Meet Thea Flowers | Creative technologist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Thea Flowers and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Thea, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Openness. We are an open source hardware company, which means that the design and source files for all of our products is freely available for others to learn and build from. This openness and transparency means that we don’t really sell products, we build a collaborative community. The “products” exist for the benefit of the community. We’ve created a sustainable small business with an impeccable reputation by eschewing typical short-sighted profit motives in favor of building genuine connections with our audience.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
When working in music technology, it’s so easy to get lost in the technology and miss the art and music. I feel that while many kinds of art thrives in solitude, music truly thrives in collaboration, and therefore, music technology thrives in collaboration. I say that I create “magical music machines”, but the magic doesn’t come from me alone. Bringing a new synthesizer, a new sound, into the world means talking and working with those that would use it. It means iterating, riffing, and going in unexpected directions. We take our collaborative approach to artistry further by encouraging remixes – not of the music, but of the music machine itself. It’s so difficult to find the right balance between my own influence and the influence of others, but when I get it right it’s so incredibly rewarding.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We’re eating the whole time, right? Cool! We can hit Goldberg’s for some top-tier bagels or take it easy with brunch at Murphy’s but I’m probably gonna need a nap after. We can head up to the north side of town and go to my favorite wing place, The Wing Factory. After, we can head across the way to Nobi Cha and grab some excellent bubble tea. Still hungry? Down the road is Superica, who has some mind-blowingly good al carbon tacos. Or we could swing over by Buford Hwy for the best spicy dumplings in the city at Gu’s Kitchen. Luckily, around the corner is the Frosty Caboose- a full ice cream shop in an old, red rail caboose. Feeling a little fancier? We can go down to La Tavola Trattoria for some intimate Italian fare, or if you’re looking for some entertainment with your food we can go to Nakato Japanese to see the true hibachi masters at work. Feeling extra fancy? Let’s go to Rathbun’s for unparalleled steak and catch a show at the Fox Theatre after- did you know that in addition to its beautiful false sky, the Fox has one of very, very few operational theatre organs? It’s a literal work of art. If we’re thirsty and looking for a snack Benchwarmer’s is the hole in the wall to go to. Tomorrow morning we can grab some breakfast tacos at Muchacho and get a beautiful view of the Beltline, where we can probably spot a King of Pops cart where I can snag my absolute favorite treat in the city- their thai tea pop.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I follow in the footsteps of open source hardware pioneers such as Lady Ada of Adafruit. She has built such an incredible community of knowledgeable and helpful individuals and I truly would not have been able to create the things I’ve created without the support of her and her community.

Website: https://winterbloom.com

Instagram: @wntrblm

Twitter: @wntrblm

Image Credits
Thea Flowers