We’re looking forward to introducing you to Brian Feretic. Check out our conversation below.
Brian, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Recently, a friend recommended me for a memorial bouquet preservation art piece…
With any commission, especially one centered around such an emotional and significant event, I strive to learn about the person involved so I can create something truly unique, personal and tailored.
In this case I called up the wife, Erin, of the late husband, whose also named Brian, and we had a lengthy chat about him.
Erin also sent me numerous pictures of Brian, texts about him from others, and a ton of info so I could understand who he truly was…
I found out he’s a big surfer, snowboarder & musician, with a big personality and even bigger heart.
The more I learned about my fellow Brian, the more I felt like I knew him; like we have met before. If we did meet, I’m certain we would have immediately bonded and would have became friends.
He also left behind two young children, Aidan & Grace, 10 & 8. I wanted to make sure I incorporated them into my resin piece…
The kids picked flowers around town and made a bouquet for him. Grace also made these bracelets, one with little white buttons which letters to spell out Brian, a small heart and a shell. I also knew I had to integrate this as well.
I took my time to think of the design. A week or so later, after a week climbing & camping with my girlfriend (also named Grace), I came up with the 💡
Brian was so loved and his positive impact spread far and wide among his friends, family, wife and two children. I could sense that while he wasn’t physically here with us anymore, his soul, his spirit; was still with all of us and his love continued to grow.
I opted to go with a Brian tree made with a kelp trunk & branches and accented with all the flowers picked by the kids.
I made two smaller kelp resin tree pieces for each child, resembling Brian’s, using the same flowers. However, each piece had a special flower, representative and specific to them. Grace’s was adorned with a purple flower at the base of her kelp tree, and Aidan’s with a yellow one. On the larger piece, the same two flowers are growing from the base of Brian’s tree, all three blooming together in spirit…
This is the most important and rewarding aspect of art to me. Creating beautiful art is one thing, but making it personal, emotional with significant meaning it’s the critical element of art. This is what drives me to create.
The finishing touch was deconstructing the bracelet and embedded the “Brian” letters & ❤️ directly into the frame.
When I went to drop it off, I shared my whole thought process and meaning behind the pieces. She was so moved, she asked me to come to the memorial service and speak in front of everyone.
It was the biggest honor and a memory I will always cherish ♥️
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’ve had creative pursuits from a very young age, playing classical violin & piano, the blues on keys, sketching and painting up until college graduation. Tragically, this creativity took a backseat for a career in science for over a decade.
After undergrad, I focused on research characterizing neurodegenerative diseases to profile the efficacy of potential cures. To further this career, I moved to San Diego from NY for graduate school in neuroscience.
The science field dampened my creative drive with its rigid structure, strict formatting, SOPs, and focus on building upon prior knowledge.
I loved the theory behind science investigation, but in practice, it was extremely monotonous, fruitless and filled with failures without lessons.
After two stints at biotech companies and subsequent layoffs, I found myself with a stock payout, severance and ample time on my hands to really focus on a passion of mine, horticulture.
I was more present, more mindful, with the freedom to tap into my creative side once again.
I founded a plant marketplace platform called Blossm, which aimed to connect like-minded plant enthusiasts for community & commerce. Imagine if OfferUp combined with Instagram for plant people! (I was covered by SD Voyager for my start-up a few years ago and I’m excited for a repeat focused on my art 💚).
With no prior business or start-up knowledge, I successfully built a thriving online community, acquired both buyers & sellers for a marketplace, and successfully marketed a mobile-based product which was the 1st of it’s kind.
With no budget, my creativity side took over. I utilized guerilla marketing, piggybacked onto other marketplace and social network platforms and developed effective user acquisition strategies, harnessing the power of the community to grow the userbase.
I grew the team, raised both early seed and angel money and was admitted into the prestigious Techstars accelerator. All of this contributed to a small startup focused on scrappy, clever growth strategies to take on a more structured and bueracractic approach typically found in large corporate entities.
After 4+ years of the start-up grind, 80k+ active Blossm users in every state, and $250k+ in investor money raised, I found myself losing the ability to be creative, to drive growth & product roadmap strategies, and became stifled by a team who did not share the same vision.
Finally, stepping down over a year ago, I fully focused on my art, as a therapeutic outlet and as a respite from my years grinding as a founder of a tech start-up.
I work with both resin and & wire as mediums for over 7 years now. I always told myself, I didn’t want to become a “starving artist” and my art would remain a playful endeavor to keep me grounded.
However, in the beginning of 2024, I started to share my art online and created a separate Instagram account. I started to collect kelp when I was surfing, which is an activity I enjoy nearly every day and remains my most rewarding endeavor.
I found myself more preoccupied searching for unique looking algal specimens in the lineup, than the next set. Every session became a foraging mission and I was often seen stuffing kelp treasures into my wetsuit.
Nearly every morning before surfing, I would also walk my roommate’s dog, Kira, who has brought me so much joy! Once drawn to leaves and foliage, I found myself lured by all the beautiful colors and unique shapes of blooming flowers. I started picking them on these walks, and taught myself the whole process of drying them whole, retaining their natural shape & state, as opposed to floral pressing, which flattens them into two-dimensional paper thin objects.
A close friend recommended I combine these together and then everything clicked! It started simply as adding leaf-shaped kelp to a sunflower, and evolved to complex designs of kelp, flowers and even fungi; inspired by my neuroscience background, climbing trips in Joshua tree and Bishop, camping in the Sierras, surf missions down in Baja, and relationships with my friends, family and girlfriend. I then epoxy resin all of this directly into a picture frame to create unique, hangable art.
