We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Teneka Williams. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Teneka below.
Teneka , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I don’t know if I really think of it as resilience, it’s likely that I don’t know any better. I just woke up one day and said to myself, “I’mma open a flower shop”, and I did. I am not a serial entrepreneur. Prior to opening the shop, I worked as a Librarian for the Visually Impaired for fifteen years. I did, however, see a great need in my community for a flower shop. Years ago, while attending an Leadership cohort as a Librarian, the speaker walked in the room and said, “Your calling is where your passion meets a need in the world.”
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am focused on expanding the flower shop and offering the community a stimulating retail experience in a boutique gardenscape for event use and leisure. I love the feeling I get when I sit in my garden, it relaxes me and gives me an opportunity to connect with nature. Our current world is very busy, we move around from place to place with very little time to reflect. As a working Wife and Mother, I still like to find time to dream. As an Atlanta native, I am most excited that our floral bouquets honor the communities, culture and history of Atlanta.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Consistency, Dedication, and Vision, Starting a business and building a brand is an continuous learning experience. If you combine that with external factors that are not in your control, it’s only consistency that will sustain your business. Dedicating yourself to quickly recognizing what works for you and building on the small successes. Lastly, even now as my flower shop is in a shipping container I know what my ultimate vision is and work daily to create and sustain the monthly and quarterly goals I need to get there.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I am accessible, I work at my shop everyday and always looking to connect. This is a new venture for me so it is important that I am open to advice and consulting. Currently, I would love to connect with a non-profit to develop a garden space on undeveloped land or a commercial space to expand Royal Petals ATL. Currently, the flower shop is housed in a shipping container in the iVillage@ MLK. It has been a great opportunity to start my business with an incubator cohort, but Royal Petals ATL is ready to bloom into our next phase.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.RoyalPetalsATL.com
- Instagram: Royal Petals ATL
- Facebook: Royal Petals ATL
- Other: Tik Tok-Royal Petals ATL
