One of the beautiful things about life is that you never know when someone will enter it and completely change the trajectory of your life as planned. When I first met Kristin Solomon, I was struggling. I felt uninspired by the commercial events I was doing at the time, lost as to how to move forward into doing something more in line with my values. Kristin took me under her wing and we started working.

The coaching I got from Kristin was wonderful. I had felt like so many other mentors or well-meaning friends had tried to steer me in a direction that *they* thought was best for me, without actually listening to what was really important to me. But Kristin listened. In fact, she did more than that - together, we dug far deeper than business ideas or structured plans. At our first retreat, Kristin had me take a bunch of personality tests to determine what motivated me, what my strengths are, and what my weaknesses are too. Then we did a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to really lay out everything I had to work with. I told her everything that was spinning around in my head at the time, all of my varied interests and dreams and values. We sorted through the piles of thoughts, fears, hopes, and more together and she guided me in crafting mission and vision statements that completely reflected my own values. I had never felt so unconditionally supported before. I can honestly say I don’t know where I would be without her guidance. Having her as both a mentor and a best friend has made me a better person and a better Wondersmith.

And now, she’s launched her company Arts & Cultural Management to offer those services to other people like me - people who are creative and passionate, driven to make the world a better place, but lacking a foundation or guidance in just how to build a stable base. I am so excited for her!! All of this got me thinking about terrariums as a metaphor for a business or practice. They, too, are all about layers. Without a strong base of rocks, water can’t drain away and the plants can drown. Without the right soil, the plants don’t get the nourishment they need to thrive. You can put pretty plants and other additions in your container only after your prepare it with those all-important layers. It’s the same thing with a business - having a foundation of values and a subsoil of dreams will give you what you need to make a thriving creative business, art practice, or life.

“Terrarium” wasn’t a typical Wondersmith event in that it was created to honor my friend Kristin and shared with my friends rather than strangers. But I wanted to share it here because Kristin has made such a profound impact on who “Miss Wondersmith” is at her core. This was a surprise party of gratitude, play, metaphor, and plant magic. Seeing Kristin be so delighted and surprised by the whole thing made my heart swell. I am so lucky to have so many incredible friends. (Including the guests at my event, a diverse group of creative and adventurous individuals that kept conversation lively and interesting!) To learn more about Kristin, be sure to visit her website where you can see how to “Transform Mission into Vision and Passion into Profession.” To see more photos from the event, take a look at the Facebook album!

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*New to foraging and don’t know where to start? Check out this blog post on Foraging 101!