The Bouqs Co. Founder John Tabis: Stop Dreaming, Start Doing!
John Tabis is the founder of The Bouqs Co., an online flower delivery service "helping you to be husband/boyfriend/son/daughter/brother/friend/cousin/colleague/whatever you can possibly be." Previously, John worked in marketing strategy for brands including Disney, ESPN, ABC, Marvel, ShoeDazzle and Gerber Baby. This week on Sam’s Dream Blog, John shares about following childhood passion, catching the attention of Oprah and how to act on your dream.
Sam's Dream Blog: What’s your professional dream? How did your dream originate?
John Tabis: Since I was a child, I wanted to make things. Movies, music, comic strips, forts, musicals, books, you name it. And this has driven me professionally as well. It led me to The Walt Disney Company where I learned about managing big brands and telling awesome brand stories, and it's led me here to The Bouqs Company, where I'm so excited to be building a brand from scratch.
SDB: What accomplishment are you most proud of?
John Tabis: From a personal standpoint, it's my marriage and son. We're a team unlike any other, and I can't spend enough time with both of them. Professionally, it's hard to point to one individual accomplishment, but getting to the point where we are today is probably it. At one point, this business was an idea. Now we employ 10 people and serve thousands of visitors a day with an amazing array of awesome products, wrapped in a fun and interesting brand. The fact that that brand, which has now been in Oprah Magazine, on Maxim.com and on The Today Show, didn't exist 11 months ago, is pretty exciting. Creating it is our biggest accomplishment. I can't say 'mine' here, because this was very much a big team effort.
SDB: What have been the biggest obstacles or challenges to realizing your dream? How do you overcome a common one for startups, like lack of resources?
John Tabis: The biggest challenges to date are the same that many startups face. Competitive markets for consumers, capital and talent.
Lack of resources to attract these assets is also a common challenge, but it can be overcome through creativity and by really believing in the vision for the company. Creativity leads you to different, interesting and low-cost ways to overcome these obstacles. And true belief helps you sell your vision to others who can help you get there. Because no matter how good you might be, you will need a lot, a lot of help along the way.
SDB: What advice do you have for others in pursuit of their dreams?
John Tabis: My advice is to do, not dream. Imagining how awesome something might be pales in comparison to actually doing that exact thing. I dreamed of running a brand for a number of years while holding other positions, and I always had a reason for not actually doing it. Having taken the leap and started it, I now wish I had done so a long time ago. So my advice: Stop dreaming, start doing!