Get Smart with Money: Increase Profits and Build Abundance

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How do you create a business in a creative field that supports you and is financially stable, at least, and better yet abundantly successful? Are you even allowed to do what you love for a living? How long does it take for this dream venture to become reliable or profitable? And then once you get it going, can you actually count on this creative venture for your livelihood?

In the same breath as you experience those butterflies or that rush of excitement about what you want to step into as your new aligned dream line of work, you're probably also equally dragged down a bit by the heavy but reasonable questions and doubts, including what is the real outlook and viability of this venture? And can a small business doing something I love become financially reliable?

Many, if not most, designers, as an example, begin purely out of a genuine love for flowers, and a love for the powerful experience of sharing them with others.

Passion is so important for getting anything started — and, we also want to make sure you start and build in a smart way with a good plan, realistic expectations, and a smart approach to finances that helps you get off the ground and carries you into growth and abundance.

In This Episode, We Cover:

Increasing Profits and Smart Money Management — 06:00
Mindset and Emotional Blocks Around Money — 07:33
Practical Tips for Increasing Profits — 11:52
Aligning Work with Fulfillment — 15:15
Understanding Pricing and Value — 16:38
Attracting Your Ideal Clients — 23:09
The Art of Knowing When to Say No — 30:27
Getting Paid — 35:10
Building Financial Freedom — 40:14
Conclusion and Next Steps — 49:52

Mentioned in This Episode:

The Biology of Belief, by Bruce H. Lipton
Called to Bloom Podcast Episode 01: “How to Start a Floral Design Studio from a 180° Career Pivot"
Called to Bloom Podcast Episode 03: “How I Transformed My Floral Business to Align With My True Calling”
We Should All Be Millionaires, by Rachel Rogers
Value-based pricing
The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, by by Diana Chapman, Jim Dethmer, and Kaley Klemp
I Will Teach You To Be Rich, by Ramit Sethi
The Psychology of Money, by Morgan Housel

Resources:

Join the Poetry of Flowers — holistic floral artistry online courses to empower your creative practice from anywhere in the world
Explore Workshops & Mentorships — deepen your floral artistry practice in-person
Discover Tarot of Flowers — a gift of abundant floral wisdom for any flower-lover or seeker
Use code CALLEDTOBLOOM for 10% off your first Tarot of Flowers order
YEAR END SALE! Use code TIMETOBLOOM30 for 30% off any Poetry of Flowers course bundle or single-payment membership purchase for a limited time only

Details from Our Sponsors:

This episode of the Called to Bloom podcast is brought to you by the Poetry of Flowers holistic online floral education.

Don't miss out on our YEAR END SALE giving you 30% off all Poetry of Flowers online courses and the all-access membership for a very limited time. Use code TIMETOBLOOM30 for 30% off any Poetry of Flowers course bundle or single-payment membership purchase before this special opportunity closes for the year.

Keep in Touch:

Thank you so much for being here, and for being part of this radiant community as we step into these creative callings together. If you enjoyed this episode:

I would love to hear from you! Connect with me on Instagram: @nectar_and_bloom and @calledtobloompodcast
Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify. Your words help other creatives and seekers like you to find their way here, and they just mean the world to me.

Full Transcript

And then once you get it going, can you actually count on this creative venture for your livelihood?

And can a small business doing something I love become financially reliable?

Welcome to the Called to Bloom podcast. I'm Jen Cavender, founder of Nectar and Bloom and your host as we explore tools and holistic methods that empower you to craft an inspired career and a fulfilling creative life.

I am a floral artist and educator who left an academic career to build my dream creative business. Now I empower flower lovers, florists, and creative entrepreneurs like you to find your aligned path and to build your dream.

Together we go deep into topics covering creative entrepreneurship, health and wellbeing, sustainability, personal transformation, the art and business of working with flowers, and practices for manifesting a life you love.

If you are ready to feel inspired and empowered as you build your next aligned creative chapter, you are in the right place. Now, let's bloom.

So you want to start a creative business, a new chapter in a creative field that lets you come alive as you step into your truth and utilize your talents. Perhaps it's a floral design studio or some other creative venture or small business or side hustle.

The passion is there, But the question often remains, how do you make this profitable?

Many, if not most designers, begin purely out of a genuine love for flowers and a love for the powerful experience of sharing that with others.

Passion is so important for getting anything started. And we also want to make sure you start and build in a smart way with a good plan, realistic expectations, and a smart approach to finances that helps you get off the ground and carries you into growth and abundance.

In my Mentorships and coaching sessions, I often get asked questions like this: What is the actual realistic outlook here? How do I start making money doing something I love?And: How long will it take to become viable and able to support me?

After receiving many questions like this, paired with my own passion for being smart with money and learning to live in abundance, inspired me to create this episode — which is all about how to increase your profits, how to price your services by value, how to attract your ideal clients, knowing when to say no to opportunities that are not aligned, and how to begin building financial freedom.

This episode is devoted to sharing with you all of my best recommendations, tips, and favorite tools that I have researched and collected along the way in my own entrepreneurial experience. It is not intended to be professional financial advice of any kind, just to be clear.

What I do have for you here are all of my top insights, stories from experience, and tips for success from my work as a small business founder and creative entrepreneur.

