Creative & Analytical with Erin Benzakein
Erin Benzakein is one of the nation’s leading farmer-florists and the founder of Floret Flower Farm. Her recent book, Cut Flower Garden published by Chronicle Books, will teach you how to grow and cut your own seasonal blooms.
In this episode, Erin shares what she’s learned about the importance of leveraging rules and structure, while making space for creativity and beauty. She is a great example of balancing feminine and masculine traits, following your intuition, and listening to the whispers of your inner voice. As a bonus, you’ll also learn about the magic of flowers.
Subscribe and listen to the full episode here (you must subscribe to receive latest episode).
Highlighted Excerpt:
Majo: I’m absolutely convinced that you just gave away one of the biggest secret sauces to success, which is learning. Being a learner. And not only that, but loving to learn. It’s one of the biggest predictors of success.
Erin: Yeah. And it’s okay to fail! In the beginning, I was so hooked on the outcome, like, the book has to be great, the photos have to be perfect... I was more focused on the end result than the process.
And then once I started to get the hang of it I was like, oh! Nine out of ten things I’m going to try are probably going to fail the first time around. So if I know my ratio is only 10% success, 90% failure, then I just have to fail faster if I want more success.
So you’ve got to try more things, you’ve got to get in and get dirty, and learn to fail faster. Get up every time you fall down. Don’t make so much of a big deal about it. You don’t have to be so hard on yourself, because it doesn’t necessarily mean anything.
For me, my biggest failures have always turned into the biggest lessons that ultimately led to the most success. But it’s definitely getting in, getting messy, learning, failing, taking what you learned from the failure and applying it. Failure is how you succeed. So now, the more I crash and burn, it’s like, Yeah, we’re getting closer!
Majo: Yeah. It’s creative confidence, really.
Erin: Exactly.
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Show Notes:
On being an anxious and curious little girl, her love for growing things from an early age, and her dream of her own “little plot of land”. [2:17]
Dropping out of high school as an angry teen who couldn’t see a future for herself. [6:59]
Starting a family at a young age, always taking the path less traveled, and her lifelong struggle of listening to her inner voice. [11:31]
How a book inspired Erin to leave the city and start living her dream, and the beautiful partnership she has with her husband. [14:30]
Erin’s biggest challenges starting out. [18:33]
When things really started to click, and the fears Erin had to push up against along the way. [21:36]
How not liking to feel “held back” has fueled her love for learning and figuring things out on her own. [28:34]
“It’s okay to fail”: Erin’s insights on failure as a prerequisite for success. [31:51]
On the balance between the feminine/creative side and the masculine/business side. [34:14]
The importance of making space for creativity to grow and thrive, the magic of flowers, and what Erin has reclaimed for herself on her journey. [38:51]
Subscribe and listen to the full episode here (you must subscribe to receive latest episode).
References:
Learn more about Erin & Floret Farms
Find her book, Cut Flower Garden, published by Chronicle Books
Music:
A Big Thank You & Shout Out:
to our badass patron, Bianca Wendt, an award-winning art director and graphic designer based in San Francisco and London. Learn more about Bianca and her work here.