Amanda Greenwood Creates Change that Blossoms with Petals that Inspire

Adam: [00:00:00] Welcome to People Helping People, the podcast to inspire greater social change and give you ideas on how to take action. I'm your host, Adam Morris. Today, I am thrilled to have Amanda Greenwood, founder of Petals That Inspire on the podcast. Amanda is passionate about flowers with a vision to inspire positivity and community through the creative art of floral design.

Petals that Inspire is also our sister program to Wild Tiger Tees. Amanda employs the same youth experiencing homelessness that we work with at the Star House. So to speak about turning a passion into a business that impacts the community and talk about the youth we work with at the Star House and to share some seeds of what makes for a good flower arrangement.

Amanda, welcome on the podcast.

Amanda: [00:00:45] Thank you so much for having me. Excited to be here.

Adam: [00:00:47] Yeah, me too. Can we dive in, can you tell us first, just a little bit about Petals That Inspire?

Amanda: [00:00:52] So I'm the proud founder of Petals that Inspire we're a Columbus, Ohio based social enterprise. And we're partnered with Star House here in the Columbus community that provides resources and job skill training to youth experiencing homelessness between the ages of 14 and 25.

So my role with Petals that Inspire to really work with the youth of Star House. In a creative atmosphere to provide job skill training in a creative format where we actually work with flowers. Now obviously I'm not training them all to be floral designers, but more or less just helping them develop those soft skills that are necessary when you're entering the workforce and just providing a safe and fun atmosphere for natural conversation to develop and most importantly, to have fun.

So it's been an awesome experience so far. It's been able to combine my passion of floral design and my background with just my passion for helping the community. It's inspiring on a daily basis. So I really love it. And the business has developed as we launched in a very difficult time. But really happy with where we are right now.

Adam: [00:01:59] How did you get interested in flowers?

Amanda: [00:02:02] Yeah. So this started, it was like, Last internship in college. Actually, I was an intern at a floral design and events studio back on the east coast, where I'm from in Connecticut. I had an incredible boss there who really sparked this passion for flowers and was so hands-on with just teaching me really everything I know today in the world of floral design.

Um, So I interned there for a summer and they hired me right after I graduated. And I worked there for a year and everything from wedding design to funeral work to everyday retail. And I learned the ins and outs of owning a flower shop and what that was like. I worked crazy hours and it was certainly insane.

But when you're young, that's what you do. And it's just been a passion of mine since. So that's what got me started. And ever since then, I'm really into gardening and cut flowers. So it's been exciting that I could get back in.

Adam: [00:02:59] I have to ask, are there some favorite flowers that you use when doing your arrangements?

Amanda: [00:03:04] Oh, that's a weighted question. I certainly have a lot of favorites. One early on my career, I used to always say that gerbera daisies were my favorite because they're such a happy flower, but as my wealth of knowledge grew on flowers one of my most favorites is it's called. A lot of people aren't familiar with this one, but it has such a beautiful scent comes in soft pastel like colors.

So that's one that I love to work with. I'm really into adding a lot of different elements to my floral arranging, so different textures and things like that. So I love to work with herbs, so we'll put fresh Basil and fresh Rosemary in my arrangements. But I'd say stock is probably my most favorites.

Adam: [00:03:44] I love it. So what led to the idea for Petals That Inspire?

Amanda: [00:03:50] Launched really about three years ago. I was at a moment in my career where I really wanted to bring fulfillment back into my everyday work. And I came across a great event called GiveBackHack. And I spur the whim and 11 o'clock on a weekday night after a tough day at work, I was like, you know what, let's do this.

Let's start launching a dream that has always been in the back of my brain. So I decided to do GiveBackHack weekend and go and pitch my idea. At that time, it was called Petals with a Purpose. And initially I was thinking of re-purposing flowers for activities in the community. So working at retirement homes and elderly homes, working at schools with repurposed flowers to just provide workshops, but then the more I got into it, the more I realized, no, I need to work with a high quality product.

