MADISON — Two weeks ago, 256 Today attended the official ribbon-cutting for Flourish, a full-service marketing agency located in Madison and servicing all of Madison County. It wasn’t to celebrate the opening of a new business. It was in fact the official recognition of a young company celebrating their fourth expansion since opening their first location in the i2C building at UAH in 2018.
It was their third expansion within the 7800 building on Madison Boulevard, since moving there in 2019.
Hosted by the Madison Chamber of Commerce, this time Flourish leased enough space on the sixth floor to expand several more times without having to move.
As we kick off Small Business Week here in North Alabama, the Small Business Administration calls it a celebration of the resiliency and tenacity of America’s entrepreneurs, those who are doing their part to power the nation’s historic economic comeback.
There are many businesses in North Alabama that meet that criterion but Flourish fits that description as complete as any.
Flourish specializes in collaborating closely with their clients to help them find ways to grow, whether it is a marketing element, a communications element, or a public relations element.
“Not bad considering Flourish happened by accident,” said Megan Nivens-Tannett, the company’s founder and CEO. “Prior to 2018, I had been laid off from my job, a single mother, divorced with two young kids.
“I loved marketing and public relations and at the time, my 11-year-old daughter Madison saw something in me I did not see in myself.”
Megan said Madison urged her to start her own business and to “just do your own thing”.
“We were not in a good place at the time, and I thought, yeah right … but Madison was passionate about it and as a mom, I couldn’t let her down.
“When we opened for business, it was just she and I against the world at first.”
Now age 17, Madison is the company’s unofficial CEO – at least until she gets out of high school – having come up with the company name, the grassy logo, helped build Flourish’s first website, and is the company’s reason for being and growing.
“She truly was the propellant for what we are today,” Megan said proudly.
Like a lot of small business owners who have come out on the winning side of the two-year-long pandemic, Megan talks about how Flourish found its sea legs during such a vulnerable time for the company.
“I think some people, certainly not all, may have failed during that time because they were unable to react the right way and adapt,” Megan said. “The COVID shutdowns were a one-two punch to everyone, but Flourish was able to pivot.
“But we discovered our digital marketing services were very much needed in the business community during that time and we found a way to expand our business once we realized that need.”
Flourish launched a series of workshops designed to help small businesses understand digital marketing and how to use it to help them get through the pandemic. Those workshops were well received by their clients, and it helped the company grow new clients when many businesses were struggling to survive.
Those workshops are still part of Flourish’s service offering.
“You have to react the right way, be adaptable and flexible,” Megan said. “I think if the pandemic taught us anything, it is that you must be agile as a small business. You must trust your team and you cannot work within rigid parameters because you never know what might come at you. You must be able to respond to needs, whatever they are.
“Everything we do here at Flourish for our customers, has roots in mine and Madison’s early journey with the company,” Megan said.
Based on the SBA’s description of Small Business Week, Flourish fits the bill for resiliency and tenacity but if you add innovative thinking, persistence, encouragement, and adaptability – then Flourish is doing their part to help power an economic comeback for all.
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