I've also grown in my work to love talking about money and getting smart with finances in a holistic way that brings intention, awareness, and agency to how we price, profit, and build abundance.

So with that, let's make a beautiful proverbial swan dive right on in.

This episode of the Called to Bloom podcast was brought to you by the Poetry of Flowers.

Flowers inspire and bring joy, period. Whether you work with them or simply enjoy whenever flowers cross your path, they find a way to elevate our mood and to bring a touch of magic into our homes and creative spaces.

If you've ever picked up a bundle of flowers at the grocery store or the farmers market and thought, gosh, I wish I knew what to do with these properly, I have answers and accessible guidance for you here.

Poetry of Flowers is a holistic and empowering set of floral artistry courses that you can attend at your own pace from wherever you are in the world.

Each course gives you the techniques, guidance, demonstrations, and holistic advice that I teach in my workshops and mentorships, all inside a satisfying online video experience that you can take at your own pace and return to as often as you like.

Inside Poetry of Flowers, you will find a suite of a la carte course bundles on topics from how to begin in floristry, to the ultimate bouquet design bundle, to foam-free floral installation designs and designing with dried flowers and more.

You can select an individual a la carte course bundle of your choice or get access to all course bundles with a Poetry of Flowers membership.

Also, a Poetry of Flowers online course can make a really thoughtful and impactful gift for a flower lover or aspiring florist that you love. Go to nectarandbloomfloral.com and head to the courses tab to learn more. That's nectarandbloomfloral.com and head to courses.

Also, take advantage of our one time end of year sale going on right now, giving you an insane 30 % off a Poetry of Flowers holistic online course of choice or an all access membership. Use the code TIMETOBLOOM30, one word, at checkout. That's T-I-M-E-T-O-B-L-O-O-M-3-0 at checkout.

And now back to our episode.

The first thing I want to talk to you about as we dive into getting smart with money is how to increase your profits.

On the most essential level, increasing your profits means increasing what you earn and decreasing your expenses. In other words, streamline your overhead and prioritize the offerings and sales that bring in more of your income.

Did I mention we're gonna dive right in? This is all about getting you prepared and empowered. I want you to feel confident after this episode. So let's keep going.

If you have already started your business, take a look at your profit and loss sheet. What that you offer is taking a lot of effort, but not bringing much in. What is costing you the most, whether financially or energetically time wise?

Make an assessment of where most of your resources are going. Then prioritize the offerings that allow you to lower how much you are expending and increase what you are earning.

In my experience, it helps very much to go deeper in what you are good at rather than going wider in all of the offerings you could be good at. This means focus on developing and offering what you do best that moves the needle most in your business. Double down on those and let go of the other offerings that might be distractions that actually aren't worth what they cost you in money, time, or resources of any kind.

Less is more.

Another aspect of increasing your profits is knowing your value and the value of your work. When we start to dig into knowing our value, it also gets pretty close to our personal sense of self-worth. This brings us to the importance of getting through mindset and emotional blocks around money.

Money is very closely connected with our emotions, and it makes sense. Money is such an integral part of our sense of security, stability, safety, and confidence in the world because it's a huge part of how we pay for our needs and afford our lifestyle.

Money is the currency we've decided to share and exchange in order to share our services and in order to satisfy our needs.

So the first mindset and emotional block is often the lack versus abundance mindset.

When we are in a lack mindset, we are focused on how there isn't enough, how we don't have what we want we're not doing well enough, we aren't enough, and quite frankly, we're not very content in that mindset.

When we can shift into an abundance mindset, we shift into appreciation, for what we have, being grateful for resources and opportunities and love and connection that we do have, the gifts and benefits, however big or small, that are all around us. Focusing on gratitude and noticing what we have helps us feel more abundant.

It's not always easy to be in an abundance mindset, but I do like to think of it as a conscious shift that benefits me greatly to practice. You might find that you also have some soul searching to do around money. I certainly did. And honestly, I imagine we all do. Give yourself time to think about what your relationship with money is like.

How do you honestly feel about money? What is the relationship with money that was modeled to you growing up? A lot of times that has a deep imprint on what we believe about money, about self-worth, and about how much we deserve, even now.

So start to do some inside work to explore what the old beliefs and the blocks might be. Be open, curious, and compassionate. Awareness is the first step to change.

I always love how language carries these little indicators for how we feel about the things we talk about. When we talk about money, we talk about currency. Currency is the same word, a current, that we use for water, which flows, and for electricity, which also flows.

And currents are meant to flow. Contained water grows stagnant while water that can flow stays fresh and full of life. Grounded electricity flows into the ground and stops there while electricity in a circuit flows and lights things up.

Just as other currencies are healthier when they can flow, the same goes for money. It is meant to flow in and out like breathing and developing trust with yourself and that process is powerful.

While we are talking about mindset, an affirmation that I love and recommend practicing saying to yourself is, "money always shows up for me." Or "money comes to me in abundance and with ease." Try them out, see how it feels to say them.

You know I love mantras and affirmations and they are not just wishful thinking. They are actually reinforcing new beliefs and inviting new and desired experiences in your perceptions and your reality.

