The Cornflower Print Co. Era

It's two days into your six day vacation. Post-dinner and two glasses of wine in. You pull out your phone to flip through some apps, and happen to open your email. Your heart jumps into your throat. You read " Cease & Desist Soulflower Trademark."

Is this legit? Is someone pranking me? What is going on?

Tipsy and starting to panic, I scroll through the email. At first blush, it seems to be looking pretty legitimate. I walk over to my just-as-tipsy husband (I'm probably looking pale as a ghost) and he looks at me and immediately says "what's wrong?"

I show him my phone, and he's silent absorbing it.

"Is this for real?"

How is that for a start of a "so-called" vacation?

That's what I found myself in the middle of on July 15, 2025, on the heels of celebrating my 3rd anniversary as Soulflower Print Company LLC. 

There was nothing to be done immediately, but my head was reeling. It felt like my mind was going a million miles an hour with questions, thoughts, concerns, general noise. There was no way to shut it off, especially when there was wine involved. All the implications of what that meant, to stop being Soulflower, henceforth. How to move forward? How to respond back? Do I respond back? Do I ignore it, and risk it either being just a prank or for real?

Obviously, research was in order, and talking to a lawyer.

I am now entering my fourth year as a small business owner (2 1/2 years being completely self-employed), and I seem to have jumped my fair share of hurdles and dodged some bullets. I have learned so much being self-employed, I don't even know where to begin.

First thing I will tell you is being a small business owner is not for the faint of heart. You need to have grit, tenacity, ambition and be just a tad bit crazy. Most small business owners I am friends with all share these types of qualities. And I don't mean crazy in a bad way either, I mean just a little off your rocker and be able to stick to your guns long enough to make the gears turn and start to see the spark of what your business could become.

I have had my fair share of challenges and learning curves as a small business owner, and I doubt I have even seen a fraction of issues I will come across in my years as a business owner. There are always new waters to navigate, room to grow and expand as a person, and new lessons to learn. I learned a really hard lesson in 2025, and that was having to change my business name from Soulflower Print Co. to something else entirely.

Or did it have to be something else entirely? Turns out, a 4-letter change would be the answer.

The nightmare-ish LONG list of EVERYTHING that is effected by this change though is insane. Things I knew would be coming, and some things that never even crossed my mind that I would have to change. I work with a project management system to keep my head on straight between my screenprinting business, my client work, my markets / events, goals for the year, wholesale and consignment shops I am in, basically anything that has to do with my business at all is in my project management system, and I had a 6 month long transition plan to work through from July 2025 to January 2026. Articles of Amendment (legally changing my business name with the state of Indiana), bank account info, website URL, logos and branding, content, marketing materials, business cards, social media handles, hashtags, product photos, product listings, email marketing, illustrations, logins, the list goes on and on.

Here's a screenshot below from my project management system of JUST the things I updated in August. I have lists from 5 other months that were just as long, if not longer.

Checking trademarks never even crossed my mind when I started my business. That email stopped me in my tracks, sunk my stomach, and my heart was in my throat. In all fairness, the company was just doing the bare minimum due diligence to protect their trademark and brand and I respect that. But it was an absolute shock to my system. They were gracious enough to give me 6 months to achieve the full transition, and I am so grateful for that. 

I did a deep dive into trademarks, researched their company, talked with a lawyer, trying to figure out what my realistic options were... was their a loophole, did I HAVE to change, could I avoid blowing up my whole brand somehow, how do I communicate this to my audience, where do I start, etc. etc. etc.

And then I thought... how can this situation work FOR me and not AGAINST me.

And that changed everything.

If I DID have to change, how could I make it the most intentional and meaningful shift for my business? How could this benefit my brand? What other name options are out there? How could a new name support my business instead of crush it? Cornflower Print Co. was one of the first names that hit me, but I thought "nah, I have to dig deeper." But as I circled around, researched, played with different ideas, wrote reasons and meanings for each, I kept coming back to Cornflower Print Co.

Cornflowers were one of my husband and I's wedding flowers, also known as Bachelor Buttons. My mom attempted to grow most of our wedding flowers, and we have this running joke that the Cornflowers are the gift that keep on giving. We got married in August of 2018, and these Cornflowers have just reseeded in the most aggressive way possible on our family farm. They are growing EVERYWHERE around my mom's large garden area, around the garage, and wherever else the seeds can get blown to. My dad has mowed them down and they STILL come back. They are so resilient.

The resilience is what stands out to me. No matter what hits them, they keep getting up and coming back. When I run my business and think about myself as a small business owner, what kind of values and qualities feel most aligned? If small business owners have to be anything, they have to be resilient. I want that resilience threading through my business and blood like there's no tomorrow. I want to spring back to life like those Cornflowers and make my mark on this world and grow and thrive even where people think I won't grow and thrive.

I want to note this doesn't mean I am always 100% strong, go-getter, nothing-gets-me-down kind of person because sometimes I feel quite the opposite. I have my moments, just like anyone. We need those moments to cry, to scribble furiously in our journals, to scream in our cars, to get that emotion THROUGH and OUT of you. We pick ourselves back up, refocus, find a way forward, and continue marching. Because that is what resilience is all about.

Cornflowers have taught me the importance of resilience, the strength I actually contain within myself, and that beauty can grow in the most unexpected places. I sure didn't think beauty could come from being served a cease & desist. I was terrified when I opened that email.

There's a second meaning to why I chose Cornflower Print Co. Cornflowers get their nickname from commonly growing around cornfields. That threads a deeper meaning into my business name for me because I grew up on a farm where my dad cares for cattle, tends to fields of corn, hay and soybeans, and generally is one with nature as he tends to these things.

I love that I can bridge those two worlds: my art world and my childhood world. I loved running barefoot in the grass, jumping across round bales, hiking through the woods on our property. The freedom I didn't realize I had in that time in my childhood, that I long for today. You are always told as a child "now, don't take this time for granted," but we always do, don't we? We don't have anything to compare it to. We have what is in front of us and such a small glimpse into what this world actually holds.

I wish I could go back to that time and bask in the sunshine, build a tree fort with my sister, run through hay fields and just really soak it in. Not a care in the world. No taxes. No cease & desists. No bills to worry about. 

Cornflowers are a representation of that time for me. My artwork revolves around nature, whimsical elements, and uplifting messages. I am grateful a piece of my past can extend into the future with me through Cornflower Print Co.