From her bright, warmly-filtered pictures on Instagram to her breezy posts on her blog THE HIVE, Laurel Donahoo’s online presence bursts with creative and colorful energy.
The businesswoman, mother, and creator – she’s not fond of the term “influencer” – highlights design, fashion, family, faith, and more in her content with a pop of color and a sense of Southern charm.
Donahoo strives to cultivate warmth online. “I want people to think, ‘oh, I want to actually be friends with her,’ if we’re not friends already,” she says. True to that sentiment, Laurel’s warmth is unmistakable in her life behind the screen, too.
Becoming an online content creator, however, was not always Donahoo’s goal. In fact, she says, “it kind of was total happenstance.”
Before she ever took on the title of lifestyle blogger, Donahoo was the entrepreneur behind a small paper and stationary company, The Lovely Bee. From her Etsy e-commerce website, she sold party invitations, greeting cards, food labels, and more.
Soon, Donahoo’s buzzing business attracted attention from Ridgeland-based interior design boutique Summerhouse. They wanted updates on the latest products from The Lovely Bee, and they suggested Laurel start a blog.
Donahoo was completely on board, and aptly named her new site THE HIVE. Over time, as she began posting about the parties that featured her products and even receiving sponsorships from clothing companies, she watched her website evolve from a platform for her small paper company to the lifestyle blog her readers know and love today.
Now, Donahoo’s blog continues to capture the things she believes make life special, including parties, fashion, interior design, local food, and motherhood.
Donahoo’s signature bee motif marks all of her online profiles. The bee, she says, traces back to her post-graduate travels in England, when she and her mother found a special way to connect despite their distance.
“There was one book that was always standing out to me at the bookstore next to where we lived, and it was called ‘The Secret Life of Bees.’ And so, one day, I bought it.” Almost instantly, Donahoo fell in love with the story of Lily, a 14-year-old in 1960s South Carolina, and the vivid maternal figures that filled her life.
Little did Donahoo know, however, that an ocean away, her mother was falling in love with the same book. Laurel’s parents visited her in England near the end of her stay, and there, the two discovered that they were unknowingly connected by the novel all that time.
“It’s so sweet,” Laurel says, “because it’s a book about a mother and a daughter’s relationship, and so bees became really special from that point forward.”
From the parental inspirations behind her blog to the warmth with which she writes about life with her children, it is apparent that family is important to Donahoo. It is, after all, a central part of her life, as the wife of Price and mother of three little ones, Wilson, Lily Ryan, and Dempsey, busy bee Donahoo juggles family and career every day. She sees the trials and triumphs of her motherhood journey, however, as a source of encouragement for readers.
“I hope and pray that we inspire other families to grow in joy and have fun with the unexpected – even when it’s not fun, have joy through it all,” she says.
The Donahoos certainly encountered the unexpected blessing when their third child, Dempsey, arrived completely deaf. Dempsey Donahoo, born November 2, 2018, entered the world unable to hear its commotion – the buzz of the hospital, the bustle of the outside world, and the babbling of his two older siblings were all silence to him.
He was later diagnosed with profound — or complete, hearing loss. Laurel shares about Dempsey’s journey regularly on her platforms in the hopes of inspiring others, particularly fellow parents of special needs children.
“He has cochlear implants which give him the ability to hear,” Laurel explains. The mechanism consists two sets of processors – one external, which he wears for now on a headband, and one internal, which is implanted in his head. Essentially, Dempsey’s cochlear implants convert external signals into electrical impulses that can be understood by his brain.
Taking care of baby Dempsey is “kind of a day-by-day-thing,” as Laurel puts it. “I can’t think too far into the future, or I get worried, but the Lord tells us that the birds of the air don’t worry about tomorrow, and He protects them just fine – and He’s gonna protect us just fine, too.”
Donahoo’s blog is, at its core, a Southern lifestyle blog, but much of her content is underpinned by her strong faith. As she puts it herself, “If I could rebrand the tagline for my blog, it would be something along the lines of, ‘Life is a mess’ – I mean, it just is, look at the climate around the world today – ‘but you don’t have to live like it’s a mess.’ If you keep your eyes on Jesus, and focus on the little bits of beauty every day, the mess doesn’t go away, but you can shine your light a little brighter, and make the mess not quite so bad.”
Donahoo’s scope is broad. On her blog, not only does she collect snapshots of social events and her personal style, but she also candidly discusses her faith and how she balances life’s responsibilities. No matter the topic, though, Donahoo is intentional about spreading encouragement, levity, and light to her readers – through happy days and hard times alike.
