I have long had a habit of turning over phrases in my mind. Ever since I was a little girl, quotes from books and movies I love, get stuck on repeat. They’ll often creep in at odd times during the day and night. It feels a little neurotic, especially when I can’t will it away, but then it can also be really helpful when I’m nervous or overwhelmed, and words that I read or heard years ago will creep back in to help me.
When I was building The Beautiful Bunch , at about the 12-month mark, when it started to really gain momentum and I had to make big calls which felt significant, I kept on thinking of the phrase, "more is lost by indecision than wrong decision". Apparently, this quote can be attributed to Cicero, a famous statesman during the establishment of the Roman Empire. But I learned it from another famous Italian, Carmela Soprano, the prominent mob boss wife in the legendary 90s television series, The Sopranos. Repeating this phrase helped me to feel confident in moving quickly through the tumult of building a business with a baby during a pandemic.
Carmela Soprano. Anthony Neste/Getty Images
This past week, reflecting on business conferences I’ve attended and conversations I have had following, I keep thinking of the quote from the famed American investor and philanthropist, Warren Buffett, "predicting rain doesn’t count, building the ark does". The work we do at The Beautiful Bunch in supporting young women to enter the Australian workforce for the first time – the same work we hope to do with Rooftop Roses – has never been more needed and also, never been harder. Social enterprises such as The Beautiful Bunch use commercial strategies and compete in an open market, to solve big social and environmental challenges. As such, we are bearing the brunt of a brutal economic climate that is the cost-of-living crisis meets rising costs of doing business.
You don’t need to run a social enterprise to understand that when the costs of doing business increase significantly at the same time as people have less money to spend, things get tough. Additionally, philanthropic funding, which has traditionally stepped in to fill funding gaps in businesses like ours, now has less money and what they do have, they’re starting to donate differently. This, compounded with a cost-of-living crisis, means that some of Australia’s largest social enterprises are on the brink of failure.
At The Beautiful Bunch HQ in Brunswick, writing this journal.
The Beautiful Bunch, however, is thriving. As CEO, I am expected to have a simple and definitive answer as to why that is. However, I think it is complicated and also not any one thing. Early partnerships and funding were crucial, but so was our unyielding obsession with building a commercial framework solid enough to support our social mission. We have also built a genuine community around our cause. When we ask people to purchase flowers to support a new initiative, or to fill a funding gap in our paid training program, I will never not be slightly startled by just how many people do.
Speaking on a panel last week, I shared how for the first two years of The Beautiful Bunch I would write to every single person who purchased our flowers to personally thank them. I’d also ask for their feedback and, if it wasn’t too much trouble, could they please tell two of their family members or friends about us. Truthfully, I never envisioned the people I was writing to as “customers”. In the early days every couple of bouquets sold would be the difference between young women who were desperate for work, getting a full shift, or going home early. So, I genuinely thought of the people I was writing to as vital members of a burgeoning community.
The Beautiful Bunch girls harvesting local roses, 2025.
In the midst of such turmoil in the economy, a climate catastrophe around the corner, (not to mention unspeakable atrocities happening the world over), I feel like it’s not enough to predict the rain, we need to create resilient systems and communities that can weather the storm. For me, building that ark looks like a return to the garden. Creating Rooftop Roses, and a community to support its growth, is not just about survival, it’s about hope. It’s a way to seek beauty in a bleak world. And ultimately, for me personally, a way to defy despair.
Next week, I hope to have updates on our progress with finding a home for the rose garden of my dreams. In the meantime, thank you for being here.
J x
