Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Paris Fletcher.
Founder of Full Bloom.
Here’s a breakdown of the key themes and takeaways:
🌸 About Full Bloom
- Mission: To help people “bloom into their best selves” through self-discovery, journaling, and affirmations.
- Origin: Born during the pandemic when Parris began sharing motivational content on TikTok.
- Name Meaning: Inspired by plants — just like them, people need the right environment and care to thrive.
📓 The Product: Guided Journal
- Title: Back to Me: The Journey Back to Self
- Format: Available in both hardcover and digital.
- Content: 365+ daily prompts and space for affirmations to encourage reflection, self-awareness, and personal growth.
- Purpose: Helps users explore their identity, values, relationships, and goals.
🎭 Parris’ Background
- Former professional dancer and actress in Los Angeles.
- Toured internationally and appeared in commercials and TV shows.
- Transitioned from entertainment to entrepreneurship after facing industry frustrations and seeking more control over her path.
💡 Entrepreneurial Insights
- Started with no formal business plan or funding — bootstrapped using personal savings.
- Faced rejection from banks but turned it into a strength by maintaining full ownership.
- Built a loyal community through authenticity and vulnerability on social media.
- Key to success: Quality product + genuine connection with audience.
💬 Quotes That Resonate
- “Sometimes all you have to do is just start.”
- “If we’re not in the right environment, we’re not going to thrive.”
- “People are looking for real people they can relate to.”
#SHMS #STRAW #BEST
Steve Harvey Morning Show Online: http://www.steveharveyfm.com/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi. I am Rashan McDonald, a host of weekly Money
Making Conversation master Class show. The interviews and information that
this show provides are for everyone. It's time to stop
reading other people's success stories and start living your own.
If you want to be a guest on my show,
please visit our website, Moneymaking Conversations dot com and click
to be a guest button Chris submit and information will
(00:22):
come directly to me. Now let's get this show started.
My guest owns Full Bloom. She's on the mission to
help you bloom into your best self. Full Bloom invites
people to lean on the company for the support you
need throughout every stage of your life. Please work with
the Money Making Conversation Masterclass. Paris Fletcher, How you doing, Paris?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm doing so good.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
How where we located at Paris? Where you're living these days?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I actually live in Douglasville, Georgia. I'm from San Diego, Diego.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Good food over in San Diego. Now I've been there.
I know, I know I'm gonna hit that good food button.
Boy to you San Diego. You want to eat? You
go to San Diego. They got some they got some
restaurants waiting there, especially seafood.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yes, I will say I'm allergic to shellfish, so I
don't really dabble in the seafood world. But you know,
they do have some great options, some great food they do.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
So if anybody's traveling, you know, the West Coast and
you hear San Diego, go down there and try out
those great restaurants you got down there. So what brought
you down to Georgia? Was it family? Was a job?
Was it education?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Tell me Paris, No, So it brought me to Georgia.
My fiance is originally from Augusta, and I met my
fiance in LA when we were both doing the entertainment thing.
And you know, his family's out here. His parents are
a little older, so we wanted to come out here,
settle out here, so if they ever need us, they
ever needed him, we could be closer to just be
(01:53):
there for them of any assistance that they might need.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Good. So let's talk about the entertainment thing, you know,
the entertainment thing, you know, like, yeah, you know, so
obviously like myself, you know, I dabbled into entertainment, stand
up comedian. Thought I'd be the next Eddie Murphy Bill,
you know, Richard Pryor and you know, but in the end,
I realized that my true calling was you know, producing,
(02:17):
you know, being able to see talent and brand products
or talent and build those ideas and create change. And
so that was that was my shift. What was your
entertainment talent that drew you to Los Angeles?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Well, so I grew up as a competition kid. I
had been dancing my whole life, and it just seemed
like a natural progression to get into the dancing professionally.
And it's something that I love to do, something that
I always knew. So originally, when I turned nineteen, I
went out to LA I got an agency, and within
two months assigning with that agency, I was touring the
(02:54):
world with an artist, dancing worldwide, you know, backup dancing
and everything like that, which was such a bless thing.
I was in college at the time, but it was
like a once in a lifetime chance. I'm like, you
know what, I'm just gonna put that on a whole
lot on my drop out and do my thing and
see where this could go. And from the tour when
I got back, I started doing TV shows and commercials,
(03:15):
and then from there I got into acting naturally, from commercial,
from the commercial world, from dancing and started taking acting classes.
Loved it. And then from the acting classes, I started
doing some shows, came there, had a co star, a
couple of co stars, and then you know, just just
started doing the whole thing, you know, the commercial acting
and then doing the didn't quite make it in the movies,
(03:38):
and I was so close, you know, in a veil
on a veil for all these different things, which is amazing.
I love entertainment, but similar to you, I I just
for me, I just felt like I needed to do
something more. I had always my whole life.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Just let's talk about it. Let's talk about that transition
because of the fact that you know, you know, there
was success for you in entertainment, but there was also
a lot of frustration. Okay, you know that. I know
because that was in my line. Because anytime you can
walk in the room and you see you go in
for an audition, I'm just tell everybody how it works.
(04:15):
You know, you go in and they tell you're gonna
come into audition walking room and there's fifty people and none
of them looking like you, So right there, you don't
know what they want. And that's the part that frustrated me. See,
I'd like to know that I got a shot at something.
