As creatives, we are givers. We pour a lot of energy and time into the output side of work — partly because we love what we do, and partly because society rewards us for it. As creative business owners, we wear all the hats, which can give rise to a belief that if we let up at all, or if we step back to put ourselves or our own life first for a bit, things will start to fall apart.

As things get busier, it can seem less and less possible to find space for self-care and the side of the energy continuum that is the input, or the opportunity to receive support and nourishment yourself, so that you can continue with your creative business output. This is not sustainable, and luckily, it's not the only way forward.

This is an episode for the creatives, the artists, and the entrepreneurs who find it challenging to find time for self-care, to prioritize life outside of work, or to fill your own cup when there are so many demands and responsibilities on you in the work that you do. And believe me, I have been there. And it is really important to me to share these tools and perspectives with you in this episode so that you can continue to produce because you are also able to receive.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• How language influences our reality and beliefs

• Embracing gray areas to foster trust and reduce stress
  
• Introducing the term "self-steady" to support a healthy work ethic
  
• The power of mantras and affirmations, and how to build your own
  
• Self-awareness exercises to maintain balance and prevent burnout

Links to Connect

Jen’s Nectar & Bloom Instagram: @nectar_and_bloom

https://www.instagram.com/nectar_and_bloom 

Called to Bloom Instagram: @calledtobloompodcast 

https://www.instagram.com/calledtobloompodcast 

Called to Bloom Show Notes: Episode 13 Show Notes: https://www.nectarandbloomfloral.com/blogs/podcast/the-sweet-spot-between-serving-others-and-self-care  

Episode Sponsors

This episode of the Called to Bloom podcast is brought to you by the Poetry of Flowers holistic online floral education: https://www.nectarandbloomfloral.com/pages/courses

Where you create, the space where your creative work takes place, the environment you set up and step into in order to dream, design, and generate is like a home for your inner artist.

It is a shelter and a sanctuary, whether it is a spacious workshop or a quiet nook in a peaceful room. No matter what the size, location, or details it possesses, it is your creative studio. It is both a physical location for your work and an atmosphere in which to do it. It houses the materials and methods that you use in a way that tells the evolving story of your creative journey.

A studio, which simply means the place where you create is a companion to you throughout the long hours and the busy weeks and the slow seasons and the transformative years of your creative work or business. And it is a key element of what you do that impacts you subtly, constantly, and profoundly.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• Studio Evolution: transforming a space into a dream studio
  
• My Studio Journey: recommendations, inspiration, and learning moments
  
• Essential Elements: key components for a functional workspace
  
• Renting vs. Renovating: pros and cons of different studio options
  
• Creative Flexibility: the importance of a multi-purpose workspace
  
• Growth and Adaptation: tips for how to transform any space into a studio

Links to Connect

Jen’s Nectar & Bloom Instagram: @nectar_and_bloom

https://www.instagram.com/nectar_and_bloom 

Called to Bloom Instagram: @calledtobloompodcast 

https://www.instagram.com/calledtobloompodcast 

Called to Bloom Show Notes: https://www.nectarandbloomfloral.com/blogs/podcast/how-i-transformed-my-garage-into-a-dream-design-studio 

Episode Sponsor(s)

This episode of the Called to Bloom podcast is brought to you by Nectar & Bloom Mentorships: https://www.nectarandbloomfloral.com/pages/mentorship

The important thing is you can change and you can start anew. And it is normal and healthy to allow yourself to evolve and realign in your career, whether that takes shape as a big pivot into a new industry or a transition within the creative business you've already started.

Sometimes all you need is to be reminded that it is actually you who gets to give yourself permission to begin again. Whether you are in a job you do not love or whether you are in the midst of a creative career but just in serious need of a new direction or a chance to expand, this episode is for you.

