What's In A Name?

Sharae Simone

Hey Nursery Fam

I spent months trying to find the perfect name. When I told my best friend the first name I came up with, she told me it sounded like fellatio..... Needless to say, I had to come up with something else. However, the more I tried to find adjectives to define what I wanted to personify, the more I had to confront who I wanted to become. I've been told all my life that I am strong and, honestly, I resented it. I resented it because I was tired of having to be it. Internally I hid from it; As if hiding from the compliment would give me permission to exist without challenges. Being strong is tiring and It demands far too much. I just wanted to just be so I kept trying to escape it. Yet when I was trying to come up with ways to describe myself for the name of my company, it just kept coming back like a weed in the garden. So, I took a night to think about the why. As I sat in my living room at 3am, pieces of this poem returned to me.

It paints a story of a rose growing from an impossible situation who, despite their "upbringing" & environment, grows anyway. It is confident, it is resilient, and it is strong. Not because it has to, but because it wants to be. The rose has a purpose and that purpose is not deterred by the concrete that surrounds it. The concrete is a nuisance but it does not stop it from growing and fulfilling that purpose. That Rose is me but it is also you. You are strong, not because you have to be but because you make it a choice to be ...every single day. You understand that struggles will arise but you choose to find the good, and you choose to grow and bloom anyway. It is that tenacity which makes you astonishing and, dare I say, strong. We may see the concrete around us as we grow, but we don’t allow it to stop us from growing. Let me put it this way: If we removed Rose from our name and said Concrete Met, you'd be left in anticipation. Who did Concrete meet? Which means that on it's own, the concrete is meaningless and secondary. It is secondary because the focus is Rose. I built this brand to remind you that despite all of the challenges (layers of concrete) you face, the focus is and always has been you. But you cannot be you, unless you invest in taking care of yourself. You need to make time for your own self care.

Our self care routine is our time to be vulnerable and reflect on who we are and who we want to become but it also our time to rest. For me, self care has always started with a candle (or wine, whichever I could find first).

So, here we are. Although my primary focus is to make products as ethically and creatively as possible, I also want to share my story in hopes that it inspires you.

A business is a legacy that you leave for your children. I want my son Miles to know that his mom created products and services with a focus on encouraging you, the customer. I am excited to venture out into the world of blogging but more importantly, I hope that in sharing my story, I inspire you. You deserve all of the joy in the world and although it may come with some pain, there is still room for us to bloom anyway.

So, welcome to the Nursery! I hope you are ready to laugh, love, be challenged, and grow.

Sharae Simone