Affirmations speak to the subconscious, which is where our beliefs are. There is an awesome book called The Biology of Belief by Bruce H. Lipton that goes into this powerful process and that I definitely recommend giving a read.

Another quick tip for living more in abundance mindset and the energy of abundance — anytime money comes to you, whether through a big booking or finding a dollar on the street, celebrate, let yourself whoop with joy.

Thank the abundant energy of the universe and thank money for showing up for you. This sends another powerful message of gratitude, of deserving of self-worth and appreciation into the universe. Try it and see. It's actually really fun too.

And at any rate, as you explore your relationship with money and gently start to shift into more intentional and abundant beliefs, be kind, and go slow. Many of us have a lot to heal and release around money, and that's a process.

And anytime you notice yourself focusing on the lack or not having enough or making enough, try practicing shifting into that abundance mindset. The best way that I know how to do that is to just start appreciating what I have. It doesn't mean that you're saying, that's enough for me, universe, I don't need anymore. Not at all, especially when you are really calling in a more abundant business or lifestyle.

Instead, means that you are in a place of abundance in yourself, that you feel trusting, at ease, and grateful. And those feelings are huge for the vibration that encourages you as you do your work, and as you build a business or creative venture that brings in money with more ease.

So then beyond the emotional and mindset stuff, on a really practical level when it comes to increasing your profits, first, do your research. Look around. What is the industry standard? What are others charging for similar products or services that you are going to sell or that you are selling?

You don't want to undercut others or devalue the work. So use what others are charging for a similar product or service as a guideline.

As you do your research, also keep in mind that the experience level and how long others have been doing what they're doing has an impact both on the quality of the service and their rates too.

If you are just starting out, you can't expect to charge and be paid what someone else who's been in the business for many years is charging. That just makes sense. You do need to make sure you charge a fair price that covers your costs, that covers your time, and that also covers the value of your work so that you can profit fairly, of course, knowing that you can raise your rates from there as your level of experience and expertise grow.

Get clear and honest about the value of the work that you produce. Once you're established in your new creative venture, you can review and potentially raise your rates, as your experience, your education, and your expertise increase.

And because I get asked this often, I'm going to tell you an important piece of advice. Do not, and I repeat, do not quit your current job to jump headlong into your new venture before you have one or the other of the following two options in place.

Either one, you have six to 12 months of living expenses saved up to cover you while you get your new venture started. Or two, you either have steady enough income separately or from your new venture to step away from your current job comfortably.

The best progression honestly, which I talk about in episode one, how to build a floral design studio from a 180 career pivot is to build the new venture while you have the security of your current job and income. Slowly scale back from the current job little by little over time as you grow the new venture and can rely on it more.

And as a last thought here on increasing your profits, remember that the key to increasing your income is to bring in more than you spent, to increase profits and to decrease expenses. It's really that simple.

Although I will add here that it is worth your while to consider the value of work you enjoy over work you despise. When you love what you are doing, when you really love it, the work is nourishing for you.

That has value. So if there's something that you do or sell or are considering doing or selling that feels like what you should do, but you actually hate it or have a yucky feeling about that's going to cost you more over time. Your time is your most precious resource and how you feel colors your entire life. So even if some offering makes a lot of dollars, if it is costing you in time, health or happiness, it is not an aligned or very smart service to offer and it won't be sustainable for you over time.

Also pay attention to work that brings in more income for less time and effort marketing, as this kind of work can be more valuable for you in ways than work that requires an immense amount of your time for less or even equal payoff.

The takeaway here is to review what you offer for what it costs you, not just in financial resources, but in the valuable resources of your time and your energy too.

Personally for me, although I started Nectar & Bloom as a floral design studio for weddings and events, I came to a place where my work as a mentor and educator and as a writer and artist and speaker became more aligned and more fulfilling for me.

And honestly, that process was the path for me to grow my business in a way that I couldn't when I wasn't letting myself be in an aligned place.

If you missed it, check out episode three, "How I Transformed my Floral Business to Align with My True Calling," to hear how this happened and to gain all the tips for your own transformation into alignment.

We all have the same amount of hours in a day, And if something you are doing is costing you more to do than is workable for you, make a change. Especially when you know something else will pay you dividends, not only in money dollars, but also in joy and fulfillment.

So as you go along, remember that you might start somewhere and evolve to be somewhere else. You might also need to calibrate as you go along. Is this type of work paying me enough? Is it paying me more than just money? Is it paying me in fulfillment? Does it feel worth my time? Is it paying enough to take most of my time in the hours that I have to create my business and to do my work?

The beauty of being a creative entrepreneur is that you are the founder, the boss, the visionary, and the creative.

You get to decide what this business does. You get to decide what opportunities are aligned.

So before I get ahead of myself, let's talk about how to price your services and how to value your work.

I get asked about pricing often because it can feel like a really nuanced, awkward, and mysterious thing. How much should you charge, really? It is so important to step into a more confident and conscious place when it comes to setting your rates and knowing what your work is worth.

First of all, as I mentioned previously, you want to price for your honest experience level, knowing that your pricing and your rate can increase over time as you get more established.

And you also want a price for your ideal client. Think about who it is that you will be most happy, most aligned, and most fulfilled serving. What do they value? What kind of budget do they have? What do they want out of what they purchase that you are creating?

