began with a quiet, ordinary moment at home with my daughter.
At the time, my husband and I were becoming much more intentional about the products we brought into our home. We were reading ingredient labels more closely, from the food we ate to the products we used around our family. One day, my daughter and I were making cookies, and I happened to look at the label on the vanilla extract I had used for most of my adult life. I realized it contained added food coloring.
I remember wondering, “Why does vanilla need food coloring? This is already its natural color.”
That small question sent me down a rabbit hole. I began researching how to make baking extracts myself with simple, intentional ingredients. From there, I started thinking about other products we used every day and asking what else I could make differently. That curiosity eventually led to our soaps, room and linen sprays, drink infusion kits, baking extracts, and other handcrafted products.
In the beginning, I was simply making things for our family and giving them as gifts. My mom and my husband encouraged me to see where the idea might go. We shared samples with friends and asked for their honest opinions. Before long, people began asking, “How can I buy more?”
We started attending farmers markets and small community pop-ups to test the waters. Then customers began asking if I could take the products they loved and put them together as complete gifts. That unexpected request changed the direction of the business.
Life Anchored Home gradually grew from a collection of handcrafted home products into a full gifting company. Today, we still create our own private label products, but we also design and curate gifts for individuals and businesses. That might mean creating a birthday gift for someone’s sister, a closing gift for a local Realtor, or hundreds of client gifts for a company.
Before Life Anchored Home, I spent nearly 20 years as a nurse, primarily working in pediatrics and postpartum care. Nursing taught me that caring for someone involves more than meeting an immediate need. You want that person to feel safe, prepared, seen, and genuinely cared for. That same desire is at the heart of what I do now. A thoughtful gift can help someone feel welcomed, appreciated, supported, or remembered.
My transition away from nursing happened gradually as our children grew and homeschooling required more of my time. As the business began to expand, my husband opened a conversation about how I wanted to spend my time. He could see that my heart was with homeschooling our children, caring for our family, and growing Life Anchored Home. That conversation helped me realize I was ready to leave nursing and fully pursue this new venture. Life Anchored Home still felt like a creative hobby to me, but he could already see its possibilities and encouraged me to give the business room to grow.
This has truly become a family company. Our products are still created at home, and our children regularly help with different parts of the business. My daughter loves the creative details, while my son does best with a series of 15-minute jobs. My husband contributes in countless ways, including handling the mountain of shipping boxes I never want to break down.
When I think about the people and experiences I am most grateful for, my family is at the center. My husband believed in the business before I fully did. My children have grown alongside it and continually remind me why being present matters. My mom has encouraged me through every stage.
I am also deeply grateful for the Dripping Springs community. Life Anchored Home has been built almost entirely through relationships, referrals, and people sharing their experiences with others. Local networking groups have introduced me to clients, mentors, collaborators, team members, and friends. They have taught me that community grows when you stop making every interaction about your business and simply look for ways to support the people around you.
The name Life Anchored Home reflects what holds everything together for us. Our life is anchored in our faith, our home, and our family. Those remain our foundation, wherever the business takes us.
Looking back, I am grateful that something as simple as making cookies with my daughter led us here. I am grateful for the unexpected turns, for every person who asked if they could buy more, and for every client who has trusted me with a meaningful moment. Most of all, I am proud that through all the growth, we have kept our family at the center and built something together that reflects what matters most to us.
LifeAnchoredHome.com | @lifeanchoredhome
“Our life is anchored in our faith, our home, and our family. Those remain our foundation, wherever the business takes us. Most of all, we have kept our family at the center.” - Lani Derrick
"A thoughtful gift can help someone feel welcomed, appreciated, supported, or remembered." - Lani Derrick