We were lucky to catch up with Kelli Pease recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kelli, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
The most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on has been giving away fresh flower bouquets. It first started with a fold-up table in Cardiff-by-the-Sea with one of my best friends. We gave out free flower bouquets for people walking by and I’ve never seen people light up like I did that day! Over the years, I’ve given away all kinds of gifts to people for my happiness blog “The Happsters.” I’ve given happy notes, food, gift cards, art, and more, but the one thing that brought the biggest smile to peoples’ faces has been flowers. Once I had this realization, friends and family helped me create flower giveaways around San Diego. We could all see that there was something magical about flowers that connected people and lit them up. Ever since then, I’ve started growing my own flowers in my backyard and giving those away, in addition to gifting flowers that are donated. Now I’m on a mission to give away 1 million flowers locally. My team offers free flowers to San Diego seniors centers, hospitals, those who are grieving, and other neighbors who could use a happiness boost.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I started my blog “The Happsters” in January of 2013 when I was inspired by a news clip of volunteers from an organization called “Happier Boston” performing random acts of kindness by giving away oranges at their local train station. In that moment I had an “aha” moment that would change me forever. I realized I wanted to complete as many random acts of kindness as possible and start a kindness movement. Within a few days I created a blog and printed thousands of “happy notes” that I sent around the world for free so others could leave kind words for people they came into contact with each day: mail carriers, waiters, their loved ones, strangers, etc. Since then, I’ve shared about happiness and kindness ideas and stories and highlighted the 4 G’s of happiness in my posts: Gratitude, Growth, Giving & Gathering. It’s been such an honor and joy in my life to be in this beautiful community of 100,000 amazing people who want to spread kindness, learn about happiness, and connect with other kind people.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a blogger has been meeting both people locally and around the world. I’ve met some of my best friends through blogging. In fact, for two years (right before the pandemic), I was so inspired by the amazing people in the Happsters community that I created women’s groups across the country. The events were based on the 4 G’s of Happiness and we’d get together once a month to do activities revolving around growth, giving, gratitude and gathering. While I no longer host official in-person gatherings, I’ll be forever grateful to have befriended some of the most kind and talented women because of those groups.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
The best resources for me as a blogger have been using Facebook and Instagram to make connections with people. I think many people assume that if they post enough on Facebook and Instagram, they will automatically form a supportive community. While posting consistently is key to social media, I’ve found that I’ve actually gained the most loyal followers through connecting through the less common ways of using social media. Some examples include: – Following people I have something in common with and commenting and DM’ing them on Instagram with responses to their posts and stories. – Joining Facebook groups that fit my niche and becoming an active member of those groups by answering questions and making genuine posts. – Creating my own Facebook groups (I’ve created a few throughout the years depending on the project I’m working on) in order for the members of my community to get to know each other. There have been a lot of friendships that have come from the Happsters Facebook groups and to me that means they have been successful!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.happsters.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/happsters
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happsters
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelli-pease-22b90519/

Image Credits
Personal photo taken by Stacy Bostrom