Don't just choose a blanket ideal client by saying something like, someone who has tons of money. Really think about who is the client you want to serve? What do they value about what you make or offer?

I always like to kind of illustrate this with an example, such as sunglasses. Sunglasses come in all styles and price points. Some people value cheap sunglasses that don't cost much so they don't have to worry when inevitably the sunglasses break or get lost.

Other people value expensive sunglasses because they like the brand or they believe that the sunglasses are nicer quality or made with better materials and so therefore less likely to break because of their cost.

If you ask me, there's no real way to tell if more expensive sunglasses are actually higher quality. Significantly. But I will tell you that the fact that they cost more sometimes makes me believe that they are.

The point is to consider what your ideal customer values. If you overprice for your ideal client, they'll seek someone cheaper because they value the savings. If you underprice for your ideal client, they'll perceive your services as lower quality and might pass for someone whose offerings seem higher quality.

So how do we take the guessing game out of it? Number one, get crystal clear about your ideal client and what they value. And number two, price your services by the value they deliver.

There's a great book that I highly recommend about money and about building your business called We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rogers. The reason I bring this up is that in that book, Rachel describes and delineates value-based pricing. In value-based pricing, essentially you want to focus on the value you provide, and the results that you help your client achieve.

So you are pricing based on the value of your services and the impact or lasting benefits that the client receives from what you provide. Instead of thinking only about the hours you put into your work, think about the transformation you are delivering.

This is an interesting challenge because most of the time you will hear a recommendation for pricing is to evaluate the cost of the materials plus your labor. But the reality is your labor hours plus your costs is not really valuing what the person gets from what they buy from you.

So take a little time to get clear about that value, about the transformation that you offer with what you sell, about that meaningful experience that your client receives.

If you are or you would like to be a wedding floral designer, for example, think about the transformative celebration that a wedding is. that happens in life when two lovers come together, when two families come together to celebrate love and to start a whole new chapter in their lives.

It's a huge deal and a beautiful day and a one-of-a-kind experience in life. It's very special. So if you are creating floral designs for that event, you are setting the scene, elevating the mood, helping your clients tell their story, and transforming a space to make this gathering truly special and one-of-a-kind.

Flowers are the set design. Flowers bring beauty and soul and heart to the event. Flowers bring the poetry, the feeling, the emotion that is painted across arches and walls and tables. And flowers are carried and worn and they become part of costumes that enhance the entire feeling of the celebration. And they live on forever in the photographs and the video captured from the event as well.

So as you price for your designs, for the creative work that you do, also consider the beneficial results that you are empowering them to have and base the value of your work on that.

Of course, it is also helpful to have some practical on paper guidelines as well. Definitely still consider your hard costs. Definitely still consider your labor hours, but also keep in mind the value of that transformative and powerful experience that you are giving to your clients.

And lastly here on this very practical level, if you are a floral artist, the rule of thumb is to do a three or four time markup for retail.

And that's not just arbitrary. Think about what that entails. People are not just buying from you a finished design that you picked up like that.

They're buying from you a finished design that includes your hours envisioning it, your mock-ups, your meetings and correspondences with them, your travel to the flower market, your time creating the flower order, bringing the flowers home, processing and preparing stems, preparing vessels, arranging and the creative energy it took to make it all happen.

There are so many elements that go into this, not to mention the hours, weeks, and months that you've put into your training and your education, the workshops you've invested in, the mentorships you've taken, the online courses you've tried, the hours spent in your studio or creative space to train and hone your craft as an artist and designer.

And if you are working and creating and serving in a different field, not floral design but another industry, or you're bringing a different kind of venture into being, think about all that you've invested in getting to where you are.

That is part of why there is a markup from wholesale to retail. That is part of this value-based pricing. There is so much embedded into that finished product or that specialty service that you deliver. And you want to make sure that you account for that.

Beyond that markup and depending on the kind of work or service, you may also have a labor and installation fee, which is usually around 20 to 25%.

You may also have a delivery fee, a strike fee, which is when you have to go and tear everything down that you delivered. And then of course you have sales tax and your grand total.

So there you have some helpful guidelines and support for how to price and to know the value of your work.

Remember, if you are unclear about how to price, evaluate and know with clarity the value of your work and the value of the transformation that you provide.

Next, as we dive deeper into how to get smart with money and increase your profits and abundance, let's look at how to attract your ideal clients. Your ideal clients are such a huge part of this because they are the ones coming to you and providing that income in exchange for your services.

So how do you attract your ideal clients?

First of all, you need to be crystal clear about what you want to do. What do you really want to provide? What is your daily, monthly, seasonal, or annual work? What is a day in the life? What are the services that you will feel thrilled and aligned to be sharing? And to whom are you selling those services and products? Those are your clients and customers.

What we are working on here is how to get more clear about your ideal client by getting more clear about what you would like to offer, what problem that serves, or what desire that fulfills for someone else. That's going to lead to the ideal client.

And the more specific about this you get, the better.

If you have a certain service or product already in mind that you want to offer or that you already do offer, then reverse engineer from there. What does this service or product solve? For what problem does it provide a solution? What desire does it fulfill? That's going to help you discover who the ideal client is, who has that desire or that problem or that need that you can uniquely solve or serve.

