A little different than my usual Tip Tuesdays. This is a life tip. Not even my life tip. I haven’t lived a whole life yet thankfully but I am constantly inspired by women who have done amazing things in their many (or not so many) years. When I say ‘amazing’ I don’t necessarily mean big things like being the first to fly around the world or the first on the supreme court. Of course, those are amazing feats, but I mean relatively mundane things that to me are amazing. Those things that show a persons drive to succeed or their dedication to follow their dreams and make them come to life.

I recently read a blog post by Erin Benzakein, the owner for Floret. If you read my first blog post, I explain that Erin was one of my original inspirations to flower farming. She is quite a force. I don’t necessarily follow her as much as I did in the beginning but I am still always amazed at what she has built.

The blog post I read was an interview with renown rosarian Anne Belovich. That name meant nothing to me before I read her post. I am not a rose grower (though I have 25 roses on order for spring…). I am however, a huge fan of inspiring women and if you happen to be 97 years old and have lived more lives than most I’m even more fascinated.

In the interview, Erin reads an excerpt from Anne’s book titled ‘A Voyage of Determination’ detailing her sailing voyage from New Zealand to California. This passage really resonated with me.

I hope this practical advice speaks to your soul too:

“When I was alone I spent much of my time thinking about the fantastic trip I had been privileged to experience. It was of great value to me in a way that was quite separate from getting the boat back. [She had re-purchased a beloved boat and was bringing it home by sailing it herself with a team she’d chosen] I had learned that I was capable of accomplishing very difficult goals. I was able to face considerable hardships and even extreme danger when it was necessary to achieve those goals. Without being quite aware of it I had developed a formula for greatly improving the chances of achieving any difficult goal. It consisted of three main parts.

First, don’t let being a woman stop you from doing what is traditionally seen as a man’s job unless you really need a constant supply of testosterone to achieve your goal. Ask yourself if the activity requires big biceps and a beard. If not, go ahead with your dreams and fight the prejudice where you find it. Look carefully for the same prejudice in yourself. It could be lurking there without you realizing it and could cause you to not believe in yourself and to restrict you from following a difficult goal. If you are a man, you are not apt to encounter prejudice in life’s goals because of your gender, but if you do, don’t let it stop you. 

Next, you should try to know yourself, your talents, and limitations, but be careful to not underestimate what you are capable of doing. Becoming a rocket scientist will be a difficult goal if you struggle with math, but maybe some remedial instruction in math would help you overcome the problem. I learned to navigate the old-fashioned way with a sextant [boat] even though I didn’t learn my number combinations when I was a child because of constant moving and now I compute manually with difficulty.

On the other hand, you might want to pick something that comes to you more naturally. A passion for a particular hobby might be an indication of a special talent that could be pursued and turned into a rewarding career. Then, be willing to spend some time and energy preparing for what you want to do. I owe much of my success to this one.”

I just love that advice. So practical yet so encouraging.

A favorite quote that I repeat to myself all the time is “Anything you don’t know is something you can learn.”

Anything. Everyone had to start from scratch. Don’t let being a woman, of all things, stop you!

I’ve always been a pretty driven person but if I’m honest, I can also be lazy, a super procrastinator, and I have a bad habit of starting things I never finish. So I have actually surprised myself with what I have accomplished in these last few years growing flowers: committing to this physically hard work, learning things completely out of my wheel-house (most certainly the growing aspect for a huge variety of plants but honestly the business and accounting side of things has been the hardest learn for me!), and maintaining my enthusiasm for all of it in the process.

I love to dream, learn, research, and make things happen. I often feel like my dreaming is too much. It’s not that I’m not happy with what I’ve got, I very much am. I just cannot help but to come up with new ideas and figure out a way to bring them to life. I went to college and earned a Bachelors in one area of study only to turn around, change my mind, and go back to school for my Bachelors in another area. I always felt like everyone else knew what they wanted to do with their life and stayed on that track. I was the one floating around. Seemingly having one goal only to change my mind, always wanting to try something else. In reading the interview with Anne, a woman who in her life was a botanist, a teacher, a writer, a rosarian, a general contractor, and a sailor, I realized that while committing to one passion can be completely fulfilling, it’s not often you figure that out when you’re 18 years old. And that’s OK. The journey of life can be just as fulfilling. Anne didn’t start growing roses until she was 60 years old and started her website and blog at 96! She had the largest collection of rambling roses in North America. And I repeat, she did not start growing roses until she was 60!

I hope that any part of my rambling resonated with you. I highly encourage you to read the full interview with Anne << Click the link to be taken to Floret’s page.

Unfortunately, Anne passed away recently but she was clearly an incredible woman who lived such a full life and had much to share. So incase you needed the reminding, you don’t need big biceps and a beard nor are you too old to plant a rose or sail a boat or follow a dream.