Meet Anita Shriver

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anita Shriver a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Anita, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I don’t think I will ever truly overcome imposter syndrome. But the two things that have made me get more comfortable with it are 1) remembering most of the people around me are also experiencing it, and 2) by doing the thing, I’m really doing it. I’m not pretending, and I’m not impersonating someone who is a florist. I am literally doing it. Therefore, I’m not an imposter.

Now the emotional ego component of imposter syndrome where I feel like sometimes my work isn’t as good as it ‘should’ be to be a ‘real florist’, is a different beast. And that beast I try to soothe with the advice of Ira Glass about the gap between our taste and our abilities in the moment. He encourages creatives at the beginning of their journeys to keep working even when they feel they aren’t turning out their best work because it is the only thing that will alleviate that gap you feel between your level of taste and your level of ability. That advice has stayed with me for years and when I am feeling the gap, I can look back at the work I did years ago and what I’m doing now and say, “An imposter could never have done all of this.”

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I describe Floral Baby as dramatic floristry. It’s combining my love of storytelling with the creation of experiences and environments, all through floral design.

When I sit down with clients, my first question is “What story do you want your event to tell?”. My passion for world-building and theatrical details is what drives my practice. Pulling inspiration from nature (obviously!), history, art, literature, pop-culture and everything in between is the most fun part of my job!

Along side my floral and event design work, I also host Build Your Own Bouquet Bar pop-ups throughout the Boston area. These are such a fun way to bring flowers to different communities, because you shouldn’t have to throw a wedding in order to play with flowers.

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?

The three things that have been most impactful in my journey are creativity, perseverance, and a healthy dose of anxiety. Thinking creatively gives me permission to have a ‘no judgement in brainstorming’ attitude. And it keeps me on my toes. Perseverance is crucial because if I don’t keep pushing myself self, no one else is going to. Even on days when I don’t feel like. Even on days when it feels like nothing I’m doing is interesting or productive. Showing up every day is the most important habit you can form. And lastly, a sweet little dose of anxiety is a good way to propel me forward. The key part here is a healthy dose of anxiety. I’m not talking about crippling, can’t get out of bed anxiety. This is the butterflies you get before you go onstage to sing your first solo in the middle school choir. This is the little bit of fear mixed with excitement that makes sure I’m not playing safe. If I’m not a little bit afraid, I’m probably not doing something exciting.

For anyone early in their journey, keep listening to that gut feeling that thought this would be a good idea. There are going to be so many outside forces that push back on you. But that indescribable feeling that you are supposed to be doing this is your biggest ally. And while we’re talking about outside forces, you’ll have many of them giving you advice and opinions. Some you should outright ignore. Some you should take with a grain of salt. But always check in with your gut. You are the one doing the thing, so trust yourself.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

My current challenge is how to create an engaging and natural presence on social media. The world of social media is constantly changing; trends come and go in the blink of an eye. I’m constantly trying to figure out what kind of media is most engaging and informative? Should I be using voiceover or music? Do I need to learn the Charli XCX Apple dance?? Some days the algorithm seems to be working for you and other days it’s working against you. But finding my voice online is definitely at the forefront of my mind and something that I’m actively working on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.floralbabydesign.com
• Instagram: @floralbabydesign
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anita-shriver/

Image Credits

All photos taken by Anita Shriver