These last few months I have been waiting to share about this dream I’ve had for a very long time, that has now become reality…
Me and my small business have been featured in a full spread in this month’s Flow magazine in the Netherlands!!
For anyone who isn’t familiar with this magazine, it’s a monthly hardcopy guide full of creative tools and articles on mindful living to help improve your mental health. They’ve been around already for 15 years and they’re well known in the Netherlands, as well as Germany and France. And I am extremely honoured and proud I’ve made it in there ♡.
The funny thing about making it into the magazine is that the very first question people ask me is: how did Flow find you? Well - they didn’t! I found them and tried my very best to get noticed, haha! So let me share with you my story of how I got featured in my favourite magazine.
Making it happen - patience & perseverance
When I founded Alta back in 2021 I made a very in-depth persona overview of my potential customers. Since the Alta high on Life - toolkit was going to be my first product, the three characteristics I put down for my customer-to-be was curious, creative and crafty. They had to be interested in a more creative & comprehensive way to personal development & mindful living than the ‘quick-fix’ an app would offer. I knew back then that this persona was not just an imaginary ideal customer, because they existed in real life already: they were Flow magazine’s loyal readers.
For three years I tried to come up with ways to get into contact with Flow magazine. Again and again I failed. But last October, when I was preparing for my second Dutch Design Week participation, I had another idea. I would invite them for my workshop; they couldn’t say no to that! Well, they did :-P — I didn’t give up though, because I was finally in contact with a real person! So I asked if they instead had time for a 10-minute coffee with me at the Dutch Design Week….
Thank god they couldn’t say no to that! So I met with the creative director (!) and talked about how we were both utilising creative tangible tools to improve mental health. When we said goodbye I gave her an Alta high on Life - toolkit with the hopes that she would be excited to include it in the magazine somehow. Well, that was not immediately the case haha!
Now, at this point I knew I had to persevere. I waited for the new year to arrive and came up with a whole list of ideas for all the different ways my toolkit and story could be interesting for Flow magazine. I sent it to her but was told the timing wasn’t right for most of them, except for one idea. She could inquire if the person responsible for that specific chapter would be interested in my story...
YES PLEASE!!
And then it happened, I received an email for an interview! I would get a full spread with pictures and 500 words!! By the end of January 2024 I was interviewed and told that I would be published somewhere around June. Which turned out to be July. Which is now!
The column is called "Wat ben je aan het doen?" which translates to “What are you doing” and I share about why I founded Alta, how and why I came up with my toolkit and what my dreams are for the future of Alta.
It turned out even better than I could have dreamed up 3 years ago!
I am sharing all this because first of all it’s a fun (long) answer to the question ‘How did Flow find you?’. But mainly because I wanted to give you an example of not giving up on yourself or your dreams when you constantly get a no. That perseverance pays off and no one is giving you anything if you don’t give a nudge or explicitly ask for it. And, to be patient and dedicated when it comes to wanting to fulfill your dreams. Nothing great happens overnight.
So with that all being said, here is the full spread!! (I of course highly recommend you buy the hardcopy magazine ;-)
And to celebrate this joyous occasion, for the month of July I offer a 25% discount on all products. Use code FLOWPROMO25
I hope you'll have a great summer,
Iris
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