[00:00:00] Deanna Kitchen: In a world where we're more likely to see people through a screen than across the table where many of us don't even know our neighbors and our hearts feel divided and distracted, we're all longing for something gentler, something real, something that reminds us that beauty and kindness still exist and that kindness and connection still matter.
[00:00:24] Deanna Kitchen: That's what this podcast is all about. I'm Deanna Kitchen founder of the Growing Kindness Movement. We're a global team of backyard gardeners and flower farmers who grow and give flowers as acts of kindness. We're a small but mighty nonprofit with a really big goal to inspire 1 million people around the world to spread kindness in their communities.
[00:00:45] Deanna Kitchen: Over the years, I've had the privilege of hearing the most incredible stories from our team members, their stories that have changed me.
[00:00:52] Deanna Kitchen: For so long I've wished that I could share them with you, the voices, the beauty, the hope that they hold, and now that dream has found its home. This podcast where these stories can continue to grow and reach hearts everywhere. On this podcast, you'll hear stories from women who are using flowers as catalysts for healing, connection, and hope in their communities and in their own lives too.
[00:01:18] Deanna Kitchen: They've walked through illness. Loss, heartbreak and found their way back to joy with a simple act of growing and giving flowers. These are stories about beauty shared in hard seasons of neighbors becoming friends of kindness, taking root in the most unexpected places.
[00:01:36] Deanna Kitchen: In our first episode, I'll share my own story. The Winding Road that I never saw coming. The one that has carried me from teaching kindergarten to being a mama, to flower Farmer, and eventually to founding this movement. I didn't expect this path, but I am so thankful that it led me here to this organization, to this community.
[00:01:59] Deanna Kitchen: And now for this podcast, in the episodes to come, you are gonna meet the most inspiring people, gardeners, and givers, whose stories will stay with you long after you listen. You'll hear about a woman who's faced cancer with incredible courage, bringing bouquets with her to chemo and sharing hope and beauty with everyone she meets.
[00:02:23] Deanna Kitchen: You'll hear about a family who's reconnecting through giving, and is planting seeds of kindness in the hearts of their children. A woman who shared more than a thousand bouquets sending ripples of kindness through her entire community. A mama whose child received an unexpected diagnosis and she chose to see it as a gift.
[00:02:43] Deanna Kitchen: Using flowers to build a nonprofit that now helps other families find beauty in their stories. A woman who's overcoming debilitating social anxiety through the quiet power of growing and giving flowers.
[00:03:04] Deanna Kitchen: And these are just a few of the stories that you'll hear here. They're stories that will remind you that kindness still blooms in the hardest seasons and in the happiest ones too.
[00:03:30] Deanna Kitchen: This podcast will be a home for these stories and a place for you where you can settle in and rest and leave inspired and encouraged by the reminder that what you do really does make a difference. Ann Frank once said, no one has ever become poor by giving these stories. Prove that again and again. So listen in and let them encourage you to keep going.
[00:03:55] Deanna Kitchen: Keep giving. And keep growing kindness in your corner of the world. One kind word, one kind deed, one bloom at a time.