My next tip here in attracting your ideal clients is to share and promote only the work that exhibits what you want to be hired to do.

Sometimes you'll do a creative project or you'll have a job and the images from that job or that work do not really showcase what you would like to be hired to do in the future. Sometimes a job is just a job. Sometimes you can't be precious when you just need to earn. If a job comes your way and you're thinking, I just need to cover my bills, then just take it.

But if it's not aligned, don't share materials from that project if it's not something you want to be known for or hired to create. Instead, brand for your ideal client, the person you really want to work with as you put your work and materials out into the world. Create and share images of the kinds of work that you know they are looking for and that you want to do.

It's likely you will need to invest upfront in the materials and the photography to start building a portfolio. But this is a recoupable cost. Plan ahead and invest with intention so that you have materials that exhibit the kind of work you're capable of, the kind of work you love to do, and the kind of work that your ideal client will hire you to do in the future.

As you brand and calibrate for your ideal client, know that you will have an easier and more successful time truly attracting your ideal client if you are genuine and honest about who you are, what your style is, why you do what you do, and who you love to work with.

Authenticity is huge for making things much easier to find ideal and aligned clients for the work that you offer and the services you provide. Don't just calibrate for your client's budget. Calibrate a little further for their values. What do they appreciate?

What do they happily spend money on? That is so important. Being clear about your values and style is like having a beacon out for your business to attract the clients who value and appreciate the same things.

Your heart and your energy and your authenticity attract people who share your values. And those are going to be the clients who really value the work you provide at the rate that it is worth.

A couple of other really practical ways to attract your ideal clients beyond what you're putting out on your social channels, in your marketing, and in your portfolio and website is also to consider the power of the other assets and other resources you offer to cultivate connection and generate leads.

As a creative venture or small business owner, you are always inviting other people to connect and have a relationship with you and your brand. That is what brings people closer to evaluate, fall in love with, and purchase what you offer.

So consider things like your blog posts or your Pinterest pins or any other channel that you utilize. If you have a YouTube channel or if you create a podcast however you are reaching out in the world, think about speaking to and messaging for the people you want to attract, the people who are in line with your values. And again, this should not be anything put on. Like you have to be someone you're not, when you know what you value and when you let yourself genuinely be that beacon who is attracting people who also value what you value.

As an example of this, a while back I wrote a blog post about the difference between a floral apprenticeship and a floral mentorship. At the time I was just trying to clarify the difference because I would get a lot of inquiries from people who really wanted to get started with their own creative business or floristry practice, but they would reach out to me with a message like, "Hi, I absolutely love your work. I would love to learn from you. Do you need any help? I would love to help you out around your studio."

And I knew this was well intended every time. But the truth of the matter is that an apprenticeship is an unpaid internship, and it actually means helping out the person you're apprenticing for in whatever capacity they need, not asking them to teach you their trade for free while you help them with things you're not yet qualified to do.

You can help out with what they need, but chances are what they need, like cleaning and stocking and administrative support, is not what you may be hoping to learn from them, like the ins and outs of their creative practice or their design work and business.

A mentorship on the other hand is an opportunity to learn from someone whose work you admire and whose values align with you, but an opportunity in which you pay the mentor for the service of having them teach you their trade, give you coaching and personalized guidance, and support you with one-on-one advice and experience to empower you forward in a new trade. That's something you pay them to provide.

What you want to create together is a healthy value exchange between mentor and mentee so that the mentor can teach the mentee everything they want to know, and then their time is appropriately valued in return. So you see there's a distinct difference here.

The problem wasn't the person inquiring or the assumption that an apprenticeship would be an educational opportunity. It was only in a lack of education or clarity about the difference. So in a really loving way, as an educator, I wrote a blog post about what an apprenticeship actually is and what a mentorship actually is and how to know which is right for you.

And it's funny because when I wrote this blog post, I just thought, I'll just make this and put it out there and hopefully it's helpful. But it happens to be one of my most searched and viewed pages on my website consistently ever since I wrote it. I had no idea that would

I did not know how many people were looking for what's the difference between a floral apprenticeship and a floral mentorship, but that has been a great lead for people to discover my business and my mentorship offerings.

So I mentioned this personal anecdote here just to illustrate how you can attract your ideal clients by being genuine, by solving a problem, by being a beacon of the values that you hold and that you serve, and by providing resources about the things you offer.

As you create in these different spaces, developing different channels, you help create pathways for the people who are searching for what you uniquely provide to find you.

So don't overestimate these other channels and these other methods for creating resources that will help you attract your ideal clients.

Okay, next on our list for being smart with money, I want to talk to you about knowing when to say no. Knowing when to say no is so powerful.

When the work is not aligned, it is very helpful to be able to say no and to know that you are allowed to say no. I've had lots of people send me questions over the years about getting a gig or a job offer or an opportunity or a client that just doesn't feel right or doesn't feel aligned, but they'll say, don't want to say no, or I'm afraid to say no, or I'm just not sure if I should say no.

I totally get that, especially when you're starting a new venture. It's very scary to say no when you're starting because you don't have consistent bookings or consistent income yet. You really want to get this thing going. So refusing an opportunity seems not only scary, but counterproductive for what you are trying to build.

