Today, we honor Vennissa Scarlett-Bassey as a Pink Love Purveyor- someone who is committed to bringing a culture of love to the world during challenging time
💕Welcome, Vennissa! Thank you for joining us today. Tell us "a lot a bit" about you.
I suck at speaking about myself, but I’ll try. I’m a native New Yorker. I moved to NJ with my partner about 3 years ago. I like to keep busy and my partner often jokes that I can’t sit down. I’m an entrepreneur, I started a floral design company about 5 years ago, and as of last year, I decided to get into real estate. So, if you need some pretty flowers or a house, I’m your girl!
💕That didn’t suck. You did great! How have you been holding up during the present climate?
I think I’ve been like many other people. I spent a couple of weeks trying to wrap my mind around what was happening and how to adjust. I’ve had to switch gears with my business to a more of a retail format, previously I predominately did weddings, and all of my weddings for this year have been postponed to 2021. A big blow to business, but I’ve been using the time to regroup and organize. I usually don’t have a lot of downtime, so I’m making the best of the time I have now.
💕Understandably. Many businesses were hit hard. I am glad that you were able to regroup and take a moment for some downtime. What have you been doing for your own self-care?
I’ve always been big on self-care, but I’ve had to be more intentional with everything going on. I typically do a lot of journaling and mediating. I’ve also been using this time to get healthier. I’ve improved my eating habits and implemented exercise. It all helps. I also have a therapist that has been offering phone sessions since the pandemic started. My partner is an ICU nurse and the first couple of weeks were literally spent worrying non-stop, so having a self-care regiment was very necessary for me and helped with my anxiety.
💕We thank your partner for her service and your support of her during that time. It is amazing to know that while you were dealing with all of that you still found time to help your community. Share with us what have you been doing within your community to help with their self or personal care?
I’m a floral designer, so naturally I decided to donate flowers to hospital staff and nursing’s homes. The gesture of giving someone flowers is pretty much always centered around love. I just love adding a little sunshine to what normally is a ridiculously hectic day for these wonderful people on the frontline.
💕That is so beautiful! Flowers definitely can add sunshine to a hectic day. Can people join or support your efforts? If so, how? Absolutely, if you would like to donate a floral arrangement to any hospital in Manhattan or Essex County NJ. You can contact me at info@scarlettblooms to place an order/donation on your behalf.
💕What tips would you offer for those that may find themselves struggling through these tough times? Breathe. Find a quiet place and be still for a moment. Settle your mind, with everything going with the pandemic and the senseless killings of POC, it’s a lot take in and digest, and sometimes you need to disconnect for a bit.
💕"Disconnecting" was how I made it through the heaviness of it all. I did not realize how much it affected me. How has social media changed for you during this time? Well the past couple of weeks have been pretty heavy with all the social injustice going on for POC in our community. I’ve had to take a little hiatus from social media. I never want it to be normal to log on to Facebook and watch a black man die... Or anyone for that matter. It’s not normal and I refuse to normalize it. It’s very important for me to protect my inner peace in the midst of any form of upheaval, and I found myself going back and forth with a lot of willfully ignorant folks about things that are innately clear for myself and many other people in my community.
💕Say that! At some point, protecting inner peace becomes essential. Vennissa, thank you for your time today. Please let us know how people can stay in touch with you? Do you have a website or social media handle you would like to share? Yes, people can reach me on IG – My personal page is Vennissa_scarlett and my business page is scarlett_expressions. Also, my websites are www.scarlettexpressions.com and www.scarlettblooms.com