3 things my garden has taught me about business ownership

For the last four years, gardening has been a creative and grounding (literally) outlet for me. I love everything that gardening entails: dreaming, planning, getting my hands dirty, watering, waiting, watching growth, harvesting, eating fresh vegetables and creating bouquets.  The process connects me to myself and creation, and reminds me to slow down and recognize the simple and exquisite beauty of nature. 

Gardening has taught me so much—about life, about myself, about the earth, and also about…design. Yup, you heard that right. Design. My profession. Buckle in, here we go. I’m about to attempt to connect gardening, life, and design. Here are 3 things my garden has taught me about business ownership (and about life).

1. The changing of seasons is required for growth – in the garden and in business.

   
   

   

   
   

   Different types of plants thrive in different seasons and climates. Many types of veg and flowers that I grow only bloom or yield for a short timeframe. Several of them even require a season of dormancy in order to produce the most fruitful harvest. Some plants bloom for just a week or two, some bloom for 4-6 weeks, and others bloom all summer long. As a self-employed brand designer, my workload seems to follow the pattern of “feast or famine.” Often I feel as if I’m either hemorrhaging work or questioning if I’ll have enough clients to pay myself this month. Much of my business ebbs and flows and changes with the seasons. Sometimes the changes are linked to the calendar season and sometimes they are not. After more than a year of riding the waves of inconsistency, I wonder if I can learn a few things from the plants and vegetables that have seasons of dormancy and abundance. Neither is “bad” and both are necessary. A season of rest is required for plants to have the energy to flourish. I am learning that slow seasons in business are required to have the stamina for busy seasons. Both contribute to growth and flourishing. 

2. Flowers are stubborn and will grow in all kinds of wonky ways to find the sunlight. Maybe business growth requires stubbornness too.

   
   

   

   
   

   If you have grown any type of plant before, you may understand exactly what I’m talking about. Because I fill my garden to the brim, by mid-August, many of the plants are busting out of their raised beds. When they are competing for space, they will move in whatever way they need to to get that sunlight they require to grow. They’re quite stubborn and yet they are great light-finders. Sometimes I get lost in the hustle of growth, competition, and success—as a business owner and just as a human. I can feel like I’m behind as I watch other people’s lives and businesses fly up around me. These little stubborn flowers just keep growing—even if their path is far from linear like the sprouts around them—and they find the sunlight. Maybe I can learn from the stubborn beauty of these flowers that carve their own path and find the sunlight no matter what. My path of business ownership and personal growth has been far from straightforward, and yet I keep searching for the nourishment that will keep me growing. 

3. A bouquet is made more interesting and more beautiful with a diversity of plant varieties. Business isn't meant to be done solo.

   
   

   Some of the most beautiful bouquets I’ve created are made by combining multiple different varieties of plants. Each flower or stem brings its own unique personality, texture, and color to enhance the whole. On their own, each plant is beautiful, but when combined, they add to each one’s individuality while complimenting each other, forming an even more breathtaking arrangement. I think plants are meant to be enjoyed and admired as a collective.  Life as a business owner and designer often feels the same — like it is meant to be done in community. Much of my work is done solo in my home office. While the work I do is good and even beautiful, I think that work, growth, and business ownership aren’t meant to be done all alone. I am grateful to have found many different communities of others to learn from—local purpose-driven organizations, women-owned small businesses, graphic designers, creative studios, entrepreneurs, and many others. When I have invested in these people and places, and when I’m willing to learn from them, I am made richer for it. Communities that flourish, like beautiful bouquets, are made up of a variety of people, each bringing their unique personality and perspective to make the whole richer.