Laurie Brown is the founder/owner of Aunt Laurie’s, an award-winning company that connects people in meaningful ways through unique handwoven gift baskets.

Spending almost 30 years in corporate leadership at General Motors and Volkswagen Group of America in Michigan, Laurie moved to South Carolina in 2014 and was inspired to launch Aunt Laurie’s to fulfill her passion for helping individuals with disabilities learn job skills and to feel more valued.

Laurie holds a master’s degree in organizational management, Notre Dame Leadership and Strategy Certification, and is also a certified SCORE small business mentor. She and her husband live on Hilton Head, have 3 dogs, and enjoy golfing and traveling.

Born with a God-given passion to help people with disabilities, Laurie Brown set out to make a difference in the world in her own meaningful way. Leaving an executive corporate position to own her own business with a focus on helping those with different abilities learn job skills, feel valued, and lead a more productive life is a dream come true.

Locating and sourcing high quality products from organizations all around the nation is not easy. It’s important to Aunt Laurie’s to sell as many products made, packaged, or assembled by those with a variety of disabilities as possible. That’s what makes Aunt Laurie’s genuine and true to the mission, even down to the handwoven baskets by clients at the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Center.

Laurie’s goal is to inspire others to acknowledge the human value in everyone, which happens to be Aunt Laurie’s mission statement!  While the focus is truly on helping those with different abilities, Aunt Laurie's also insists on selling unique, non-big-box, and as many local products as possible in order to support small businesses and the local community.

Aunt Laurie’s Awards

• 2015 Lowcountry SCORE Client of the Year,
• 2016 Bluffton Start-up of the Year,
• 2016 SCVR Contractor of the Year,
• 2017 SCORE National Community Impact Business,
• 2017 Hilton Head – Bluffton Chamber Small Business of the Year,
• 2018 SC Chamber Excellence in Workforce Diversity finalist,
• 2019 United Way of the Lowcountry Woman of the Year finalist