175: Drumroll, Please: Unveiling Flowerie—Our New Product Shop

Oh my goodness. Today is such a special day. I'm beyond excited to finally be able to share something that has been growing behind the scenes over here for quite some time. Really behind the scenes. For months and months and months we've been working on a brand new project that I have really kept under wraps and I have been dying to share it with you. It is a all new product shop for Bonnie. Now, I've been keeping this super close to my heart and it feels really amazing to finally let you in on this project and really the heart behind it and what it's going to be and some really special kind of things that we're doing with it as well. You know, over the years I've talked so much about creating products and designing with intention and sharing your art with the world through putting them on products. Well, now I'm walking that same path right alongside you with this brand new shop and I can't wait to tell you all about it. So whether you've been with me for a really long time and you know all of my history with products or you're just jumping in, it's going to be so exciting.

I'm Bonnie Christine and this is where all things creativity, design, business and marketing unite. I'm a mama living in a tiny town tucked right inside the Smoky Mountains, running a multi seven figure business, doing the most creative and impactful work of my life.

But when I first set out to

become an entrepreneur, I was struggling to make ends meet and wrestling with how to accomplish my biggest dream of becoming a fabric designer. Fast forward to today. I'm not only licensing my artwork all over the world, but also teaching others how to design their creative life and experience experience the same success. I'm here to help you spend your life doing something that lights you up. I'll help you build a creative business that also creates an impact, changes people's lives, gives you all of the freedom you want, and is wildly profitable. Welcome to the Professional Creative Podcast.

