Since having this door to the floral world opened for me, I have enjoyed pushing myself outside of my comfort zone and forcing myself to grow in areas I never expected.
I’m in what many would say is my second half of life. My girls are all adults now and I have recently closed the chapter on my small business I ran for the past 23 years. Two huge parts of my identity are changing and it is now time to discover what will defines me in the future.
Ruthie’s has challenged me and I have experienced more growth in the past 2 years than I could have expected.
Ways I have grown:
- I can hook up and drive a trailer! I had just never done this before. Now I can hook up Ruthie and haul her pretty much anywhere on my own! So empowering! Full disclosure…backing her back into her spot at home is my least favorite and I still beg my hubby to do this for me. No shame there…he’s so good at it!
- I can grow my own florals! I’m about 2 seasons into trying to grow some of my own stems. My mom and my mother in law are both fantastic gardeners, but I never really gave it much thought or attention. Let me say this…gardening is no joke! Between the deer, the bugs, the disease, the weeds, the pruning, the staking, the watering, the fertilizing…it’s HARD! But I am learning to enjoy it and when you get the most beautiful blooms and realize it all came from your hard work, it is super rewarding. Getting to add a bloom you grew to a bouquet that makes a customer smile is icing on the cake!
- I try to plan, not procrastinate! My entire life I have been a procrastinator and truthfully I feel like it has served me well. Putting things off to the last minute actually made me perform better than if I had all the time in the world. I felt that I was more efficient and always managed to get things done. Well, you can’t really do that in the floral industry. Planning, ordering, writing recipes, developing systems, being proactive instead of reactive is crucial to building a successful business and it is a HUGE struggle for me. It does not come naturally. However, over these past two years, I have seen the value in planning and I think even Christy will tell you I have grown significantly here.
Growth is something we should all strive for over the entire course of our lives. I’m so grateful to be on this floral journey and to be challenged to learn and grow. Maybe one day I will bloom like the beautiful flowers we get to work with!