Our Story
Hello Lovely Ladies,
We are Brenda Farnquist and Carolyn Icton, and we are excited to introduce you to Nurture & Bloom.
Our friendship started many years ago when we met at medical school. After graduating, our lives took different paths as we completed our residencies, established our practices and started our families. Brenda is a radiologist practicing in beautiful, Kelowna, BC. Carolyn is a cross-border worker, living in Bellingham, WA but working as a family physician in South Surrey, BC.
In the fall of 2021, after 16 years, we reconnected over Instagram. Despite the many years that had passed, our friendship instantaneously rekindled! We bonded over our shared love of creativity (oh, we love planning parties!) and despite the miles between us we were determined to create something together.
Initially, our idea was to plan a dinner party and that is exactly what we did. We hosted 6 women for an intimate evening in which we shared stories, openly expressed our vulnerabilities, created friendships and raised money for a local charity. The next morning, as we reflected on this experience, we were both amazed at how incredible the experience had made us feel. We felt connected, content and excited.
As busy physicians and moms our priorities are often focused on helping our patients and families. Taking time for our own self care and wellness is often neglected. Unfortunately, this is also a common theme among many women we know. Working during the pandemic has caused a further deterioration of our work-life balance. In order to be able to adequately care for others, we recognized we needed to re-prioritize our own wellbeing.
A quote from Miya Yamanouchi reflects this perfectly, “Our soul is like a soft and gentle flower, it needs to be nurtured, cared for, tended to, with sufficient sunlight, fresh air and freedom to bloom into its most precious and beautiful form. This, my friend, is self love”. We knew we needed to “Nurture” ourselves so that we could “Bloom”.
Our commitment to recognize the importance of self-care was the force behind us creating Nurture & Bloom. We want to engage fellow women, providing a safe platform for motivation and empowerment. We want to provide quality and personalized products and resources that will elevate your daily work and home life. We want to host dinners where we all can connect, share and grow. In essence, we want to reiterate that self-care is not only important, it is essential.
We are so excited to start on this amazing journey of self-care and grateful that you will be joining us!