And that's totally understandable. But I am here to tell you that when you say no to something that is not a good fit, you say yes to receiving something better.

Now, I always like to play devil's advocate. So I'm just going to step into that space for a moment and consider. Sometimes a job is just a job, as I said. Sometimes an opportunity is just a service rendered for a paycheck. If you need to get paid, just accept the work you can do and get paid. That's great. Not every job that's going to come your way or every gig or opportunity is going to be the most beautiful, aligned, perfect thing in the world, especially as you're getting started. Again, but...

If you aren't in a situation where getting paid is tantamount, consider how not booking something that is not aligned protects your time to be available to book something that is aligned, and potentially so much better for you and your business. That's really big.

So if you're not excited about an opportunity, but you know it's reliable and it's going to pay you and you need to get paid, say yes and do it, get paid.

If you are not excited about an opportunity and there are any red flags, which we'll talk more about in a moment, and you know that you can wait this one out, trusting that something better is coming, then protect your time and say no.

And honestly, if there are red flags about this client or this opportunity at all, just say no. Saying no is powerful and red flags are important to notice and stay away from. Saying no affirms your self-respect, your awareness of your self-worth, and it energetically sends a message to your own body and into the universe that you know you are worthy of better and that you trust in the abundance of life.

And I truly believe that when you believe something better is coming your way, it does. And not just because of the woo-woo and energy, which I am all about, but also because when you feel strong and in your agency, you are in a better place to notice good opportunities, to respond better when something comes your way, to put your best pitch deck forward when you have an opportunity, or to have a really great discovery call with a potential client that helps close a great deal for you both.

But now let's take a moment to talk a little more about those red flags. I think you know what I mean when I say red flags, but let's dig a little bit deeper. I think of a red flag as anything you feel when you read a phishing or scamming email or those weird scammy texts or voicemails that you get sometimes when somehow someone has sold your phone number to all these annoying places. And the point is, with those phishing or scammy messages, trust your gut.

Just as you can spot an AI image from a real one or an AI piece of writing from a real, piece of writing, use and hone and trust the incredible gifts of your human gut instincts. When something feels off, when something feels like a red flag or you feel like something is fishy or not good about this or going to be a bigger problem down the road, trust your gut.

This is a powerful moment to say no.

Examples of red flags can include a high maintenance or demanding client or a client that's abusive to you in any way like asking you for things that don't make sense or being rude or unprofessional with you or expecting you to do work without compensation.

Anything like that, red flags. Another red flag would be a job that isn't clear about payment terms or that wants you to do something for free that's not really a good value exchange for you.

And also jobs that feel like a distraction from what you're actually trying to build or what you're actually trying to do. Those can also be red flags.

If you're booking something that isn't aligned for what you're trying to build, it's going to take up time that you could have booked something you do want to build and that you do want to book. So pay attention for those opportunities, those misalignments, and also those red flags, or whatever it is about the offer that just gives you the yuck.

Red flags simply mean listen to your gut, proceed with caution, and most likely free yourself by saying no and empower yourself to receive something better.

Now let's talk about getting paid. Within this category of knowing when to say no, you definitely want to make sure that you get paid. If that's not clear, this is not an opportunity to say yes to. If you can, set things up on your terms. Make the terms of service and payment clear in your contracts.

If you're doing design work, take full payment, either upon booking, or half payment to book and half before the final deliverables are rendered. It's a common mistake, especially when people are beginning in a new creative field and being a new creative entrepreneur to deliver work before being paid. And then there's no real incentive to pay you if the company or the opportunity is unfortunately trying to take advantage of you.

This does not mean everyone will, but just be discerning, be aware. You want to make sure that it's very clear and best of all on your terms, how you are getting paid and when you are getting paid. And again, remember that you want to make sure you are paid before all services or deliverables are rendered.

If you're doing event work, it's pretty standard to take a 50 % deposit to book so that your time committed to the client is protected. That means the weekend or the week or the day that they have booked with you is partially paid for because you are turning down anything else that might ask you to book that same day.

And then also you'll set up a 50 % balance payment, which I recommend having be about two weeks in advance of the event itself. And I say that so that you're fully paid before purchasing the final perishable materials. If you're working in floral design, buying fresh flowers is a cost that cannot be recouped. So you want to make sure that you're fully paid before you are purchasing that expense.

In some cases, with a really high budget, something more like a 30 to 40 % booking payment is more reasonable, along with a payment plan. Just make sure to outline when the installment payments are due with specific dates and what's due on each date. That way everything is clear with the client regarding how they're paying you, when it's due, and how much is due each time.

Then there's always the question of partnerships and collaborations. A partnership should be an even exchange of value. A collaboration should also, but there is a difference here.

With any partnerships I've done, the partnering brand is going to ask me to provide certain services or deliverables, and they're going to pay me for that work. That's great. That's an even value exchange. That gets them what they want, and that supports me and supports my business. Everyone feels great.

With a collaboration, there's often an unspoken expectation that there's going to be an exchange of value, but maybe not an exchange or reimbursement of money. This isn't across the boards, but typically with collaborations, there's a sense that we are all going to pitch in what we can and no one's going to get paid, but we'll all benefit from it.

