Episode 124 - Enjoying the Journey to Find Your Why with Deane Bautista

Deane Bautista shares her paper flower journey and how the winding path was essential to finding what sparks her creativity and joy.

Is it taking longer than expected to find your why?

Is your paper flower business growing more slowly than you’d like?

Do you feel like you’re making too many mistakes?

Maybe it’s time to stop and smell the roses.

In our latest episode of Paper Talk, we spoke with Deane Bautista of Deaney Weaney Blooms. Her paper flower journey has been a winding path, not a straight road, but she doesn’t regret that! Those twists and turns helped her discover her why and focus on what would most bring her joy in her work.

Whenever we chat with Deane, we’re always amazed at how much grace she has when faced with stressful situations. As our conversation revealed, a big reason why she is able to do this is because she embraces the journey.

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

► How to take your time and enjoy the journey of finding your why.
► Using your creativity to conquer business and administrative issues.
► Why it’s okay if you can’t completely jump into your paper flower business right away.
► How to create more written content with less work.

Listen now if you need encouragement about your winding path and take the equivalent of a deep breath with Deane. Here’s a preview of some of the things you’ll learn to do on the episode:

Take Your Time

We often expect teenagers to have a solid idea of what they want to do for a career. As many paper florists can attest, what we study in college or our first adult job very often isn’t what we are doing now. And that’s okay! You can take your time.

“It took years for me to realize that this is what I want to be when I grow up.” - Deane Bautista

Deane shared how she knew years ago that she wanted to make paper flowers, but it didn’t happen right away. She couldn’t drop everything and focus only on her small business. She took small steps that added up over time.

Listen to the episode to hear what those steps were and which ones were absolutely crucial to building her career.

Embrace Learning Opportunities

Sometimes we do things that end up being a bad fit for us. That doesn’t necessarily make it a mistake, though.

Deane shared about the corporate day job that she worked while starting her paper flower business. The corporate job wasn’t a good fit, but she doesn’t regret it. Without it, she would not have figured out just how important being creative in her work is to her. That’s her why!

On the podcast you can hear more about how Deane’s day job helped her paper flower journey flourish in the long run. It’s okay if you can’t jump completely into your creative business right away, as Deane’s story illustrates so beautifully. You can use it as a learning opportunity and a jumping off point.

Reframe Your Fears

Many of us just want to “make, make, make,” as Jessie put it in the episode. The business side of things can be tricky for creatives who just want to create! Sometimes, the best choice is to work your way around an issue. It might be worth it to pay someone to write your blog posts, for example. Other times, however, you might need to reframe your fear.

Deane told us about her initial fear of interacting with people at craft shows. Like many creatives, she’s an introvert. Chatting with people about her art sounded daunting. But she tried it and ended up loving it. She discovered another piece of her why:

“The affirmation from people who see it, they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s beautiful.’ That’s what adds to the spark or the joy of my why.” - Deane Bautista

You can reframe your fear as a skill that needs to be learned, rather than something that will always be terrifying. Listen to the podcast to hear our discussion about when you should push yourself to try something you fear and when it’s okay to avoid something that just isn’t for you.

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

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About Deane Bautista:

Deane (Dean) Bautista is the designer and founder of Deaney Weaney Blooms, a paper flower studio based in Rochester, NY that offers beautiful handmade paper flower decor and blooms, as well as paper flower workshops and digital templates.

After years of working as a visual merchandising and exhibition designer, she explored and fell in love with the craft of making paper flowers when she moved to the U.S. from the Philippines five years ago.

When she’s not making her flowers or designing a flower template, she’s either chasing her two-year-old daughter, Sofi, or binge-watching Korean dramas.

Learn more about Deane Bautista:

WEBSITE: www.dwblooms.com

INSTAGRAM: @deaneyweaneyblooms

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/deaneyweaneyblooms