How Did I Get Here?
This week’s blog is a little less “how to” and more of just plain “How?”
As in:
Come along as I explain how this all started…
The other day, I had a lovely couple wandering through the U Pick, asking questions and sharing gardening tips, and they asked me,
“did you get your degree in horticulture?”
I said, “no… actually, I am a speech-language pathologist.” (Fun fact: I have my own private practice, which will be expanding and accepting new clients in the fall of 2024! It’s called Olympia Speech & Language)
When I let people know I am a working SLP, the follow up question is almost always “how did you end up with a flower farm?”
For me, it started back in 2019 when we purchased our forever home (cheesy, I know… but when we moved in I literally said to my husband “I’m going to die in this house,” and I was excited because it meant I would never move again! )
Yes, I know: things change. But if all goes to plan: I will never move again. I HATE MOVING.
When we moved in, my boys were 1 and 3 years old. I thought it would be so wonderful to plant as many tulips as I could, just because I had the space for it now! So, my husband tilled up a little garden plot of about 10 feet by 3 feet, and I planted right around 300 tulips. I thought, “300 tulips!! I must be crazy!”
little did I know…
About the time those tulips popped up, it was March of 2020. I don’t think I have to spell it out, but just in case you forgot what that time was like: we were stuck. at. home.
My boys had turned 2 and 4 years old by then, and let me tell you: I was not cut out for being stuck at home, with no work, with 2 little boys. (my speech therapy job screeched to a halt!)
So, I thought to myself, “Well, if we are going to be stuck at home, we are definitely going to spend as much time OUTSIDE as possible. Because these boys are feral, filthy, and they need to RUN.”
And with that, I suggested we create a few more flower beds.
My 2 year old learning how to run an excavator in May 2020
* I had a lot to learn about raising boys! Thankfully, my husband has always encouraged me to let the boys try big, wild, and somewhat dangerous activities…
**I tend to just look away…
It’s hard to believe now, but at that time, we (the marital “we”) tilled up 6 or so garden beds, and I thought “This is HUGE! I must be crazy!”
With summer coming, I direct sowed a lot of seeds: zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos, and more! (I’ve since learned this seed starting hack that I love to use) I read books about growing flowers, (by far, the most helpful was this book), watched lots of videos on YouTube (now I’m sharing my own videos here!), and read the back of every seed packet multiple times, to try and do it just right.
Anyone who gardens probably knows what happened next:
Some of my flowers grew!!!!
and a lot of them didn’t look very good AT ALL.
But there’s something so addicting about the process. Learning, observing, googling, asking friends, and trying it differently… it’s such a wonderful and rewarding process! (and hey, if you’re stuck at home during a global pandemic, what else are you doing to do?? Binge watch the Tiger King?!
* ok ok… I totally binge watched the Tiger King. Didn’t we all?
Eventually, I had enough flowers here and there to post on Facebook to share with neighbors (whom I hadn’t met yet, since we had only moved in a few months prior) and with the community. Little by little, more folks reached out, asking if I could create an arrangement for their mom, a bridal bouquet for an elopement, a birthday bouquet to leave on a doorstep as a “no contact” drop off…
In a world where we couldn’t physically be with each other, I was suddenly able to provide a little bit of sunshine to people in my community.
I had no idea that it would be such a blessing for myself, to offer fresh flowers, but it’s lead to beautiful friendships, strangers sharing heartfelt stories with me, and countless smiles when the customer receives their bouquet.
At that time, I didn’t have a vision for where the flower farm would go, so I decided in 2021, I would try it all.
Wedding Flowers
Farmers Markets
Bouquet Bars at the Local Brewery
Bouquet Delivery
Bouquet Classes
Christmas Wreath Workshops
Oh and did I mention that at this time I was back to working as a speech language pathologist 2 days a week, and still had young kids at home??
Long story short, by the time I was ringing in the new year of 2022 I actually said to my husband, “I don’t want to do this any more.”
The BURNOUT was real.
That’s when I got out a notebook and a pen, and started writing down what I even wanted from this flower farm. Because I knew I didn’t want to do it all, ever again.
How did I change? I’ll be writing about that next week.
But for now: Have you felt burnout in your small business? How did you change? What did you swear to yourself you’d absolutely, never ever do again? Leave me a comment below!