In today's episode of the Called to Bloom podcast, I'm going to guide you through how to know when it is time for a new chapter, what obstacles you may encounter along the way, tools to help you navigate the transition, insights into how flowers can actually be an avenue of self-discovery, and how to get clear so you can start building a path forward for yourself that brings you life.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• Navigating Change and Letting Yourself Evolve
  
  
• Flowers as a Path to Personal & Professional Transformation
  
  
• Signs It’s Time to Let Yourself Change Direction
  
  
• What Obstacles to Expect & Tools to Help you Overcome
  
  
• How to Get Clear and Start Building Your New Path Forward
  
  

Links to Connect

Jen’s Nectar & Bloom Instagram: @nectar_and_bloom

https://www.instagram.com/nectar_and_bloom 

Called to Bloom Instagram: @calledtobloompodcast 

https://www.instagram.com/calledtobloompodcast 

Called to Bloom Show Notes:

https://www.nectarandbloomfloral.com/blogs/podcast/permission-to-begin-again-time-for-a-new-creative-chapter

Episode Sponsor(s)

This episode of the Called to Bloom podcast is brought to you by the Poetry of Flowers holistic online floral education: https://www.nectarandbloomfloral.com/pages/courses

Mark your calendar: new episodes of Called to Bloom arrive this month! Starting on May 27th and running all the way through September, I’ll be dropping a new episode every other Wednesday. That’s 20 weeks of deep dives into floral artistry, health & wellbeing, empowered entrepreneurship, and stepping deeper into an aligned creative life.

In this upcoming set, we are delving into everything from how I transformed my simple garage into an aligned creative studio to how to grow your business and build wealth to the unexpected benefits of yoga and Ayurveda on your creativity and business.

Whether you are a devoted listener or just joining us, these episodes are all designed to be timeless resources that you can benefit from and refer back to anytime you need them.

And if you’re looking to catch up on anything you might have missed during our break, all ten previous episodes are available right now for you to explore and enjoy.

I am so excited to meet you here again in the magical airwaves in just a few days! Until then my friends, keep blooming, and I’ll talk to you again soon.

Links to Connect

Jen’s Nectar & Bloom Instagram: @nectar_and_bloom

https://www.instagram.com/nectar_and_bloom 

Called to Bloom Instagram: @calledtobloompodcast 

https://www.instagram.com/calledtobloompodcast 

Called to Bloom Show Notes:

https://www.nectarandbloomfloral.com/blogs/podcast/my-favorite-trick-to-unlock-your-creative-potential

This is all about renewal and creative expansion, a celebratory finale for our first season of Called to Bloom, where I am sharing with you a trick I discovered along the way that always returns me to that playful and infinite source of creative possibilities. 

The goal is to open new pathways to explore, nurture, and refresh your creative practice with a new perspective that empowers you to find cues and inspiration in the whole world around you. 

What catches your interest or makes you curious? What are you passionate about? What method, practice, study, art form or industry do you know like the back of your hand? 

This is all a wealth of inspiration that you can use to inform and transform your creative process as well as what you create. And it's time for you to have this trick up your sleeve now too.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• Discovering the Tool of Creative Translation
  
• A Step-By-Step Guide for How to Use This Trick
  
• Examples & Uses of this Creative Tool in Action
  
• The Origins of This Creative Tool For Me
  
• Expanded Translation Tricks to Try

Links to Connect

Jen’s Nectar & Bloom Instagram: @nectar_and_bloom

https://www.instagram.com/nectar_and_bloom 

Called to Bloom Instagram: @calledtobloompodcast 

https://www.instagram.com/calledtobloompodcast 

Called to Bloom Show Notes:

https://www.nectarandbloomfloral.com/blogs/podcast/my-favorite-trick-to-unlock-your-creative-potential

Episode Sponsors:
This episode of the Called to Bloom podcast is brought to you by the Poetry of Flowers holistic online floral education: https://www.nectarandbloomfloral.com/pages/courses

During busy seasons we can get really out of balance — we get caught up, wound up, overwhelmed, or just spread a little too thin — especially as sensitive creatives who are very in tune with and responsive to our environments. The energy is high in a busy season, expectations are high, timelines can be tight, and we can lose track of our own needs while we tend to the demands and opportunities all around us. 

Even when we are doing things we love and value, whether for our businesses and the people we serve or the people we love, a constant state of output and productivity is not sustainable. 

What we need are accessible self-care practices that are easy to find, easy to do, and that allow us to return to balance again through simply receiving and through nourishing our bodies and nervous systems so that we can rest and feel refreshed for a new season in alignment.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• Cycles & Rhythms  — self-care practices & how they bring balance
  
• Sound & Frequencies — self-care practices & how they bring balance
  
• Bodywork & Somatics — self-care practices & how they bring balance
  
• Introspection & Reflection — self-care practices & how they bring balance
  
• Connection & Community  — self-care practices & how they bring balance

Links to Connect

Jen’s Nectar & Bloom Instagram: @nectar_and_bloom

https://www.instagram.com/nectar_and_bloom 

Called to Bloom Instagram: @calledtobloompodcast 

https://www.instagram.com/calledtobloompodcast 

Called to Bloom Show Notes:

https://www.nectarandbloomfloral.com/blogs/podcast/self-care-for-balance-the-renewal-you-have-been-seeking

How do you create a business in a creative field that supports you and is financially stable, at least, and better yet abundantly successful? Are you even allowed to do what you love for a living? How long does it take for this dream venture to become reliable or profitable? And then once you get it going, can you actually count on this creative venture for your livelihood?

