Show notes
Lauren Atwood entered the world against all odds.Thirty-three years ago, the lifelong Seacoast native was born three months early as the product of an abusive relationship between her mother and biological father. In the ensuing years, Atwood bounced around from home to home, watched her mother bring home man after man, and became estranged from her real father, all while trying to live a normal life.But Atwood refused to become a statistic.After meeting her now-husband Chris in high school, Atwood paid her way through UNH, worked in marketing at Timberland, and started a successful blog that paved the way for Otter Creek Homes, the Seacoast's go-to construction & interior design company.From her office in North Hampton, N.H., Atwood joins host Troy Farkas for a wide-ranging conversation about the harrowing details surrounding her miraculous birth, why she was a "pawn in the game" between her mother and father, overcoming childhood trauma to build the business of her dreams, what sets Otter Creek Homes apart from other firms in the field, and the phone call she received last year that, for the first time in her life, made her feel free.If you or someone you know is fighting domestic and sexual violence here on the Seacoast, please find support with HAVEN.SUPPORT SEACOAST STORIES:Visit the NEW SeacoastStories.com for our newsletter & LIMITED-TIME summer merch drop!Follow Seacoast Stories on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify to get our new episodes every week.UPCOMING EVENTS:Seacoast Stories Dinner Club pres. by Partners Bank: Our largest Dinner Club yet visits Portsmouth on Wednesday, August 19! Book your seat at the table here.Seacoast Stories Dinner Club: We're in Newburyport, Mass., on Wednesday, September 3. Book your seat at the link above.SPONSOR:Degree Wellness Seacoast: A new all-on-one recovery center is coming to North Hampton, N.H! Learn more & lock in a discounted (FOR LIFE) founding membership here.CHAPTERS:Lauren Atwood intro (00:00)Unbelievable story of when she was born (04:06)Her parents' abusive relationship (07:05)Being a medical miracle (10:00)Living in fear of her father (11:12)Tumultuous relationship with her mother (17:35)Legally separating from her father (23:52)The life-changing phone call she recently received (28:50)How she overcame her childhood (33:27)Her work with HAVEN (37:00)SPONSOR: Degree Wellness Seacoast. Secure your founding membership here Studying at UNH & working at Timberland (41:20)The fixer-upper home that inspired Otter Creek (45:45)What makes Otter Creek Homes different (47:10)How Otter Creek Homes took off (52:54)The BTS of working with Otter Creek Homes (55:52)What makes this work so fulfilling (58:55)Reflecting on her remarkable life story (01:00:30)Pushback against Otter Creek Homes? (01:03:50)Her relationship with her mother today (01:05:57)