So let's actually, sell the arrangements let's partner with a local nonprofit to broaden the impact even more. And it was through GiveBackHack that I was introduced to Star House and immediately felt connected to their mission and was just so inspired by the work they were doing in the community that growth they had and just the team that was so passionate about what they were doing.

When they provided me the opportunity to work with the youth there and also provide just further impact by partnering, it was a no brainer there. So that's really where what's now called Petals That Inspire, launched in where the heart of it really grew.

Adam: [00:05:19] I remember that GiveBackHack where was the director of social entrepreneurship work programs at the Star House. And he was there. Can you tell us a little bit about the Star House and what they do?

Amanda: [00:05:31] Yes, absolutely. So Star House is based here in Columbus, Ohio. They are a 24 7 youth resource center. Did have to pivot slightly from that from COVID completely understandably, and they provide so much for these youth that are experiencing homelessness temporarily at this time in their life where they really need just those necessary items that we have.

Like they have laundry services, there's computer labs there's meals provided there's areas for them to. They help them with hygiene products and most importantly, they help them get back on their feet by establishing those resources that they need to make sure they have proper forms of identification to get a job and then provide job opportunities.

So that's the part that I really connected with there. And about a year and a half ago now, I think they bought an old motel, converted it into what's now Carol Stewart village. It provides housing. I believe it's just a little bit under 60 units there. For these youth, it's almost like a dorm style for them to get that sense of independence of living on their own.

And. The step in just really solidifying their future and their dreams and get them on the right. So that's where I work with. The youth is at Carol Stewart Village in the conference room. That's our little mock floral studio these days, and they just provide so much support and resources to these youth that continue to amaze me on a daily basis with how strong they are.

And it makes you really look at it the luxuries of life that we don't consider luxuries and it's great to see an organization really grasp this group and help them. And they've been helping over 1200 youth just, the past couple of years and just getting them on their feet and getting them to that next step.

So it's been an honor and a privilege to really partner with them.

Adam: [00:07:23] Just, I can't underscore how exciting this Carol Stewart Village is to be able to have housing for so many youth. Because when I got into working with the youth at the Star House, I didn't realize how complex the situations are and just not having any stability. There's a ripple effect, right?

You don't have transportation, you don't have a place to live. You don't have a supportive social community. It's very difficult to get a job and get on your feet, especially at a young age when you're figuring things out. It's so neat to have that environment at the Carol Stewart Village where, they have some stability.

And I heard this last week that they're bringing in qualifications to be able to get them section eight housing vouchers so that as they move on that they can get rental assistance and continue to thrive.

Amanda: [00:08:09] Yeah, it's huge. And it's great to see that Star House has continually evolved to develop these programs, to help them in an all-encompassing way. And just most importantly, like you just touched on that sense of community. That's so strong. When you're there, you can just witness that whether you're at Star House or you're at CSV is these kids are our family to one another, and it's just so great to see that camaraderie and just how they inspire and motivate each other to stay on the right path and really start achieving dreams.

Adam: [00:08:44] Can you share a little bit of what your experience is like working with youth and employing them?

Amanda: [00:08:48] Yeah, absolutely. So I've been so grateful since of this year. I've been able to be back in person with the youth. So my sessions on what they consist of is I'll typically work with anywhere between two and four youth a session. And. We'll start by just going through, what event am I working on today with them?

What am I prepping for from a business side? And then walking them through what flowers we're working with. So it's been great to see them really start to learn and grow from session to session. They'll start calling out the names And we'll quiz at the beginning of, okay. Do you remember what this type of green is everything like that. So we'll go through all the different flower types that we'll be working with. In that session, their origins, their care. And then I've been training them in floral processing. So that is the process of prepping flowers for arranging. It's extremely time consuming and flowers have all different types of processing.

We have to do based on the flowers we're working on. So we'll work on that, the first part of the session

Adam: [00:09:53] what is that? Can you explain that a bit? Cause I've never heard of floral processing before.

Amanda: [00:09:58] This was how it was thrown into floral design. It's when you first work at a flower shop, this is all you do. And you don't get to the fun stuff until you learn how to do this. And this is how you learn all the flowers too. So when flowers come in their boxed and are individually wrapped, some have individual water bags on the ends.

So rose processing, for example, they come wrapped in these tight bundles of cardboard for about 24 in a pack. So we'll unwrap them and then you have to pluck all the leaves off. You have to plop all the thorns off and then with roses, you cut them on a sharp angle and then drop them in the bucket. Um, With some greenery, you'll actually strip the leaves off.

So there's a couple of different methods of stripping leaves off. And then they're like sunflowers, for example, or some larger head flowers will come in individual nets. So we have to un-net them, the leaf them cut them. So then we'll put them in a bucket of fresh water. So, those are just some of the things we'll do.

Hydrangeas are super fussy. There's a lot of processing involved with those. So just those things to get them a little bit more life. Cause they had a long journey from where they came from. So that's really flower processing, which ends up taking up about an hour of my sessions, with the youth every time.

Adam: [00:11:15] So that's a big part. Where do you get your flowers?

Amanda: [00:11:18] I work with a local wholesaler here who sources internationally. When I first began in floral design back in Connecticut, that was something I learned a lot from my mentor. The quality of flowers that you work with is very important to establish a longer base life. And that's something that I pride myself on with my business is that I am delivering a high quality product.

So a lot of the flowers I am working with are actually from Ecuador, Honduras. I use a lot of Dutch product as well. And then. In the country, Miami and California and Washington are some of the biggest floral producing states. So we'll get that as well. And then I will source locally. Ohio has some really great floral farms.

So once our flower season comes into play, which we are just starting now I'll be able to source some local products, which is always a ton of fun.

Adam: [00:12:10] Super cool. So now in a work session you spent the first hour on just processing the flowers. What comes next?

Amanda: [00:12:17] Yeah, next we'll walk through the designs that we're working on. So the, a lot of the work that I've been doing has been pop-up shops and farmer's markets and virtual classes. So from the business side, I actually developed an equation for every bouquet that I work with. So I'll very technical.

You never thought you'd use Excel in floral arranging, but I do on a regular basis to make sure I'm not over-ordering and everything like that. Yeah.

So there'll be a stem count for every flower that we're working with. So I'll post that on the wall for the youth we'll walk through, and then we actually make the piles of the equation. All along the long tables, we'll go through, do one flower at a time in each pile. And then once all the piles are completed, that's the fun part.

Now we get to design. So I will walk through one as an example, and then we bundle them and put them in buckets and then we just keep bundling and I really encourage the youth to use thier creativity and visually look at it and make sure it's something they're proud of and that they would want to buy for themselves or vendor family.

So it's great to, sometimes they'll complete one and be like, you know what? No, I don't like that. The sunflowers on that side of it and normal undo and redo it again. So it's great to see them take such ownership of each bouquet.

So that's what we'll go through. We'll design them all and then we give them a fresh cup, put them in a new bucket of water.

And then I hold off on wrapping them until right before I'm going to an event, but they have been involved in the wrapping portion as well.

Adam: [00:13:55] That's fun. I never realized it. Were so much that went into building. Okay.

Amanda: [00:13:59] It's definitely an art.

Adam: [00:14:02] I have to say if people are interested Amanda's Instagram @petalsthatinspire she has a lot of different videos about flower arrangements and other flowers that people can use in different ways, which is really cool.

Amanda: [00:14:14] I'm still learning of new flowers on a daily basis. It's so much fun to go into the wholesaler and see some new product that I've never seen before. And that's actually something I'm working on is trying to do a little field trip with the youth to the wholesaler, just to see that.

That atmosphere is it's remarkable. But yeah, I'm still learning of new flowers on a daily basis, but I love to learn about the proper care of each flower, the origin, how you can make them stronger, how you can extend their life. And so that's something I love to share on my social platforms. Do you encourage people to dabble in it then?

Yeah.

Adam: [00:14:50] Now reflecting on the work program at bit, what's some of the biggest benefits for the youth for participating.

Amanda: [00:14:56] Yeah.