A few months after, an old friend, Emmanuel aka Manu, asked me if I sold my work. I told him I was reluctant to do so, but deep down I didn’t want to prevent someone from enjoying my art.
I eventually came around and he purchased my 1st piece for $500! I’ve never personally bought art for that much and I was blown away at the reception it received, especially how much joy it brought him! It was in that moment, I decided I would commit to being a full-time artist, just like I committed to being a full-time entrepreneur and startup founder many years ago with Blossm.
I attribute that experience to giving me the tools and the confidence to know that I could make this art path happen. I learned to trust my gut and intuition; to listen to my body and my internal compass.
A few weeks after, I held my 1st solo art show at a local restaurant and 40+ people showed up to support! Everyone was impressed with this artistic side of me I’ve kept under wraps.
Friends starting offering my insects, flowers and other objects to preserve for them and turn into works of art!
Later that year, a climbing friend recommended me to his wedding planner sister and I ended up preserving wedding bouquets, but in the same style as my art. Their excitement and stoke when I dropped them off cemented this artistic path, and truly validated that I should once again, move forward with an endeavor that feels right and makes people happy too.
It will be about 1 yr and a few months in August since I’ve committed to be a full-time artist. Within that time, I’ve sold over 60 resin pieces, preserved 10 wedding bouquets, 4 memorial bouquets, hosted workshops, created gifts for friends & family, coordinated 4 large art shows & music events, and have financially supported myself for the last year!
The best part of it all… I haven’t lost my pasison for creating meaningful and sometimes deeply personal art for myself, for others & with others. My girlfriend, Grace, is an accomplished artist herself, who shared her studio space with me and we are frequently creating art together. We just finished our first collaboration piece, a wedding gift for friends which integrates both our styles of art merged into one harmonious creation. She is often my muse for my best pieces and has unconditionally supported me throughout this journey.
I feel more driven than ever, like I found the entrepreneurial spirit once again. In my heart, I know I’m on the right path, and this path will lead me to the next big project. That deeper meaning I require for a meaningful life, where I can deliver positive impact at scale 🙂
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
I think I used to believe “luck” was this magical ability someone was born with. It was intangible, mysterious and something I seemingly didn’t possess. Perhaps, I just didn’t understand what it meant.
Over the years, and different phases of my life, my outlook on life has changed. I’ve progressively built up the mental capacity, awareness & experience to reflect on all facets of my life: all the relationships I’ve had, the wonderful family I was brought into, the places I’ve traveled, my mistakes & successes, my many career pivots, and the plethora of activities, passions & endeavors that fill up my life.
And with that, my concept on luck has changed. I believe it’s about having devotion, following dreams, being passionate about your endeavors, taking chances, trusting your gut, confronting fears, looking inward, healing and growing, building loving relationships, and spreading positivity and joy with your actions.
If your work hard and follow all of your life philosophies, you’ll experience “luck” and realize you’ve had it all along.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I’d tell my younger self to not stress the little things, don’t worry so much about fitting in and being cool. Be your authentic self. Spend time and create relationships with the people who accept your authentic self. Focus on exploration and discovery. Create more art and take playing classical piano and violin more seriously.
Most importantly, that life is about the long game and to fill that life with the people & passions you love.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
This is funny question bc of a recent conversation. I have a tendency to be very direct, frank & honest. I’m from NY afterall!
I was never the type of person to brown nose, to network; to say things I don’t mean to get ahead or to benefit myself. If I don’t like you, you’ll know. If I like you, my words and actions will align in your favor.
My mother always recommended I “play the game” (with only the best intentions) but I just couldn’t. Every fiber of my soul had to be authentic. I am always straight-up, to a point, some people consider me rude. Others have also told me how much they appreciate this about me. Perhaps, I’m honest to a fault.
It’s been a consistent character trait of mine throughout my life and my different phases. I don’t think it’s always served me well in the short-term, but life is about the long game. I always feel honesty is the best approach to everything in life.
There’s only one me, and you’ll get it in every situation.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I would stop nothing and continue exactly the life I have right now. Well, I would stop paying bills haha.
For the last 6 years I’ve been an entrepreneur and worked for myself. I truly believe I found my calling. For 4+ years, it was a tech startup I founded to create a community & a safe space for commerce for my plant people. I loved that experience and it was my first foray into entrepreneurahip. I made so many classic mistakes and learned from them. While I didn’t have a direct boss, I still answered to my team, to investors, and to the Blossm userbase of over 80k+ people nationwide.
Now I’m a full-time artist, making art for myself & for others. I’ve been staying true to my art and I haven’t had to compromise it for money. I’ve financially supported myself for a year straight. Those who commission work from me have always given me creative freedom and their full trust. It’s been incredible and I feel so fortunate.
When I’m not creating art in my garage studio, I’m going on surf trips to Baja, climbing and camping trips with my girlfriend who shares my passions, dirtbag snowboard trips to Mammoth sleeping in my Honda CRV or camping on BLM land in the Sierras, playing classical piano, drinking copius amounts of coffee, foraging for art supplies in the ocean, forest and desert, and having the best time with the love of my life doing anything, especially climbing & creating together.
I would stop nothing, and only hope to continue this life I’ve created for another 10 years ❤️
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