Anytime I hear someone describe a business like ours as a “small business,” I often feel compelled to offer a gentle redirection.
A few years ago, a fellow business owner in our neighborhood referred to her corner bookshop as “local and independent” rather than “small.” In that moment, something clicked in my brain, and I was reminded yet again how important and impactful it is to choose our words with care.
Nothing about any local business I know is small, and while I’m sure there are some reading who may feel that identifying as a “small business” is a badge of honor and pride, in my own experience, I more often hear it used as an excuse.
I really, really wish we could turn this around and begin to own our collective potential. I don’t know about you, but I get far more excited about identifying as local and independent than I do as “small,” especially right now.
I suddenly have no interest in sending out our traditional weekly newsletters. The assembly of little blurbs and graphics that we hope will catch your eye and encourage you to engage: to visit the Shop, sign up for a workshop, or attend an event. It’s time to strip all of that away. I want more people who don’t own businesses to understand what the inside of a local, independent business can and does look like. Perhaps more so, what it feels like.
You, our community, need to see who we are. Why we are. How we are. Please don’t mistake this statement as casting blame or shame, because it isn’t. Really, it’s quite the opposite – a mantra, a calling, a mission, a challenge to ourselves to be more authentic, more vulnerable, and more honest with you.
As I’ve been reflecting on my own burnout (this will be a consistent theme for a while), I’m realizing that one of the things that has slowly exhausted me comes down to trying to produce a specific image, a brand, trying to better understand the modern day marketing alchemy of what will resonate. Colors, fonts, logos, photos.
How do I want Botany to be perceived and received by our community? This is a heavy question, but also perhaps not the right one to ask.
For anyone who’s been working on themselves (therapy, gardening, yoga, whatever), you’ve probably already stumbled upon the wisdom of being your own greatest champion. Seeking external validation and approval can be one of the most draining things, trying to guess what people want from us. I know how toxic this is, and I think I’ve been feeling it in my gut for a while now in regard to Botany, I just haven’t been able to name it until now.
Name it to tame it. (And, if you want a super nerdy example of what this feels like, check out this clip from The West Wing.)
I’m coming to realize that one of my neuro-spicy superpowers is pattern recognition. Every time I/Botany have told you an honest and authentic story about ourselves, we’ve always received a stronger response. You send us notes. You stop by. You offer words of encouragement.
In each of these ways, you return the energy we shared with you first. This doesn’t happen often, or at least not in the same way, when we post an advertisement for an upcoming workshop or announce a new product.
Clearly, stories matter. Stories have an impact.
Clarification: good stories, matter the most.
Storytelling feels good right now. It feels like what’s needed. If this isn’t how you want to engage with us right now, I respect that, and I won’t be offended if you unsubscribe.
Here’s the thing – I really hope you’ll stick around.
I meant what I said yesterday, and I feel it even more deeply today: we need to crowdsource solutions. We need to share what we’re learning, as we’re learning it, with as many people as possible. I have no idea where any of this will take us, and I think that’s fine for now. I’m open to new possibilities…
I’m not sure how often I’ll have the energy to share something, and I can’t promise it will be consistent. All I can promise is that it will be… me. We. Us. Local and independent, flawed and beautiful, tough and tired, joyful and hopeful.
Anyway, tomorrow we’re launching online shopping and shipping for the very first time. And yes, there’s a story coming with it, too. I hope you’ll stay tuned.
Closing out today, I’m reminded of what has already become a favorite quote from my friend Amanda Thomsen, owner of Aster Gardens. (You can catch up on our chat by checking out the Cultivating Place podcast, linked here.)
“The weirder it gets, the better it feels.”
Ben | Botany Founder & CEO