In the same breath as you experience those butterflies or that rush of excitement about what you want to step into as your new aligned dream line of work, you're probably also equally dragged down a bit by the heavy but reasonable questions and doubts, including what is the real outlook and viability of this venture?

And can a small business doing something I love become financially reliable?

Many, if not most, designers, as an example, begin purely out of a genuine love for flowers, and a love for the powerful experience of sharing them with others.

Passion is so important for getting anything started — and, we also want to make sure you start and build in a smart way with a good plan, realistic expectations, and a smart approach to finances that helps you get off the ground and carries you into growth and abundance.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• Increasing Profits and Smart Money Management — 06:00
  
• Mindset and Emotional Blocks Around Money — 07:33
  
• Practical Tips for Increasing Profits — 11:52
  
• Aligning Work with Fulfillment — 15:15
  
• Understanding Pricing and Value — 16:38
  
• Attracting Your Ideal Clients — 23:09
  
• The Art of Knowing When to Say No — 30:27
  
• Getting Paid — 35:10
  
• Building Financial Freedom — 40:14
  
• Conclusion and Next Steps — 49:52

Links to Connect

Jen’s Nectar & Bloom Instagram: @nectar_and_bloom

https://www.instagram.com/nectar_and_bloom 

Called to Bloom Instagram: @calledtobloompodcast 

https://www.instagram.com/calledtobloompodcast 

Called to Bloom Show Notes:

https://www.nectarandbloomfloral.com/blogs/podcast/get-smart-with-money-increase-profits-and-build-abundance

Stepping into a new decade is a rich experience. It feels actually powerful and significant, like a new milestone on the journey of life has just been reached, and like a whole new decade of possibility has just opened up. I've always felt like entering a new decade is kind of magical. You only enter one every 10 years, and you only get another new decade birthday after another entire 10 years have been lived.

In my recent experience, it's exciting turning 40 and I'm happy to report from the other side that I do not feel old or awkward as I might have feared in my 20s. It's weird, but in some ways I feel younger and lighter than I did in my 20s and 30s. And part of that is because I've lived more, I've healed a lot and I've done so much inner work to evolve and be able to step more into alignment.

I've made mistakes and pivoted and rebuilt. I've overextended and course corrected and learned to let things go. I've faced myself and the painful patterns of my conditioning, which is a process that I don't think is ever really finished, but that gets easier as you go along. And I'm still here and still on the journey and still learning and growing, maybe in the best ways yet.

In this episode of Called to Bloom, and as a newly minted 40-year-old myself, I am sharing with you all my best insights, including realizations, mindset shifts, tips, practices, exercises, and guidance for how to thrive in the middle of life and beyond.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• Embracing a New Decade — 00:00
  
• The Truth About Aging — 04:14
  
• Living Longer, Not Just Getting Older — 09:28
  
• Discovering What Really Matters — 12:59
  
• The Paradox of Aging and Growth — 17:44
  
• The Power of Affirmations — 24:33
  
• Living Without Regrets: A Call to Action — 27:25
  
• The Importance of Following Your Passion — 31:42
  
• Cultivating Your Superpower: The Hero Within — 33:17

Links to Connect

Called to Bloom Instagram: @calledtobloompodcast 

https://www.instagram.com/calledtobloompodcast 

Jen’s Nectar & Bloom Instagram: @nectar_and_bloom

https://www.instagram.com/nectar_and_bloom 

Called to Bloom Show Notes:

https://www.nectarandbloomfloral.com/blogs/podcast/turning-40-insights-for-thriving-in-the-middle-of-life

Imagine yourself stepping into your creative space, feeling calm, open, refreshed, and ready. Imagine the light filling your studio or spilling onto your work table and the cool sensation of fresh flower stems in your hands Imagine feeling deeply centered paired with a spark of wonder that draws you forward down the unlit but fragrant path of the unknown. The path of the creative process that we discover anew each time we bring something beautiful into being.