So it's been awesome to see them develop. I've been working with a set of youth that I've really just grasped onto it. And I think, what draws back to my mission and what's the most inspiring part of this is the creative atmosphere and that. What I'm seeing as the biggest benefit and biggest takeaway for these youth in my sessions is just using that different side of your brain.

Focusing on something that challenges you to be creative and to do something that you're proud of, that, somebody who's going to be looking at and buying that you created and have it. Sense of accomplishment and ownership over something. And it's just great to see the natural conversation developed during these sessions that is focused on.

What they want to do with their future, what jobs they're looking after. I have one that's now really into floral designing and wants to learn more about that word and how they can start doing that at a grocery store. And, so I think that's the biggest takeaway for them is, obviously it's great to be paid to do something and, get a couple hours of work under their belt, but just to have that community and creative atmosphere.

To challenge their thought process a little bit more and has been really awesome.

Adam: [00:16:14] I thought that idea around the creativity and giving them a way to express themselves through an activity. One that helps them financially, but also is in a supportive environment where they are learning and working together.

Amanda: [00:16:27] And those conversations have developed to talking about their current jobs and what they see as challenges and what they want as their next step and what they're doing to prep themselves for that next step. And it's great that I can be somewhat of a mentor to them to help them figure out, Okay, what skills do I need to develop to get that dream?

To, get myself to that next level. And yes, it's great that we're being, hands-on, we're playing with flowers and we're learning something. But I think the biggest benefit is just these conversations. And just to see them light up in such a creative atmosphere is not something that I went in knowing that's what the biggest takeaway was going to be.

And now I see it every time I'm there.

Adam: [00:17:13] I love those conversations. I think they're a staple of Wild Tiger Tees as well. Did anything surprise you about the conversations about jobs with the youth?

Amanda: [00:17:22] When I went in you look at these youth and they are so strong and they have to focus so much on just the necessities. That you almost don't realize that they have dreams they want to achieve too. And they're working hard to get there as well. And we are just the observers and to be there, to help motivate them and inspire them to go after those dreams.

So to hear about some of the steps that they're taking, whether it be going back school or shadowing different job opportunities. They are so motivated to get those dream careers just like you and I are. And that's inspired me. So I feel like I'm getting, equally as much out of these sessions as hopefully they are too.

Adam: [00:18:11] I'd love that. I was really surprised when I started working with the youth for that same reason of, I had worked with adult homeless populations before. Sometimes there is just a sense of despair or given up where people just don't have that spark. It's they've been worn down by life.

But with these youth it's very different. They're like, they're ready to go. They've got energy and they're heading into the world. Yeah. They've got these really difficult situations that they're coming from and dealing with. And it's impressive when you think about it. Cause I think about how I was when I was 20.

Amanda: [00:18:43] Yeah.

Adam: [00:18:44] I struggled with, what I had and I had a support system and, and so being able to handle all the difficult situations that they come with while, chasing those dreams is so awesome and

Amanda: [00:18:54] Yeah. And that at the emotional maturity I think has just really blown me away. It makes you excited for them and it's so rewarding to see them. I went in this past week to find out one of the youth I've been working with got an awesome new job and he's so excited about it.

And, he's seeing an opportunity there. And that's, what's so exciting through it all is to see the evolution of it. And they're just really awesome.

Adam: [00:19:22] No, and this is just underscore how fantastic the Star House is. I think we're very lucky in Columbus to have such an organization, which is One reaching out to the youth at the level of service that they need, but really creating an environment that empowers them to, to reach out and find what they specifically need.

They're always adapting and learning and trying out new things and getting ideas from the youth about what they need and adapting their services. So I think having you know, an organization itself, which is continually evolving, And really listening well to, the youth that come through their doors.

It's really exciting to see what happens.

Amanda: [00:19:59] Yes, it's focused on the necessities and what they need now, but like you said, it's also empowering them to look into the future and prepare for that and have a plan and, allow them to step outside of focusing so much on the necessities of life, but also.

