The Chic Guide: What is Bloom Where You’re Planted Cincy?
Beth Johnson, Founder of Bloom Where You’re Planted Cincy: Bloom Where You’re Planted Cincy, LLC is the small business I established in Summer 2021 following a time of big transition for me and my family. After 10 years working as a pediatric occupational therapist, I felt a strong prompting that it was time for a shift away from the traditional workplace.
I left my job in August 2020 and homeschooled my kiddos for the 2020-21 school year. I continued to see a few ongoing OT patients in their natural setting, but also felt a continual nudge toward integrating the enneagram into my career toolbox. I had been studying the enneagram to guide personal growth and help me to better understand others in my personal and professional relationships for multiple years. Knowing how much the tool had provided a framework to honor myself and others with grace and understanding, I decided to become certified so I could use it to guide others on their own growth journeys. I completed certification to become an Advanced Enneagram Teacher through the Enneagram Spectrum Training Program during the Winter and Spring of 2021.
The Chic Guide: What’s the inspiration behind it?
Johnson: In the Fall of 2020, I repeatedly got a song from elementary school called “Bloom Where You’re Planted” stuck in my head. Some of the lyrics that caught my attention were: “Bloom where you’re planted, you will find your way. Look at the love that lies deep within you. Let yourself be! Let yourself be! Look at the gifts that you have been given. Let them go free! Let them go free!”
If someone hears those words or the name of my business without pausing to think, they may discern that I’m implying we stay stuck wherever we are, but that’s not it at all. This doesn’t mean we never have to pivot – if that was the case, I wouldn’t have planted this business! Blooming where we are planted simply means we have the capacity for growth right where we are. We can stride instead of strive if we’re willing to look inside and face our shadows, pushing through them to get to our true selves (which have been there all along!). Loving who we are, letting ourselves be, and freely sharing our gifts with others point to the three pillars of growth for Bloom Where You’re Planted – recognize, receive, restore. What I love about the idea of planting and blooming is there are always new seeds to plant, always new opportunities to uproot what isn’t serving us, and always capacity for new blooms.
The Chic Guide: Who’s behind it?
Johnson: Behind the bloom is me, Beth. I’ve been in Cincinnati for almost 11 years. I met my husband just after moving here and we have two kiddos, ages 6 and 4. We’re native to Indiana (Go Hoosiers!) and both grew up in small farm communities with big families! I studied psychology for my undergraduate degree at DePauw University and studied Occupational Therapy (OT) at The Ohio State University. I am an avid reader and journaler and my quiet time chair with my Bible, coffee, book, and a journal is where you’ll find me every morning – it’s my favorite part of my day! I love chocolate, smoothies, wine, moving my body, being in nature, baking, doing crafts or playing sports with my kiddos, and eating delicious food with friends or family.
The Chic Guide: What journey led you to where you are today with Bloom Where You’re Planted?
Johnson: I quickly realized in becoming a mama that balancing work and family life wasn’t super compatible with my healthcare career. I adored (and still do) my patients and co-workers, but combined with my husband’s demanding work schedule and no family in town to help out, it felt less doable as time went on. I love mentoring, coaching, and guiding others toward growth so I wanted to continue my role as a helping professional but knew it needed to look different.
For those who know the enneagram, I lead with Type 1 – I believe that one of the gifts of my type is to see the potential for goodness and wholeness in others that they can’t see in themselves. I wanted to continue to do this but my family desperately needed my schedule to be more flexible. So, here we are! Because I recently underwent a huge transition, still experiencing the stretching and growing that comes with change (not to mention throwing a pandemic on top), I bring not just my professional training but personal experience of using the tools I have. I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity to guide others through this same journey from seed to plant to bloom.
The Chic Guide: What services do you offer?
Johnson: I currently offer individualized enneagram services through Discovery Sessions and ongoing 1:1 coaching sessions. During a Discovery Session, a client spends 75 minutes with me in a narrative-based conversation, paired with a review of a 200-question standardized assessment taken prior to the session. We work together to identify relative strengths and areas of difficulty to determine what enneagram type the client leads with. Following this sessions, a client can choose to pursue additional coaching to learn more about topics such as: his/her own type, the other 9 types, subtypes, wings, and arrows. Some clients prefer to learn more about how to use the enneagram in their personal relationships, how to use it as a tool at work, or how to use it as a tool for emotional, mental, and/or spiritual growth. The opportunities are endless, really! All sessions are drive by the client’s intentions and goals for growth.
As I mentioned, I am also an occupational therapist by trade, so I continue to offer these services on a case-by-case basis. I have extensive experience working with children who have autism, anxiety, fine motor difficulties, and sensory processing difficulties. I do not accept insurance and actually find that not going through insurance allows for fewer logistical issues and the ability to focus on the patients’ needs, not to mention being able to charge less for my services since I don’t have to jump through the bureaucratic hoops of the system with paperwork and submissions.
Most of my services are virtual at this time, however I have done some in-person sessions by request.
The Chic Guide: What makes Bloom Where You’re Planted unique?
Johnson: Bloom Where You’re Planted is unique because I bring my experience as an OT along with me. I have several years of experience with mentoring, self-management, and goal setting. My eye is naturally trained to see relative areas of weakness and help others figure out how to turn them into areas of strength. After working with kiddos who had significant behaviors or difficulties with their daily living activities, I am highly sensitive to and compassionate about the individual struggles we each have as we move through this world.
The Chic Guide: Is there anything new on the horizon?
Johnson: I recently had my first podcast experience on the “Enneagram and Marriage” podcast, where I talked with the amazing host Christa Hardin about how sensory processing impacts our relationships and may have ties to our enneagram types. Readers interested in learning more about sensory processing and/or the enneagarm can check it out wherever they stream podcasts by searching for “Enneagram & Marriage.”
I am also very excited to engage in an upcoming group teaching opportunity, where I’ll be leading an Enneagram-focused session with Effloresce Coaching this Winter. She has put together a cohort of mamas called “Reigniting Roots”. The group is for women who are interested in rediscovering their inner selves as their children grow and become more independent. Helping other moms realize they don’t have to “stay stuck” (I hear moms use this terminology way too often!) is a passion of mine, and I’m honored that Mindy with Effloresce invited me along for the journey. I’m humbled to doing this growth work alongside other amazing women-mama entrepreneurs in the Cincinnati (and virtual) community!
The Chic Guide: Where can readers go to learn more?
Johnson: I would loveI would love to hear from you! Please feel free to visit me via email, Instagram, or my website. If you have questions about the enneagram, sensory processing, OT, or more, please reach out!
