Inspirations

I’ve done it and I am so excited! I have just booked my tickets to Holly Becker and Leslie Shewring’s Day of Color, Styling and Photography on 4th March… In New York! I’ve long admired Leslie’s approach to colour and photography and with my book manuscript nearing completion, I know that now is the perfect time to up my game when it comes to styling (even though I plan to draft a pro in to take the photos).

I’ll have what she’s having

Leslie has the knack of putting together the most stunning photographs and I just love her creative, light, fresh approach. Just take a look at these beauties to see what I mean…

All images: Leslie Shewring/ Holly Becker

So add to that creativity the amazing Holly Becker, the woman behind Decor8 and the author of the book Decorate I think we have a pretty irresistible class. In fact, so much so that I’ve been trying to talk myself out of going for the past three weeks but I just had to give in and book today!

It’s all part of my mission to create something really big and exciting this year.

It feels like we’re all thinking very big at Flourish right now. So many positive things have happened over the past six months that this trip really feels like a big part of the journey. I can’t wait to spend the day immersing myself in creativity and meeting the other class delegates. I’m also looking forward to getting back to New York and just taking everything in.

I was last in New York almost 12 years ago just after my graduation. I fell in love with the busy, chic and vibrant city and I’ve always wanted to go back but the time was never right. It feels like it could be now.

So I have one question for you. I’ll have a couple of days to just mooch about before the class starts, and I’m already making a little list in my head of places to go (Anthropologie, Purl and J Crew for starters) but I would love your advice. Where should I go? I’d love your New York shopping, eating and general amazingness tips!

Ps. Thank you to Karen and Suzanne for making going to the USA for a workshop not seem like a crazy thing to do Enjoy your time with Yanick Silver!

Tagged as , decor8 eclass, holly becker, leslie shewring, NYC color photography styling workshop in Big Thinking, Fiona's Book, Flourish Stuff

We are quote tastic this week aren’t we? I’m so inspired by my class on the Branding Masterclass that I’m feeling all high fives and inspirational mantras. And as this was one of my favourites I just had to share it with you.

So what’s holding you back? And more to the point, what are you going to do about it?

Tagged as in Big Thinking, Inspirations

It can be so easy to listen to the wrong people can’t it? The naysayers, the doom mongers or general energy sappers?

Surely being successful in business is about having the energy and inspiration to find your way through when things get tough? And believe me I know how difficult that can be. But when things get tough, I think we often get into a downward spiral by listening to people who are going through a tougher time than ourselves and letting them drag us down.

What we really need to do is spend time around people who can help us get back on our feet, inspire us to reconnect with our businesses and just crack on with everything.

I was talking to a client last week whose business is going through a tough time. He is a tree surgeon and things are less than booming. He still has a full complement of staff, is working hard to generate more business and is finding as much for his team to do as possible. But it’s hard. It’s nerve wracking, depressing and draining. And it can feel like you’re working twice as hard as normal and you’re still sliding backwards.

Apparently other local tree surgeons are down to 3 days a week. They’re laying off staff and it seems inevitable to my client that things are on the decline. But this is precisely the problem with hanging around with the wrong people isn’t it? They encourage you to see the world through their eyes, you adopt a defeatist attitude and before you know it, your business needs to cut it’s staff back to three days a week too.

I’m not doubting the fact that it’s tough. And tough times don’t just affect us business owners financially. This is personal. But we have to find a way to stay inspired and make the most of the opportunities don’t we? And there are opportunities out there, even if we have to work that bit harder to find them.

What do you think?

Tagged as in Big Thinking, Inspirations

These bright, crisp days are just what we needed aren’t they? There’s a lot happening at Flourish at the moment which we’re all finding incredibly inspiring. Team promotions, new designers, some very exciting client projects, the launch of the branding masterclass, oh, and the small matter of a nip tuck to the Flourish brand identity [...]

Tagged as in Colour Psychology, Inspirations

Sunny day, clear skies and fire in my belly. What’s not to be optimistic about? What plans do you have for your business this year? What would you be doing if nothing was standing in your way? It’s something to think about isn’t it? Image Credits: The Best is Yet to Come print Etsy, Kate Spade [...]

Tagged as in Inspirations

I love this quote, don’t you? ‘Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass it is about learning to dance in the rain’ I love it because it continues to remind me that whatever is going on beyond our control, we have the capacity to be able to choose our own destiny. None of [...]

Tagged as in Big Thinking, Branding, Inspirations

Whether you’re sharing my fighting spirit and optimism from my last post, or you’re feeling a bit jaded after the seasonal festivities and a lack of direction I would love for you to join me on my Branding Masterclass. It’s an online class that starts on 6th Feb and runs for a month. You can [...]

Tagged as in Branding, Fiona's Book, Flourish Stuff, Inspirations, Marketing, Workshops

The challenge with most business planning methods is that they don’t seem to take much of you into account. Plan for Super Success! (whatever that means); Turbo Charge your Business for the New Year and so on… What about what you want? And perhaps that is what you want, but it always helps to be asked. As a part of our [...]

Tagged as in Business Strategy, Inspirations, Marketing

It’s around this time of year that most of us start looking forwards to what we’d like to get out of our businesses next year. And ahead of the first of my Focus and Flourish workshops I have been mulling over a question I ask myself a lot: what does success look like to me? [...]

Tagged as , focus and flourish in Big Thinking, Workshops

Have you started thinking about how you’re going to say thank you to your clients at Christmas time yet? I love buying and creating gifts to give to our clients because it gives me the opportunity to flex my crafty and creative muscles and create something really unique and memorable. I’m afraid I’m not one [...]

Tagged as , christmas, christmas gift ideas, christmas presents in Inspirations, Marketing