Meet Kate Edmondson of Tend&Flourish

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate Edmondson.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
First off, thank you for inviting me to VoyageOhio! I am happy to be sharing my business journey with your readers. There are many different experiences that shaped who I am as a business owner. My drive came from my father, and I am grateful to the many sales calls and meetings I attended with him as a child while my mom was home with my baby sisters. Those experiences engrained in my young mind what determination and true customer service looks like. I think that I worked in every type of customer focused job and several management positions before I took the leap to entrepreneurship.

I have provided skin care services and managed medspa’s in the Greater Dayton area for over 15 years. I am passionate about proper skin care and have taken hundreds of hours in advanced training all over the US; concentrating in product ingredients, multi-cultural skin, and corrective treatments. In addition, I completed a Holistic Wellness Practitioner program in 2018. The education I received prepared me to work with skin, and the body as well, on a physical and spiritual level. 10 years ago, I began envisioning a place where like-minded women would work alongside each other, united in our goal of helping others feel better. Through my own personal journey to find healing, I sought out wellness professionals, therapists, and bodyworkers. Finding gifted lightworkers is like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack. My goal was to bring these people together in a central location so others could easily benefit.

In 2018, I presented my fledgling idea to a local grant program and my proposal was accepted. I received mentorship in specific areas that guided me in making my dream a reality. Now, I am the steward of a beautiful ship, with a crew of unique and talented professionals that call tend&flourish their business home. I provide affordable studio space to women that are making the leap from employee or home-based business. I give them a safe space to professionally evolve. I act as a conduit, facilitating others personal healing journeys through connecting them with the right professional for their individual needs.

We have an incredible number of gifted humans in Dayton. I believe Dayton to be a City of Light. My goal is to connect with every lightworker in our city and give them a platform to be seen, heard, and felt.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I was blessed with my only child at 19yo. I didn’t have the opportunity to go to college and finally found esthetics school at 24yo. From there, I went on to work in clinical environments under different doctors. Through my own personal health and mental wellbeing struggles, I realized my insurance-approved medical providers did not have the answers I so desperately sought. I found my way to alternative health practitioners and took ownership of my path to wellness. Finding gifted therapists and lightworkers is a difficult process, and I made it my goal to have a network of providers that provide alternatives to our Western modern medicine.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Tend&Flourish?
In our space, we provide our clients with the perfect mix of opportunities to nourish the soul. We are an eclectic collective of small women owned businesses whose independent missions are aligned to help improve the lives of others.

From seeing the beautiful works in the McMillan gallery created by local artists, to receiving healing touch from our massage therapists, by enhancing your physical look from an esthetician and beauty specialists, to addressing mental wellbeing from our licensed counselors and coaches, the business collective within tend&flourish is specifically curated to address the wellness needs of our evolved local community. This creates a unique atmosphere that fosters relaxation, peace and happiness.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I believe in divine timing. When I began pursuing location and funding after winning the grant opportunity, I found myself having intense self-doubt about accomplishing this major endeavor all on my own. That is when I had the incredible luck (divine timing!) of attending a benefit for a local art-based non-profit. There I met the driving force of the organization, Jes McMillan. Her incredible skillset of industrial design, community connection, and divinely led leadership empowered me to succeed. She was instrumental to the building of tend&flourish, and I am honored that she remains on board as an art curator in her position as Executive Director of the McMillan Gallery.

Contact Info:

• Email: kate@tendandflourishdayton.com
• Website: Www.tendandflourishdayton.com
• Instagram: @Tendandflourishdayton
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tendandflourishdayton/