You feel confident, self-assured, and completely okay with seeing what happens as you bring together the elements and layers of your design. You lose track of time. You are transfixed as though both participating in and just witnessing a colorful world of emotion emerge in front of you. This is what it feels like to be in your magic flow.

Now let's be a bit more brutally honest. How did it feel the last time you brought flowers into your space to arrange? What was on your mind? How did your body feel? How did your creative space feel? Did you feel like you had time to explore? Were you agitated and distracted or frozen at times with doubt about your ability, or finding yourself fussing over stems and smushing another flower in here or there in hopes that the shape and overall effect would somehow shift away from what felt to you like a clumpy mess and into some kind of transcendent living art that you had in your mind's eye.

I've experienced it all and over the years I have learned a lot of hard lessons and also honed a set of practices that actually helped me to minimize the chaos and agony so that I can step more easily and more often into my creative process with that shimmery, exciting and somehow also deeply calm experience of a flow state or a magic flow.

Recently, a fellow floral designer reached out to me and asked this question: "Do you have a kind of method when it comes to designing? I'm trying to figure out that ~ magic flow ~ to centerpieces still." I love this question. And as I pulled my thoughts together to answer her, I realized, I bet you could benefit from hearing this too. And now in this episode of the Called to Bloom podcast, I am sharing all of my tips, insights and steps for finding your magic flow in your design work too.

In this episode, we cover:

• What is a Magic Flow and Why Do We Want It
  
  
• Overcoming Barriers: What Gets in the Way, and What We Can Do
  
  
• How to Holistically Prepare for Creativity
  
  
• Specific Design Process Tips and Protocols
  
  
• The Art of Surrender and Acceptance

Links to Connect

Called to Bloom Instagram: @calledtobloompodcast 

https://www.instagram.com/calledtobloompodcast 

Jen’s Nectar & Bloom Instagram: @nectar_and_bloom

https://www.instagram.com/nectar_and_bloom 

Called to Bloom Show Notes:
https://www.nectarandbloomfloral.com/blogs/podcast/how-to-find-that-magic-flow-in-your-design-work 

What if I told you that there exists an incredible system for improved health, wellbeing, creativity, and business success — one that personalizes wellbeing and success to your body, your personality type, and your current season of life? What if I told you that this system meets you where you are, is gentle and super accessible, and is able to meet and support you at any stage of career or season of life? 

This is not a whimsical pie-in-the-sky fantasy. It’s also not a health trend or fleeting fad, and it’s nothing you have to buy. This is an ancient, holistic system of health and wellbeing that completely reshaped both my business and my personal life for the better, and it is a healing science that impacted me so deeply that I was inspired to pursue two certifications in it, first as a Holistic Coach and then a Health Counselor, because I wanted to learn everything I could to be able to live its benefits myself and to share share it with you, my fellow creative who is inspired by nature and called to create. 

The system that has had such a huge impact on my life and work that I am sharing with you today is called Ayurveda, and I am going to guide you through the key concepts and tools that I have found to be most helpful, effective, and transformative for the better in my business and in my life. 

I am SO excited to share this episode with you on a topic that is so near and dear to my heart and one that has been such a huge source of supportive guidance as I have ridden the waves and gone through pivots, growth, burnout, big lessons, and aligned expansion inherent to the journey of creative entrepreneurship and floral artistry. I can’t wait for you to have these tools in your self-care and creative repertoire too!

In this episode, we cover:

• What is Ayurveda — its purpose, origins, how I discovered it, and what I loved about it from the beginning

• Life-changing essentials of Ayurveda — key concepts & what I have found to be most useful, helpful, and transformative

• How to discover your constitution and understand your nature — personalize and optimize your health and happiness 

• How the framework of Ayurveda can help improve both creativity and business, and how it guides what is optimal for you in floral design
• Where to start & how integrate these resources with ease to optimize your creativity, work, and wellbeing

Links to Connect

Called to Bloom Instagram: @calledtobloompodcast 
https://www.instagram.com/calledtobloompodcast

Jen’s Nectar & Bloom Instagram: @nectar_and_bloom

https://www.instagram.com/nectar_and_bloom 

Called to Bloom Show Notes:
https://www.nectarandbloomfloral.com/blogs/podcast/the-holistic-system-that-reshaped-my-life-and-business