We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Vanessa Flowers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Vanessa, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
Thank you so much for the opportunity to share my journey with you! I’ve been blessed with a creative mind and I never seem to run out new ideas! Maya Angelou once said, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” It’s so true! To keep my creativity alive, I connect with people from different backgrounds and industries because I find that when I learn something new it sparks new ideas in me! I also read and consume a lot of content whether that’s watching a series, movies, or being on social media. I also love visiting museums, cool coffee shops and spaces. Afterwards I’m always ignited with new ideas. Lastly, journaling my thoughts has helped me stay creative. I always make lists when I journal and jot down my thoughts which leads to a variety of creative event ideas or projects!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m Vanessa Flowers, a creative social entrepreneur working in the mental health and wellness space. I love how much we’re all focusing on bettering ourselves today compared to our pre-pandemic days. What’s special about wellness is that there are so many options for self-improvement, and it’s a wonderful journey to figure out what works best for each of us – whether that’s taking a brisk walk, cooking as a form of meditation, journaling our thoughts, or building community (in my case) – the options are endless, which means there’s a fulfilling journey for everyone!
I founded Flower Girls Meet back in 2015 while struggling with PCOS, a hormonal condition which affected my physical and mental health. I was searching for a community with resources, access to experts, and a safe space to share what I was going through but I couldn’t find one, so I created what I was seeking. I wanted to help women come together to discuss the issues they faced in order to achieve healing, and that’s exactly what Flower Girls does today. Last year, after seeing the growth of my gatherings, I launched Bring Flowers to Work, a corporate wellness offering with similar programming as my community events aimed at supporting people at work with their mental health and wellbeing.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Wow, that’s a great question! I believe growing up on the Cape Verde islands really helped me understand how to gather people. Growing up we’d always have a ton of family, friends, and neighbors over for different celebrations. There would be lots of food, drinks, laughter and dancing! This helped me cultivate a love of getting people together and understanding the importance of connection. It is so healing! My cup is always full after mingling, and I still have the same feeling when I curate an event for my community, enjoy fun times with my daughter and husband, or organize an intentional workshop for a company. Secondly, my background in TV production really set the tone for my work now. I studied film in high school and created a series of documentaries that helped me win some awards. I thought I was going to become a TV producer or documentarian, but I ended up going to a liberal arts college and developed a love for Spanish, my third language. I always say, though, that running events is a form of production because you’re putting on a show with so many moving pieces – and for me – I facilitate all of my events too – so I work behind the scenes and am the face of the brand. I believe I’m utilizing my people skills and production capabilities to curate something amazing with every gathering. Lastly, my resilience has led me down the entrepreneurship path because I think it takes going through hardships to realize where you need to be. Whenever I’ve struggled with anything in life, I always want to seek the support of others while also supporting them in their issues, which I think makes the world a better place. Creating Flower Girls has been the greatest joy of my life, and I see that how I grew up, my love for connection, and my creativity have all led me to where I am now. For anyone who is early on in their entrepreneurial journey, I’d say that everything you’re working towards will make sense to you one day. Keep going!
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
Absolutely! And yes, do you who Seth Godin is? He’s known as the Godfather of marketing, and it’s true because his books (and a marketing class of his I took last year) really enabled me to transform my brand and the way I look at selling myself online. In his book This is Marketing, Seth talks about the importance of identifying who you’re seeking to serve.
He outlines marketing in five steps:
1. Invent a thing worth making, with a story worth telling, and a contribution worth talking about.
2. Design and build it in a way that a few people will particularly benefit from and care about.
3. Tell a story that matches the built-in narrative and dreams of that tiny group of people, the smallest viable market.
4. Spread the word.
5. Show up—regularly, consistently, and generously, for years and years—to organize and lead and build confidence in the change you seek to make.
What I gathered from Seth is that I should create something truly valuable to a dedicated audience which doesn’t have to be big – just 100 fans is all you need because those people will tell others about it. That’s how I grew my community! People have learned about it through other colleagues and friends. I’ve never tried to make the community too big because I really want to focus on a specific group of individuals who are invested in their mental health and wellness.
Are you looking for folks to partner or collaborate with? If so, describe the sorts of folks you are looking to collaborate with and how they can connect with you if they are reading this and want to collaborate.
Yes, I’m always looking for cool folks to collaborate with! I love working with smart, creative, and unique individuals who approach their work with passion and resilience. For example, I organized an event last year called Pumpkins & Portraits where I teamed up with a woman who runs an urban garden in the city along with a therapist who happens to be a film photographer! These two women from completely different walks of life came together to put on an amazing gathering for our local community where attendees arranged flowers, then posed for beautiful portraits. I think it’s wonderful when we can connect in unique and unexpected ways to achieve a goal.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://flowergirlsmeet.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowergirlsmeet/
https://www.instagram.com/vanessalflowers/ (personal account) - Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessalflowers/
Image Credits
Flowers & Growth – Event space organizer took the photo
Growth & Poetry – Event space organizer took the photo
How to Find the Right Therapist – Melina Morales
Daytreat (7 images) – Rena Captures
Pumpkins & Portraits – Chelsea Ballinger‘s mom took the photo
First upload & the other portrait of me holding a bouquet from the Pumpkins & Portraits event – Chelsea Ballinger
Meditate at the Park – Carmen Henry
March Meditation & Hand Lettering Workshop – Rena Captures
