blomma {revealed}

My nickname growing up was "Flower".

My dad gave it to me as a little girl and I'm pretty sure I still show up as "Flower" in his phone contacts.

Back to that in a bit.

Whenever I'm asked to tell someone about myself (that annoying, vague, highly open-ended question that always comes up in job interviews), I always try to bring up what I see is this unique (sometimes challenging) right/left brain combination I seem to have been gifted with.

The left side of my brain gets plenty of action. I run my life with spreadsheets, schedules, and crazy-complex systems that seem way too complicated most of the time. But I thrive off of them and honestly, when I'm super stressed, the phrase "Keep Calm and make a List (or spreadsheet)" is so accurate for me that I would totally rock a T-shirt that proclaimed this message.

The left side is with me every day in my 9-5 job, helping me stay organized and detailed as I put together group tours around the world (I'm a Group Tour Specialist at Witte Travel and Tours). The left side is calming me down as I figure out our financial plan to bring Tom and I's first child into the world in May. The left side is there to aid me in rationally planning my day and trying to be as accomplished as possible (if I'm honest, this could use some work).

In all this left-brained activity, the right side was getting a little bit left out.

No matter how much organizing I did, how many numbers I crunched or weekly schedules I created, this quiet, but unrelenting right-side kept subtly tugging at me. It continued to remind me that I couldn't just be a half version of Leah for the rest of my life. And it was relentless.

After years (literally) of strategizing and brainstorming, I finally let Blomma happen. It will be used as a platform for my right-side to just be. Sure, my analytical side is dying to strategize and develop a spreadsheet-orchestrated plan for Blomma's future, however, I'm letting the right side take the reins on this - which is why I'm not entirely sure as to where it will go.

Blomma is a brand. It's my brand. I want to use it to express myself and my ideas and my projects in a way that is true to who I am.

I wanted a sleek, edgy and if we are getting technical, a Scandinavian design-inspired brand.

Scandinavia is a region in northern Europe.

Sweden is one of the nations that is a part of Scandinavia.

Swedish is the language spoken in Sweden.

And Blomma, is the Swedish word, for "Flower."