Episode 123 - What a mentor can do for your business with Amy McGee

Learn how Amy McGee has mentored us on our paper flower journeys and helped us refocus why we run creative businesses.

Where do you go from here? What’s next for your paper flower business? How do you want to grow?

If your mind goes blank or you feel anxious when thinking about these questions, it might be time for an outside perspective.

In our latest episode of Paper Talk, we chatted with Amy McGee of Botanical Brouhaha. She’s been a guest on the podcast before, and she’s been an even more integral part of Paper Talk behind the scenes. We felt overwhelmed. We didn’t know where to focus our energy. Amy stepped in as our mentor and has helped us refocus on what we want from our partnership and for our individual businesses.

No matter what point you’re at with your creative business, you have growing to do. A mentor can help you focus on where you want your journey to take you and how to get there.

Here’s what you’ll learn when you listen to our conversation:

► Questions to ask yourself to find the right path for your future.
► Why an outside perspective on your business is so important.
► Qualities to look for when choosing a mentor.
► How to make business partnerships work well.
► Amy’s new program, Circle, and how it differs from other programs.

If you can’t listen right away, here’s a peek at three reasons why a mentor can help shape your business. Hear even more on the episode.

Save Time

As Amy said on the episode, you could organize your pantry on your own, but there’s a reason why people pay others to do it for them. They realize that it’s just not going to happen anytime soon!

A mentor can do the same thing for your paper flower business.

“That’s part of what’s really great when you talk to someone on the outside of your particular business… It helps us cut to the chase and expedite the whole process.” - Amy McGee

A mentor will force you to carve out time to think about difficult questions. They push you to make decisions. They help you get back to that why we’ve been talking about this season.

Listen to the episode to find out what you should look for in a good mentor to make sure you find someone who will do all those things and more.

Get Out of Your Own Head

You can read self-help books and take classes. You can set aside time to think about important questions. And you can make real progress on your own.

But sometimes you hit a roadblock and need to get out of your own head. If you’re stuck on a hamster wheel of constant work, you can miss a lot. An outside perspective can help you zoom out and see the bigger picture.

Amy has helped us do exactly that. You can hear more about the specifics on the podcast, but to put it simply, she helped us put into words what we really want. It sounds simple, but it’s so difficult to do without that outside view.

Be Celebrated

This reason might not seem very important on the surface, but having your decisions validated can make a world of difference. It provides motivation to keep going, and it just feels good.

We are social creatures. There’s a reason why it can be so fulfilling to build a partnership or community. A mentor can be another cheerleader in your life, one whose opinion often means even more to us since they have more experience. Being celebrated by someone who you admire is a fantastic feeling.

We discussed Amy’s new program, Circle, on the podcast, and how important it is to find people who can celebrate you. You’ll want to hear all about what makes her program so special for fresh florists and what you can implement on your paper flower journey.

Also, here's the PDF format for THE WHY WORKSHEET that you can download for free.

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About Amy McGee:

Amy McGee has a broad range of experience in the floral industry. She entered the industry when she began growing and selling cut flowers from her first home-based business, The Cutting Garden. Her love of floral design blossomed while providing arrangements of her locally grown flowers to an upscale bed and breakfast. This venture eventually led her to open Bliss Flower Studio where she focused primarily on weddings and events, but also delivered custom arrangements and operated a floral subscription service.

Amy made the difficult decision to close Bliss Flower Studio in 2008 in order to spend more time with her family, but could not completely leave the “flower people” she had come to love. In an effort to stay connected to the industry, she started Botanical Brouhaha in 2009.

In 2017, Amy joined forces with Maria Maxit and Landon McGee to create the Botanical Brouhaha Podcast which highlights the stories behind the floral industry. When Maria went on to pursue other ventures, Maggie Bailey joined Amy as co-host of the podcast. Amy's latest venture, Bloom Trust Co, launched in 2020 with a mission to bring floral resources and community to floral designers, farmer florists, and hobbyists.

Amy has two grown sons and currently lives and gardens in Texas with her husband.

Learn more about Amy:

WEBSITE: botanicalbrouhaha.com and bloomtrustco.com

INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/botanicalbrouhaha

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/botanicalbrouhaha

PINTEREST: pinterest.com/bbrouhahablog

PODCAST: botanicalbrouhaha.com/botanical-brouhaha-podcast