We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marsha Parker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Marsha , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
This is a great question. I would say the primary place where I gained resilience is from the position of my spiritual inheritance which is also a part of my familial inheritance as well. This passage is foundational for me, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” From an early age there have been many challenges, struggles and moments of grief. I remind myself of this passage and I contend for peace. I have also noticed the role that healthy giving has played in my ability to withstand and recover. I try to keep living an adventurous life, not be self-absorbed and be open to opportunities to share my life with others, maybe by giving my time, resources or gifts. Some family members have modeled this beautifully for me. I would say that another place where I have gained resilience is from my cultural inheritance as a Black person in America. Ours is a story of resilience that historical wisdom tells me to draw upon, and learn from.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
After two bouts with breast cancer. I decided to throw myself a 70’s themed birthday party. I enjoyed planning it so much that I took bridal consulting courses and established Refined Gatherings, LTD in 2009. I later transitioned the business to floral design as a result of a friend closing their florist shop. I would always seek out her services for events. After she closed her shop, she taught me a how to make a couple of things and the rest is history.
I’m excited to say that Refined Gatherings offers beautifully crafted floral arrangements for events. We get to play with carefully sourced premium flowers and make art. The icing on the cake is our social mission, which is to use a portion of the revenue to host Flowering Events and Giveaways for cancer survivors and other people overcoming health adversities. As a three-time thriving cancer survivor, I understand that beauty is transcendent. It’s also great when we get to partner with an organization that sees value in the mission.
This summer we hosted our first #contendforpeace Floral Design Workshop for cancer survivors. Beauty through flowers has the power to captivate us, elevate our mood, give us hope, and inspire us to a better future. Many people are cut off from beauty. Encouragement, support and connection with nature is what our #CONTENDFORPEACE Floral Design Workshop seeks to provide for participants. The workshops will also provide those who have been touched by cancer with a sense of community, and a skill that they can use to bring beauty into their lives/homes through their own creative efforts. Our first event took place at The Elliot in Cleveland. They graciously decided to partner with us for our inaugural event. Kelly Evans took photos and Renovare Music provided healing through their classical music.
On the morning of the event Danielle Wiggins of WKYC came to my home to interview me. You can see the interview and video of the workshop here: https://www.wkyc.com/video/news/health/do-it-for-danielle/do-it-for-danielle-cleveland-event-florist-uses-eye-for-beauty-to-inspire-and-create-a-sense-of-community-for-cancer-warriors/95-e50044e4-3b23-4bcb-b1d7-13d28c1fe7be
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I would say: Making yourself uncomfortable for your own growth, Seeking out Someone who demonstrates Skill and Success, Replacing Comparison with Celebration & Gratitude. The fun part of business for me is floral design and working on our new line of cocktail and dinner napkins. I was intimidated by one of the most important parts of being an entrepreneur which is understanding my value proposition, ideal customer and the financial analysis of the business. I decided to make myself very uncomfortable by doing three things. I applied to be a part of the 2022 SEA Change Northeast Ohio cohort. I participated and completed it. Sea Change helps social entrepreneurs develop sustainability and access the tools they need to grow. There were days when I cried because I felt inadequate, but I kept going. In May of this year, I participated in and completed a Workshop Series for Small-Business Owners sponsored by Tri-C, LaRese Purnell and Huntington Bank. Also, I was so excited to receive a certificate from Cornell University in the Bank of American Women’s Entrepreneurship Program in June. My advice is to apply and participate in educational things that will allow you to grow personally and professionally.
Second, seek out someone who demonstrates skill and success in your industry. In December of 2019, after surgery for the third bout with cancer, I had time at home and began to seeking out skillful and inspiring floral designers. I purchased some virtual tutorials from a couple designers and eventually stumbled across Sue McLeary who is an innovative floral artist extraordinaire. I decided to be a student and joined her virtual studio. I have experienced growth and am totally thrilled as I learn new skills. This year I also took a huge step and decided to go to Alexandria, Virginia to shadow another woman-owned business, Sweet Root Village. They love the BUSINESS of flowers as much as they love designing flowers. I had to be exposed to that. I can honestly say that I was able to gain some practical tools that have caused Refined Gatherings to experience some major successes this year.
The final piece of advice that I have is to replace comparison with celebration and gratitude. One of the negative aspects of comparison is that it can rob you of your identity, value and progress. I learned that there is room for all of us, everyone isn’t my customer and it’s great to celebrate others. It has assisted me in holding true to who Refined Gatherings is as a business. It released me to simply be and live in undistracted gratitude. An example of this was the first time that I experienced Black Girl Florists, a non-profit established by Valerie Crisostomo. I was so excited to hear about, see and meet Black florists who are on a similar journey. I was so encouraged by their growth, progress and success.
I understand that I am not self-made. There are so many people and experiences that have contrubuted to who I am in this season.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I am so glad that you asked that question. We absolutely are looking for organizations or people to partner with us in our social mission. We want to partner with organizations which have a desire to see individuals, families and communities experience hope and wellness in Cleveland. We would like to host #CONTENDFORPEACE Floral Design Workshops in different communities throughout Cleveland and northeast Ohio for now. We welcome medical partners in the form of hospitals, clinics and organizations that provide support for cancer and other survivors. We also understand the value of caregivers experiencing beauty through floral design as well. We need venue owners who are willing to donate space to use for our 3-hour session or who are willing to provide space at a minimal cost. It could possibly be on a day when they normally have their open house hours. Many times, caterers have a minimum fee. Because our sessions are intimate (10 – 15 people), we would like for caterers to consider working with us in this area. We welcome music vendors, photographers, candle makers etc. who would like to create a lovely, elevated experience for our attendees.
They can connect with me via email: marsha@refinedgatherings.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.refinedgatherings.com/events
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/refinedgatherings/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/refinedgatherings/
Image Credits
Yevhen Gulenko Kelly Evans Hannah Shbeeb
