A message about taking breaks, resetting, learning, and reconciliation

Originally written on wildflowerenterprises.net, December 4, 2022 by Kacie G. Hopkins

Land acknowledgement: 

Indigenous peoples have always lived on the land that is now called Kentucky, and continue to live here today. The place we now call Kentucky is primarily Shawnee, Cherokee, Chickasaw and Osage land.

We recognize and acknowledge Pennsylvania as being the land of the Erielhonan (Erie), Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), Lenni-Lenape, Shawnee, Susquehannock, and Tuscarora nations, and the Honniasont, Saluda, Saponi, Tutelo, and Wenrohronon tribes. We pay respect to the Native peoples of Pennsylvania past, present, and future and their continuing presence in their homeland and throughout their diasporas.

You probably have noticed that we have been silent here at Wildflower Enterprises. Where did we go? Well, we did not go anywhere we just needed to breathe, reset, and continue to learn.

It is quite obvious on our website that we have blogs that were never written, online sessions were cancelled, and our artisan shop has been pretty silent.  Well, we have been busy in our personal lives.

And instead of half- assing our way through our writing, sessions, and shop, we stopped. We stopped so we could take care of ourselves and our families. And during this time, we found ourselves constantly reflecting and rewriting the vision for Wildflower. 

"LIKE WILDFLOWERS YOU MUST ALLOW YOURSELF TO GROW IN ALL THE PLACES YOU THOUGHT YOU NEVER WOULD" -E.V.

Therefore, the future of Wildflower will lean into collaboration even more than before. And we want you, especially rural women to be our collaborators.

Collaboration is really important for social enterprises such as ours to exist and succeed.  Collaboration allows us to intentionally listen to the stories of those who want to work with us. So, that's what we have been doing. We have been learning about our own communities.

-We have been especially learning about markets for women's work in rural KY.

-We have also been learning about new theories such as feminist geography and feminist communication and the intersectional knowledge it provides for addressing violence against women and diverse economies. 

-We have been maintaining connections and conversations with artisan partners such as Emily in Grand Bahama, Passion Lilie designs, and many others. 

-We have been attending craft fairs and farmers markets and talking to women artisans. 

and most importantly,

​-We have been taking care of our families and raising a little boy to be honest and respectful to the world around him. 

This sounds like a lot, but all of these actions were just our everyday life. Now as we reflect on these actions and successes of the past few years, we ask, "How can Wildflower Enterprises fit into this story?" Finding an answer to this question includes us slowing down the business. 

Taking a break to slow down and learn and relearn is valuable. One of the most important lessons we have learned during this time is the question: How can we consciously include decolonial practices within our wildflower collection? The act of openly decolonizing is an important value that we at Wildflower Enterprises will practice moving forward. 

Steps we are taking:

-Providing literature about decolonization.

-Acknowledging the indigenous land on which we are working. 

-Learning history 

-Opening spaces for writers and paying all writers and speakers.

-Decolonizing means taking out the dominant narratives of entrepreneurship as financial gain as the only metric for success, and instead, understanding success is really grounded in relationships. We will lean into more community relationships and honor spaces for these relationships to blossom.

- Continue to improve. Decolonizing must be a continuous process where we revisit our actions and take steps to identify other potential forms of inequality that business practices create.

Wildflower Enterprises is moving into a more exquisite collaborative nature. Continue to watch us grow with intentional collaboration. 

This practice of building community relationships and collaboration will not happen overnight. Bear with us, teach us, learn with us and find a way for you to bloom with us. 

Love 

Kacie and Kaitlyn