Victoria Vanbuskirk is a young entrepreneur and cofounder of the business “Flora.” After graduating from Grove City College with a passion for women’s economic empowerment she started a business with her sister to support women is Kosovo. Flora Stationery is a nonprofit organization that sells stationary featuring artwork from women in Kosovo to help financially support their education.
Her advice to young entrepreneurs after her experience is “just do it.”
“We can plan and plan and strategize and plan. But there’s a point in your life where you need to just do it and stop talking about doing it. Fear of failure paralyzes us. Because it paralyzes us, it stops us from acting. Getting over that fear. When you start doing it, and you do fail, and you will fail, and we’ve failed a lot with flora. Being willing and having perseverance to restart and keep going. Failure will occur. Be honest and transparent about failures.”
The company has succeeded because this philosophy has been applied to many small steps they have taken along their journey. They started with the VentureLab program at Grove City with only $200. Since then they have supported 70 semester scholarships and 25 women. They have started a coding academy teaching women computer skills to use in the workforce. And they have won a grant for $1000 with the Keds shoeline and did a feature video with the company.
Victoria says that her main goal as a Christian is to help people live out God’s call for their life. She’s making a huge impact for women around the word by combining her passions with a need to help others.
I wonder how many more people could be helped if everyone was to “just do it!”
This is so inspiring and hits so close to home! I knew about several of the GCC businesses that had gone through the Venture Lab but Flora was unknown to me and I adore the idea. Women’s economic empowerment is something that many businesses and organizations have taken to heart however as much as I may try, I am not always interested in the products that are being sold to support the women. Victoria has done a wonderful job of finding a product that will appeal to younger people, women especially, as well as middle age and older buyers. Well done Victoria! Next time I am looking for a special gift, I will most certainly be looking at the products of Flora.
This is a great story! I don’t know why I’ve never heard about this fantastic project that started in the Venture Lab. They’ve got an awesome mission that is refreshingly different from the numerous other enterprises that set out to empower women(not that any of them are bad). I’ve actually been looking for a journal and now I’m probably going to purchase it from Flora. The products also look like they would make great Christmas gifts. Thanks for sharing!
Such a basic statement, but true! The fear of failure is no doubt a problem that many people face, especially with people who want to start their own businesses.
So awesome to see a company that grew from its roots here at Grove City College! Flora also had 2 featured shoe patterns with Keds. I even saw someone sporting a pair around campus. Also, I like her advice to get out there and try new things – “just do it!” Thankyou for sharing!
So awesome to see a company that grew from its roots here at Grove City College! Flora also had 2 featured shoe patterns with Keds. I even saw someone sporting a pair around campus. Also, I like her advice to get out there and try new things – “just do it!”