When Flowers Teach Us

When I think of mums I think of cheery autumnal flowers that definitely are needed in my fall flower situation and put them in outdoor pots every October.  What I didn't know was mums can be cheery but they can also be unique and bespoke when you enter the world of heirloom chrysanthemums.  You can go down a major rabbit hole (start here if you're interested) but these flowers are killing it AND they are literally the last flowers standing in the garden come fall. 

It made me think - what else was I underestimating, thinking I knew everything and then having my world turned upside down with a whole other set of options?

an heirloom chrysanthemum 

When I started Erin's Faces, for me, it was an answer to prayer.  I had been working on fashion gigs and at beauty counters and wanted to have more purpose.  Making pretty people more "pretty" didn't feel awesome nor did standing around for hours waiting for someone to come to our counter in a store.  I prayed to be of service - to help people - without a particular lane in mind, and the seed for Erin's Faces was planted.  Since I felt like it had been an answer to prayer it didn't cross my mind that anything could ever shift or change.  It didn't occur to me that I could do something in addition to that because I felt like God had told me to do this one thing.  I never supposed it could have been "this - and".  Meaning, "do this AND do this". 

In talking with a business mentor he brought it to my attention and it was a gear grinding halt for me - a major "aha moment".  My mission statement with Erin's Faces is to empower, educate and include, and I focus on that a lot in our messaging, emails, social media posts, even how I write the product descriptions on our website.  But I realized it could be bigger than that - that Erin's Faces mission could to extend to other businesses and, believe it or not, other beauty brands. 

Earlier this summer I sat at a table in a NYC convention hall while a fellow beauty founder friend talked to me about her business and how she was worried about it - things have been really hard for small businesses post COVID.  She started crying at the table, lost with what to do.  I listened, took her hand and said, "I can help you".  She stopped crying, looked at me with surprise, and we made a date for our first session.    

Over the course of the next few months more beauty founders and small business owners who needed help fell into my lap and I've worked with every single one of them.  The best part is - they're so happy!  After we talk they feel like they have a solid to-do list and are reinvigorated with a PLAN.  It can feel so nebulous not to have a plan and I'm into dreaming paired with action steps.  And the second best part is - I LOVE IT.  

Do I think it's nutty to support my competition?  Maybe if I felt like there wasn't room for all of us, but I do - there's room.  And if something I suggest helps someone else and they "pass" us - I'd honestly be elated!  

Now, back to our flower analogy, I'm not comparing Erin's Faces to Home Depot mums!  I think Erin's Faces is an amazing company and I'm grateful for her.  But can her message spread even further than our walls?  Yes!  In ways I'd never thought of before!  Which has its own beauty.  Even if it's blooming later in the game, a la autumn, it's still valuable, necessary, and exciting.

I'm thinking and praying my way through this new consulting opportunity that has unfolded - it's swimming alongside Erin's Faces in lovely fashion and they're supporting one another.  And I'm literally growing both - just like my mums I got at the grocery store that are beautiful, happy and blooming, alongside some mum cuttings I've been nurturing since March that are about to open up and flower into something equally special but a little more individual.

If you have an online business and are interested in working together please shoot me an email - I'd love to chat and see if I can help!