But then I had some friends who worked all the time,
but I wasn't working. You know, I was working as
(04:36):
a stand up, but I wasn't working as a commercial
actor or a theatrical actor. Theatric actor is sickcoms and
movies and all that stuff in theater. And so that's
the part that I went I cannot allow an industry
to dictate me based on how they feel or how
I look. That's the part that frustrated me.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Right, yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
W your thoughts on that. When you hear me talk
like that, parents, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I mean it's like looking in a mirror. That's that's
how I felt, you know. And I will say I
love the process of auditioning. When I was doing it consistently.
I loved going into those rooms, even though I was nervous,
so nervous. There's just something about it that just this
adrenaline rush that just it felt good. And I love people,
So going into these scenarios where I'm meeting different casting
(05:25):
directors and whatnot, I loved making those connections. And I
always had a great time in the room and always
had pretty much there I can't There's been those auditions
where I just bomb completely and just lost all of
the lines that I had, But pretty much all of
the auditions that I did, I felt good connections with
the casting directors and you know, I was giving those directions.
(05:45):
So I will say that I have had very positive
experiences with auditioning. However, the things like you, I just
I would get so close to these auditions, being on
a veil months and just knowing that this is my
big break, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna be a
movie star. They end up going with like a name
(06:08):
or celebrity or someone that has more followers than you.
Just things like that, and it just really started to
kind of it starts to kind of wear on you
a little bit, you know, one starts to dim your
light a little bit. And me, I find so much security,
like just in knowing and I know that we're not
always in control of our lives and everything like that,
but for the things that I can't control, I want
(06:28):
to be able to control and knowing that it's up
to me whether rather than it being up to this
casting director. That's just like, you know what your eyes
aren't brown enough, So let me go with this other person. Yeah, something,
just whatever it is.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Oh my god, you know you bring it back horror stories, Paris. Stop.
Oh my good you're too tall, you're too dark. You
know we want to ball head dude?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Could you?
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Oh my god? Can you dance? Can you sing?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
No?
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I can't sing. Can you play an instrument?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
No?
Speaker 1 (06:56):
I can't play an instrument. Oh can you do you
do voices?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
No?
Speaker 1 (07:00):
I can't do voices? Okay, next, my.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Goodness, it can only be me.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
It can only be me against what me wasn't getting
booked Paris, and so I went, Okay, I became a
fair successful writer in Hollywood. They started to producing television
shows and managed talent. And so now I'm on a
show called Money Making Conversations Masterclass. So, Paris, you have
a brand called full Bloom. It's full Bloom if you
lll bloom tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Well, so what happened. It's just it's interesting how it
kind of played out. But I started Full Bloom about
three years ago now, But what how I started it?
When the pandemic happened, I was working with a casting
director and I was actually working on a show and
It was amazing because I was actually one of the
leads on that show. But then it just never ended
(07:48):
up coming out because of just I don't know the
the producer pulled out or something like that. So anyways,
when the pandemic happened, the casting director that had booked
me for that show reached out to me and said
that there was an opportunity. And you know, this platform
was trying to diversify, so they were onboarding creators and
I was initially onboarded to this platform to you know,
(08:10):
just kind of share my story with other people, just
to provide inspiration and motivation for whoever. And so I
got on the platform, I started posting videos mother Gay, Well,
you know, there's nothing else to do. We're in the pandemic.
Everyone's just home doing nothing, so let me just do this.
And I was posting affirmation and journal prompts for people
to use a resource because we just had so much
(08:32):
time in that moment to just sit with ourselves.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
And so because you're a fast talker, Paris, I know
you've been told liberto you can talk fas.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
My mom' from New York.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Okay, we do, you said, San Diego. So I'm trying
to work with that San Diego speed okay, okay, cool
now California Speed now you now you started. This was
a platform and it was a motivational platform soon because
you talk about affirmations and videos and and.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Uh not necessarily, so this platform was TikTok. So they
had the time so known as Yeah, they were known
as like the dance platform, you know, like everyone's just
on their dancing, but they were looking to diversify their
content because they wanted to be and now they are
more than just a dance platform. People go there for
a number of things.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
So it's a dance platform that they brought you on.
They wanted to diversify the content.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yes, so they did not I won't say that they
were strictly a dance platform, but that's what they were
known for, okay okay, m hm. So they just wanted
to just bring more to the platforms. So it just
had just different niches and genres, if you will. And
so I was on boarded as you know, motivations, and
(09:47):
I started posting videos, and I started with affirmations and
then journal props. So people like I said, could just
have something to do with all the time that we
have on our hands during that time in the pandemic,
and I did. I didn't realize how many people actually
needed that. Because self development general prompt self disclovery, that's
something that I've always been just within my own journey.
(10:09):
I've always done because it was just so necessary something
an outlet for me in the intim industry to always
come back to self because you can get so lost
and all these you know, the judgment, all those things.
So anyways, it resonated with a lot of people when
I started posting on TikTok, and I grew my followings,
but it just became something that people just I guess
(10:32):
that it resonated with them and something that they looked
forward to. And so I built my following or my
community based upon you know, self help and wellness and
you know, like I said, inspiration, motivation. And so with
that being said, my journal prompts and affirmations, it just
(10:52):
always played over so well with people, and I had
people reaching out to me saying like this is amazing
and you don't understand how much you have helped me
within my own journey. And I just want to say
if let's say, if you if you sold these prompts,
I would totally buy it. And in my mind, I
never thought about, you know, creating a resource for anyone
to just to buy. And I'm like, you know what,
(11:14):
that's actually a great idea. Maybe I can put something
together and you know, we'll see what happened. So I
started full Bloom on my company so I could just
have a name and have a business.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
What why full bloom? Why full Bloom? Why is that
the name of your company?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Full Bloom? I I love plants, and I just feel
as though we are just journeys, journey wise and just
just life wise. It's just so similar to plants, you know,
in a way, because plants are just you know, you
have to put it in the right environment, you have
to give it the right nutrients, you have to give
it the right you know, just you know, the water,
just just take care of it in a way to
where if it's not in the right environment, it's not
(11:52):
going to thrive.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Right.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
And so within people, ourselves, our lives, if we're not
in the right environment, the right headspace around the right people,
we're not going to thrive. And so if we're in
the right environment and nurturing ourselves in a way that's
just empowering us, uplifting us, and just giving us, like
putting good and positivity into us. We're gonna thrive and
we're gonna bloom. Inch is like the most beautiful versions
(12:14):
of ourselves. And so I just thought full Bloom was
perfect because it just it just encapsulates all this stuff
everything you know that it's just that I believe in
and that I know to be true. So full Blooms
And yeah, it's name, that's the name. But I created
a resource, the diatjournal called back to Me the Journey
(12:35):
Back to Self, and it's just over three hundred and
sixty five prompts for over a year and it's just
a prompted day that people can use. And then you
also have a space for affirmation, so you can write
a positive affirmation. But things like that to just really
nurture your relationship with self and go on that self
discovery journey, find that self love, taking care of yourself
(12:55):
or self care, all those things. And I created that
DIA journal about three years ago, and you know, it
has just it's history now, like it's like the rest
is history.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
So you're saying that's that's that has become a money maker,
that's what you're saying, Paris.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Yeah, and I don't like to think of it like.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Money making conversation. Master Fize. Okay, you look at social media.
Two things are very popular on social media. Food and inspiration. Okay,
I know because I'm involved in both of them. Food
people want to know how to cook stuff, and they
want to know to be inspired and motivated and uplift.
(13:36):
What do you think you're we're going to go to
break Paris. When I come back, I want to get
in more details about you as an individual inspiration and
the patterns and and uh, this is about money making
conversations because so many people are out there doing this
and I and people have told me about setting up
subscriptions and books and I'm gonna tell you I don't know.
(13:57):
And here and you say, Richard, I didn't know either.
But guess what I'm doing it and you should slow
down and do it yourself. We'll be right back for
more money making conversation. I am talking to the creator
of Full Bloom, Parish Fletcher, and I'm the host of
Rashawn McDonald.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
money making conversations. Masterclass Welcome back to the Money Making
Conversations masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
I'm speaking to Parish Fletcher. He found a full bloom
to remind others that having a clear sense of selfish
imperative when facing adversity, rejection and negativity that happens a
lot in our world. How have you, I wouldn't say
bottled it, but how are you using that and twisting
it and making it positive for people who need to
(14:52):
hear what you have to say? Paris?
Speaker 2 (14:56):
You know, I just I just stare my honest truth
of my journey and what I've been through. And you know,
that's that's where what I started with with my social media,
like my TikTok and everything like that. I've just always
been so honest with what I had gone through. And
we talked about the entertainment industry, but just all the
(15:18):
things that I had to deal with, and I won't
say like just the rejection that happens, and that's just
the natural, you know, circumstances that you go through within
the industry. Like I said, it just starts to wear
on you a little bit. And sometimes when I was
going through and I just really started to question my
my talents, my skills, myself, like man, am I not
(15:39):
talented enough? Am I not pretty enough? But then what
I found for myself just always, like I said, journaling,
just you know, knowing my strengths, knowing my weaknesses and
owning that and just loving every aspect of myself and
just really being able to have a clear sense of
self with what has kept me so mentally strong and
(15:59):
motivated to just you know, regardless of what I pursue,
it's just a matter of what I'm putting into it
and how I view myself. And I've just brought that
to my platform and just resonating with people. And I
think when we're talking about inspiration, people are looking for inspiration.
I think the biggest thing is people are looking for
real people that they can see and say, Okay, I
(16:20):
can do that too. And so with social media, you know,
there's always a facade. People will post all of their
their their wins andever their losses. It just and it's
just it comes off so dis genuine. And when you're
finding people that are able to post all aspects themselves
and I'm not saying you have to post your whole
life and put your whole life out there because I
(16:42):
don't even do that because it's just it's my life
and I there still needs to be some boundaries within that.
But I give people just my losses as well, you know,
because I'm human just like everyone else. And so when
people are able to see that and be like, okay,
but how did she bounce back? And she was able
to bounce back, so that inspires ever do that too,
and so you know, that's that's how I kind of
(17:03):
pivot and use my stories to inspire others now and.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Now part of that is journally, you know, these journals.
How did that become the thought proces? Because was it
something you was doing personally and now you're sharing the
philosophy with your followers and anybody who who? Other people
recommend to buy your Booth journals because both it's hard
back and it's also digital.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Correct yes yes, yes, yes, yes yes. So that, like
I said, that's just something that I just have used
throughout my whole life, and that has always helped me
within you know, sometimes within my own mind, there's just
so much going on, and journaling has always been a
tool to just kind of let it out, you know,
letting my thoughts out and really with the guided Journal
(17:49):
that I have a lot of us we have, you know,
these thoughts, so sometimes we don't we have these questions
that we don't even know to ask ourselves and what
we know, what we want to even try to figure
out within ourselves. And so this guided journal is a
really great tool because it gives you a prompt a
day questions that you probably wouldn't even think to ask yourself,
like I said, and it's just there, and you know,
(18:09):
it allows people to have a deeper level of reflection
and allows them to just look at so many different
aspects of their life, within themselves, within their friend groups,
within you know, whatever it is, their own career, like
are you happy, Like is this something that maybe that
you truly wanted to pursue or is it something that
you kind of felt not forced into, but just kind
of guided into, if you will, Like for me, I know,
(18:32):
you know, my parents wanted me to be like a doctor,
and that wasn't something that was that I was truly
interested in. You know, Entertainment was always there because it's
what I knew and what I loved. And so it
just allows people to just kind of think of their
life from so many different angles, and it's just it's
it's a helpful tool, and it continues to be a
helpful tool. And that's why I continues to just the
(18:54):
journal itself is just so successful.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Right, you know, when I think about it, I'm I'm
join this protege program for my company, and I realized
that I'm not a person who writes things down, and
they forced me to, you know, basically journal thing every
month and ask me what I'm doing, what I'm doing,
what I'm doing it. Then I have to tell them
what I'm doing. And what I've discovered is that I'm
(19:19):
better for it. And so because it forces me to
think about the process, think about the experience of what
I'm going through. And then it also I believe enhances
my communication with my employees. So what you're talking about,
really I'm doing, but I'm doing it from a corporate standpoint,
(19:40):
but it's enhancing my overall relationships with the people that
I communicate on a daily basis, with my employees as
well as my clients. And so the lot of affirmations
and those motivation tools that you have really can be
applied as in that antribleneural space.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Correct absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Now With that being said, entrepreneurs, you you are an entrepreneur.
You started the business, did you have a budget, did
you have an idea of what type of revenue you
is going to generate? Or you just you know, jumped
out there on faith.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
I wined it the entire way. I continue to wing it.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
You know, come on, fars motivating queen.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
You know, I'm just I'm just saying. It's just I'm
being honest. You know, when I started the business, I
had the vision for it, but with being new to
business completely, it's just you know, when you try to
go to banks with just you have a vision, but
not necessarily not having the financial just I guess record
(20:55):
if you will to just show like, okay, I'm looking
for a loan for this much I entertain that. I
went to my bank that I've been making with for years,
and immediately they're like, you know, you have to show
this much income revenue within your business within the first
year and we can give you that I'm ount and
it just wasn't usible, and so I used my own
funds what I was comfortable was putting into the business.
(21:20):
And I was just like, you know what, this is
something that I truly believe in and if I believe
in it, like I said before, like it's just you
have to be confident within yourself and within whatever it
is that you're doing and know that it's a good
quality product. And I can't stress quality enough because I
paid more than certain people would, you know, for their
(21:40):
first product initially. But I am such a firm believer
in you. If you can speak behind your quality, then
people will appreciate it. So anyways, I put my money
into the business not really knowing what was going to happen.
But I knew I had two things. I knew I
had a really good product, and then I knew I
had a really good community and that it was a
(22:01):
resource that people were looking for. And so I was
going to leverage my community, not just my community, but
just my my platform that I had, and just use
that to market my product. And so you know, within
a few months of me just putting it out there,
I sold out, and I'm like, Okay, let me just
make sure that wasn't a fluke product. And you know,
(22:23):
I tried it again and it happened again. I'm like, Okay,
this is something we have something here, and so I
just continue with the money that I make from the product.
I just just try to double up every time with
how much inventory I'm able to get and which it it. Initially,
I was bummed out because I wasn't being able to
(22:43):
get a loan from a bank. But I think in
the long run for me from what my vision for
my business, it was beneficial because it's all within like
my hands, like I put this into this the product
in my business, and so I'm not having to deal
with these crazy interest rates and just what I'm making
from the product. Initially, I just you know, put it
(23:05):
back into my business. And like I said, I keep
trying to double up my inventory to just get continue
to make more revenue. So like I said, I wind
it and I did the best that I could. I
reached out to people when I had questions and gained
as much knowledge as I could and just use that
and it's been working extremely well. And yeah, so you know,
(23:26):
sometimes I think a lot of us think we need
to have the full package before we actually you know,
pursue something. But I am just you know, I am
the proof that sometimes all you have to do is
just just start. And I am such a believer. If
you take the steps and you're working hard and trying
to get as much knowledge as you can that the
resources and the people and what you need will find
(23:47):
you along the way and it's going to work out.
And you know that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Well, guess what, it's a fantastic story. How can we
get in touch with your parents?
Speaker 2 (23:57):
You can find my website online at full bloominsoll dot
com and then you can find my business on social
media platforms at full bloom ins so s U L
L B l O O M I N S p
O your interview with.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Thank you for coming on show. Your interview is very
motivating and uplifting and really thank you because your honesty
it helps us out. It allows us to say that
every plan is an original thought and if you don't
let no one tell you your thought can happen, but
you have to believe in it and you have to
put in the time. And that's what you told us
on your interview. Doing your interview, thank you for coming
(24:36):
to Money Making Conversation master Class. You money maker, you
thank you.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
For having me.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass
posted by me Rashaun McDonald, thank you to our guests
on the show today and thank you. I'll listen to
your audience now. If you want to listen to any
episode I want to be a guest on the show,
visit Moneymaking Conversations dot com. Our social media handle is
money Making Conversation. Join us next week and remember to
(25:03):
always leave with your gifts. Keep winning.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Mm hmmm
Hi. I am Rashan McDonald, a host of weekly Money
Making Conversation master Class show. The interviews and information that
this show provides are for everyone. It's time to stop
reading other people's success stories and start living your own.
If you want to be a guest on my show,
please visit our website, Moneymaking Conversations dot com and click
to be a guest button Chris submit and information will
(00:22):
come directly to me. Now let's get this show started.
My guest owns Full Bloom. She's on the mission to
help you bloom into your best self. Full Bloom invites
people to lean on the company for the support you
need throughout every stage of your life. Please work with
the Money Making Conversation Masterclass. Paris Fletcher, How you doing, Paris?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm doing so good.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
How where we located at Paris? Where you're living these days?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I actually live in Douglasville, Georgia. I'm from San Diego, Diego.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Good food over in San Diego. Now I've been there.
I know, I know I'm gonna hit that good food button.
Boy to you San Diego. You want to eat? You
go to San Diego. They got some they got some
restaurants waiting there, especially seafood.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yes, I will say I'm allergic to shellfish, so I
don't really dabble in the seafood world. But you know,
they do have some great options, some great food they do.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
So if anybody's traveling, you know, the West Coast and
you hear San Diego, go down there and try out
those great restaurants you got down there. So what brought
you down to Georgia? Was it family? Was a job?
Was it education?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Tell me Paris, No, So it brought me to Georgia.
My fiance is originally from Augusta, and I met my
fiance in LA when we were both doing the entertainment thing.
And you know, his family's out here. His parents are
a little older, so we wanted to come out here,
settle out here, so if they ever need us, they
ever needed him, we could be closer to just be
(01:53):
there for them of any assistance that they might need.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Good. So let's talk about the entertainment thing, you know,
the entertainment thing, you know, like, yeah, you know, so
obviously like myself, you know, I dabbled into entertainment, stand
up comedian. Thought I'd be the next Eddie Murphy Bill,
you know, Richard Pryor and you know, but in the end,
I realized that my true calling was you know, producing,
(02:17):
you know, being able to see talent and brand products
or talent and build those ideas and create change. And
so that was that was my shift. What was your
entertainment talent that drew you to Los Angeles?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Well, so I grew up as a competition kid. I
had been dancing my whole life, and it just seemed
like a natural progression to get into the dancing professionally.
And it's something that I love to do, something that
I always knew. So originally, when I turned nineteen, I
went out to LA I got an agency, and within
two months assigning with that agency, I was touring the
(02:54):
world with an artist, dancing worldwide, you know, backup dancing
and everything like that, which was such a bless thing.
I was in college at the time, but it was
like a once in a lifetime chance. I'm like, you
know what, I'm just gonna put that on a whole
lot on my drop out and do my thing and
see where this could go. And from the tour when
I got back, I started doing TV shows and commercials,
(03:15):
and then from there I got into acting naturally, from commercial,
from the commercial world, from dancing and started taking acting classes.
Loved it. And then from the acting classes, I started
doing some shows, came there, had a co star, a
couple of co stars, and then you know, just just
started doing the whole thing, you know, the commercial acting
and then doing the didn't quite make it in the movies,
(03:38):
and I was so close, you know, in a veil
on a veil for all these different things, which is amazing.
I love entertainment, but similar to you, I I just
for me, I just felt like I needed to do
something more. I had always my whole life.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Just let's talk about it. Let's talk about that transition
because of the fact that you know, you know, there
was success for you in entertainment, but there was also
a lot of frustration. Okay, you know that. I know
because that was in my line. Because anytime you can
walk in the room and you see you go in
for an audition, I'm just tell everybody how it works.
(04:15):
You know, you go in and they tell you're gonna
come into audition walking room and there's fifty people and none
of them looking like you, So right there, you don't
know what they want. And that's the part that frustrated me. See,
I'd like to know that I got a shot at something.
But then I had some friends who worked all the time,
but I wasn't working. You know, I was working as
(04:36):
a stand up, but I wasn't working as a commercial
actor or a theatrical actor. Theatric actor is sickcoms and
movies and all that stuff in theater. And so that's
the part that I went I cannot allow an industry
to dictate me based on how they feel or how
I look. That's the part that frustrated me.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Right, yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
W your thoughts on that. When you hear me talk
like that, parents, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I mean it's like looking in a mirror. That's that's
how I felt, you know. And I will say I
love the process of auditioning. When I was doing it consistently.
I loved going into those rooms, even though I was nervous,
so nervous. There's just something about it that just this
adrenaline rush that just it felt good. And I love people,
So going into these scenarios where I'm meeting different casting
(05:25):
directors and whatnot, I loved making those connections. And I
always had a great time in the room and always
had pretty much there I can't There's been those auditions
where I just bomb completely and just lost all of
the lines that I had, But pretty much all of
the auditions that I did, I felt good connections with
the casting directors and you know, I was giving those directions.
(05:45):
So I will say that I have had very positive
experiences with auditioning. However, the things like you, I just
I would get so close to these auditions, being on
a veil months and just knowing that this is my
big break, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna be a
movie star. They end up going with like a name
(06:08):
or celebrity or someone that has more followers than you.
Just things like that, and it just really started to
kind of it starts to kind of wear on you
a little bit, you know, one starts to dim your
light a little bit. And me, I find so much security,
like just in knowing and I know that we're not
always in control of our lives and everything like that,
but for the things that I can't control, I want
(06:28):
to be able to control and knowing that it's up
to me whether rather than it being up to this
casting director. That's just like, you know what your eyes
aren't brown enough, So let me go with this other person. Yeah, something,
just whatever it is.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Oh my god, you know you bring it back horror stories, Paris. Stop.
Oh my good you're too tall, you're too dark. You
know we want to ball head dude?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Could you?
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Oh my god? Can you dance? Can you sing?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
No?
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I can't sing. Can you play an instrument?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
No?
Speaker 1 (06:56):
I can't play an instrument. Oh can you do you
do voices?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
No?
Speaker 1 (07:00):
I can't do voices? Okay, next, my.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Goodness, it can only be me.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
It can only be me against what me wasn't getting
booked Paris, and so I went, Okay, I became a
fair successful writer in Hollywood. They started to producing television
shows and managed talent. And so now I'm on a
show called Money Making Conversations Masterclass. So, Paris, you have
a brand called full Bloom. It's full Bloom if you
lll bloom tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Well, so what happened. It's just it's interesting how it
kind of played out. But I started Full Bloom about
three years ago now, But what how I started it?
When the pandemic happened, I was working with a casting
director and I was actually working on a show and
It was amazing because I was actually one of the
leads on that show. But then it just never ended
(07:48):
up coming out because of just I don't know the
the producer pulled out or something like that. So anyways,
when the pandemic happened, the casting director that had booked
me for that show reached out to me and said
that there was an opportunity. And you know, this platform
was trying to diversify, so they were onboarding creators and
I was initially onboarded to this platform to you know,
(08:10):
just kind of share my story with other people, just
to provide inspiration and motivation for whoever. And so I
got on the platform, I started posting videos mother Gay, Well,
you know, there's nothing else to do. We're in the pandemic.
Everyone's just home doing nothing, so let me just do this.
And I was posting affirmation and journal prompts for people
to use a resource because we just had so much
(08:32):
time in that moment to just sit with ourselves.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
And so because you're a fast talker, Paris, I know
you've been told liberto you can talk fas.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
My mom' from New York.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Okay, we do, you said, San Diego. So I'm trying
to work with that San Diego speed okay, okay, cool
now California Speed now you now you started. This was
a platform and it was a motivational platform soon because
you talk about affirmations and videos and and.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Uh not necessarily, so this platform was TikTok. So they
had the time so known as Yeah, they were known
as like the dance platform, you know, like everyone's just
on their dancing, but they were looking to diversify their
content because they wanted to be and now they are
more than just a dance platform. People go there for
a number of things.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
So it's a dance platform that they brought you on.
They wanted to diversify the content.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yes, so they did not I won't say that they
were strictly a dance platform, but that's what they were
known for, okay okay, m hm. So they just wanted
to just bring more to the platforms. So it just
had just different niches and genres, if you will. And
so I was on boarded as you know, motivations, and
(09:47):
I started posting videos, and I started with affirmations and
then journal props. So people like I said, could just
have something to do with all the time that we
have on our hands during that time in the pandemic,
and I did. I didn't realize how many people actually
needed that. Because self development general prompt self disclovery, that's
something that I've always been just within my own journey.
(10:09):
I've always done because it was just so necessary something
an outlet for me in the intim industry to always
come back to self because you can get so lost
and all these you know, the judgment, all those things.
So anyways, it resonated with a lot of people when
I started posting on TikTok, and I grew my followings,
but it just became something that people just I guess
(10:32):
that it resonated with them and something that they looked
forward to. And so I built my following or my
community based upon you know, self help and wellness and
you know, like I said, inspiration, motivation. And so with
that being said, my journal prompts and affirmations, it just
(10:52):
always played over so well with people, and I had
people reaching out to me saying like this is amazing
and you don't understand how much you have helped me
within my own journey. And I just want to say
if let's say, if you if you sold these prompts,
I would totally buy it. And in my mind, I
never thought about, you know, creating a resource for anyone
to just to buy. And I'm like, you know what,
(11:14):
that's actually a great idea. Maybe I can put something
together and you know, we'll see what happened. So I
started full Bloom on my company so I could just
have a name and have a business.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
What why full bloom? Why full Bloom? Why is that
the name of your company?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Full Bloom? I I love plants, and I just feel
as though we are just journeys, journey wise and just
just life wise. It's just so similar to plants, you know,
in a way, because plants are just you know, you
have to put it in the right environment, you have
to give it the right nutrients, you have to give
it the right you know, just you know, the water,
just just take care of it in a way to
where if it's not in the right environment, it's not
(11:52):
going to thrive.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Right.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
And so within people, ourselves, our lives, if we're not
in the right environment, the right headspace around the right people,
we're not going to thrive. And so if we're in
the right environment and nurturing ourselves in a way that's
just empowering us, uplifting us, and just giving us, like
putting good and positivity into us. We're gonna thrive and
we're gonna bloom. Inch is like the most beautiful versions
(12:14):
of ourselves. And so I just thought full Bloom was
perfect because it just it just encapsulates all this stuff
everything you know that it's just that I believe in
and that I know to be true. So full Blooms
And yeah, it's name, that's the name. But I created
a resource, the diatjournal called back to Me the Journey
(12:35):
Back to Self, and it's just over three hundred and
sixty five prompts for over a year and it's just
a prompted day that people can use. And then you
also have a space for affirmation, so you can write
a positive affirmation. But things like that to just really
nurture your relationship with self and go on that self
discovery journey, find that self love, taking care of yourself
(12:55):
or self care, all those things. And I created that
DIA journal about three years ago, and you know, it
has just it's history now, like it's like the rest
is history.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
So you're saying that's that's that has become a money maker,
that's what you're saying, Paris.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Yeah, and I don't like to think of it like.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Money making conversation. Master Fize. Okay, you look at social media.
Two things are very popular on social media. Food and inspiration. Okay,
I know because I'm involved in both of them. Food
people want to know how to cook stuff, and they
want to know to be inspired and motivated and uplift.
(13:36):
What do you think you're we're going to go to
break Paris. When I come back, I want to get
in more details about you as an individual inspiration and
the patterns and and uh, this is about money making
conversations because so many people are out there doing this
and I and people have told me about setting up
subscriptions and books and I'm gonna tell you I don't know.
(13:57):
And here and you say, Richard, I didn't know either.
But guess what I'm doing it and you should slow
down and do it yourself. We'll be right back for
more money making conversation. I am talking to the creator
of Full Bloom, Parish Fletcher, and I'm the host of
Rashawn McDonald.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
money making conversations. Masterclass Welcome back to the Money Making
Conversations masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
I'm speaking to Parish Fletcher. He found a full bloom
to remind others that having a clear sense of selfish
imperative when facing adversity, rejection and negativity that happens a
lot in our world. How have you, I wouldn't say
bottled it, but how are you using that and twisting
it and making it positive for people who need to
(14:52):
hear what you have to say? Paris?
Speaker 2 (14:56):
You know, I just I just stare my honest truth
of my journey and what I've been through. And you know,
that's that's where what I started with with my social media,
like my TikTok and everything like that. I've just always
been so honest with what I had gone through. And
we talked about the entertainment industry, but just all the
(15:18):
things that I had to deal with, and I won't
say like just the rejection that happens, and that's just
the natural, you know, circumstances that you go through within
the industry. Like I said, it just starts to wear
on you a little bit. And sometimes when I was
going through and I just really started to question my
my talents, my skills, myself, like man, am I not
(15:39):
talented enough? Am I not pretty enough? But then what
I found for myself just always, like I said, journaling,
just you know, knowing my strengths, knowing my weaknesses and
owning that and just loving every aspect of myself and
just really being able to have a clear sense of
self with what has kept me so mentally strong and
(15:59):
motivated to just you know, regardless of what I pursue,
it's just a matter of what I'm putting into it
and how I view myself. And I've just brought that
to my platform and just resonating with people. And I
think when we're talking about inspiration, people are looking for inspiration.
I think the biggest thing is people are looking for
real people that they can see and say, Okay, I
(16:20):
can do that too. And so with social media, you know,
there's always a facade. People will post all of their
their their wins andever their losses. It just and it's
just it comes off so dis genuine. And when you're
finding people that are able to post all aspects themselves
and I'm not saying you have to post your whole
life and put your whole life out there because I
(16:42):
don't even do that because it's just it's my life
and I there still needs to be some boundaries within that.
But I give people just my losses as well, you know,
because I'm human just like everyone else. And so when
people are able to see that and be like, okay,
but how did she bounce back? And she was able
to bounce back, so that inspires ever do that too,
and so you know, that's that's how I kind of
(17:03):
pivot and use my stories to inspire others now and.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Now part of that is journally, you know, these journals.
How did that become the thought proces? Because was it
something you was doing personally and now you're sharing the
philosophy with your followers and anybody who who? Other people
recommend to buy your Booth journals because both it's hard
back and it's also digital.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Correct yes yes, yes, yes, yes yes. So that, like
I said, that's just something that I just have used
throughout my whole life, and that has always helped me
within you know, sometimes within my own mind, there's just
so much going on, and journaling has always been a
tool to just kind of let it out, you know,
letting my thoughts out and really with the guided Journal
(17:49):
that I have a lot of us we have, you know,
these thoughts, so sometimes we don't we have these questions
that we don't even know to ask ourselves and what
we know, what we want to even try to figure
out within ourselves. And so this guided journal is a
really great tool because it gives you a prompt a
day questions that you probably wouldn't even think to ask yourself,
like I said, and it's just there, and you know,
(18:09):
it allows people to have a deeper level of reflection
and allows them to just look at so many different
aspects of their life, within themselves, within their friend groups,
within you know, whatever it is, their own career, like
are you happy, Like is this something that maybe that
you truly wanted to pursue or is it something that
you kind of felt not forced into, but just kind
of guided into, if you will, Like for me, I know,
(18:32):
you know, my parents wanted me to be like a doctor,
and that wasn't something that was that I was truly
interested in. You know, Entertainment was always there because it's
what I knew and what I loved. And so it
just allows people to just kind of think of their
life from so many different angles, and it's just it's
it's a helpful tool, and it continues to be a
helpful tool. And that's why I continues to just the
(18:54):
journal itself is just so successful.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Right, you know, when I think about it, I'm I'm
join this protege program for my company, and I realized
that I'm not a person who writes things down, and
they forced me to, you know, basically journal thing every
month and ask me what I'm doing, what I'm doing,
what I'm doing it. Then I have to tell them
what I'm doing. And what I've discovered is that I'm
(19:19):
better for it. And so because it forces me to
think about the process, think about the experience of what
I'm going through. And then it also I believe enhances
my communication with my employees. So what you're talking about,
really I'm doing, but I'm doing it from a corporate standpoint,
(19:40):
but it's enhancing my overall relationships with the people that
I communicate on a daily basis, with my employees as
well as my clients. And so the lot of affirmations
and those motivation tools that you have really can be
applied as in that antribleneural space.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Correct absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Now With that being said, entrepreneurs, you you are an entrepreneur.
You started the business, did you have a budget, did
you have an idea of what type of revenue you
is going to generate? Or you just you know, jumped
out there on faith.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
I wined it the entire way. I continue to wing it.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
You know, come on, fars motivating queen.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
You know, I'm just I'm just saying. It's just I'm
being honest. You know, when I started the business, I
had the vision for it, but with being new to
business completely, it's just you know, when you try to
go to banks with just you have a vision, but
not necessarily not having the financial just I guess record
(20:55):
if you will to just show like, okay, I'm looking
for a loan for this much I entertain that. I
went to my bank that I've been making with for years,
and immediately they're like, you know, you have to show
this much income revenue within your business within the first
year and we can give you that I'm ount and
it just wasn't usible, and so I used my own
funds what I was comfortable was putting into the business.
(21:20):
And I was just like, you know what, this is
something that I truly believe in and if I believe
in it, like I said before, like it's just you
have to be confident within yourself and within whatever it
is that you're doing and know that it's a good
quality product. And I can't stress quality enough because I
paid more than certain people would, you know, for their
(21:40):
first product initially. But I am such a firm believer
in you. If you can speak behind your quality, then
people will appreciate it. So anyways, I put my money
into the business not really knowing what was going to happen.
But I knew I had two things. I knew I
had a really good product, and then I knew I
had a really good community and that it was a
(22:01):
resource that people were looking for. And so I was
going to leverage my community, not just my community, but
just my my platform that I had, and just use
that to market my product. And so you know, within
a few months of me just putting it out there,
I sold out, and I'm like, Okay, let me just
make sure that wasn't a fluke product. And you know,
(22:23):
I tried it again and it happened again. I'm like, Okay,
this is something we have something here, and so I
just continue with the money that I make from the product.
I just just try to double up every time with
how much inventory I'm able to get and which it it. Initially,
I was bummed out because I wasn't being able to
(22:43):
get a loan from a bank. But I think in
the long run for me from what my vision for
my business, it was beneficial because it's all within like
my hands, like I put this into this the product
in my business, and so I'm not having to deal
with these crazy interest rates and just what I'm making
from the product. Initially, I just you know, put it
(23:05):
back into my business. And like I said, I keep
trying to double up my inventory to just get continue
to make more revenue. So like I said, I wind
it and I did the best that I could. I
reached out to people when I had questions and gained
as much knowledge as I could and just use that
and it's been working extremely well. And yeah, so you know,
(23:26):
sometimes I think a lot of us think we need
to have the full package before we actually you know,
pursue something. But I am just you know, I am
the proof that sometimes all you have to do is
just just start. And I am such a believer. If
you take the steps and you're working hard and trying
to get as much knowledge as you can that the
resources and the people and what you need will find
(23:47):
you along the way and it's going to work out.
And you know that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Well, guess what, it's a fantastic story. How can we
get in touch with your parents?
Speaker 2 (23:57):
You can find my website online at full bloominsoll dot
com and then you can find my business on social
media platforms at full bloom ins so s U L
L B l O O M I N S p
O your interview with.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Thank you for coming on show. Your interview is very
motivating and uplifting and really thank you because your honesty
it helps us out. It allows us to say that
every plan is an original thought and if you don't
let no one tell you your thought can happen, but
you have to believe in it and you have to
put in the time. And that's what you told us
on your interview. Doing your interview, thank you for coming
(24:36):
to Money Making Conversation master Class. You money maker, you
thank you.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
For having me.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass
posted by me Rashaun McDonald, thank you to our guests
on the show today and thank you. I'll listen to
your audience now. If you want to listen to any
episode I want to be a guest on the show,
visit Moneymaking Conversations dot com. Our social media handle is
money Making Conversation. Join us next week and remember to
(25:03):
always leave with your gifts. Keep winning.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Mm hmmm
Hosts And Creators
Steve Harvey
Shirley Strawberry
Thomas "Nephew Tommy" Miles
Carla Ferrell
Kier "Junior" Spates
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.