An open letter from our Co-Owner, and Co-Bad Ass Boss Babe, Molly Gaddy:
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Hi. I am writing this as my first (and more than likely, only) blog post.
Jennifer is the writer in our business partnership. I’m usually the one doodling or sketching when someone is talking. Not because I'm not paying attention or care, it is because my mind fires differently. Call it strange or annoying but I was the kid who was always spinning pencils on my fingers when I listened to the teacher’s lecture. Writing to me has always been personal. It has always been a process I find therapeutic and honest. When I write something down I want it to mean something. It needs to be heart felt, honest and authentic. Call it old-school, but when I look at someone who blogs all the time or writes clever posts I always wonder, “Is that REALLY what they are thinking or what they want me to think or feel or buy? Who are they- really- behind the veil of the inter-webs?” I think I needed a platform or purpose for a post that could show the real me in my writing.
I read something today that said this experience ( covid 19 ) will allow companies / businesses to get more vulnerable and in fact last night on Sixty Minutes they interviewed Brene Brown who is the queen of of vulnerability (and if you aren’t listening to her pod cast, Unlocking Us or her Ted Talk , you should). So, I took it as a sign that I should rip the bandaid off and do an official blog post for Flourish.
After all
“Vulnerability is not weakness, and that myth is profoundly dangerous, vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.” ~ Brene Brown
This quote resonates with me. Before the Covid-19 restrictions went into effect, our calendar was packed. We had just come off the high of doing a beautiful wedding that previous Saturday; the Sunday before that we did a 50th Birthday celebration. We were also set to install a huge project the week of the 16th. The news of required cease to all non-essential business operations came as much of a blow to us as it did to most of the event industry. Our first reaction was shock, and second was to come up with a plan. First thing on the plan was to give ourselves time to cry, scream, be angry, stressed, lay in bed—what ever we needed to shake off the initial shock— and once that was over we committed to coming up with a routine and direct plan of action.
We had to be vulnerable. We have been forced to face the what-if in every scenario.
I don’t know about anyone else, but this was the awakening I personally needed to see and to feel who I need to be on a daily.
“You can choose courage or you can choose comfort but you cannot choose both” ~ Brene Brown
I needed something this massive to push me out of my comfort zone and to say, “why not write a blog post? Why not tell people how I feel?” For the first few days I searched for inspiration. I went through the numerous photos of all the weddings, parties, corporate events we have done that best represented something I wanted to write about. It wasn’t long before I found that every single image I was picking, or the ones I liked the most, contained color. And not just color, but TONS of colors. BOLD COLOR. If you know me, you know I have an affinity towards black. I would design every event in all black if I could. It is my go to. So why, in such a depressing time, was I seeing rainbows? Literally. Why did I want color? The color made me feel more inspired, more innovative and more creative every time I scrolled through and saw the beautiful creations in bold eye-catching colors. My heart felt the handiwork and our Flourish spirit behind every design. The boldness made me smile. It made me feel brave.
In our business, bright eclectic color palettes are not the usual trend and typically not what brides want. It does seem to be the trend to post and curate beautiful blogs and Instagram stories using light and airy blush and bashful color stories (extra credit if you get that reference). Jen and I obsess over every picture we post. We have found ourselves asking each other if our Instagram or website looks strange because it has too much color. I guess it took being quarantined in my home for 16 days to make me feel the power of color. Our company was founded on being brave, being confident, being ourselves.
So, I refuse to conform to write my first blog post about “blush and bashful”. I refuse to obsess over photos and only post what is “perfect”.
Today I will post proudly. Rainbows and Bold Color. I want to celebrate kindness.
I want to high-five those people with courage. I want to say thank you to the people who have a tendency to lean into the darkness and are finding their light. It’s not easy. You are not alone.
Looking for rainbows can happen even inside your homes and I felt like my first blog post should highlight that.
Enjoy these photos. I want to share my favorite bold color statements from Flourish. The ones that make me proud of us. The ones that make me smile. Hopefully they do the same for you.
Be brave out there.
Stay Happy and Healthy.
Love,
Molly