Today we’d like to introduce you to Drew Kramer

Hi Drew, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.

As a New York Nice Jewish Girl, I was raised with two professional options — doctor or lawyer. Better with words than blood, my well-meaning single mother steered me towards law. It wasn’t bad advice for a writer and creative thinker, but throughout my time in law school, I couldn’t stop the voice in my head declaring this road wrong. After passing the bar, I resolved to go the road not taken, embarking on a noble quest to become a working creative–whatever that meant. From legal public relations to digital advertising, I found myself in creative rooms on the business side of the conversation. In 2016, I left agency world to step into my own creative power. As a marketing consultant, I worked with emerging brands, writing brand stories and developing their brand voices and visual footprints. I owned the words and ideas, but I longed to produce a brand of my own. In 2018, I embarked on the biggest creative leap of my career. While the exhaustion of having a child can crush artistic vision, the birth of my boys created a safe space for me to sing, dance, draw and perform with the safe audience of two under two. It was fun until it wasn’t fun anymore. During the height of the 2021 pandemic winter, my world felt increasingly small and one dimensional. I didn’t do much for myself anymore. Inspired by the challenges of growing up, I began a creative experiment. Lady & the Floofs is what I call a cross-platform story. In person, online and in print original stories, I tell the story of a bold British caretaker and her Floofs. Floofs are creatures with many needs. Intentionally broad, this definition extends to children, aging parents, and even a cockatoo. The in person sensory story times took me on. a road show across the New York Tristate Area in 2022. While enthusiasm for the character’s chutzpah grew, my energy for in person antics waned. A familiar voice in my head whispered slow down. At this crossroads, I came to understand the difference between running a business and art. As an artist, I need time to think and recover from creative sprints. Keeping up with the pace of Instagram left me feeling tired and thirsty for followers instead of creative inspiration. Today, as an artist, I embrace a slow pace and the ordinariness of my present moment. Lady & the Floofs has come to be the creative moniker from which I share all of my creative work. It is still the farm to table story of growing up, but it is also the story of an artist coming into her own. And that artist is me!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

At 40, I’ve made peace with the winding road of my creative journey. Often, I feel like I am wandering in the wilderness, seeking divine inspiration for where my career will go next. Among the many struggles that met me along my way, creative fatigue is the greatest barrier to my success. In some seasons, I feel energized by the luxury of too many ideas and opportunities that fall at my footsteps as if there by design. In others, I am weighed down by my primary day job of caring for young children and lately aging parents. While these experiences fuel my creative expression, it can also deplete me to the point where I cannot do much of anything, but laundry and screen scroll. In the moments where my creative connection feels low, I give myself room to breathe. I remind myself that I know how to bring myself back from this place. I have been here before. Seek the comfort of ritual: morning pages, body movement in nature, laundry and play. I might be wandering in the wilderness, but I know I will find my way home.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

While I am primarily a writer on topics of food, family and faith, I am best known for my performance art and original storytelling. The character I originated and perform, The Lady, caretaker to Floofs, is my creative alter ego. Wise and bold, playful and naughty, she is the caretaker we all long to be. A reaction to the over-parenting of my millennial generation, The Lady gives children the space to explore with elevated humor that cuts to the heart of the fear and guilt of every caretaker.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?

Call yourself an artist and don’t take yourself too seriously. The act of play is a powerful tool. Give yourself the space to create and try things without worry about quality or reception.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladyandfloofs/