How It All Started
When starting a venture like I am, you go through a process of evaluating what your goals are. What do you hope to grow your business into? Why are you starting this?
Well the simple answer is that I simply love flowers. I love the power that they hold. They can comfort the grieving, celebrate a life event, brighten a home and tell someone that they matter to you. I also love the whole process of growing flowers. I love looking through catalogs at different seeds. I love reading and researching the different ways to plant and fertilize. I love seeing the positive impact growing organically can help the environment. When you let nature work itself out things always seem to find it’s balance. I also love seeing how such a tiny seed can grow up to become 4-5 feet tall. It baffles my mind. Honestly, sometimes stresses me out, because to the naked eye it doesn't make sense. Nonetheless, it happens. Time and time again. Things grow.
I really started to dive deep into this passion in the fall of 2021. It was after the HORRIBLE year of 2020. My family, like many others, were faced with such uncertain times. So my husband and I sat down and established what things we were going to make a priority in our lives. How are we going to turn our lives around from merely surviving to thriving? One thing was top priority was our family: we had a six month old and three and a half year old. We couldn't change the world, but we could invest in our family in hopes that it would eventually have a ripple effect into the lives of others.
Some of the ways we started this was by diving deep into gardening, raising chickens, and getting rid of the extra noise in our lives. We raised our chicks and taught our 3 year old how to help care for them. We gardened. I remember one of the days I was planting. (Picture at the beginning is of this moment) I took a moment to appreciate where I was at in life. My husband was mowing the side yard. My son was swinging on his swing with our dogs laying close by. I had my daughter strapped to my back asleep while my hands and toes were covered in dirt. It honestly was one the simplest yet happiest moments of that summer for me. Throughout the season my family helped me tend to the garden. The children would race out to see who could get the most peas or cherry tomatoes. Each week the garden continued to thrive. My daughter started to walk and would go to the door whenever she would see me grab my harvest basket because she knew that she would be able to go pick some fresh goodies from our little haven that we had created.
In our little garden plot (15’x35’) I set aside about 35 sq feet for flowers. From that small space, I was overloaded with blooms. It was a dream come true! I began to fill our home with flowers and then thought that there were too many flowers for just us. So, I began to share with friends and loved ones. I enjoyed thinking of people who I lost touch with through the years. I decided that I would reach out and ask to bring them flowers. It was an opportunity for me to show someone that I was thinking of them and they are important to me. As word began to spread, I had people reaching out to me asking for me to bring flowers to their friends and coworkers. I honestly was so thrilled. I am embarrassed to say, but I cried with my first ‘order’. I finally felt like people were seeing the value and beauty in the same thing that I was so passionate about.
So this hobby and family time event turned into the question, “What if we decided to turn this passion project into something bigger?” What if we were able to turn something that we valued and invested in as a family into something that could brighten peoples days? What if our simple blooms could bring a little more beauty into this world that has been bleak for so long? So I took an entrepreneur class through ILT Academy in the fall of 2022, and decided to start sharing this dream with people around me. I honestly think my biggest struggle through all of this has been fighting my insecurities. What if people think I am living in a flower child’s fantasy? What if I accidentally kill every plant and I am not able to fulfill my orders and promises? What if I fail? But as I have continued on this journey, the priorities that my husband and I sat down and discussed still hold true. We are investing in our family. My kids’ favorite place is the garden, walking right beside me. I want my children to see what it looks like to be absolutely scared but still swallow that fear and pursue the things you are passionate about. There is strength when we allow ourselves to learn from our mistakes. There is beauty in finding the balance of living in humility and creativity.
There you have it. This is the beginning of our story. I don't know how it will end, but I can guarantee that it will be one you will want to tag along for.
