We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jasmin Pollard a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jasmin, thank you so much for making time for us. We’ve always admired your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?
I like to say that I am a calculated risk taker. I am willing to take a risk, but I have to be convinced that it will work out in my favor. When I started my business in 2018/2019 it was absolutely a risk, but I was confident enough in my experience and abilities that I was fully convinced that I would succeed. I think (for me) the key to developing my ability to “just go for it” has been rooted in having confidence in myself and trusting my gut.
I’ve heard it said that instead of thinking about what will happen if you will fail, you should flip the script and think “well what if I succeed?” The thought of attaining something I want or reaching a goal gives me the push I need to take the leap when there is a little bit of a risk involved.
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’m Jasmin–the owner of 100 West Floral Design. My company designs florals for weddings and events exclusively. Owning a floral business was never on my radar initially– I went to school for and completed a Bachelors of Music, but found my way into weddings shortly after graduating and haven’t looked back. I thrive in a “be your own boss” type of situation, and love having things look different week to week, so now that I am 5 years into owning 100 West, I realize why this is the perfect fit for me. I love that every week looks different in floral design; different weddings, different venues, color palettes, design styles, floral product, etc. I may be biased, but I think that florals make a wedding. They’re traditionally the main source of decor and are used to bring the color story of the wedding to life, so it’s a ton of fun getting to bring these events to life for my clients. I know every wedding vendor says this, but it truly is so special to me to be able to serve my couples in this way on their wedding day.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think having determination has been the number one quality that I posses that has impacted my journey. It’s helped me to keep going when things have been hard and pushed me to reach goals that I have set for myself. I also feel that being willing to learn from others and ask for guidance has been a game changer in my life. If you see someone in the place that you want to be, don’t be afraid to ask them to mentor you. Ask for advice, ask to shadow them- it’s a wonderful opportunity to learn from others. There are a lot of people out there with so much to offer. Be willing to learn from others.
Lastly, I would say to have confidence/believe in yourself. Your mindset determines a lot and it goes a long way to believe in your abilities and trust that you can do hard things!
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
Typically when I feel overwhelmed it’s because I have a mountain of things to do, so I usually start by doing a brain dump and making a list of everything that needs to be done. That in itself usually helps relieve a lot of the feelings I am having because I no longer have to work at trying to remember everything that I need to get done. After that I go over the list and come up with a plan of how to tackle things and then get to work! Checking things off a list is very satisfying for me so after making that list and getting to work on it, I can usually feel a lot better about things and less overwhelmed.
Asking for help is another way to lessen the load when overwhelmed. There are so many things on everyones plates these days and it doesn’t hurt to ask a friend to help lighten our load when we are overwhelmed.
Contact Info:
- Website: 100westfloraldesign.com
- Instagram: 100westfloraldesign
- Facebook: 100 West Floral Design
Image Credits
Image 1 – Jennifer Klink Photography Image 2 – 710 Photos Image 3 – Sarah Harvey Photo & Film Image 4 – Julia Noack Photography Image 5 – Cary Klein Photo
