Your "Little Flower Business"

Someone calls it “your little flower business,” and suddenly you’re questioning everything, even though you just pulled off a massive install, managed a team, and carried buckets until your arms shook. We’re talking about that exact disconnect: the way floristry gets treated like a cute hobby when it’s actually a demanding small business built on skill, strength, logistics, and constant decision-making.

We start with our highs and lows, including wedding joy and the weird mental fog that can come with burnout, doomscrolling, and a never-ending to-do list. Then we get into the stories that lit up our community, from “Wait, that’s a real job?” to “Someday I want to just play with flowers,” to the subtle digs aimed at home-based florists who don’t have a storefront. We unpack why these comments hit so hard, how they feed imposter syndrome, and what it looks like to stop shrinking your success just to keep other people comfortable.

You’ll also hear the unglamorous side of being a wedding florist and event designer: load-ins, timelines, vendor coordination, building structures that won’t fall in the wind, renting U Hauls, and the kind of spatial and logistical thinking you only learn by doing. We talk about the ebb and flow of wedding season bookings, how to use slow months without panic, and why owning your career is part of shifting the culture, especially for women entrepreneurs.

If you’ve ever felt dismissed, underestimated, or tempted to call it “just flowers,” hit play, then subscribe, share the episode with a florist friend, and leave a review. What’s the most dismissive comment you’ve heard about your work?

Transcript

Welcome And Weekly Highs Lows

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Lunch Club podcast. We are so excited and have had so much fun hearing from you guys, and glad you liked our first joint episode. Um, we want to just kind of start a little new tradition with you guys. Um, this little tradition comes from my family's Sunday dinners every night. Cute. We would always do um highs and lows. I'm sure people do a variation of this in their life. But it's kind of a fun little way to get like a snapshot of someone's week. And Johanna and I have both had weddings since our last episode. So I just thought it would be kind of fun to share our high and low for you guys because I'm sure you can relate on a lot of these things. Um, so uh Johanna, why don't you share your high and low first?

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Okay, my high was my wedding. I kind of feel silly saying that because like obviously that was my high, but it was, it was just such a beautiful, gorgeous, vibey day. My bride was incredible. She was so cute. She just she had such a fun vision when I handed her her bridal bouquet. Her eyes like filled up with tears, and she said, This is more than I could have ever imagined. Yeah, just just so sweet. And um, I think the day as a whole just felt really, really easy. Um, I think 2025 as a whole was just hard. Yeah, like it just sucked, and it felt like I was hitting a wall over and over again. Um, obviously there were good moments, but as a whole, it did feel really hard. And this year has been the opposite. Yeah, I feel like the universe has just brought me so many opportunities, and um, I felt really calm and at ease, but also like excited, and it's kind of like this skill level matches uh the difficulty almost. Uh and yeah, so it's just been a really good year, all in all, but to bring it back, uh the high was the wedding.

SPEAKER_03 1:58

I love it. I love when like the entirety of the wedding is the high.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Yeah, the day as the whole, it was it was a happy day.

SPEAKER_03 2:04

When you don't have to pick parts that are were a high, it's like no, collectively was a high. Okay, now share us. Share your low with us.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Okay, my low, honestly, just today in general, it's been the gloomiest day, which I actually normally like vibe with in the springtime. I like when it's not getting too hot too fast. Um, but I don't know, it was just a weird day, and I've just slipped in my head a lot, and it's that thing of like I have so much on my to-do list, but none of it technically needs to get done today. So I yeah, so at the same time, I'm overwhelmed with what I have to do, but I like kind of don't really feel like I have to do any of it, and I just keep finding myself doom scrolling. It's like my go like I get up to get something done, and then suddenly like I'm on the couch, like doom scrolling, and I wish I could just delete Instagram.

SPEAKER_03 2:56

How did I get here?

SPEAKER_01 2:58

Yeah, isn't that like a sign of a phone addiction? Uh yeah, it's been a weird day, but it's okay. I'm bringing the vibes back, lit some candles, and the the bad energy is just it's slipping off of me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:11

Well, well, hey, I love it. And I'll just like kind of preference pref wow, I'm just not speaking English anymore. It's fine, guys. I just flew home from Boston.

SPEAKER_01 3:21

You're just tired, actually.

SPEAKER_03 3:22

But don't worry, don't worry. Just just losing my mind slowly. Um, the reason that I want us to do this kind of little like vulnerability high-low thing is just to like really share that, like, even though, you know, a lot of what we'll talk about will hit home with you guys, like, we definitely want you to realize like we still have ups and downs. You know, we're both several years into our careers, but there are still the days that are just really hard. And like, if you ever feel that way, it's not just you. You might relate to some of these highs and lows.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Well, yeah, and I'm saying, you know, oh, 2026, it's been so great and things feel so good. And then at the same time, I'm like, today sucked. I hated today.

SPEAKER_03 4:04

Like, it's it's not always perfect. Just because you've had some success, like, it's not always gonna feel like you've made it. Yeah. Um, okay, my high is definitely I had my biggest uh wedding to date uh two weeks ago.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

And it was gorgeous, and it was amazing, and it was mind-blowing.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

It was amazing, and it like it was it was one of those like I've been thinking about it for months. I have been thinking, I had been thinking about it for like hours leading up. Like it was consuming my brain. So it was almost like I was so the phone calls. I called her so many times.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

The phone calls I got, the FaceTimes, the like, I think the last time I answered the phone, I was like in bed and it was still dark because again, I sleep in and you're like, okay, the chandeliers.

SPEAKER_03 4:55

Literally, I'm like day before, I'm like, ah, should I just the great news about it was I had so much creative freedom. I know that my bride trusted me 100%, but to a point I was like, okay, well, I could literally do anything, so I really just need to like make a decision. Um, but as a whole, it was beautiful. I had like a huge team. I was a little bit nervous about like juggling all the responsibilities because this is something we can get into later. But I also do um wedding planning. It's definitely more of my like add-on. It's not my main focus here. Um, but I was also doing, you know, vendor coordinating and making sure like it was not just the florals for such a large event. So I was delegating a lot and like kind of everywhere at the same time. So it like just it went so well. Everything was perfect. We had like a tiny timeline slip, and then like I was able to get it back on track. Like it was just it was wonderful. Um, so that was great. And then I'd say that my low was probably just like this week is hard because I have two back-to-back vacations, and as much as I want to be like, oh, I'm on vacation, don't talk to me. Like, I mean that sounds rude, but I'm like, I want to actually be on vacation and not be working, like it's kind of just crunch time, like wedding season is upon us, and like I need to I need yeah, like I need to order flowers for my wedding in a couple weeks, and it's exhausting, so it's like I I wanna be able to check out and be done, but like I just I don't really have that luxury right now, so I'm kind of trying to figure out how to get everything done so I can sort of like just enjoy my trip to Hawaii, but it's hard because I know that like that mental load will still be there if I don't get things done, so yeah, and I think that right there is a great segue into our episode.

Why Business Brains Never Shut Off

SPEAKER_01 6:46

Um, because as business owners, like the tabs are always open, like even when we are on vacation or we're trying to be present or we're trying to take a break, like you can never stop thinking about it. And that's kind of like the weight we have to carry um as business owners. So the title of today's episode is your little flower business.

SPEAKER_03 7:09

Please, please pick up on the sarcasm.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

Absolutely, because we know your business is anything but little. And if you've been in this industry for any amount of time, if you're just starting out or you've been a florist for years and years and years, you've heard this phrase before. You've heard people in a way, belittle your business, make it seem like it's this cute little side hobby, like you're not doing hard work or like your business isn't real. So we reached out to a ton of florists in Utah, and within the first 45 minutes, like the chat was going off.

SPEAKER_03 7:43

The chat was popping. You that's when you know it's a good topic. It was clearly triggering to more than just us.

The Sting Of “Little Flower Business”

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Yes, yes. It's not just us. Other people have felt this way too. So I'm gonna share my story and then we can get into some story submissions. This happened at the end of last summer. I was sitting and chatting with somebody just about my life and what I've been up to lately. My husband, Christian, is a teacher and he was getting ready to go back to school. And she said, Oh my gosh, like, what are you gonna do with all your free time when Christian goes back to school? I bet you're gonna be really bored. And I was kind of confused. Like, she was basically insinuating that I'd just been following Christian around all summer long. And summer is our busy season. Like I had been doing weddings, and she said, Well, I guess you could go back to doing your little flower thing. And it just made me angry, yeah, but also just feel small. Like, like she didn't recognize all this hard work I'd been doing, the success that I'd had with weddings, and in her mind, like I'm just there, you're just like around playing by the pool all summer long. So crazy. Um, another story right around this time, I was talking with another friend basically just about mine and Christian's plans for the future.

SPEAKER_03 9:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Basically, like where we wanted to eventually end up living, and it's my dream always and forever, to be by the beach because it's my happy place. And she said, Oh my gosh, like that's very expensive. And I was like, Well, yeah, and she said, Hmm, I guess maybe if your business ever takes off.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

And mind you, like, this is the same year that we went to Greece for a wedding. Like, I'm not doing these little side events, like we're in it, the business has officially taken off at this point.

SPEAKER_03 9:34

And you're like, yeah, we're we're approaching year six, so maybe seven. And it's just crazy, like, I don't understand, like what do they think it would look like for like and and maybe that's where I'll tie in even one of these stories. I literally need to go find it. We had so many, I'm like scrolling. But somebody shared a story about like being a real florist. Um, I don't know if you know the one I'm talking about. I gotta find it. I have them. But she was like, oh, something about like they asked when I'll be a real florist or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Yeah, okay, we have two of them. Here's one. Someone called me for a wedding and asked if I was a real wedding florist who has a storefront. Doing 100 plus weddings isn't enough to make you a real florist, apparently.

SPEAKER_03 10:22

I think I've shared this in past episodes. Like, I did the storefront thing and I hated it. And then when I wanted to be done, like serving the general public and not picking my clientele, I was so terrified that people were gonna take me serious. And unfortunately, like, but like there was some realness, like it wasn't even just like, oh, that's just like you being anxiety, like no, but literally, like they just think you're a real person.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Yeah, okay. So somebody else said, someone told me they'd rather have a professional do their flowers. Is eight years of experience not good enough?

SPEAKER_03 10:56

It's so me. No, literally, I don't think I've shared this in a while, but when I I had like posted on mini recap, is that I I had a storefront for about three months at the Riverwoods, and I really wanted to be offering like educational, like girls' night classes because I love teaching, but I quickly was like, oh, I don't have the time to be doing girls' night classes every weeknight or weekend and being doing full-time weddings. Like I would need an entire staff, like and being here 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. sucks. And so I had been doing like a floral, I did like a floral design course, an eight-week course for like three years. And so I had like already announced the next one. It was like completely sold out. I even had to like open additional spots, like there was clearly a demand for people to learn. And I had this girl message me, and it was such a mean message. Like she was like, I had posted, you know, was really vulnerable, like, hey, I've decided to make this business change. I'm gonna be a home-based florist, so like our classes will resume like at my home, like 10 minutes away from the previous studio. You know, nothing's gonna change, just like the environment, which I would I understand is is different. Yeah. Um, and so, anyways, I had like told all the girls that were in the class, and you know, all of them were like, cool, don't care. Like, this doesn't make a difference for me. Well, this girl had messaged me, so it's like, A, my class was already sold out. B, she said, like, I I would love to go and find it one day. She's like, Oh wow, this is really disappointing to hear. Like, I was really interested in taking this class. I loved that the studio gave such a it was like a weird, like the vibe was just a different feel, and like this just like isn't very like professional.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

This is a person who has not signed up for the class. No, I'm like, and she's like, I was considering it, and you're like, it's sold out.

SPEAKER_03 12:56

She was like, I was considering this, but now I'm not. I'm like, okay, thanks. Like, what? I was like, I think I said something probably pretty snarky back. Was like, haha, like, thanks for your unsolicited uh opinion. Like, we're sold out anyways. Like, pro I probably was super rude, but I was like, I don't even care.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

Like, that was so mean of you. Yeah. Okay, do you want to tell the next story submission?

SPEAKER_03 13:22

Yes, I will tell our next story. Okay, so this one's like so spot on, especially because a lot of I think a lot of the draw to a lot of women specifically in being florists is the home-based aspect of it, and that you can like be, you know, a mom during the day, and then the evenings you're flowering, or you know, on the weekends, like it's it's more flexible than again like a storefront would be with kids, you know, like that's not super realistic. And obviously, I have a nanny, not to say you couldn't, you know, have someone caring for your children, but a lot of us love that. But to a degree, sometimes it gets a little bit muddy because of this next reason. Um, so this is a florist that we all know and love, Sadie. I will share her name because if you know her, you'll know how insulting this was that someone said this to her. She said, I was talking with somebody. Um, she was asking how old my kids are, what what ages, and you know, she was like, Oh, my youngest is gonna start preschool. And she said, So what are you gonna do with all your free time when your kids are in school? Do you think you'll get a job or something since you just do flowers? Mind you, Sadie's out here doing some of the the coolest, biggest corporate events. Like, this is not she's not just doing like the small ward weddings, like for the the she's not the flower, like she's so legitimate, it's insane, and yet, and yet it's like, oh, are you gonna get a real job? She's like, no, this is my real job.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

Yeah, Sadie goes on to say, ma'am, this is my job. And I would take that even further and say, like, ma'am, this is my career. Like, this is and we're gonna be feminist for a second, and of course, if men were doing this job, people would applaud them. That's so amazing that you're starting your own business. That's wrong.

SPEAKER_03 15:13

Oh, I can't believe you're raising kids and doing a business. Yep, but because I mean, I I will say my friends do give me that line. But I'm like, but I I swear if it was men doing it, it would be friends who are also women. Yes.

Gatekeeping What Counts As Professional

SPEAKER_01 15:29

Yeah, your friends who are also women are telling you who know who know that it's hard. Yeah, your friends who are also women and who are also our age are telling you, good job. But it's like older generations or men that we hear these things from.

SPEAKER_03 15:42

Um, it's your turn. Pick a pick a story to share.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

Let's go. I'm gonna do a few at the same time. We're actually gonna do four in a row. Boom, boom, boom. Okay, okay. I love it. I had a wedding photographer tell me, Wow, you are so lucky you can go home and do nothing after playing with flowers all day. Florists have one of the easiest jobs in the industry. All of this was after doing one of the largest installs I've ever done. Okay, next one. A few weeks ago, a planner told me, Someday when I'm done being a planner, I just want to play with flowers like you. Next, not a specific story, but I've lost track over the amount of people who have said how doing flowers seems so fun and relaxing when I tell them I'm a florist and I'm like, ha ha ha, relaxing. Last one, um, back when I did Mother's Day arrangements, my neighbor once stopped me as I was unloading all my flowers from my car. She came and asked if they were for Mother's Day, and I said yes. And then she proceeded to tell me how she thought flowers were the worst gift and biggest waste of money, and then said, Oh, but I'm sure yours are beautiful. Fast forward to 7 a.m. Mother's Day, Sunday. She calls me to see if I have extra flowers because she forgot to get her mom anything. Okay, so we've kind of like two sides here of like, what a fun little job you have that must be like so easy, and then the other side of being like, well, flowers day anyways, and they're just like such a waste of money.

SPEAKER_03 17:05

Yeah, your job is irrelevant. A lot of times, too. I never know what the response is. You'll have to tell me if you've come up with something uh kinder than probably what my face says to people. Uh, if you know me, you know that unfortunately facial expression and control is not something I've mastered yet. Uh so yeah. Um, I've had like when people kind of they do the like, oh, like let me relate to you on this, and then you're like, I don't even know what to say. So I'll be like, oh, I'm a wedding florist. And then the I don't know why. They're like, oh my gosh, so fun. I did my sister's wedding flowers, and we just went to Trader Joe's, and it was like so amazing, and it was so much fun. Um, and like, and they'll be like, it was such hard work, and then I'm like, Okay, I like I don't know what to say to you because it's not the same. I'm like, Yeah, it's definitely not the same. Also, like I guess thanks for validating its hard work. Yeah, I guarantee you were doing a third of the amount of work that I would have been doing, and like your qu your Trader Joe's version is not the same. Like, sorry, yeah, I am actually ordering from six different wholesalers because that's how picky and meticulous I'm going to be between pricing and quality. And you showed up the day before and waited in that big ass long line. Also, we even I'm just gonna interject and go full ADD here. I don't know if you've seen the lines recently. I usually send a video to Joe.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Oh, at Trader Joe's.

SPEAKER_03 18:34

The Aurum Trader Joe's is insanity. It like, I'm not kidding you. Someone posted a video last weekend. The line was like past the shopping carts. Like, like, I don't even know if 50 people were in line. And I'm like, what is going on? What is it?

SPEAKER_01 18:52

Then it's madness.

SPEAKER_03 18:53

It's like black Friday when the elbowing for like freaking Hypericum berries or like gerbs. And I'm like, listen, there's something for everyone, but when you're passing up on Renunculus or Cala, like something that I'm like, okay, yeah, fine, go to Trader Joe's, get that item because it's a better deal. I'm like, you don't deserve to be here. I'm sorry. I just it is madness.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

And so I don't know, is there a Whole Foods Bayou?

SPEAKER_03 19:21

Yeah, there is. There is.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Okay, well, hot tip. Whole Foods also has good flowers.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

I don't know that I've seen them.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

Oh, really? I they're I my Whole Foods, anyways, has good flowers that I feel like are very seasonal.

SPEAKER_03 19:38

Well, now I'm like, should I is Whole Foods the new Trader Joe's? I should check.

The “Playing With Flowers” Myth

SPEAKER_01 19:43

Try it out. Okay, I'm gonna go but kind of back to like the beginning of these with like people being like, your job is so fun, your job is so whatever. Again, feminist rant. It's because it's like a girly thing. Flowers are a girly thing, so that must just be like a cute little fun job you have. And the way that our job is actually just carrying heavy buckets of water and breaking down cardboard over and over again for the rest of our lives. Like, no, literally, and the carpentry of building the arches and making sure the installations don't fall off the wall.

SPEAKER_03 20:16

The amount of zip-you're like, I have to learn how to use zip ties correctly. Do you know how many times I have to like explain how to use zip ties to people? And not in a rude way because I've been there. I'm like, oh, why are these not feeding through the right way? Like, no, there's like a process. Um, ask me if I went to Home Depot last weekend to get cinder blocks so that I could zip tie my arch to cinder blocks so that it would not fall over in the wind. Like, these are the things we're thinking about. This is a perfect spot for two other stories that we had, which and then I will insert my own. I've got two and then mine. Okay, my husband always dies when I have him help me load the truck, and he's like, dang, this is no joke, as he's drenched in sweat. And then she said, I have a basement studio RN. Whoops. Um, I'm in the exact same boat, especially because I was pregnant at the end of wedding season. I mean, I was pregnant all wedding season, but I started like, you know, worrying about what I was carrying towards the end there. And I had like a four-wedding weekend like back-to-back situation happening. And so, of course, I was like, Hey, I need you to load the car. And he would, those were days he would literally be skipping his workouts in the morning because he knew like it was gonna be busy, and somehow, yeah, every time he'd be like, like he's huffing and he's puffing, he's done like two trips and like no shade to my husband. But I'm like, it is so hard. Like, you're getting in, you're getting out, you're like Tetrising, you're trying to be quick, like you've gotta be thinking. I'm like, it is it is no joke.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

Wait, I had a friend help me once, and he, you know, he's a strong guy, and yeah, I was so annoyed because he was carrying one bucket of flowers at a time, and it was kind of Of a long walk from the car to setup. Meanwhile, like he's got like one little small bucket.

SPEAKER_03 22:05

I've got like two giant buckets. You can usually get like three. You grab the handles of the Pro Kona ones, and you could get like two circle ones on the other arm.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Like and the water's just down my front. Yeah. Like, that's what you gotta do, you know?

SPEAKER_03 22:21

You're like debt dirty. Um, this one said, I did my sister's wedding earlier this year after loading up a truck with centerpieces, buckets of wet foam for an arch, buckets of flowers, greenery supplies. Um, my exhausted dad looked at me and asked, Is it always like this? The respect I gained just made me laugh. Um, like, yes, florists are actually lifting heavy, albeit beautiful weights all day. And I I yeah, I'm like, how do you think these flowers got out here? Do you think they just magically teleported? Like, no, that's why I had a team of 10 people at my wedding. Wait so that we could load in for like 45 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

Like when people want you to do something super, super fast, like it's a really fast install install time, or they feel like something's way overly priced. I I always want to say to them, just close your eyes. Close your eyes and picture bringing those flowers.

SPEAKER_03 23:17

10 buckets with a 40-foot wall.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Just think about it. Okay, I have one more that is on that thread. Uh, it says, I have done a large corporate event the last four to five years, 150-ish centerpieces, stage designs, cocktail tables, some other miscellaneous items. It's a very large production. Two years ago, my brother-in-law helped me out driving a giant U-Haul because my husband was out of town. We loaded everything and then unloaded it at the venue. He made a couple comments about wow, I knew when you said you do this event every year it was big, but I had no idea how much work this is.

SPEAKER_03 23:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

I was actually just looking at my U-Haul history and just like all of the U-Hauls I've rented. Like, that's the other thing. Like I said, our job is just carrying buckets and breaking down cardboard and renting cleaning out U-Haules.

Two U Hauls And Hard Proof

SPEAKER_03 24:03

And having, you know what, this is a perfect time to tell the freaking funniest story. I I mean it maybe not that funny. Okay. That like we have like the ability to just visually look at a place and be like, this is how much space I need. This is how much space I need. And so, okay, Johanna had like the most epic proposal set up, which for NDA purposes, that's all the details that we'll give you at this point. But we were not local to where either of us live. And she had her husband and her father-in-law come, who I will give a specific shout out that those two men They were incredible and so helpful. And like they they worked really hard. I did not envy what they were doing. Um, but one of their tasks was to go get the U-Haul. And I had already like we'd been building ground pieces for like, I don't know if it was day one or two. I think it was probably by day two.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

Two, day two, day two, and which was my which was my day four. I'd been there already for four days.

SPEAKER_03 25:03

Yeah. Like this had been, and so I was already like, hey, I know you have, you know, a van, you have a couple cars, but I was like, they're gonna need two U-Halls. And you were like, Yeah, I think you're right.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

Like, let's tell them the way, the way that you were there to be my hands and my brain. Like you said, this is this is the conversation. Andrea says, Hey, I don't think one 26-foot U-Haul is enough. You need two. And I said, Okay, immediately calls Christian. Hey, we need another U-Haul. She's like, We need two. I didn't think twice, I just said Andre says we need it. So we need it.

SPEAKER_03 25:38

It's not gonna work. And he and you know, sweet Christian's like, no, no, no, no, no. Like, we got this, like, we'll be good. And I'm like, I just don't think he's getting it.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

Like, and I was worried about the U-Haul closing at 7 p.m. and we're already around 5 p.m.

SPEAKER_03 25:53

Because we had to leave at like literally crack of dawn, like daylight savings happened that night. So, like, it was pitch black. So, loading in the morning was not gonna be reality. And so I think they were they were like pushing back enough that I was like, you know what? Let's just let them start loading, and they will quickly realize that it's not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

The funny thing is, they started loading and they were still pretty confident. They're loading the U-Haul, they feel good about it. He comes in and I said, Okay, are you ready to go get the second U-Haul? And he's like, No, no, no, like it's good. We got it.

SPEAKER_03 26:26

And he's like, We, and like again, I will again insert like they did some crafty work, like it was pretty awesome. But like, it's just it's that game of like, did I order enough flowers or not? Like when you're just looking at stuff and you kind of go the back and forth, like, is it enough? Is it an intuition? And so he was on the like, no, I think we'll be good. I think they got like halfway there, and like it looked like we had not even made it down.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

But he was under this impression that we were almost done. He was in the truck, he's like, Yeah, it's looking good. He comes in and we have this conversation. I say, Are you gonna get the other U-Haul? He's like, No, it's going well. We're gonna put this here, we're gonna put this here. And I said, Okay, stop. Let me just show you what we have left. And I kind of walked him around the studio, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:10

And very quickly he said, Okay, yeah, we're going to get another U-Haul. He said, Okay, uh, I'll see you in a bit, and just leave. It was just so funny. Like, we just knew, like, he just needed to see it himself to like really, really get it. Yeah, but it's just one of those, like, we know, like, and you just have this like, yeah, I it's just not gonna happen. I did I measure it? No, but my brain is saying, and they were too, I believe they were fully filled.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

They were full, they were full, full, like they were stacked with racks in there, with tables in there, with things on top and underneath the tables.

