Lauren Stoll has one mission: To be as present and engaged with her children as much as possible. Wait. She has another: To inspire and teach other moms that family bonding and quality time can be easy.
The Basking Ridge digital influencer/content creator behind Instagram’s popular Ginny’s Closet found that transitioning from being a young, married woman to a mom took some serious adjustment. When she started her Instagram account a decade ago, the focus was on fashion: highlighting trends and giving advice on curating pieces in a wardrobe. The inspiration—and namesake for the site—was her grandmother, Virginia. “She was elegant, had this wonderful sense of style and the biggest shoe closet I had ever seen,” Stoll says.
However, when she first became a mom, she found the transition to be overwhelming and a bit isolating at first. “I appreciated finding other Instagram pages and blogs like mine that gave simple advice and motherhood hacks to make life more manageable,” she says.
As Stoll’s worldview shifted, her online presence veered as well. “I wanted to be more present and interactive with my kids, so I changed the mission of my page to help moms feel like they're less alone, to encourage and support them,” she says.
But ever the fashionista, Stoll lends this wisdom with elegance and flair. She incorporates her children—Sloane, 7, and Landon, 4—in showing moms how to weave bonding activities with their kids into their daily lives. Whether it is cooking together, taking a walk to pick wildflowers, dancing in the kitchen pretending ladles are microphones or having fancy dress-up picnics in her living room, Stoll shows harried moms how to step away from the chaos of the day and immerse themselves into childhood magic.
Along the way, she doles out essential hacks—use a dab of toothpaste to remove Sharpie marks from your walls!—and gives product and toy recommendations.
“One of the biggest things I hear from moms is that they don’t have time for certain things like self-care and exercise,” she says. “But if you involve your kids in the process, you will all have fun because they are a part of it.”
Follow Stoll @ginnysclosetofficial.
Lauren Stoll, Ginny’s Closet
Lauren Stoll moved to Basking Ridge five years ago, fueled by fond memories of visiting her grandparents, who had a home here. “The town is quaint, the people are friendly and there are gems of restaurants downtown,” she says. “It’s a welcoming community where people interact and kids ride bikes together.”
