What Orchids Taught Me About Growing A Thriving Business
I saw my first orchid IRL when I moved to Los Angeles, and right there, in my local Trader Joe's, were orchids to buy. For $12.
I took one home and a month later, it died.
I bought another one. It bit the dust too.
My friend Janice got me an orchid on my birthday. I flashed her an extra large "You shouldn't have" smile, because let's face it, her gift was destined for orchid heaven.
The orchid gifts kept on coming – each one ending up alone in a Hefty bag with me telling them I'm sorry, asking for forgiveness, and drowning my guilt in frozen yogurt.
Then one day...
A new friend (a florist!) brought me a spectacular, custom-designed arrangement of orchids on my birthday (he didn't get my "no orchid" memo). A trio of white phalaenopsis plants stretched out like ballerinas leaping from this silver vase, studded with rhinestones. Perfect for the Beverly Hills Hotel, not me.
He'd made this exquisite masterpiece himself. If I killed it, I could never face him. Or myself.
So I poured over YouTube videos. Guess what I learned?
What looked dead on the surface wasn't dead at all. It was a part of the natural cycle of growth.
I followed the steps the orchid youtuber gave me. No visible progress for months. Until one day, I saw a baby green stem.
They bloomed ten times over – because I embraced the dip.
Dips are a natural part of the process of building any thriving business or creative venture.
My mentor Danielle Leslie, made $8,000 in her first year of business, $50k in her second year, $1.1 million her third, and well, multimillions since.
Every 7-figure entrepreneur I respect has told me they had only 2-5 people sign up for their first offer (most of whom were family members).
My first program had only one student enrolled a week before. Instead of quitting, I kept going anyway, filled up the program that evolved into a business I'd always wanted.
If I'd given in to the 20+ thoughts I had to quit, this business wouldn’t exist.
And that trio of orchids? They lived on for many years. Friends bought me orchids and had a window sill full of them. My business continues to blossom too, dipping and growing back bigger each cycle.
Here’s four dip-busting lessons I learned in the trenches of growing my brand storytelling business in this interview I did with ShoutoutLA.
What’s one thing you do to embrace the dips in your work? Send me an email, I’d love to know.
