We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tiera. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tiera below.
Alright, Tiera thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
I started with what I had and it was as about $60. At the time Joann’s fabric was still open and they were known for their coupons and I knew I didn’t have all the money to buy the material I needed but I went to Joann’s anyway to buy what I could at that time and I picked up stuff I knew I needed but couldn’t afford and by the time I got to the register and the clerk had coupons and added them into my balance. I had paid for everything I needed. I knew right then, I’m on the right track! This idea, this business was/is bigger than me. So it wasn’t necessarily about where I was at the time but where I was headed. I spent the next few days YouTubing how to make a journal from scratch and how I wanted it to look and what I wanted included in it. I launched them with no website just Instagram at the time and said “Place your order today to get your journal, DM for pricing” and I took pre-orders to continue to buy the supplies I needed to fulfill the orders that came in and people started telling other people about my company and tagging their friends to my page and my customers kept growing.
Tiera, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am an inspirationalist if that’s a word lol I will inspire the least to the greatest of us and mean it. I knew this was my calling because this is my happy place, I love to see women and young girls thriving, happy overcoming and living their best lives and that starts internally. If we feel good on the inside it’s going to manifest on the outside. I’m a realist, I’m the same person everywhere I go and what I’ve learned over the course of life is some people wear masks, so they’re not truly who they present themselves to be and whoever they are underneath the mask is what requires that positive force to be who they are no matter the room they are in. My company is called Watered Flowers because when you water a flower it grows, it blossoms and that’s how we have to do ourselves mentally. We have to water ourselves positively to grow. I recently launched grief journals to help ease the loss of a loved one and they are in 3 funeral homes so far across metro Detroit. I am so proud of this accomplishment. I feel like I am honoring my brother who I just recently lost.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn second guessing myself. I would contemplate so hard for days if I wanted to release a product, how I wanted to inspire people and even the ideas I had to grow my company. I believe it was the trauma I had prior to that ultimately lead to the start of this company that had me second guessing my potential but I kept watering myself, empowering myself, telling myself “you got this, you can do this” and I kept going inspite of how I felt and that’s how I got to where I am today.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I built my audience by remaining consistent even when I didn’t have the likes to follow. I kept posting and also sharing some of my personal life and the background work of Watered Flowers. I would also share my life as a mom. I have three amazing sons and they’ve been successful on their sports journey. One is actually headed to college right now with a full ride scholarship for football. The short of it; consistency. It’ll open doors for you even when you don’t think anyone is watching.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wateredflowersshop.com
- Instagram: @wateredflowers
- Facebook: @wateredflowers