My number one piece of advice here with partnerships and collaborations is don't do free work. Have boundaries. An opportunity that tries to take advantage of you, even if unintentionally, is not an opportunity. It is an obstacle.

Do not do things for free if it is not a fair exchange of some other value that feels aligned. So if you're not getting paid financially in money, make sure that any work you do as a collaboration is giving you something else that feels like an equal value exchange for what you provide.

I also advise on collaborations that you do not do opportunities that cost you money and that also don't reimburse you for your costs. I think when it comes to collaboration, to contribute your time and your talent and your energy, that is something you can decide to do. But if you have hard costs, those should be reimbursed.

For example, in a styled shoot for wedding and event work, a photographer can donate their time. A florist can donate their time. A wedding planner can donate their time to make this beautiful event happen and take photos of it.

But a florist also has hard costs. It's not just your time to design and show up and execute and make it happen. It's also the cost of the flowers. So those should be covered by whomever is organizing this collaborative opportunity.

Don't say yes to just any styled shoot. Be choosy. If you do a styled shoot or an editorial project or any other kind of collaboration, make sure it's aligned with your vision, with your brand, and with the clients that you want to serve and attract.

In short, know your worth, don't do work for free, and make sure that there's always an equal and happy value exchange. The good thing is that this is not about getting yours so that someone else doesn't. It's not about being in a battle with the world. It's about making win-win situations.

There's another book that I absolutely love that's called The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership. And whether or not you're into leadership studies, it actually is just a set of 15 commitments that would help anyone in anything.

But I find it very helpful for entrepreneurship as well as business to business and client to business relationships. One of the commitments in this book has to do with making everything a win-win situation, which is why I bring it up. What an empowering choice that we have.

Instead of feeling like you have to set up conditions that will help you win so the other person doesn't beat you in whatever game it is, trying to make money, trying to be valued, et cetera, why not set up situations together where everyone wins, where everyone benefits, where the value exchange feels happy and supportive for all?

All right, now that we've looked at how to increase your profits, how to price for your services and value your work, how to attract your ideal clients, and the power of saying no, let's talk about another piece of being smart with money. Let's talk about how to begin to build financial freedom.

The number one thing about building financial freedom is that you free yourself from trading your time for work. You only have so much time in a day, so much time in a week or a month or a year or even a lifetime. That means you can only take as much work as you have time to do that work.

If you want to start freeing yourself into abundance that is not dependent on your time, which is limited, you need to set up ways to earn money passively.

Now there's no rush on this. If you are just getting started, just get started. If you're building, just keep building, but keep your eye on this goal of building financial freedom as you go along. You know that I like to look at things holistically though, so I want to give you a vision for how you can start to build financial freedom.

Two of the essential ways to start earning money passively are, one, create an evergreen product, or two, start saving and investing.

First, an evergreen product is something that you can sell more than once and without needing to be present or do something each time. This could be something like a downloadable resource, an online course, a tangible product or a gift that is non-perishable.

Examples of this in my own business include my blog and my podcast, which are free resources that help support my audience's interests and growth and they help us connect. Also, my online courses in the Poetry of Flowers, which allow people to learn holistic floral design with me in the format of an online course that they can take from anywhere or a tangible product like the tarot of flowers, which is like a book that can wait on a shelf and isn't going to perish as it gets discovered and as it gets shipped out into the world.

I mentioned non-perishable, tangible products because floral designers, of course, have many beautiful products in their floral designs, but it is something that you can't make a lot ahead of time because they inherently have a limited lifespan. Part of the beauty of flowers is their ephemerality.

But that means the profit you can make off of them is very tied to the time during which they are alive. Unless you're creating tangible goods with dried flowers, those will last a long time. Essentially, each of these options has value, serves audiences, and can sell more than once or last longer than the effort it took to create them.

Then that second way to start earning money passively is to start saving and investing. A portfolio of investments is a long form game, but it will grow and it will build your retirement plan and a passive income over time.

If you're hearing the words investing and retirement plan and getting anxious or going cross-eyed, you're not alone. Don't worry. We got this. I've got a few really good resources and accessible ways to get into this coming up for you. So hang tight.

As we get a little deeper into this saving and investing, remember the two key ways we talked about to increase your profits. Either bring in more profits with more bookings or more strategic bookings for the effort they take, or streamline your overhead to lower your expenses.

Now while those are two key ways to increase your profits, the key to building wealth and financial freedom is actually in this saving and investing. Saving sets aside income that you don't need right now to cover your living expenses comfortably. Then investing turns that extra income into more money over time.

The only catch there is that it does take time. Remember, this is a long form game, but it is so worth it.

Think of investing as having a beautiful flower garden. If you have a small garden, you will have a crop of flowers to share, to sell, and to support you each season. If, however, instead of cutting and selling all of your flowers that season, if you decide to let some of the flowers go to seed, you can collect those seeds and replant them in a much larger garden next season.

It will take a little while to establish the larger plot, but in time you will have far more flowers than you originally could have had in the initial garden. More to cut, more to enjoy, and also more to sell.

So using that as a metaphor in the same way as you start to save and as you look into investing, we are thinking about collecting some of the seeds of the flowers instead of cutting them all at this moment so that we have more to plant and can expand how many flowers we have for next season metaphorically.

