We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dawn Ash a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Dawn , thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
Optimism is a conscience decision for me, I believe even the worse situation holds a lesson and has a bright side built in, it may not always be easy to find but it takes commitment to finding it that will help you see the light even in the darkest of situations. The choice to be optimistic comes from within and the desire to live a happy, content, and grateful life. Once you teach yourself to find that silver lining it eventually becomes a part of your character.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I pair plants with their people, I have people come to see me in store and we discuss what their environment is like, what they want in a plant, how they see themselves as a plant parent and from there we find them a compatible match. Living with houseplants, is meant to enrich your life not to be stressful or made to feel like just another responsibility. So it is important to take the time to understand the relationship the person wants with their plants and help them start their journey on the right foot.
Plants provide clean air, they provide therapy by way of care and reward with new growth, they give people something to learn to be patient for and will inevitably teach us how to nurture healthy growth.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Lets start off with my genuine interest, in order to be really good at something you need to be passionate about it. You cannot create that passion, it lives inside of you. Motivation is another strong quality I have, I found what motivates me and I use my creative skills to support the motivation to grow and do better. There are days we feel less then motivated and that is ok but the dedication and drive to do better , to grow to stay original and to tap into new creative outlets comes from remaining motivated.
Lastly I feel organization is critical for me, I am always learning new ways to discipline myself and keep myself organized so all the plans for advancement are achievable.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
The number one challenge I am facing is pacing myself, I have a lot of ideas and plans I would like to move forward on and I have to remember to pace myself especially as a small business. I also try and keep myself out of debt so taking risks which are needed for growth and doing so without loans is sometimes a tricky path. Delegating some responsibilities will be helpful for me so I can focus on other tasks that will inevitably help my business grow.
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