What dreams they have and what aspirations they have and how can we fuel that part of their life as well. So that's what I've really enjoyed about working with Star House.

Adam: [00:20:25] Now I'm bringing it back to Petals That Inspire. This is also something which has a life of its own and is growing. What has it been like starting a business. And what does that process taught you so far?

Amanda: [00:20:38] I always tell everyone when they asked me, what's it like owning your own business time? It's both thrilling and terrifying at the same time. It's like riding a rollercoaster and you don't know what turns are coming or, but you have these adrenaline highs too, of just seeing hard work, pay off.

And I had a grandmother who was an entrepreneur and a very successful entrepreneur. And I like to think that maybe I have a little piece of her in me as I go on this journey. But. I started at a very difficult time. I launched in March of 2020, literally a week before the world's shut down and had to pivot my business plan from the start.

I was primarily going to be doing business subscriptions and all the businesses that I were was planning on working with were now forced to close. So through that, and then most importantly, I wasn't able to work with them. Which was the bread and butter and the true heart of what I was doing. So I had to think of ways to evolve and grow the business during a time that was just so unprecedented.

And I was able to really just take on group orders and latch onto holiday orders, just to help grow the business and get a strong foundation. Then finding pop-up shops as an awesome opportunity. To most importantly, share my mission, but also share my work as well in some formats and some businesses that have been so supportive of me from the start.

And then I started doing virtual classes and that's where I found that I really love to teach and share my knowledge about flowers actually started as an education major on fact about Amanda before I shifted into hospitality, but I loved the energy of a virtual class. So I added that to my own portfolio and kind of have been running with those pop-up shops, virtual classes, and then holiday orders.

And as I'm able to work with the youth more, that's where I found that I need to stay with these more bulk style orders that I can continue to keep them involved in the process on a regular basis. So that's where the business is evolving. I, I do weddings. I'm keeping it to just one per quarter because I find them.

Extremely special event that I really like to put my heart into. But I can't get the youth as involved as much. With the design work, they're more involved in the processing part of the weddings, but I'm still great for those events. So I can still provide a portion of that sale of a wedding floral back to Star House.

So finding ways to still implement my impact into every single sale, but as I grow and as I'm just the solo, there's an onboard at Petals That Inspire just learning how to balance, but still maintain impact.

Adam: [00:23:30] What are some of your ideal customers?

Amanda: [00:23:33] Yeah. When it comes to pop-up shops I love to work with local businesses. So I've worked with Bexley natural market has been one that I've popped up regularly. And then Freedom a la Cart has been such an awesome one to partner with site, really like to partner with those locally focused social enterprises. So Fremont cart, I actually do a business subscription with them. Provide the fresh flowers in their new cafe, which if you haven't been definitely go cause it's beautiful.

Adam: [00:23:58] Opened up This year. It is a beautiful cafe.

Amanda: [00:24:01] oh, it's beautiful. And the people are even more beautiful. So food's awesome. So all good things there, but ideally that's the kind of clientele that I'm looking for is people that share my passion for giving back to the community.

By utilizing their art. So it's been really great to partner with them and that's what I'm looking for. As I launched this events side of the business is partnering with people that want to make an impact, whether it be having a little class at their baby shower or bridal shower or wanting to do a team building event.

And knowing that those events are making an impact in the community.

Adam: [00:24:38] What's your vision for Petals That Inspire?.

Amanda: [00:24:42] So the biggest dream I have that I'm working towards is I really want to have a creative workspace to work with youth like the youth at Star House to work with. School-aged children to work with adults with disabilities in a creative atmosphere, because I'd just seen the benefits of what that's done for myself and what that's done for people that been able to share this passion of mine with.

So that's the dream is to have that workspace where I can bring in those individuals have classes on a regular basis. And then provide support back to these programs in our community that are helping propel those individuals dreams forward. So that's what I'm working towards. Ideally I would love a space to do that and to share that with other social enterprises that are doing similar work, like Wild Tiger Tees and Freedom a la Cart and 1429 and just all these amazing social enterprises in our community.

