Hi friends! I'm finally back to normal after a few days of being down and out on account of the stomach flu. I am irrationally afraid of getting sick (specifically with a stomach virus) so this was quite a traumatic experience as I haven't been sick in probably 7 years. What a record! ;)
Anyways, enough about that ;) I wanted to show you a peek into my business, The Bloom Workshop. My friend Ashley and I host workshops all over the country, teaching women in small businesses about blogging, branding, social media, photography, design and more! Here's the recap of our latest workshop:
Back in April we hosted 30 women for Bloom Bash Carmel Valley at Holman Ranch. As my wedding venue in September of 2016, this workshop was extra special! With dreamy oak trees, the most killer view (seen in the above photo), and charming details around every corner, we knew Holman would inspire these creative business women during our two days together. We're giving you an inside peek at the workshop, so read on for fun details and beautiful pictures by Ragi & Amanda.
Most workshops start with Ashley and I greeting each guest as they walk in with a mimosa and a gift, to ensure our gals feel extra special and welcomed from the get-go. Loving our attendees well is something we really focus on at Bloom. We LOVE learning about our guests, getting to know their businesses and stories and personalities. It's such a blessing to get to meet all these creative souls! By the end of the two day workshop, we both know all of our attendees by name and can tell you about their businesses. It's so important to us to really connect and give our ALL to the women who come through Bloom.
As the ladies check in and find their table, they are immediately greeted with a sweet gift box of goodies, put together by Box + Bow. It's such a treat to curate these boxes and intentionally choosing gifts from talented artists and makers who are running their own small creative businesses. The morning of Bloom is meant for networking and meeting new friends, grabbing some yummy bites for breakfast, sipping on coffee, and getting settled. We also had a special surprise in store for the ladies! Read on :)
Inside the carriage house at Holman Ranch we had our breakfast + mug station with pretty mugs by Ella Jay Designs. All of this sat in front of the amazing paper flower wall our friend Angie of Flores De Papel lovingly made! It is a show-stopper!
We were over-the-moon to have the Kendra Scott team here treating our guests to build their own piece of jewelry at the pop up Color Bar! If you don't own a piece of Kendra Scott jewelry, you really should! Her pieces are timeless, gorgeous, and her story is oh-so-inspiring! As a woman with just $500 in her pocket and some jewelry making + marketing skills, Kendra took her business from a tiny room in her home, to a billion dollar company. Not only is it fun to spoil our attendees with this jewelry, it's also the perfect inspiration to start off our day!
Once all of the morning festivities are over and all the guests have gone around to introduce themselves, we dive into blogging. We absolutely believe you should be doing this for your business, so we tell you WHY and give you the HOW's, too! We teach you about the importance of branding and walk our guests through creating your mission statement, ideal client profile and many more helpful things for your business. With lots of interaction with your table mates and Ashley and I, it's a really fruitful time of brainstorming.
After our first few sessions, we enjoy lunch, then jump into learning brush calligraphy with Jenny Sanders of Graceline Art + Illustration. Jenny is one of our absolute favorite artists (she did my wedding calligraphy!) AND people. She's so sweet and talented. The gals loved learning from her in this fun and relaxing calligraphy class. We intentionally sprinkle creative hands-on courses into our workshop so that guests are always moving, being creatively stimulated, and because we feel it's essential to step outside your OWN specialty to try your hand at something else. This is one of our biggest tips in avoiding burnout!
Next up is learning how to shoot in manual on our cameras. Ashley makes it easy to understand and we have lots of time to practice the new skills!
I (Michaela) then teach on some design and styling principals, as well as go over how to design and execute a styled shoot. Everyone attends both of these sessions, because we think it's important to be a well-rounded creative entrepreneur!
Day One of Bloom Bash ends with dessert and a Q&A session, complete with some local creative professionals joining us to answer all our guests' burning questions. This is always a favorite time for everyone, including me! Getting time to ask questions of people who might have had more time or experience on the road you're traveling is so important. And then to hear from a few different people is always so interesting, because everyone is unique and different methods work for different people!
Our dessert on Day One was equally delicious as it was cute. Almost too cute :) Our logo on a sugar cookie sure is adorable! Thanks, AP Sugar Co.!
Day Two is all about getting our hands dirty and playing with new things; putting all of our new (or old, yet refined) skills into action!
The day starts with what we call "Table Talk". The gals huddle up in their table groups and answer specific questions we give them. This really helps them get to know each other, but also voice their goals, get inspired from others and motivate themselves in their business.
Next, we dive into the world of social media and how you can use each form of the major social media players to not only grow, but sustain and capture your ideal clients!
After another delicious lunch catered by Holman Ranch Tavern (SO good, if you ever get the chance to go!) we headed outside for our floral arranging class with Katie of Ponderosa & Thyme. A super talented, heartfelt teacher, Katie had the girls up out of the seats having fun in no time! After she demonstrated an arrangement (to music, might we add...it was very therapeutic!) the guests got to choose their own flowers for their arrangement from the flower bar.
Next up we have our specialized break out sessions. The first is for photographers who want to further learn and chat with Ashley about how to serve their client's well in the client experience. The second was with Katie, our amazing florist, where florists could watch her make a bridal bouquet and adorn the desserts with florals. And finally, the third was a hands-on flat lay styling class with Michaela and Lauren + tons of paper goods and other items to style with.
One of the most anticipated times of our workshop is the styled inspiration shoot. We set up a gorgeous shoot, complete with bride and groom models, beautiful tablescapes, a dessert table, invitation suite details and so many other hidden treasures. You can read more about our upcoming shoot for Bloom Bash Chicago here!
A little sneak peek of the styled shoot :)
We close our workshop, just like the first day, with a Q&A panel of more experts from the area. We get a lot of feedback from attendees that say this is their favorite part of the day!
We just loved meeting all these ladies!!
Thanks to all of our talented artists who made our styled shoot possible:
Invitation Suite & Signage:
Graceline / @jenny_Sanders_
It was one of my favorite workshops, for sure! Probably because it was surreal to be back at my wedding venue :) Hopefully I'll meet some of YOU at one of our
future Bloom Workshops really soon!
Have a great Wednesday!
xoxo
