Hard to believe it is 2018 now! Where did 2017 go? At Maxit Flower Design, we fully believe that setting goals and looking forward involves a reflection on what happened over the last 365. After thought and discussion, these are the top 5 lessons that we learned in 2017.
Lesson Number 1: It takes the right combination of people to make magic. Every year we get to meet so many new vendors that quickly become friends and are always joyed to collaborate with them. Whether it be for weddings, intimate parties, or just a cup of coffee and discussion, these people fill our studio and life to support us, dream with us, and work alongside us to create some of the most wonderful times! One of these regular collaborators is the wonderful Courtney from Little Coterie who styled this shoot. (Photography by Three Smudges Photography, Linens by Lettrefina, Food by Casually Gourmet, Signage by Slinging Inks, Florals by Maxit Flower Design)
Lesson Number 2: You never stop learning. We were very fortunate to welcome Kiana Underwood of Tulipina Design and her team into our studio for a week of production which of course came with the gracious opportunity to learn and pick her brain on all things flowers! It was truly one of those experiences from 2017 that we cherish. And sometimes its great to take a break from doing all of the creative direction to sweep up and clean buckets for someone else!
Lesson Number 3: Finding your 'Number 2' is important. In 2017, Maria teamed up with Amy McGee of Botanical Brouhaha to create the Botanical Brouhaha podcast. (Insert shameless plug where we recommend you go download and listen to all the episodes here!) In the creation and continuous development of the podcast, Maria serves as Amy's support and sounding board. Spending time in the shoes of a 'number 2' has provided her with insight and lessons that she can take back to utilize in her own business.
Lesson Number 4: Crafting systems for growth in business is pivotal. 2017 brought a new office manager to the Maxit Flower Design team, our own 'number 2' if you will. We will officially introduce Ashley here on the blog soon, but the last few months we have been honing in on and developing the systems needed to get to our 'next level'. She provides not only a sounding board but can focus solely on things like our booking process and the 'paperwork side' to our weddings, scheduling, and managing day to day tasks in our studio which allows for Maria to spend more time crafting and dreaming up amazing new things.
Lesson Number 5: There is no special sauce. The ups and downs that inevitably occur during the course of 365 days really reminded us that the 'secret to success' truly is made of tenacity, grit, and a lot of hard work. There is no instant solution and growth takes time. For us it has been 8 years of sweat and passion to bring Maxit Flower Design to this point in time.
This point in time in which many things are coming together to create an amazing place to jump (with our collective team feet) into this amazingness that we know 2018 will be. As long as we keep that tenacity and grit and acceptance of hard work posted on the wall to push us on!
What lessons did you learn in 2017? We hope that some of our lessons resonate with you at this start of a new year and are so beyond excited to get to work on our big ideas and goals! Cheers to 2018! May it bring you all the joy and success that you desire! XOXO