TikTok Star Lily Chapman’s Joy-Infused Routine

For TikTok stylist, brand founder and new mom Lily Chapman, it’s all funny business. “Whether I am building my brand or playing with my daughter, I make joy the center of everything I do,” Chapman tells me over Zoom. The travel guru and influencer with an audience of nearly 1 million on the app has become a fashion-forward content creator for the DIY-obsessed and moms — sharing a mix of thrifting content, design projects, BTS of parenting and now, running her first-ever clothing brand: Elizabeth Bay Limited.

“I had no idea how people started brands. I got into content creation because I made a dress and people liked it, and everything since then has been me figuring it out as I go,” Chapman says, referring to the wild ride on social media since her homemade street-style dress in Paris was featured in Vogue. Since then, Chapman’s passion for global travel and high-low vintage fashion, inspired her to launch a curated collection of cheeky graphic tees, and vintage finds from women-owned shops and artists.

The 26-year-old’s relatable GRWM-style stories and raw parenting perspective has caught the attention of her community just as much as her eccentric outfit picks, with the common thread being self-expression in all areas of her life. “I've never really had motherhood without business ownership and vice versa. My entrepreneurial endeavors before having Ruby were always focused on myself. As soon as I got pregnant, it became clear to me that I want to build something bigger and set an example as someone who follows their dreams.”

Ahead, Lily Chapman takes us through her expert travel hacks, time management routine and her favorite “special soap” for new moms.

Romper: How has travel changed for you since having Ruby?

Lily Chapman: Travel has been at the center of my life for years, and I knew I didn’t want to give that up when I had [my daughter]. I was always someone that was just winging it when it came to planning trips, and with a child that is just not an option. I'm packing so much food with me; I'm bringing breast pumps; I’m making sure that I have the right kind of outlet to plug them into. I'm bringing a sound machine, a bassinet, the special soap that she uses. So it definitely forced me to stretch some muscles that I hadn't used before, particularly in the preparation.

We still love to keep exploring new places, new hotels — in fact, that is what inspired our next collection. There's so many little elements that make hotels special, whether it's the room key, the Do Not Disturb sign, what they serve for breakfast, how they decorate. It's a unique lens to look at the world of travel through, especially as a mom.

R: What Is This “Special Soap”?

LC: The Dark Cherry scent from Tubby Todd is her go-to for soap and lotion. I wear Santal 33 and she smells better than me.

R: Your social media aesthetic and brand have a very fun, lighthearted energy. How do you prioritize joy when feeling overwhelmed?

LC: The way that I curate my own sense of joy really comes back to leaning on what was fun for me in my adolescence, and reconnecting with my inner child. I loved theater, I loved dramatics and I loved fashion — so creating a day-to-day that for me is fun is how I’m able to sustain that joy. I have fun with my daughter even when it's a lot of work. Sometimes having fun is throwing off the entire schedule and doing a worse job at something than you'd hoped, but if you prioritize that for yourself, you're going to remember those moments way more than the picturesque days.

R: Speaking of fun: we have to talk about your viral Junk Journal. What is it, and do we all need one?

LC: So junk journals are a modern, creative way of memorializing ephemera. And for those who don't know, ephemera is just typically printed or written items that were meant to be thrown away, but the kind of thing that you find yourself holding on to. For example: train tickets, plane tickets, receipts from a café that you really love or someone's business card when you liked meeting them. Rather than keeping those things and shoving them all in a drawer, the junk journal is a way to take those ideas and build a permanent place for them to live where you can reference them in a really joyful and beautiful and esthetic way. So it's kind of like your mom's scrapbooks from the 80s, but with a modern twist.

R: What is a mantra you live by?

LC: Let people be wrong about you. When I think about my daughter, I don't want her to spend a second of her time in this world devoting mind space to people who are committed to misunderstanding — and same for me.