Happy Spring!!

[CareyJo]

Hello Ladies!!

I had fully intended on Friday to post about Easter, wish everyone well and see how everyone is doing.  Obviously, I completely spaced that... I'm sorry.

How was everyone's Easter?

How are we all doing?

What's new in your corner of the world?

How's your weather?

How are you feeling about the season so far?

How are you feeling about your business this season?

Got any struggles going on that we can help with?

Let's get some conversation going and wish each other well! 

Spring has popped here in Montana and it's looking beautiful so far.  Winter forgot what month it was and thought it was going to try and show up.  It's typical for us to get spring snow from March through June.  But this year, since winter was so light in the valleys, she thought she could make an appearance.  We've had three major storms come through in the last month that provided white-out conditions and bad roads, lots of accidents.  It's getting warmer, got some nice days with spits of snow and rain in between, which is actually normal for us.  I'm worried about fire season this year, since we did not get enough snow and I'm actually sad that we didn't get to see feet of snow piled everywhere this year.  That's my favorite part of winter.

Business has been almost non-existent since September but is finally starting to pick back up.  Hope you all had a wonderful Easter, have a great spring and that you're businesses are doing well!

[ehflower]

Hello - We own a garden center and spring is spring...  Just taking it one day at a time.  I am blessed but it is hectic.  Thank you for taking the time to make me take the time to take a moment and know that it will all come out ok in the end even in this faster and furious(er) world that we are in.   Hopefully business will pick up and your fire fears are just that fears (however, have your go bag packed that is all you can do).  

[CareyJo]

Yes, I can imagine how crazy the chaos gets when you own a garden center, in the spring.  What a beautiful place to be though!  Outside, enjoying the sun and the flowers and feeling that reset!  What a joy that must be somedays!

You're welcome for the reminder and I hope you take it at least once a day, especially during this season.  You need it so much more now than the rest of the year.

Starting a gratitude journal last year really helped me.  I bought a book on Amazon called The Five-Minute Diary.  There are lines and prompts, all you have to do is fill it in.  I think it was $10.  I successfully did over 100 days in a row.  It really helped me to define a belief statement for myself.  A personal branding statement is completely different (I have a seminar for that).  I write it in the Daily Affirmation section of my page.  Re-wiring the neuropathways are so important and rather than trying to believe a lot of good things about myself (which isn't wrong), I wanted to narrow it down to very specific things.  I tried lots of different words until day 72 when I finalized them.  They are the things that "myself" needs to hear most.  This has been a huge mental shift for me and very positive.

On a side note... I love flower arranging.  I know you're a garden center and we have four flower gardens as well, but I love arranging bouquets.  I love walking through the gardens.  I can easily get lost in your space!  We change up our gardens every year, except for my perennials.  It's so fun!  It just really sucks that we have to wait until after Memorial Day to avoid the last frost.  We can get snow in MT year-round, but usually the last threat of it is June 1st.  And yes, we've had snow on the 4th of July and not just in the mountains.

I hope your weather is bright and sunny and you have a great weekend!

[ascoach]

Hello!  Spring is hectic here for us with spring sport season, but I appreciate you starting a post to get us to take a moment.

Spring is starting to show here in southeastern Utah.  We also had a very light winter with no snow.  Just before Easter we were hitting the 70's and then like every Easter weekend it cooled right off.  Crazy thing is it does not matter when Easter is, the weather always cools off for the holiday.

This year I started off by taking a Banking on Women class.  Even though I have been in business for 15 years I decided to take a step out of my comfort zone and try something new.  It has been an eye opener and made me step back and pay more attention to the little things of my business.  For the past 15 years I've just been riding the roller coaster and working nonstop, happy that my business has been thriving.  Working with women that are just getting started in their entrepreneurship has been fun for me to look back and see all the obstacles I have overcome but to also give advice on what has and hasn't worked for me. 

I live in a rural community and other business owners are not always willing to share their experiences.  It always seems like everyone is in a competition even if they do not have the same business as yourself.  I attended a business conference a couple of hours away from my home town and it was refreshing.  So many business owners that approached one another and were friendly and wanted to hear and share experiences. This is something I will be looking to do more.  Do you attend any events like this?

I try not to delve into the news too much.  It does make me want to sell everything and get that to go bag going!  

I hope all of us make it through these crazy times.

Have a great rest of your week!

[CareyJo]

You're welcome!  My thought exactly - we all need to breathe for a moment.  And I love this!

Yes!  I love attending conferences!  I've done so many over the decades.  My first-ever conference was Jubilee for Tupperware back in 1992, I think.  Going to huge conferences (or even small ones) can give you such a boost of energy, momentum, encouragement and a reset/refresh.  I go for all of those reasons, not just to learn something new.  Three years ago, our state Chamber started a Women in Business conference that I've attended for the last two years.  It is specific to MT of course, as far as the speakers and topics that touch our state, but there is no reason why someone from out of state couldn't attend.  It's always the first week in March, to celebrate International Women's Day.  If you ever decide you want to attend, let me know!  Tell me about your Banking on Women's class and what the conference was that you attended.

We're rural also, which 90% of our state is.  I've seen very little competition between business owners in our area and those that I have seen, have been because they have superior attitudes and don't know how to support one another.  For the most part, I've seen female business owners across the state supporting one another's goals and businesses.  Sure, we have industry competition, trying to bid for the most money but that's just the normal kind, like, "we can do it better and cheaper" without the attitude.

I definitely do not do news.  Haven't in about 30 years.  Quit watching because it was such a downer and now our world is such a mess that I don't want to pull my head out of the sand.  My husband is a conspiracy theorist and watches everything but tells me very little, which is good.  If it's big enough and "bad" enough, he'll tell me.

Happy Thursday and have a great weekend!