“One life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying.”

– Joan of Arc

When I wrote this column in June, I was visiting my parents in Texas. Whenever I step into their home, I’m reminded of where I came from by all the memorabilia and photos adorning every wall of the house. While some memories are painful, many are wonderful and sentimental, and it’s always fun to visit.

My parents are free-spirited, and growing up on a farm, I learned values that have guided me through my life. Visiting them reminds me of the core beliefs I was raised with – a sense of hard work, honesty and respect for others. I’ve often thought that in a world where everything is in contention and transition, holding onto those values of truth, love, commitment, hard work and respect have served me well as the world continues to evolve in new ways.

That doesn’t mean I haven’t continued to learn and evolve beyond those early days on the farm. In fact, I think the team at WildFlower Media, home of Florists’ Review, would say that every day is new experience and an evolution in how we do our work. It’s fun, frustrating and exciting to see all of the wonderful new opportunities.

So many things have changed, and they’ll continue to change as we move forward. We’re so excited see content on our digital platforms integrated with the print magazines. It all forms a much broader platform that reaches florists where they consume content – whether it’s the magazine, email, website or social media. Each day, we make significant steps forward in our digital footprint.

I know that each of you is facing similar battles as we all move from a simple retail or studio model to one with a website, video content, email and social media. It’s tough to keep up! We’re all looking for best practices, and even as we figure it out, the model changes and moves on without us.

That’s why coming back to our core beliefs and values is critical in all of this change. For us, it means celebrating florists and flower consumption in any form it takes. It means keeping our readers up to date on the latest floral designs and technology and giving business advice that adds value. It also means creating a floral community by creating content that celebrates each of you and your work.

We have only one life to live as Joan of Arc reminds us with her bold words and example, so make sure you’re living your best life by doing what you love and believe in every single day!