We were lucky to catch up with Felicia Carter recently and have shared our conversation below.
Felicia , thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
It can be very difficult keeping up with the flower world, but what I have learned to keep my creativity alive is to self motivate by repeating and believing in my daily positive affirmations.
Every morning I wake up and stare in the mirror and I say “my innate creativity surprises and delights me.” This is a positive affirmation that I learned from the late Louise Hay.
Practicing my daily positive affirmations gives my the ability to manifest any new innovative ideas that I can contribute to my business. I also love doing research especially in other countries.
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?
My name is Felicia Carter and I am a Florist at Chocolate Sunflowers located in Broward County Florida. I specialize in making extravagant fresh glitter rose bouquets and beautiful chocolate covered strawberry arrangements.
Working in the Floral Industry can be extremely competitive and somewhat saturated. You have to have a lot of patience and creativity because everyone is basically doing the same thing you are doing.
When I first started last year I was very intimidated especially with seeing so many florist on social media. I immediately thought to myself, “I need to stand out from everyone else!”
So the first thing I thought about was my business name. I didn’t want to have anything too common. So I thought, “Hey I love Sunflowers and I love chocolate covered strawberries!” And I came up with the name “Chocolate Sunflowers LLC” for my business. After that the magic began.
I absolutely love what I can create and I especially love how my customers feel once I hand or ship them their Glam flowers. The smile on their faces, even their tears of joy remind me everyday that this is what I am destined to do!
Right now as I prepare for Mother’s Day this year, I have launched a new Glam Bouquet. This product is apart of my Diamond collection. Our Diamond Roses and not only super sparkly, but they also include a personalized diamond sash that my customers are loving right now!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three most important things that I’ve learned in my quest of becoming a successful floral business owner is motivation, creativity, and persistence.
You have to be 100 percent motivated and “all in” to be successful in anything you choose to do in life. What motivates me is my passion for creating with my hands. Also my Husband and 3 small children keep me going strong because all I want to do is make them proud!
Brainstorming is important especially to me because Brainstorming allows me to enter into my own whimsical world and exit with new colorful ideas that I can apply into the real world meaning my flower bouquets. Remember no idea is a bad idea. Don’t be afraid to explore your inner thoughts and bring them to life!
Last but not least, never give up! As cliche as it sounds, this is so true! Persistence is the key that drives the success! It doesn’t matter how tired I am from my little ones or my business, I always make sure I keep going!
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
The real world can be very chaotic and sometimes the outside world creates a lot of inside stress for me. I use to suffer with extreme anxiety and depression a year ago. But the one thing that I am grateful for is one of my friends introducing me to a Licensed Reiki Meditation Wellness Therapist.
When I become overwhelmed I practice Reiki Meditation which is a form of energy healing and breath work which helps you focus on different breathing techniques to calm your body.
Meditation has completely changed my life and mindset. When I Meditate daily I feel myself becoming more grounded and focused. Meditation is one of the tools that I use to overcome being overwhelmed and is something that everyone should try.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://chocolatesunflowers.myshopify.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chocolatesunflowersllc?igsh=Mm01bXJ3NHJnMzQ3
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@chocolate.sunflowers?_t=8likCrpN5wc&_r=1