So how do you start saving and investing? First of all, money for saving and investing is again income that you do not need to cover your living expenses.

The way to start saving and investing is to get clear about what money from your income you need to live comfortably, which will help you decipher what aspect of or what portion of that you could be setting aside regularly.

So first if you don't already have one, you'll want to start a savings account. This is going to be your safety net. Start putting aside any of that extra income that you don't need for your comfortable living expenses until you build your little nest egg.

When you reach your goal threshold, and a good guideline by the way is about six months of living expenses in case anything happens — Once you reach that goal, then you can start investing with that additional earnings moving forward.

You can open a tax advantaged retirement account and then a brokerage account to start investing and to start allowing your money to grow.

Seek a financial advisor to help you do these things. And also you're in luck. Stay tuned for an upcoming episode of Called to Bloom on building financial freedom with a financial planner guest who I know very well on the show with us to give us all the insights and tips. So stay tuned for that coming up in season two.

It might seem overwhelming or scary to even talk about investing. There's volatility in the markets. If you're not working in finance, why would you have to know about that anyway? Also, is it even safe? Why not just save and earn interest on a savings account? These are great questions.

Here are a few answers to those questions:

First of all, you don't have to know all the ins and outs of investing to begin investing. There are financial advisors who can help you get started and you can keep it very simple. It can also be set up in a way that's very hands-off. Also about it being safe, investing is long-term and when diversified, it is safe and profitable and it's really to our benefit.

And that last question about why not just save and earn interest on a savings account? The reality is that after a certain point of savings, keeping just a large lump of money in savings doesn't earn significant dividends. Earnings on a savings account are pretty limited, and over time cash devalues, whereas investments grow.

I find this stuff really interesting. It doesn't mean I'm obsessed with stock brokering and all of that, but I do read books about investing and I read books about money and finances to educate myself.

And if you want to learn more now, I have three great reading recommendations for you as you beef up your confidence and your understanding about building wealth and financial freedom.

The first is one I've mentioned, We Should All Be Millionaires, by Rachel Rogers. This is a very engaging book by a go-getter entrepreneur that talks a lot about small business, getting started, and how to really be focused on your value, how to make money, how to price, and how to really step into a higher level of abundance.

The second book is: I Will Teach You to Be Rich, by Ramit Sethi. This is an accessible, entertaining, and very useful book to help learn how to start investing and why it's beneficial.

And the third is The Psychology of Money, by Morgan Housel. This is one of my favorites, helping us bring awareness to our beliefs that drive us when it comes to how we earn and how we spend and how we deal with our money.

So many good resources in these three books. All three are super, super useful and helpful, and I think you will have fun digging into those. Nectar and Bloom Book Club Financial Edition... Yes.

So as we wrap this episode for today and as we also wind down and wrap this year as well, here's my best advice for building more abundance and financial freedom.

First of all, go easy on yourself. It's the end of the year. Everyone is spending a little more, giving and celebrating, so it's not the easiest time to start saving and building that nest egg. That is so fine. Instead, take some time this month or in the new year to make a plan. Review your finances, review your income and expenses, and get a sense of what your current lifestyle costs. See if there's any excess that you could start to put aside.

Secondly, don't do nothing. It's easy to get overwhelmed about money things and before we know it, another year has gone by. Step into your high self-worth. open a savings account and start contributing literally any amount. You can always adjust it.

Once you have your savings account set up, a helpful step is to set up an automatic deposit that will place money in the savings account each month from your

Or if your income is seasonal or contract-based, so it fluctuates over the year, you can set up a percentage of each payment to deposit to savings instead. That way, no matter what amount of money is coming in or when, you're still able to put aside a regular contribution, but it doesn't have to be a fixed amount. A good guideline that I've learned for this is about 10 to 15%. Then set a goal to save those six months of living expenses.

This can take as little or as much time as needed. It's all cream on top, helping you build a life in abundance. So no stress. Let it be easy. Make your adjustments reasonable and harmonious for you.

Taking a small step today is vastly better than waiting to take a huge step someday in an undefined future.

So begin with that assessment of your income and expenses to discover what you can comfortably begin to start to set aside in your savings account. And that's going to make you feel so good knowing that you are already starting to build your safety net and your nest egg. And the great thing is the money that you start to put aside in savings is still right there for you if and when you need it.

So now what? Please go back and revisit any section of this episode that will support you as you plan your action steps and make beneficial adjustments for being smart with money.

Also, just feel my absolute belief in you and my support for you right now as you step into being more and more empowered with how you price, how you value what you offer, how you build your profits, and how you step into more abundance and financial freedom.

Beautifully done. You just completed another episode of Called to Bloom, another step forward on your creative journey. Finishing any resource that nourishes your being and makes you feel more connected is one of the most empowering things you can do for your business and creative calling.

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If you are ready to deepen your practice with classes and immersive experiences and flowers and wellbeing, head over to nectarandbloomfloral.com and explore my workshops, one-on-one mentorships, poetry of flowers online courses, wellbeing experiences, and my original tarot of flowers deck.

You can also find me on Instagram @nectar_and_bloom for more inspiration, connection, tools, creativity, and like-minded community.

For now, keep blooming. The world needs what you are here to create.

Cover image captured by Raisa Zwort Photography.