You know, I really got my start in handmade products. I started in an Etsy shop back in 2009 making handmade aprons and tea towels. And then I took a turn away from actual physical products and focused on licensing my artwork and letting other people produce the products. So this is my first love is licensing and something that I still adore, pursue and count on in my own business. Now a couple of years ago I had a planner shop where I designed and developed an annual planner and we sold it for a couple of years. We ended up closing that shop in 2021, really just based on the bandwidth and what we were doing as a team, we just decided to close it at the time. And so really ever since then, I felt like I had a place in the product world and just was waiting for the right opportunity and the right time to move on it. So let me start by really sharing the heart behind the new shop. And I'm going to tell you the name here in just a minute. But for those of you who know me, you, you know that my creativity is really fueled by nature. And so I started my journey years ago making these handmade products. And it was through those really early products that I discovered the joy of combining n with also practical, everyday items. Over time, I began more and more drawn to the idea of creating products that could bring kind of this sense of creativity, of warmth, of being a homebody and nature also into people's lives. And that's where this shop really comes in. The shop is about really creative pieces that will help inspire you and bring joy to your everyday routines, but also really reflect on our purpose here as a creative. Now, at its core, the shop blends beauty with function. And so we're taking really small, simple moments in life and trying to make them really special. So whether it's wrapping a gift in beautiful paper, or sketching your ideas in a really useful notebook, or using like a hand woven blanket that feels cozy and looks beautiful as well. So every product we have designed to just bring a little bit of nature's magic into your home and into your creative life as well. It's also been a way for me to share my love for products and creativity and nature with all of you. So after months of planning and designing and working on the brand, I'm beyond excited to officially reveal the name of the brand new shop. The name of the shop is Flowery. Okay, so it's F L O W E R I E Flowery. The name means so much to me because it really reflects everything that I love about nature. It's the flower garden brought to life. So Flowery is a place where my passion for design and my love for gardening get to come together. And every detail of the shop has been crafted with that in mind. I cannot wait for you to see it. So let me share a little bit more about Flowery's first collection. We've curated this incredible range of floral themed products that are meant to bring nature and beauty into your everyday life. So from sketchbooks that are really perfect for sketching and writing to tea towels and aprons that add A touch of nature to your kitchen. Each and every item has been super thoughtfully designed, meticulously sourced, with both that beauty and experience and function function in mind. Now, one of my favorite parts of the collection is the personal touch behind some of the items. For instance, my mom has been working on the line of handmade aprons using a pattern that I originally started with back in 2009. So these aprons are not only beautiful, but they're also so incredibly meaningful, and I'm so excited to share them with you. We've also created a line of puzzles, gift wrap, again, sketchbooks and notebooks, beautiful writing pencils. We also have some home decor, like a incredibly gorgeous woven blanket and a custom candle. Every product in this collection is meant to really not only, like, wrap you in creativity, but also help you feel connected to the beautiful things in the world. So I'm really excited about this super special collection. So here's what's happening next. We are going to be opening up a holiday sneak peek for Flowery next month in November. So this sneak peek is going to feature a super small batch release of some of our absolutely favorite products. And we're keeping it limited to just 100 of every item. So it's a chance for us to really test the waters and gather feedback from you and make sure that everything feels just right before we go into our full launch next year. So the sneak peek release is also a way to give you an early look at what we've been doing. We're really looking forward to hearing what you think about the products, what you love, what you're excited to see more of in the future. And so this is just the beginning. We suspect that the shop will probably sell out and move pretty quickly. And so our full launch will happen in late spring or early summer of 2025. So we're using this to really test, test the products, test our shop and all of the inner workings of what has to really go into producing a shop at scale. And so I promise it's going to be worth the wait. We're so, so excited. And I'll be sure to keep you up to date with all the sneak peeks along the way. In fact, there's a couple of really unique things that we're doing with the shop. Let me tell you about both of them. The first one is called the Secret Garden. And so this is something really special that we've created. For anyone who wants to sign up and join the Secret Garden, this is really our VIP list. And so by joining the Secret Garden, you'll have the chance to see products before anyone else, get sneak peeks of new collections and receive early access to shop before the door is officially open. So for instance, when we launch the Sneak Peek Shop in November, members of the Secret Garden are going to get a two hour head start to shop the limited holiday collection. So that means you get first dibs on all the goodies that you want to get your hands on. Plus, there will be a bunch of perks and surprises along the way for our Secret Garden members. And of course it's free to sign up. So you can do that over@shopflowery.com I'm going to spell that for you. It's just shop s h o P flowery F L O W E R I E. So sign up for the Secret Garden to get first shopping access, a two hour head start when we open the shop on Tuesday, November 19th. So you're going to want to set the date Tuesday, November 19th and go over and sign up for the Secret Garden so that you get early access to shop. We are so, so excited. Now the other thing that we're doing, and this was a really big decision, is something that I am calling Growing In. So I've decided that this shop is really purposefully meant to help my students and other artists and designers and surface pattern designers see what's possible and understand the inner workings of what it really takes to bring a product shop to life. So this means that we are committed to being fully transparent and really pulling back the curtain to share with you exclusive insights into our journey, from struggles to successes. We want to be real and raw and really invite you or anyone who's interested to kind of follow along. So I'm really excited to introduce this. I'm calling it the Greenhouse. So if you can imagine a greenhouse is all glass and you can see and watch things grow looking inside. So there are two levels to the greenhouse. The first one is completely free. Come peek through the glass. We're going to be publicly showing behind the scenes glimpses, inviting people to see our process and our product sketches, our stories on how we develop products. We're also going to be sharing some business insights. So we'll reflect on what we're learning, whether it's about marketing or connecting with customers or creating something new for the first time. We want to share growth milestones. So we'll publicly kind of bring you into key moments, from launches to major business decisions and just offer you more insights into the whole entire journey. Now we'll also do Q and A'S and freebies. We want to hear from our community, we want to answer your questions. We also want to share resources and we also want to hear what you love about the shop and what ideas you have about it and, you know, have you vote on different products and things like that as well. Now, the second level is an invitation to step inside the Greenhouse. And this is really where I'm inviting you to kind of come see the dirt under our nails. Now, I'm going way back to my roots. For those of you who remember, my very first membership was $5 a month. And so I did that in 2012, and I'm going back to the same concept here. The Greenhouse is a paid monthly newsletter for $5 a month. It's just a little investment and a huge invitation to come see what we're doing. So every month we're going to be sharing more insights into the strategic decisions that we're making. We'll expl the reasoning behind the business moves that we have. We're also going to be doing more market research and share the trends, the data that we're following. We're going to give you access to our team meetings, so all of the takeaways from our internal shop meetings where we discuss key decisions and challenges and pivots and really what's happening. We're going to give you any templates or tools or resources that we're using and we're finding helpful. We're going to give you in depth case studies about different things that, that we're figuring out that worked or maybe didn't work. We're going to include in depth reports on our marketing campaigns and our product launches, our business strategies, our profit margins, where our expenses are going, what our cost of goods are and all of those things. We're going to give quarterly detailed financial reports so we'll be sharing the exact figures of our revenue, our expenses, our profit margins and more. Again, I want to just invite people to come see what we're doing doing. The heart of this really is because we've already uncovered so much incredible stuff, like all the research that we've done, all of the learning curve that we've started to flatten out. And so we're really, really excited to just offer that up in a really simple format, a monthly paid newsletter and quarterly financial reports so that you can really see what the inside of a shop like this looks like, whether you're, you want to have your own shop or you're just interested in seeing a company grow. So we're really excited about it. You can also join the Greenhouse. Again, a lot of it is absolutely free and if you want the monthly newsletter and financial reports, you can grab those for the greenhouse cost of five bucks a month over@shopflowery.com so as I wrap up today's episode, I just want to say how grateful I am for all of your support, for all of your excitement around this new project. Launching Flowery is truly a dream come true and I'm so excited to share this journey with you. Every product, every detail, every learning curve, every success, every failure, every step has been just an incredible ride and journey already. And I can't wait for you to experience every part of it. So don't forget, head over to shopify shop flowery.com Sign up for the Secret Garden to get first access and the latest updates so that you can shop early. Because again, this is a super small batch of products that we're launching on Tuesday, November 19th. That's Tuesday, November 19th. We can't wait. We cannot wait. Thank you so much. Thank you for being a part of this. My friends. Create the beauty that you want to see. Come alive in the world. And remember, there's room for you. Bye for now.