flora squared
i've always loved fashion, starting from when i would pile on a bunch of necklaces, bright pink earrings, and a tiara and called myself a "fashionista". in the fall of 2021, i came across an opportunity to apply to Grip Tape's National Youth Business Grant. idea in mind, i created a presentation and took the leap---within a few months, i won $500 and a mentorship program that shaped the way i thought of my future career.Â
the harder part came now when it was time to put in the effort to execute my ideas. i used the money and help to start my own business, flora squared! months of mentorship allowed me to learn more about the importance of structure in a business, whether that's following timelines or sticking to other organizational techniques. i learned the basics of marketing and the most efficient ways, in my case, to present my brand to others. canva, imovie, excel, and other such tools became my best friends as i dove into learning how to use them to build flora squared. most of all, the mentorship program helped me achieve my goal of kickstarting my own entrepreneurial dreams!
from there, flora squared became my focus in high school. i would devote hours each day to handmaking each item i sold, reaching out to more customers, and finding opportunities to broaden my company. i started off selling resin earrings with local flowers, then expanding to more jewelry such as charm earrings, pin charms, and more! one of my greatest breakthroughs with this business was landing an opportunity to showcase and sell my products at my school's Festival of the Arts! here's more about it:
Festival of the Arts Showcase
my school hosted an event to showcase student-led businesses and i had the opportunity to present my business there! this was my first in-person business endeavor and i grew so many of my marketing and communication skills here. one of the main things i learned was how to be confident when presenting my work by speaking clearly, maintaining eye contact, and being open to conversation! although these seem like easy tactics in hindsight, learning them on the spot was definitely a learning curve but did wonders for my marketing skills. apart from the day itself, this event also took immense preparations for the weeks prior---late nights perfecting products, buying the necessary presentation tools, and more. by the end of the day, i grew more confident to speak about flora squared and share my pride with others. i learned so much about my own entrepreneurial abilities and realized that business was the field i wanted to pursue!
i consider flora squared as my biggest achievement in high school because it taught me that my seemingly mismatched talents were possible to combine into one career path: business. my creativity was being utilized in the products i chose to make; my love for social interaction allowed me to connect with customers; my tenacity to keep approaching problems from different angles allowed me to stay curious and motivated; and, most of all, my desire to make a different in others' lives was achievable. it was by my senior year of high school that i finally had an inkling of what i wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. earning the opportunity to study business economics at UCI was my next step towards developing this passion.
in the meanwhile, i continued my interest in product creation by building websites. it started as a way for me to present flora squared, and evolved into content creation. here's more about it: