Share the Chair: Quynh Nguyen

Episode Transcript
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This week's Life Note, we share the chair with a fellow podcaster,
author, and inspiring artist who has turned her passion into a business.
Music.
Welcome to Life Notes from Chair 17, a podcast dedicated to sharing life stories,

(00:22):
wisdoms, and inspirations as we navigate life's journey.
Host CH aims to share thoughtful perspectives and insights from her own life
journey, as well as those of special guests and contributors.
Tune in for thoughtful conversations about lessons learned, wisdoms gained,
experiences had and inspirations shared.

(00:43):
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you never miss an episode.
Now enjoy this week's episode.
All righty, welcome back in, friends, to another episode of The Life Notes from Chair 17.

(01:03):
I'm your host, C.H., and I thank you once again, as always, for finding me in
this corner of the podcast universe.
As always, I like to start off each episode by thanking our returning C-17ers
for your continued support and checking us out each week.
This does include our growing list of international listeners from new countries.

(01:25):
Thank you. Warm welcome into you. But also, if you happen to be checking us out for the first time.
Maybe you have just found us on one of the major podcast platforms or via our
website out on Life Notes from Chair17podcast.com or via social.
However, you have found us, a warm welcome into you as well.
Thank you for wanting to check us out. We certainly hope you like what you hear,

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and you will want to continue to tune in.
So this episode is another in what
we call our Share of the Chair series as I had the opportunity to sit down with
Quynh Nguyen to talk all things creative journey while also turning that creative

(02:09):
journey into a thriving business.
Now, Quynh and I know each other via a mutual friend, and I wanted to bring
Quynh on the podcast to specifically talk about her entrepreneurial journey,
which has actually seen her be able to turn her creative passion into her own

(02:33):
brand and company, something that I think a lot of creatives do.
Out there, myself included, would love to potentially see happen one day maybe for us.
And so Quynh has been a paper flower artist for the better part of 10 years.
And this follows, among other things, a successful stint where she also owned

(02:56):
her own very successful catering business.
And one of the things I learned in our chat was anything that Quynh puts her
mind to, especially if it seems as if it's something that she takes up on her
own. And again, this is my observation.
Quynh didn't tell me this, and I told her this actually during the chat.

(03:18):
She seems to have a golden touch of turning it into both personal and financial success.
But she also does this from what I will call and what it appeared to me to be
as a very pure of heart approach.
So So oftentimes she takes something up herself,

(03:40):
and then through word of mouth and friends,
she starts doing that for them and then puts her marketing and finance degree
to good use to basically turn it into a business, which I think is quite admirable.
And I loved hearing how she did that both for where she is right now as a paper

(04:03):
floral artist, but also for her catering business.
So I like to think that we could all learn something from her story.
And this experience, and she talks about it, has led her to not only being just
a successful artist in her own right,
but also that of helping educate others framed around strategies and insights

(04:25):
that could help fellow paper artists.
But I think it could probably appeal, again, my own opinion,
to a lot of creatives out there,
how to maybe think about beginning a journey to having their own creative business come to life.
So it was a great conversation.

(04:47):
Among her many accolades, she also happens to be the founder and co-host of
the Paper Talk podcast, which again does focus on.
Conversations with folks in the paper flower community and of which also does
share inspiring tips and ideas to help empower.

(05:08):
Those folks out there in the community that are fellow entrepreneurs and potentially
maybe trying to go down a similar path as Quynh has done for herself.
And as if that wasn't enough for Quynh to do just day to day,
she also has a book coming out on October 1st, 2024 called The New Art of Paper Flowers,

(05:29):
which she is working frantically on as we record this episode and publish it.
So all of this hails from a very humble beginning for her as her family did
immigrate to the United States, the state of Oklahoma, after they fled war-torn Vietnam.

(05:50):
So to say that her family, as well as her, started over with literally nothing
is an understatement, and I feel it makes Quynh's story all the more inspiring,
as is her love of her family.
And for the sacrifices they made for her, but then how that has also turned into her own ongoing,

(06:13):
I would call it a mission, to give back to her community as well,
and specifically the floral community.
So after spending an hour with her, she is one of the most positive people I've ever met.
She even admits this herself, and listening to her energy and enthusiasm,
not only for what she does, but how she shares that same enthusiasm.

(06:37):
With I feel anyone she meets, is about as uplifting as it can get.
So it's the exact kind of life journey story we love to share here on the podcast,
and she was truly a joy to talk to.
We have lots and lots of links to learn more about Quynh.
In our show notes, I think the best place to start is her website,

(07:00):
pinkandposy.com, because it really is a jumping-off point to all her socials,
her blog, the podcast, if you want to order the book or pre-order the book and so on.
There's also going to be a link to a CBS Sunday morning segment that she did
as she was part of that is a more holistic look and potentially worth a watch

(07:21):
for those of you who might not be totally familiar with paper flower art or what that is.
And also to hear more from Quynh in her own words.
So lots of good information in the show notes, but even more so in the episode.
I sincerely thank Quynh for her time and for our mutual friend,

(07:43):
Julie, of connecting us.
Again, our Share the Chair episodes always tend to run a little bit longer than
our typical episodes, but they are oftentimes well worth it.
So I do hope you will enjoy learning more about Quynh's creative spirit and
her entrepreneurial success.
With that, as always, I ask you to be kind yourself, take it one hour at a time,

(08:07):
one day at a time, and enjoy the episode.
Hi, Quynh. Hello, Courtney. Thank you so much for having me here.
Oh, thank you so, so much. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to want
to chat about all things, really your life journey.
But also, I think this episode is going to be educational for some folks, including myself,

(08:28):
about this entire art of paper flowering and what that has brought to you as
part of your journey to actually being able to do the thing you love for your job.
So as an entrepreneur, as somebody who has started her own business,

(08:48):
has been successful in multiple businesses, that's kind of the focus of our
conversation today. day.
So I am really happy and I've been very excited too because you will also be
having a book that's coming out this fall.
Yes. At the time of this recording, it will be an October date.
Is that when it's going to be? October 1 is the release date.
And what, well, let's just get to that. What is the name of the book?

(09:12):
It's called The New Art of Paper Flowers.
Okay. And we will provide links for anyone who is interested in pre-ordering
or ordering it as we talk through not only your journey to creating that,
but also just in general of how you've gotten to be where you are today.
So one of the questions that I wanted to start with was.

(09:33):
And I've asked this of another artist I've had on the show, and I kind of think
about it myself, is do you have a sense of when you first felt any creative
or artist inklings in you?
Was that, I think I read as I was prepping for this,
you have not considered yourself an artist until you started to do this art

(09:58):
by way of using paper to create floral arrangements.
Exactly, 3D dimension. 3D dimension.
So was there something that was in your childhood or something as you were growing
up? Did you ever have any kind of inclinations that you might have some sort of artist spirit in you?

(10:20):
I would say my background is a little bit different from everyone else.
We are actually Vietnamese immigrants.
So we escaped during the Vietnam War and we escaped. We were one of the boat people.
Oh, wow. And so when my parents and us, my older sister and I,
came to the United States, we spoke no English.
We knew no English. So we had to learn everything. thing
and the mentality of my parents and

(10:43):
I love my parents to death because they taught me so many great ethics
of working really hard but it also
pushes away the creativity because when you
are growing up as an Asian family that's starting fresh out
had no money you really have to
work hard you have to like figure a way to make
money my parents were working two to three jobs each to

(11:04):
provide us a shelter food on the
table and that brings a whole different mentality
where it doesn't allow you to bring art art is a luxury let's put it down there
that's true and it's something that you can't afford until you feel comfortable
in your life that all the major basic things are filled and i didn't get that

(11:24):
opportunity until way much later in my life this year i'm
50 and only recently have I considered myself an artist and it's through paper
flowers, which my, cause I was telling you a story.
When I told my mom I was doing paper flowers in my living room,
she's like, you know, paper flowers was really about the poor people who could

(11:45):
not afford fresh flowers.
So they had to make their own flowers out of paper to be able to have it for
their weddings or special events.
In Vietnam? In Vietnam. Okay. Yes. So it had, would you say it had a stereotype attached to it?
Yes, of course. And not a positive view? Yeah. Even in the United States,
I would say, because I also have a course called Paper to Profit,

(12:07):
where I teach other paper artists or florists how to start their business.
Because a lot of people I've met throughout my years of being a paper artist
is it's usually moms or homemakers that are switching.
They want something more in their life. And this was something they did a beautiful job.
And people were asking us like, oh, I can actually make money off of this.

(12:30):
But they don't know how to price it. Usually when someone starts out,
they're pricing things without looking at their labor costs because they think their labor is free.
And so they ended up charging much lower than what they actually should be.
And they can't in the long term. When you price things too low,
you're not going to make enough money to provide a life for you and your family.

(12:51):
It might be a supplemental income.
Maybe you're not the major breadwinner, but some people are.
And it's something that they have to think about. How do I expand my business?
How do I make making paper flowers something more than just a pretty thing?
There's art or a hobby or something to this effect.
So I can hear it in your voice and also in your background of having grown up

(13:16):
in a family that was very focused on making a living.
Mm-hmm. Were you ever in a situation where you thought you might follow your
parents of what your parents were doing or any of the jobs that they took to make a living here?
Or was that in a completely different, like...
I'm just here. I'm trying to survive. I'm trying to do my thing.

(13:37):
And I'm not necessarily going to do my parents' thing, but I don't really know
what that looks like for me.
If art and the artist inklings were not really a luxury you could have when you were younger.
Does that make sense? Yeah, I would say my parents were very fortunate.
They had higher income in Vietnam. Because of the war, everything was destroyed.
They actually had to restart everything over. And it was completely different

(14:01):
for my parents. They've never really had to hold a job before.
Their education is quite different. And so my dad actually went to night school,
got a bachelor's degree in engineering.
And it's been really amazing to see how my parents were able to figure out how
to speak English, how to navigate, how to start from zero from nothing. Exactly.

(14:23):
And build into something. Yeah. However, whatever that something is.
Exactly. It's not like, you know, we went and invented something crazy.
What do you feel, I'm skipping ahead on my questions, but I was like,
what do you feel that being, as that is your upbringing or as that as your younger years,

(14:43):
let's say, what do you think that taught you or what did you observe about your
parents that maybe you've carried with you today into what you've built for yourself?
My parents never really, were not much talkers. I would say their actions spoke much louder.
There was never any spoken rules around the house, but there was a lot of silent

(15:03):
rules where you had to be the perfect kid, make the perfect grades.
And fortunately, I mean, I think our mentality was already in that mindset to
be a good daughter, to be a good student, to think about getting good grades,
I think that was already deeply ingrained within us.

(15:24):
And I would look at my other cousins. I have a lot of cousins.
And we all have the same mentality where my aunts and uncles,
their parents also escaped from the war.
And to see them also build their business or their livelihood of growing up
in the United States back in the 70s and 80s to where they are now.

(15:44):
And I would say most of my cousins are very successful.
They're now doctors, attorneys, engineers.
And there's, we do have a couple artists in there, which is really.
Including you. Including myself.
And it's been really amazing. I mean, I think having a family,
because our family, we're very, I see my cousins,
my family, my aunts, my uncles, my grandparents every year, even though we,

(16:09):
I grew up in the state of Oklahoma and all my relatives were. Yeah.
So I was going to ask you, did you come to, so we're obviously in Washington, the Pacific Northwest.
Was that where they came and immigrated to?
Yes, we were sponsored by church, by a particular family that lived in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, and they helped my parents immigrate.
Pretty much an apartment, a car, my parents' first job.

(16:32):
Start essentially from scratch, but have something that gets them going, right? Exactly. Yeah.
So it's funny because I hear you. I don't come from a family of,
I would say, of an entrepreneurial spirit or sort of start from scratch.
We were just talking about it before we started the episode of,
you know, kind of some dreams that I've had that I've put behind me because

(16:55):
I'm like, well, I don't know how I can do it. And you're like, you can do it.
Is that the driving spirit you feel that has carried you through up until today?
I'm sure that's like an obvious question, but there had to have been moments
where you're like, should I even be doing this?
Because if you are coming, I came from a sort of get good grades,
be straight A's, focus on school.

(17:17):
But sometimes that can give you a false sense
of success and how hard it can sometimes be and
you've learned a lot in this journey the keys to
success you grew up observing within your family you've had
to kind of let's say cultivate that yourself or define success a little bit
not differently but you know even if something didn't work for you or even if

(17:38):
you're like well i didn't actually do the best i thought i could do on that
but i learned something from that there's got to to be some valuable lessons
from being somebody that comes from a family that had to really start from zero.
Definitely. I would say I've definitely done a lot of mistakes.
I've definitely learned from it. And it's so important to struggle because if

(17:58):
you have, if everything's served to you on a platter, you don't appreciate as
much and you don't work as hard to get to the next thing that you want in your life.
And I think it's so important to, and it's hard because a lot of of people,
their parents want everything for their child.
And they want to say, I don't want you to struggle as much as I did.
In certain ways, I was fortunate that I had to struggle so much because my parents

(18:22):
were already struggling and handling two to three jobs each.
So I had to some way figure out how I could help them.
And fortunately, now that I'm now married, I now have an established life.
I'm already thinking about retirement, which is way earlier than my parents. Very envious of that.

(18:42):
You're doing FIRE, financial independence retire early.
We talked about this in our 30 going on 30 episode. I wish someone had told me that and or I had had a.
I could see the benefits of planning that way so that you are retiring in a

(19:04):
little more of a prime of your time as opposed to really maybe coming to that final chapter.
Exactly. I love that you're doing that. We're trying very, very hard.
It's something that my husband and I, we talk about, like, do we want to be working?
Like, yes, we're working so hard right now. Yeah. But we're also saving a big
nest to be able to retire because you have to admit, people are living a lot longer now.

(19:26):
And inflation is a huge thing. How do you accommodate your living costs right
now with inflation when you do retire?
And because we also do not have any children, we won't have someone that will take care of us.
So we have to think about how we will take care of ourselves in the future. Right.
And how do we get all the good vibes of being, you know, 80?

(19:51):
And are we going to be physically fit to be able to travel around the world?
Or are we going to be at home living in assisted living?
I mean, I can't even think about that right now, even though I'm turning 50.
But it's just like, what?
I know I have these conversations too with the financial advisor.
He's like, well, what do you want to do in retirement?
And I think to myself, I don't even know. What am I going to be when I get to be that age?

(20:16):
Again, do I have my fiscal ability? Because that will influence a lot of decisions.
Do I just, he has a client who just wants to sit on the porch and watch the kids play in the grass.
Totally fine, right? So it's how you define that period of time.
But I sense from you coming from, I would say, an entrepreneurial spirited family,

(20:38):
it creates a, I think, a drive or maybe a desire to believe in yourself in a
way that can help you achieve what it is that makes your heart sing or,
you know, brings energy into your spirit.
And that's what I love about there is such energy and love, I think,

(21:00):
and joy in how you've built your brand and how you have built the community and the audience.
It comes from the pure place of love of what you're doing, but also how you
learn to pursue that through great adversity or through great challenge.
And it certainly wasn't handed to you on a plate and certainly wasn't something that was just...

(21:20):
You know, your trust fund baby. And here you go. Go start your business, Gwen.
Yeah, that was not happening. No offense to trust fund babies.
If you happen to have that, that's great. But for a lot of us, that's not our path.
And for a lot of us, I would say, too, we can get easily discouraged if it's
not going to work out and it's not going to be something that seems like it's

(21:41):
happening in the first or the second or third time.
So how did you see the path to entrepreneurship begin for you?
And thinking about, I want to start this business that is a passion of mine,
or I want to follow this lovely art journey.
Do you have a sense of when that started for you? Now sitting at a very round

(22:03):
number of being almost exactly in the midpoint of your life. Exactly.
So I graduated with a degree in marketing international business,
and I thought marketing is my thing. I knew that right in high school. That is your jam.
It was my jam. And I think it still is because marketing is such a big part
of being an entrepreneur.
How do you advertise what you make and sell to your audience?

(22:26):
And I think that degree has helped me put that foundation in.
I also have a graduate degree in finance and that has really helped me on figuring out my numbers.
How do I make my reserves?
How do I put the money that I made back into my business and also self-support
myself with all the different expenses that you have in living.

(22:48):
That has really carved. Was at any point while you were in school,
did you think you would go into business for yourself?
No. You thought you were going to work for a company agency?
Yeah, because when you're in college, you're like, I'm going to work for a big
corporation because in that mentality back in the 90s, you were going to be in a corporation.
You were going to work there for a long, long time.

(23:09):
And it's so interesting for me to see the younger generations just hop and skip
every couple of years. I was like, where's the dedication?
Same. I have the same feeling. I was like, we were told not to do that.
Exactly. Right. Because we're of the same generation. And it's like,
nope, you stay with the company for 35 years and you retire with them.
And that is not what you do now.
Or now you've got younger folks being like, I'm going to go do my thing.

(23:33):
I'm not even going to go down that path. Exactly. We did not have that back
then. So it was, you know, we're going to go I worked for a company, ABC.
So in sharing your journey a little bit, when you got out of school.
When, after having, let's say, worked for XYZ, when did you start to kind of

(23:56):
go, hmm, I don't know if I want to do this for the rest of my life.
I don't know if I really want to be in this.
It's a little bit of a roundabout way, but one of my other big,
my first love is actually food.
Like, I love food. Sidebar, Quinn is a fantastic cook. hook.
I have had the good fortune of attending a gathering where she cooked a wonderful meal.

(24:19):
So and you had a business, you had a catering business that you sold off.
So share a little bit about that because I feel like coming out of college,
I'm going to go work for ABC.
Then you go to being potentially into catering, but then you sell that off to
potentially come to here.
So I'd love to see how that all kind of comes together because that's very interesting.
And that's kind of the stories we love to tell here. Yeah. So at one point I

(24:42):
was working at the Fred Hutchinson and Cancer Research Center in the street planning department.
So very much right out of what you were going to do from college,
right? Yes, exactly. Just the ideal thing.
And as I was doing it, I was also, this is the first time I actually lived alone.
So growing up in an Asian family, you always get supported by your family.

(25:02):
I've heard this too. And also, is it true that as your parents age too,
there's a sense that you're still taking care of them too? too.
You don't ever leave that. No. Yeah.
Not like leave the nest, okay, thanks, bye. Yeah. You always check on them. You thank them.
And you also make sure that, because I've seen how hard my parents worked growing

(25:22):
up. Yeah. And I want to return that.
It's just something that just innately, I want to help my parents.
And that's always in the back of my head. It's like, how can I support them as they're not working?
Because they spent all their life saving to help me through college,
buy my first car, all these different things.
And now I want to return that. That's such an important part for each and every

(25:43):
siblings that I have is like, how can we help our parents now that they are
retired and they don't have the retirement plan because they spent all that
financial to help all four of us. To help you.
Exactly. Yeah. So that's something that we are happy about. So very great.
I feel like within Asian families in particular, and I'm obviously saying this
is not an Asian person, but it's somebody that has observed a great respect for.

(26:07):
Parent-elder sacrifice and giving, and that the children take that to heart.
Not all families, of course there are exceptions, but to return that favor as
their chapters get later in life and the children's chapters start to come into their prime.
I think that's really important, Especially as I get older and as I see my own family getting older.

(26:30):
But you do the thing. You graduate.
You do the thing. And you're like, cool, I've made it. This is great. And then...
Growing up, I was always taken care of by, because I lived in L.A.
For a while, so I lived with my aunt, so I've always lived with somebody.
And moving to Seattle was the first time I lived by myself and actually had

(26:51):
to start cooking for myself.
And I've never really cooked the entire time I was growing up,
but I learned what good food tastes like.
I cannot believe that, knowing how good of a cook you are, that you had not
ever cooked for yourself until you were well out of college and in a job.
Yes, exactly. Because a lot of times people will talk about having loving food
from a very young age, which you were still young at that point.

(27:12):
But like, oh, growing up and watching my mom cook or something like that.
So I'm just, obviously that just speaks to Quinn's genius because that is,
I don't know if you'd call yourself a late bloomer as a cooking person,
but or a foodie or a food connoisseur.
But yes so but and it's hard to cook for yourself it
is I find because I've been on my own most for a lot

(27:34):
of years and it's hard to want to like put
the effort in yeah so bravo that you brava that you did that so thank you I
find it very easy to cook for eight people in a few hours like just throw something
out yes exactly I'm one of those people because I'm constantly thinking about
food we'll call Quinn if you need catering for a bra for something I'm joking no she sold that off.

(27:56):
But yes, as somebody, again, who's witnessed that it's, it's very,
you do serve just wonderfully flavorful food.
So, so that came out of really having to kind of do it for yourself.
Exactly. Because it was just a really a light thing. I did it on the weekends.
It started out with chocolate chip cookies, because that was one of my favorite
thing to make. Those are my favorite.
And I will make you some. I will say that right now. I'm a cookie Cookie Monster,

(28:20):
like for real, it is my serious weakness.
Mine too. And I was in this hunt to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie.
Knowing how to either melt the butter, to brown the butter, to using cold butter,
to using room temp butter, to using sugar, brown sugar.
Because it all affects it. It all affects it. And that was the really fun process.

(28:41):
And I love, my jam is logistic and trying to figure out how to get to that point.
And I think with paper flowers, it still takes me to that point where how do I get to it?
What do I do with crepe paper, which is like two dimension, to create something
that is three dimension? And I love that challenge every single time because
I'm always making new flowers.

(29:03):
And the thing is, when I'm making a flower, I'm focusing on one particular thing.
I was like, this time I'm going to make the statement spectacular.
I'm going to nail it. And then I don't worry about other things.
And then I look back, I was like, oh, now that I got this right,
I'm going to work on the petals part. Yeah.
And then how do I take a piece of paper that's already colored and change it
to look even more realistic?

(29:24):
Because when you look at a petal, it's not a single color.
There's usually kind of yellow, a little bit of green, a little bit of white.
Yeah. If you hold it up, it kind of has this wave.
Exactly. And so how do you achieve that? Might be in the same similar hues,
but you know, there's variation in what it seems. Exactly.
And so I love that particular challenge. And the food part takes you there.

(29:46):
Paper, flour, anything that's the connecting point for me. It's the process
to get there is somewhat similar, even though the medium is quite different.
So did the food, so discovering food, essentially cooking for yourself,
did that start to be like, wow, the creative juices started.
Literally, creative juices might have started flowing. And I found you can make
money off of it. I was like, what? I'm having so much fun with this.

(30:10):
And people, you get a very quick approval if they love it or they don't love it.
Oh, yeah. And I got that loving part, the approval.
And I was like, this is so much more fun than my full-time job.
Going all the way back to like focus. Yes.
Get it right. Let me try it. Success maybe, failure maybe led you into kind
of discovering that you were and could be a fabulous cook.

(30:31):
And there was a lot of word about it. I never advertised it.
It was people just telling other people that, hey, this girl makes really good food.
And the thing is. You should hire her for your party. You should have her cater
your thing. And I really wanted to focus on pastry because that was what I really
loved because it's very scientific. You have to do everything by measurements.
But everyone else was like, can you do savory too?

(30:54):
And I was like, oh yeah, I can totally do that. And so we started incorporating
that in and people started noticing.
And then by the end of summer, I was getting so much requests.
I was like, oh. Maybe I could quit my job and go do this full time.
And I already, I mean, with my parents, I have already started saving money.
And I was like, you know what? I'm going to do this. I'm going to make it happen. And I just jumped.

(31:16):
And I did it. And I just made it work. How long did you have the business for?
For about six years. Okay. And then you made the decision to sell it?
Well, I am one of those people that goes all in.
I'm one of those people, if I see trash on the floor, I will bend down,
pick it up. If I see someone that needs help, I will go and help them.
That attitude was not the best on physical because I was working easily 14, 16 hours a day.

(31:42):
We were doing breakfast, lunch, events on weekends. A massive grind.
Yes. And even though I had 12 people as my employee, it was still a lot.
I mean, I was still doing quite a bit, not only hustling to get jobs so my staff
would make the food and bring it out. I was working the lines.
Marketing. I was marketing. I was at the events because, you know,

(32:06):
there's only so many people to go around.
And I overdid it. I didn't, I was young. I was in my 20s. And I was like, you know what?
I can do everything. I can be everything.
Exactly. We do have unlimited belief and energy in our 20s. Yes.
And so I was not, I was never taught to be careful about my body,
how to lift things with my legs and not my back. I ended up hurting my back really bad.

(32:32):
And so it was. I'm a fellow back pain sufferer. So I, the struggle is real.
If you have never had a back pain or back injury, you don't know how debilitating it can be. Exactly.
I feel you on that, for sure. And so at one point I was like,
I don't know if I can do this.
I can barely get out of bed because I'm having so much pain, but I have to.

(32:53):
So you just suck it up. And I learned to sleep very still because every time
I would move, I would wake myself up because of the pain.
And so I know, but I was so fortunate.
I feel like people are looking out for me and someone came by and says,
I want to buy your business because I've always set it up so well that they

(33:13):
were like, you know, And I hadn't at that point, I was just only thinking about
how do I move away from this to.
Better care of myself. And so I was fortunate to be able to sell my business.
And then my sister says, come to Oklahoma because that's where she was living.
Her husband's family had a dry cleaning business. She's like,
can you help me kind of tidy up the business so I could sell it?

(33:38):
And then I told her I would give her a year commitment.
At that time, right before I left Seattle, I actually met my future husband at the point.
But I didn't think he was the one because he was so nerdy and he was unlike
anyone else I've ever met.
Is he artistic at all or is he completely and totally like, I'm at company ABC? Exactly.
He's a very typical Microsoft employee. Okay.

(33:59):
So he no longer works there. He works at Amazon now, but he is very typical, very engineer mindset.
Linear. Yes. Very linear.
So you sold it. You helped, you moved to Oklahoma.
You helped your sister yeah sell well
prep and get the business out and then and
then what and then my husband proposed to

(34:21):
me and then he helped me move back to seattle which
i love seattle and i've been here ever since so it was only like a short little
temporary thing and i was grateful that i was able to do it kind of reset it
was like a career sabbatical kind of break because you had gone down the traditional
path the traditional as we are calling it here is i'm I'm going to go to college.

(34:42):
I'm going to work for a company, ABC.
You sort of accidentally fell into this amazing gift that you have as a cook
that became a business. Yeah.
But of which was very difficult on you physically, but also like maybe this
is not going to be a long-term thing.
Able to sort of sell that off, give yourself a break, and then come back here

(35:04):
to start the next chapter,
which was, I'm going to guess, this is when we started kind of potentially thinking about the paper?
No. No? It was not yet? Not even at that point. So I keep that.
I'm just getting really excited to hear more like when does this come up because.
Exactly. So I actually ended up getting back surgery. So we got married.

(35:25):
Oh no. Really? Yes. It was that bad. It was really bad.
So at that point when I did come back, I was like, what do I do now?
And food was always a big thing. And then farm to table was also another big
thing that came up in the 2000s. That's right.
And so I ended up working for the earth farm that's out in Woodinville,

(35:47):
but in the farm and not in the restaurant because I was really passionate about plants.
And at that point I was like, I have a very green thumb.
And I was like- I have a very black thumb. You gotta learn some things from
me. And so I really, really wanted to learn about the farm to table method.
And the farm itself was only a couple miles from my house.

(36:08):
And for people that are not familiar with farm to table, what does that actually mean?
It means that you somehow either have a vendor that has a farm and they grow organic food.
Heirloom type of seeds, tomatoes, vegetables, things like that, that are very grown.
They're very pure. Very pure. Right. Not pesticides, not sort of commercialized, not sort of anything.

(36:34):
Organic. When you see your favorite whomever show up at your farmer's market kind of thing.
Exactly. Yes. Okay. And so the Ur farm actually had six acres of land and they
farmed it and they had a head gardener that would figure out what does the restaurant
need? What kind of tomatoes? What kind of beans?
What kind of all the different things? And they also had fruit trees. They also had animals.

(36:59):
I actually learned how to butcher like a mangalista pig. We also butchered ducks.
So it was really like, it was so much fun. It was educational in addition to
kind of fulfilling a purpose.
Yeah. And I love digging in the dirt. I actually like weeding.
To me, I don't mind that And I think that's part of the culture is like when you farm,

(37:19):
you have to deal with the weeds and how do you grow things in a very proper
way that plants will live and grow and you get the fruits of your labor, which is so exciting.
I've heard that people that love weeding or gardening, like to have your hands
in the dirt is a very therapeutic and sort of revitalizing experience.

(37:40):
There are folks that this is their hobby. I think my dad is probably in that category.
He loves to work in the yard, right? He loves to be in his garden and do things.
And he has a fabulous garden. I just didn't get that, Jean.
But it is a passion for people to connect that way, I think,
with earth or the things that are growing and make them come to life in a way

(38:03):
that, you know, they can't without that tending to it.
And it's very, I would say it's very rewarding, sort of soul enriching.
Yeah, because you start with a tiny little seed and suddenly, exactly.
And you eat with it and cook with it, which I love. And so I was doing that.
And then my husband's like, I think...
You should think about getting a job. And I was like, okay, I think I'm ready.

(38:26):
So I ended up doing some contract work for event planning because I'm very good
with logistic. And it was just a natural fit.
I had opportunities come across my table. I was like, you know what, I'm going to do this.
And I really loved it. I love planning things and making things happen.
So I was doing a lot of corporate planning for like the big tech.
Yes, all of the tech things. Exactly.

(38:48):
And so my friends would know that I could plan things well. So they started,
can you help me plan my wedding?
And so one of my brides asked me, she really wanted paper flowers.
At that point, I had never done a paper flower in my entire life.
What is this thing called paper flowers?
I probably the closest thing I did origami paper cranes is probably the closest thing.
And that was it. And then I just went to the library and went on YouTube looking

(39:13):
up, how do you make paper flowers?
And so the first paper flower I did was actually cardstock. and it didn't fill
all the needs that I had. I was like, oh, it's pretty, it's great.
But it was just really interesting because we had a great photographer who took
amazing photos of the paper flowers. I did her bouquet.
I did all her decorations for all the centerpieces and the hall that they were
in and the boutonnieres.

(39:34):
And people started reaching out to me again. And you were like, what is this?
Like everything that you create, it just is like, I want you to do that for me.
Exactly. Really need, you should go buy a lottery. I should buy a lottery ticket
now or something. Maybe because we've done this podcast now,
some of my creative energies that are dreams that I want become true. I will give you some.
Thank you. I can just take the Quinn energy.

(39:59):
And I just love that because that happened with the food and now that has happened
with a thing that you had never done before. Exactly.
And ultimately then has led you to building this, which you've done full-time,
you say, according to what I read, for about 10 years now. Yeah.
This is your full-time focus. It's been the thing that has been your passion.
It's the thing that you love to do and it is solely your focus.

(40:23):
It's been amazing. If you could choose three words to describe what it means
to make flowers with paper, what would they be and why?
Three words. Three words.
I like to ask this question sometimes. I don't always get to ask it on every interview,
but the three things that come to mind when you think about this art or you

(40:46):
think about what it does for people or what it brings to people and why you choose those words.
The quiet joy of making. The quiet joy of making.
Yes. So quiet joy making. Yes. Would be. And is it literally is that.
It sounds exactly, that's the reason. It's a quiet thing that you can do that

(41:08):
brings loving joy and of which is of your own creation.
Yes. Is that a fair way to say it? Yes, definitely. Because you're by yourself
all the time making paper flowers.
And that's one thing that is a minus too, because you are by yourself making
it. You don't get to talk about the struggles and the joy that you get from making paper flowers.

(41:31):
Thus, the creation of the community to say, you know, I have this struggle.
I can't do this thing. Yeah. Or how can I make this better or something?
Yeah. You put it out in the world and people are like, oh, I had that same struggle too.
And you build that bond over that. It's like, oh, how did you solve that problem?
Here's how I solved it. And then you start this conversation that leads you

(41:54):
down to more paths and more friendship.
And then you reach out to other people that have the same problem. Like, we have it too.
You're not alone. You're not alone. We've been talking a lot.
At the time we're recording this, I've been talking on the episodes that I've released,
talking a lot about the importance of when you're going through something difficult

(42:15):
in life, that you share or you normalize the challenge.
Now, in this case, we're talking about, you know, creating an art,
but it's a metaphor in the sense that it helps when you feel that there's other
people feeling the same thing or going through the same thing,
and it lifts your spirit in a way that...
Somehow helps, I think, you get past whatever that struggle is,

(42:38):
whether it's you can't make the flower the way you want it because you didn't
know this thing, but you reach out to somebody and help.
Or difficult life moment and you're thinking you're kind of going through it
all by yourself, but you're not.
So the sense of community, especially when we're just in a time of question
or struggle or challenge or whatever it is, is I'm learning very much probably

(42:59):
later in life than I did when I was younger, is invaluable for sure.
What would you say is the biggest challenge for you or has been for this artistic entrepreneur journey?
Social media. How so? I think the algorithm of all these social media is really

(43:21):
hard because once you think you have it the right way, they change it.
And they're like, oh my gosh, what I was doing that was so successful is no longer working.
And it's interesting because i'll
just say it out instagram when i first started was all
about beautiful photos and it was great because i could make something take

(43:42):
a picture of it share it people would love it we would have this conversation
and dialogue and now they're like oh now we want videos and they're like oh
my god videos it's like a shiny object thing yeah it feels like the target It is constantly moving.
We're not, on this podcast, I don't do much social media.
I have our account because I have to have it. And I just post my cliff every

(44:03):
week. And I go, because I've heard the stories of people who have like spent
years building their brand.
And then somehow social change, the algorithm changes, and then you're starting all over.
Exactly. And I'm just like, why do they keep doing this?
And so it, you are so self-made and so focused and being able to,
to somehow get around and figure it back out.

(44:26):
But as somebody starting out, let's say somebody that wanted to start their business.
Would you say, think of a different way than social?
Is social still something that is really key to building an entrepreneur artist kind of realm?
Or do you feel that the platforms are, they've shifted or changed too much now

(44:46):
and maybe they don't serve the same purpose as they were?
Because I consider you like an expert social media person. I am like uber beginner.
I'm just out there because I have an account that's about it.
Would you say that that's something people should focus on? on or have it more
as a package and not maybe the only thing that they do?
It should not be the only thing that you do. There are so many amazing platforms

(45:09):
out there. Instagram is free, which is fantastic.
And I love that about them. But I hear they're changing it to be more of a paid
platform to be able, if you want your post to be seen, you have to pay for it,
which I really, I hope they don't go down that route.
But I hear that is coming. and it
makes me really sad to see that because it's always

(45:30):
been a free platform where people can share their
passion their love their work i've learned
a ton from like things that i've been able to just
search for for free exactly i can't imagine thinking that
that would go away i know right i mean there is
also youtube that's a great platform but you have to
do videos but video has evolved

(45:51):
and there's it's a lot easier to do videos now than it
was before I'm definitely you know the old um
there's an app for that now it's
like is there a youtube for that that's what I asked myself
university right is there a youtube for
that there must be a youtube yeah yeah I think the social struggle is
it's an on I feel like it's an ongoing thing for

(46:11):
both like business side of things like you're doing but also from a personal
side because we can go down some really dark rabbit
holes that I don't think are healthy and we're using it
for the wrong reasons and you kind of wish you could go back to a moment where
remember when it was just all like for the good and when it wasn't doing dark
things or it wasn't changing and pulling rugs out from underneath people that
are yeah have built a business so yeah i feel i do feel you on that i'm sure

(46:34):
there are folks out there that will feel that as well yeah.
I would say your journey is so, it really is inspiring as somebody who is really,
truly, potentially self-made.
You are a self-made female.
Yes. You are a self-made underrepresented minority as well.

(46:56):
So a lot of odds stacked against you from that standpoint.
And I feel like it's important to acknowledge when we beat those odds is a better
way to say it. Because it can give hope and inspiration to others trying to
feel like they want to do the same.
But what is it you would say that maybe has surprised you the most about where

(47:21):
you find yourself today versus when you started?
Started and started could be it could be both it could be when you started the
journey to college and you thought you were going to go do this thing and work
for company a by abc or it could be,
in just the paper flower journey what what do you feel has is surprised you

(47:42):
about yourself from from where you are versus where you were however you want
to call where you were what what what
marker in your life as were.
The thing that surprised me most that I still surprise when I say the word to
myself is calling myself an artist, because that's something that to be an artist,

(48:03):
you have to be very creative and you have to be, you know, you can draw.
I think that's where I've always associate being artists, being able to draw
for the life of me. I cannot draw.
I can draw overall a stick figure with a round head same
and that's about it i mean and that
i was talking to someone and i was like why is that i was
thinking that because i can cut a petal that

(48:26):
looks like a petal and i can put it together like mechanics of
putting things together because i love puzzles and somehow it
naturally becomes what i envision in my head at the
beginning it didn't quite meet that expectation but i
believe with practice with anyone that practiced things
over and over you're going to be an expert of what you are
and I and to believe in the fact that you can be

(48:46):
that exactly regardless of I I
also agree I I took me it took me
a very long time to actually call myself a musician I
felt like no I'm not no like I don't think I can do that or even a writer or
something like that I don't even call myself a digital creator at this point
and yet here I'm creating a digital thing I'm like no I'm not no this is just

(49:08):
my little podcast I do it's like no I don't know where we get that.
That sort of, no, we're just not that. Because we're females.
Yeah, I think so. We're females.
And we're kind of, ah, maybe not so much. Because we don't want to show off
what we can do. We're always like, oh, I do this.
And then you just kind of brush it over another rag.

(49:28):
I will say to people, oh, yeah, I play jazz. You do?
Yeah, actually, I like to play jazz. You play jazz drums? Yeah.
But I don't even say it like with enthusiasm. I'm kind of like, yeah, I guess I do.
So I relate to this feeling of not being able to call yourself the thing that
you are and having to finally get to that place of being able to be like,

(49:55):
yes, I have done this. I have built this.
I have created this. I participated in this. And it's okay to sort of own your
space and own that, whatever that is that you're saying.
Because you are definitely an artist and you're a cook or you're a chef,
I would say that as well, right?
So that's a very relatable thing to anyone out there that's kind of,

(50:19):
am I really fill in the blank?
Exactly. If you create the thing, if you build the thing, if you make the thing,
if you play the thing, you are the thing and own it and own your space.
I'd like to ask this question too, and we might've covered it a little bit,
But it's the biggest or the most important lesson being a creative has taught

(50:41):
you or is teaching you because you are an educator as well.
So you are teaching others potentially some of the things that,
you know, you've learned along the way.
But if you really had to kind of put your finger on the thing that you're learning
for yourself through this life journey that you've been on and potentially maybe

(51:02):
right now in this paper art journey,
what is that? What would you say it is?
There is always opportunities everywhere you look.
And I think a lot of people do not recognize the right opportunity to be able
to grab it with two hands and move forward with it.
I think sometimes people are a little bit scared on like, where will this path lead me?

(51:25):
And I think I'm a very, I let myself be open to opportunities.
And I think that's why I have so many amazing opportunities on different projects,
on people that I meet, on the connections that I've achieved and met and networked
and talked to and listened to.
And it's just, how do you expose yourself and recognize these opportunities

(51:47):
to be able to move on to the next phase in your life.
And believe that you should be able to take advantage of them.
Yes. To like put the energy out there to let the opportunities come in.
Yeah, I feel like I'm getting better at that.
I think sometimes in my life I have not, I've been too afraid,
shy, fearful. Maybe it's too unknown.

(52:08):
Maybe I don't know. But the moments where I have taken that,
I feel as if I, it's always, I've always been better for it.
And I've always, you know, it's helped me or it's, you know,
made me grow or do something.
And so I have to, especially like right now, I need to remember that.
And it's very easy to let the negative talk track discourage you from that.

(52:30):
So as somebody who is so easy. Yeah. And that it's, you really have to not let
that get the better of you and seize that.
Seize the day, right? Seize the opportunity. I would say my husband says,
well, a lot of people have told me, I'm probably the most positive person you'll
ever meet. I can see that.
Yes, I absolutely can see that. And we need, I sometimes feel the world can

(52:53):
be a really dark place and we can often go there ourselves.
And so when you are surrounded by people that bring energy and bring positive
into the space or that it not only radiates out from them, but they also attract it too, right? Exactly.
That's how things come to you. I mean, literally today, just learning that in

(53:17):
both of these self, I'm going to teach myself to cook and I got to do this paper
thing and I don't even know what that is. And to see what that build for you.
I mean, that's kind of like if you would look up the definition of inspiration,
there should be a picture there because I'm like, OK, that should give a lot
of inspiration to folks maybe thinking, you know what, I'm going to pick that

(53:40):
up and I'm going to go do that.
You know what? I'm going to try that and I'm not going to feel guilty about
it or I'm going to see where it leads and not let the fear get the better of you.
Because fear, it's a big thing. It's a powerful thing.
And it tricks you, tricks your mind and it fools you and it's not the truth.
So you've done a lot in your life. Is there one thing though that you still
would like to do or wanting to do and you haven't done it yet?

(54:05):
I can't imagine you would not have something that you want to do.
But I'm curious what that might be. It could be a professional goal.
It could be a personal goal.
It could be, I just want to go sit on a beach for two weeks and do nothing.
Yes. I've never been able to do that in my life, whatever that is.
That is the goal that I want, to be honest.
Just to relax. Just relax. Yeah. I just, like, this year is so packed with getting the book launch.

(54:28):
We're still actually just finishing the book right now. and we're doing the
layout with the photos, which I took all the photos in the book.
So let's talk about that because I want to make sure that we promote that.
So the book is, is your life story in it as well or is it just focused on the art?

(54:49):
There's a little bit of my life story in there, not much. Because really the
source is going to be this podcast.
It's one for Ken's life, so I just want everyone to know. But for folks that
would be like, oh, what is the book about? out? Like what's the pitch of the book?
The pitch of the book is how to make beautiful paper flowers in a new way.
There is a good handful of beautiful paper flower books.

(55:10):
And I feel like mine is a little bit different.
Yes, there's only, well, there's actually thousands of flowers out there,
but these are the more popular ones that I really love to make and trying to
figure out how to incorporate.
Because in the years I've been a paper artist, it's been really interesting.
I've I've connected with Italian crepe paper, which is my medium,

(55:30):
and German crepe paper. Those are the two main types.
There's also Chinese and there's also Mexican. But the two high-quality crepe
paper out there is made in Germany and made in Italy.
I've been very, very fortunate to have met both the creators or the business
owners of those two Italian crepe paper, had them on the podcast,

(55:51):
and just been able to really help with how some of the paper has come out,
the new colors, talking to them about promoting the particular crepe paper.
Like a partnership. Like a partnership. Yeah. And it's been really magical and wonderful.
And it's been really amazing to be able to connect with all these other vendors,

(56:13):
like the glue that I use, Aline Tacky Glues. I partner with them many times.
Kai Scissors, which is my, if you haven't touched these scissors yet,
highly, highly recommend them. For all the paper art florists.
Or even, it's actually a dressmaker.
Oh, really? So people in sewing communities and quilting. Oh, yeah.
My aunt was a designer and she, cutting scissors to cut fabric are the best scissors ever.

(56:37):
Oh, no. No, Kai scissors are the best, hands down.
And every time I bring it to my workshop, they're like, what are these scissors?
Can I buy it from you? So I usually end up selling my scissors to the students
because they love it. And it just cuts like butter.
Yeah, it does. It cuts any kind of, I always used to be like,
how come we can't just buy these scissors like when we're doing film? Right? Yeah.

(56:58):
You can at my workshop if you want to. Oh, okay. All right. That's good to know. Yeah.
So it's a sharing. The book is a sharing of how to, if you were to pick it up
and not know anything about this art of paper flowers or the art of using paper.
You could read the book and have the sense of what that means,

(57:21):
how you could possibly get started, what you would want to think about, that kind of thing.
Exactly. And I took all the photos for the book, except for a couple of the
big major projects at the very end.
I had another photographer actually shoot that for me.
But for all the step-by-step tutorial part, I took all the pictures so you can
actually see step-by-step how the flower is being built and how to go about

(57:43):
painting them, How to go about doing all these various paper flower techniques
of cupping, of fringing,
of overlap minoring, of all these different things that are so much fun and
how you can elevate your paper flowers.
And the cool thing is I think this particular book actually talks about the
new crepe paper that the other books do not have.
Because in the past years, some of the crepe paper, they introduced new lines,

(58:08):
new colors, and that's what I really wanted to incorporate in there.
So what is your hope with, let's say somebody goes and buys the book,
what is it that you really hope people take away from it?
My tagline for my business is welcome to the world of paper flowers.
I really want to welcome them and ease them into how you can make paper flower

(58:29):
because it does bring so much joy.
I mean, this is probably the longest hobby I've ever done. The quiet joy of making. Exactly.
We're going to use that as a mantra, the quiet joy of making.
It is really, I mean, it's so amazing.
I mean, you take this piece of flat paper and suddenly an hour later you have
this beautiful flower that you created with your hand that looks exactly like a real flower.

(58:52):
That's magic. And it comes out, so it comes out in October, correct?
That is correct. Okay. So we will link to all of, if you want to order,
well, at the time of this recording, it'll be pre-order, but order.
And then if you want to learn more about the book, which is funny,
this is a great segue into this question.
Our tagline here on the podcast is navigating life one story at a time.

(59:14):
Time what would you say has been your
key go-to thing that has helped you navigate your life story up till this point
and it can be a mantra or it can be a ritual or a practice what is the one thing
no matter what you've been doing so traditional working company abc cook chef Chef,

(59:37):
helping your sister farm to table,
and now as the masterful artist that you are, what would you say is that thing
that you keep going back to?
If it makes me happy, I want to come back to it. I think it applies to anything.
People, if the people that you hang out with don't bring you joy and they suck

(01:00:00):
all that joy away from you.
And as I get older, I'm recognizing my time is so much more valuable.
And why should I be giving my happiness away to someone else that doesn't appreciate
it? But I'm now so lucky to have a circle of friends that appreciate who I am.
Because when I'm friends with you, I am friends with you.

(01:00:23):
You are a lifer, as we say. You are a lifer. You're a walk-through fire person
with us, right? Exactly.
I will do anything. If you ask me for help, I will drop everything and help you.
I'm one of those type of people. That's very beautiful.
We talk a lot about the importance of surrounding yourself
with really the people that are going gonna be there
for you even in difficult moments yes and

(01:00:46):
that are that accept and not
judge you and really hold your
hand through some of the more difficult times in life we had an episode sitting
on the bench and sometimes you just need somebody to be with you maybe not necessarily
give you advice or anything but just see you in that moment and when you do

(01:01:07):
find those people you want to hold on to them because they are much more rare.
And sometimes you have to go through different iterations of those friend circles
until you find your core lifers.
Exactly. I would say Julie is one of those. Julie. Hi, Julie.
Julie is actually responsible for us being able to get to know each other.
So shout out to Jules because I know you're listening to this episode.

(01:01:29):
But she is a salt of the earth person. She really is. And you want to...
Same thing as I get older, I feel like my circle is smaller,
but that circle is more, these are lifer people.
Exactly. And they are not going anywhere and they will be there for you regardless
of what happens. So I love that.

(01:01:51):
So as we wind down, I have my C-17 questionnaire that I like to ask people.
I love that. Okay. Did you ever watch Inside the Actors Studio?
Do you know what it was? Yes, yes, yes. Some people don't. And so I always give
a little spiel if they do not.
It was something that was on cable TV many years ago.
James Lipton used to ask all these A-list actors this series of questions that

(01:02:15):
was based off the Bernard Pivot questionnaire, who was a French journalist.
Ours is not exactly that. It's a slight variation, but it's meant to be answered in rapid fire.
You don't think about it. First thing that comes to your mind,
we don't have to spend 10 minutes talking about this question.
So here we go what is
your favorite lucky number and if no number what is your favorite item charm

(01:02:37):
or object that you would consider lucky number two number two what is your favorite
word or expression definitely definitely yes i say that a lot i try not to but now it's like exactly.
Definitely and exactly. Exactly, definitely. Yes.
What or where is your happy place? It's with my family, my dog, my husband.

(01:03:03):
What is the best life experience you have had to date?
Filming the CBS Sunday morning episode that just happened on Mother Day this year.
That was such a magical all-day event that I was able to hang out with some
of my really good friends. And that was amazing.
Yes, we're filming. We're filming.

(01:03:24):
We're recording this podcast episode a few weeks after this has aired.
And it was, I remember thinking, how cool is that for you? And how amazing is
if you haven't, we will link to it.
If you haven't seen it and didn't know that Quinn was on there, we will link to it.
But it's a very, it was a beautiful piece. It was a great segment.
And I love that you were in it. So Thank you. I can see how that could be an

(01:03:45):
awesome life experience.
What is the hardest life test you have had to face to date?
I would say having my back surgery was a really big, memorable event on learning
how to walk again, learning how to do things again.
Learning how to be physical again. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, I had a similar, I broke my ankle. It's like you have to start all over,

(01:04:08):
understand how to move your body. Exactly.
And then you suddenly don't take the simplest movements for granted anymore.
Who or what is your greatest inspiration?
My friend Myra Tanita. She's like my Seattle mom. What is the best piece of
life advice or wisdom you have received?
The best advice I've ever received was always say yes.

(01:04:34):
And I know a lot of people can't say no, but sometimes you need to say yes to
these opportunities that comes across because you don't know what will come
of it if you don't explore that.
Say yes. Say yes to the dress. No, I'm just kidding. Okay.
What is the best piece of life advice or wisdom you have given or shared?

(01:04:56):
I've taken that advice where it was given to me and turn it around and give it to other people.
Recognize the opportunities. I think that is so important to be able to not
bypass because life do present you a lot of opportunities.
And if you don't seize it or recognize it, it will move on to the next person. Yeah.

(01:05:18):
Open yourself up and take it when it comes.
And if there was one place in the world you could travel to tomorrow,
where would it be and why?
I love Hawaii. I would definitely want to be in Hawaii, in Hilo,
and just be out eating fruits and looking at the ocean.
And the sunset in Hawaii is just fabulous. I agree. I love Hawaii too.

(01:05:43):
So that is an excellent, excellent answer.
Anything you want to share or add as we wrap up? Yeah.
So if you are interested in doing more paper flowers, I am coming out with this
new course called Back to the Basic, which actually is a companion book and
a companion ebook to my paper flower book, The New Art of Paper Flowers.

(01:06:04):
And what it is, it's an online platform where it actually breaks down,
gives you audio, gives you.
Diagrams that gives you videos on deeper explanation
because in the book I found you cannot add everything
under the sky for your book because everything is
by pages and how much it costs and so
I was like how do I help my audience learn how to do paper

(01:06:27):
flowers better and to be able to present them
with videos on how to fringe and how
to cup and what does it mean when you reverse cup and
what does it mean when you miter with a wire or
you do overlap minering and all that thing and so
I'm actually in the process of writing back to the basics which is going back

(01:06:48):
to the basic and really showing you the foundation of paper flowers and what
does it mean when I talk about color theory what does it mean when you're talking
about gouache or watercolor or all these
different mediums, pan pastels, soft pastels, hard pastels.
It just opens the door to so much more.
And I think as I go back and review how my journey came to be where I'm at now,

(01:07:13):
I was really scared about adding colors to my paper flowers because the paper were so beautiful.
I didn't want to ruin it. But then I found that if you wanted to add that extra
detail to focus on the nuance of creating a realistic flower.
You do need to wash your paper.
You do need to like color it and do all this really fun things,

(01:07:36):
like rumple it up, crumple it, twist it, and do all these magical things.
Kind of like get in there with your hands and work with it, right?
Exactly. So I'm doing a deep dive and it's going to be almost like a Wikipedia
of paper flowers, which will be ever evolving because it's an online platform.
I can go in and add a couple things that I've just learned. It's like,
oh my gosh, this is an incredible technique I just discovered.

(01:07:57):
I want to share it with you.
So, and that will be an e-book that accompanies the actual book or it's going to be a separate thing?
And is it going to come out this year in 2024?
Yeah, it's going to come out the same time my book is coming out.
So fall, so October 2024.
Okay. So we will be on the lookout for not only that e-book, but also the actual.

(01:08:18):
Exactly. And And tell everybody the name of the book one more time.
The New Art of Paper Flowers.
I love it. Thank you so much, Quinn. It was truly a joy to talk to you.
You are a lovely, you're just a ball of good energy and positive energy.
And it was really a treat to be able to talk to you, get to know you a little
more and help share your very inspiring life story with our audience and potentially

(01:08:42):
your audiences and others.
So thank you. No, thank you so much, Courtney. Thank you for letting me share my story.
Music.
Thank you for tuning in to another episode of life notes from chair 17 remember
to follow and subscribe so you never miss an episode we'll see you next time.

(01:09:03):
Music.

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.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}1. Stuff You Should Know

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