I think. Incredible opportunity to launch a space for us all to work together and just broaden our impact.

Adam: [00:25:51] Oh, I love that idea. And, I think there's a very important point that you're touching on here is just the power of support and having a community that comes together to create change. I've always found that one of the, best things about this kind of social entrepreneurship community here in Columbus, Ohio, but can you tell me a little bit about what that community means to you?

Amanda: [00:26:15] They're the reason I have Petals that Inspire. Hearing the stories of local social entrepreneurs like yourself, Wild Tiger Tees, and some of the other ones that we met through GiveBackHack weekend. It just sparked something in me that made me realize. This is how businesses should be, they should be focused on. Okay.

Yes. It's nice to be able to have this as your full-time job and support yourself, but the impact of supporting our community makes so much more of a difference. And it's so inspiring. And I hope that my journey of being a social entrepreneur is inspiring the younger generation to do the same.

And it's been great to see. Columbus adapt and latch onto this concept of business, of providing back to the community and advocating for social issues that we didn't even know existed. If you asked me two and a half, three years ago, like I knew that youth homelessness was a problem or an issue that we were experiencing here in Columbus, I would have had no idea. And that's, I think a big part of the mission of all these social enterprises is yes, we want to provide direct support to these programs that are helping, but we also want to let the community know there's a need here, and we can come together to address it and to propel our community forward, to be a leader, to other cities around the country to do this.

And, those are the kinds of positive images I love to see in our world. And if I can be a small part in making that come to light and come to the forefront of business. Absolutely.

Adam: [00:28:02] I love that. I think there is such an important piece about using business to raise up awareness. Social issues, because to your point if you don't know about it, then there's nothing you can do about it.

You know, There's just no motivation to go solve a problem, which is not on your radar.

Amanda: [00:28:18] Yeah. And it's combining a passion with a purpose. And I think that heightens your passionate even more, or definitely has a my case because I understand that I can do something I love with flowers and, share my art and that joy with other people. But tag, along with that, the even more important mission.

We have a need in our community. We have these youth that need our guidance that need our support and need resources so they can achieve dreams like you and I can. So I think that's so important. And it's been very inspiring to see that in the social entrepreneurs in Columbus.

Adam: [00:28:57] Just to paint a little picture of what this looks like in practice I went to Amanda's She was at the farmer's market up at the Polaris Night Market this last week. And as she's talking to people, they come up, she explains not only about her flower arrangements, but about the mission behind it of working with the youth at the Star House.

And as people are looking at these really beautiful arrangements, they connect with the mission that's behind it and they can see the broader, good that's happening. But it also shares a story to people who might not otherwise be exposed to this about what's going on in our local community.

Amanda: [00:29:32] I really enjoy those conversations that I get to have with members of our community, when I meet them at these events, because the look on their faces, at first, oh my God, that your flowers are so beautiful. And then I share the mission and they're like, that's a thing here.

And yeah. And, that's what I feel like I win. Okay, great. If they buy flowers is wonderful, but more importantly, they now know about Star House they know now know about the social issue that we're working towards and that's the win in my eyes.

Adam: [00:30:04] That is really powerful stuff. I remember when I was recording a podcast with Kenny Sipes, founder of the Roosevelt coffee house. It's a nonprofit coffee house here in Columbus, Ohio that supports clean water. They fight against hunger and they fight against human trafficking and, I was asking Kenny about human trafficking thinking he was going to tell me about work they were doing in Africa. And he started talking about, the issue of human trafficking here in Columbus, Ohio. And I didn't believe him. And I was just shocked and he started explaining more about what was going on. And then he pointed me to a training called She Has a Name another local organization that does a community training about human trafficking.

But it was just that idea of Hey, here's an issue that we're having. He's just sharing that story. And then providing some direction and resource of how to help. And I could really see how, groups are coming together to solve problems in really innovative ways. By connecting people with ideas and resources and putting people together. You don't have to solve the entire problem on your own, but quite often there's little things that we can do in order to help make the world a much better place.

