Enter the Studio: Rood & Bloem
Creative passion meets business savvy. It’s the challenging combination of being a creative entrepreneur. I interviewed Carolien Rutgers of Rood & Bloem to see how she makes it happen.
Rood & Bloem
Carolien Rutgers has just opened up a shop, Rood & Bloem at VechtclubXL, selling flowers, home accessories and teaching workshops. Carolien intrigued me because she, like myself, had worked for years with various functions at a job before deciding to follow her passion, go out on a limb and start for herself.
Carolien definitely has passion. She explained to me that she had a dream and she needed to follow her heart. Her eyes lit up as she talked about taking a chance, a scary chance, and watching it grow into fruition, step by step.
Every single step is sacred to her, figuratively and literally. She loves to walk in nature, reminding her of where her dream started. For Carolien, balance is very important.
Her advice: surround yourself with supportive people and find time to take a step back every once in awhile. Don’t get frozen in a comfort zone, but at the same time don’t lose yourself in an exhausting work ethic.
Welcome to the sweet spot
And the funny thing is, that while Carolien has stepped out of her comfort zone by opening Rood & Bloem, she ultimately achieved a happiness/zen that she had never experienced before. And that zen shows. Filling her shop with unique flowers and plants and then providing workshops where she teaches you how to care for and present them, she found a valuable offering, which she is talented at and is unique in the flower market. Her customer base is steadily growing and the future looks rosy for Carolien.
Collaboration is important
Her shop is filled with design items from fellow creative entrepreneurs at VechtclubXL. She believes strongly in the power of collaboration, with the purpose of achieving stronger end results.
A strong social media presence
Besides this she shares her knowledge of plants and styling on social media, which is an effective way of engaging with her customers. I do believe Carolien has found the sweet spot: the perfect combination of success and fulfilment.
Watch this clip of Carolien sharing some insight into her business. If you like this kind of thing, you can watch the next interview here…
Credits:
Enter the Studio is an initiative from Kris Black Design (interviews), Renske Versluijs (styling & photography) en Simone van Rees (studio photography), together with Hustle Creatives (film).