Amanda: [00:31:14] Yep. And I think, if we have the power and the time and the energy to do that, we should. And most importantly, while it makes. Feel good. Absolutely. And feel fulfilled And feel like we're living out a purpose. It's hopefully inspiring other people to do the same.

And that's really my mission. And that's why, in our mission statement, we talk about inspiring creativity and positivity in the community. And that's how we do it. We do it through flowers because that's my art channel. But then the mission behind it is more important than the art itself.

Adam: [00:31:53] And you know what you speak about this being very uplifting, that's also really important. I think I've seen this in a lot of places where people want something more and want to be connected with something bigger than themselves. And being able to realize that their career can also create an impact that's positive both for the world and for the local community.

Amanda: [00:32:13] Exactly. I have been in event planning in the world of hospitality now for seven, eight years. And I work hard. I go to work every day and I it's empowering to be with such a great team and. Great events for people, but at the end of the day, it wasn't filling my heart with what I needed when I looked at my work.

And when I found that with Petals That Inspire the concept of social enterprise, it's an and found energy. I'll work eight to 10 hours at my real job, if you will, every day and then come home. Work another six to eight hours. And I don't know where the energy is coming from, but it's the passion. And that's why I, you know, oh, you're going to burn yourself out.

I don't think I will because I love it so much. Gosh, I hope I don't, but I'll continue to work like that. until I can make it. My full-time thing.

Adam: [00:33:11] Now with Petals That Inspire, how do people find you?

Amanda: [00:33:16] Yeah, absolutely. I've worked really hard and my social profile files. So it's been great to connect with people on Instagram and on Facebook. And then I have my website as well, which you can definitely reach out to me. Um, But I've been meeting a lot of great individuals in the community and great businesses in the community through it.

Like the different farmer's markets that I get involved in. I've partnered with 11th candle co. So I am at the Worthington farmer's market once a month, and that's all listed on my website. But really looking to engage with people who are interested in what Petals that Inspire doing and growing and how we can implement and partner with more businesses in the country.

Adam: [00:33:55] And who's listening. That is petals that inspire.com for the website on Instagram. It's also petalsthatinspire Facebook, also petalsthatinspire.

You know, And if you're here, in, in Columbus, definitely check out the Worthington farmer's market. 11th candle just moved out of the co-hatch library and opened up their own shop. And I hear it's beautiful. I saw it while I was under construction and haven't been in the fully redecorated shop.

Amanda: [00:34:24] Oh, it's so beautiful. they have a fireplace. You can pour your own candles and they have some items made by social enterprises as well. Growler's dog bones is in there and they have some local artists as well. So it's a really great shop outside of the incredible candles, but I love going there.

Their team is so much fun.

Adam: [00:34:42] They have a lot of fun. There's something fun about making candles and being able to bond over that. And so that's really exciting that you get to be right around.

Amanda: [00:34:50] Yeah.

Adam: [00:34:50] To bring it altogether, Amanda, thank you so much for being on the podcast today.

Amanda: [00:34:55] Thank you so much for having me. It's been so exciting to share my mission. Anytime I get to talk to people about Petals That Inspire and just my journey of social entrepreneurship, it's read lights that spark inside me to just keep it going and broadening the impact in any way.

Adam: [00:35:11] And I really appreciate you sharing about the Star House and working with the youth. That's something that's very dear to my heart because the youth are just, they're fantastic. They inspire me

and lift me up. So it's great that you're there.

Amanda: [00:35:23] Oh, absolutely. I love it. It's the highlight of my nights when I can come home from a tough day at work and go work with them, it completely turns my day around.

Adam: [00:35:30] And if you're listening definitely check out petals that inspire.com. If you're on Instagram, follow Amanda on petals and inspire. One thing that I've heard really helps social entrepreneurs is when you can share their story and their message. So if you see things pop up share them around with your community, go out and check out her floral arrangements and come home with some beautiful flowers.

Amanda: [00:35:51] Yes. Absolutely. Thank you so much.

Adam: [00:35:53] Yeah. And thank you so much for listening until next time. Cheers.