SPEAKER_03 27:47

Things were like wrapped, like stacked, but yeah, it's just that like we have magical gifts when it comes to spatial awareness.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

This is why it's important for you to know this is not just your little flower business, you're not a cute little hobbyist. This is your job, and you are better at this than so many people. You know what's going on. I love my husband and I use him so much. He's so helpful. Um, and his dad is incredible and such a hard worker, and I really needed both of them there with me. But at the end of the day, it was me. Yeah, it was us that knew what really needed to happen and needed to do the directing. And we like Christian has learned because he kind of, and I guess this is not a great example because this is where he kind of did give some pushback. But at the start of my business, there was kind of a lot of this of him trying to bring other ideas. Like, I would say, can you do this? And he would say, Well, what if we try this? And then I would tell him all the things that I'd already thought through, all the ways that that wasn't gonna work. And he quickly realized, like, oh, like you asked me to do that because that's what needs to be done, and you've already thought of everything. You're not asking like for advice, like because I know my business better than anyone else does.

Imposter Syndrome And Owning Success

SPEAKER_03 29:05

No, literally, and I think like that's kind of the whole overarching like point that I want us to get at is like it does not help your imposter syndrome when this is what you're hearing. When so often of the time the comments about what your profession is kind of come with a little bit of belittling, whether it's intentional or not. Like these comments of like, yeah, when are you gonna get a real job? What's your side, like what's your main job? Um, you know, your little business. And like it's it's funny because then I I catch myself doing it. I catch myself saying, like, oh yeah, like I I'm just like a I'm a florist, you know, nothing crazy. And I've definitely gotten better because and it's also a hard line to straddle too, right? Like, you want to stay humble, you wanna stay, you know, being graceful about it. You don't want to be boastful and pride, like I don't want to come off like one of those people that's just like I'm so amazing and successful in like an ick way.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Okay, but I think I'm getting to the point where I do want to. I and I don't even care if it gives you the ick because uh if I'm gonna choose one of feeling the imposter syndrome and downplaying my business, I've realized that when I tell people the story, they ask, How did you become a florist? I tell this story, and I'm like, Well, I went to school to be a therapist, and then I realized I didn't like it when I was applying to my master's programs, I wasn't enjoying the work I was doing, I was doing this research that made me depressed. I was working in a boys' home, it made me depressed. And this is the line that I realized I was saying over and over again. And then I thought, I just want to be a florist. I just want to play with flowers all day. I say it, I'm the one that says it. And so I've kind of thought, like, okay, that's not how I want to present myself.

SPEAKER_03 30:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:49

I met with my accountant and he was honestly like kind of surprised with the amount of money I was making. And he made a few comments that made made me realize, oh, he thinks this is a hobby. And yeah, he's not getting it. He's not getting it. And then he saw again, he saw the amount of money we brought in, he said, Oh, and I'm like, Yeah. And I've started to say, Yeah, we went to Greece last year, we're going to Italy this year. Like, this is real.

SPEAKER_03 31:13

This is a legitimate business. Like, they're not flying you across the country because you're some rando cheap girl.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

I'm gonna read three more um that kind of go with this. Meeting someone for the first time, and they asked me what I do for work. I told them I was a florist. They said, wait, that's a real job.

SPEAKER_03 31:31

Oh gut punch.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

Okay, next. Um, oh, that's your side hustle. Nice. And then last, my dad told me it's good to have a hobby the day after a wedding. We had a long chat. Not the day after wedding, not the day your feet are literally bleeding.

SPEAKER_03 31:49

Yeah, I got in 18,000 steps. Thanks.

SPEAKER_01 31:53

But I think that, like, we're gonna bring this full circle. I think that it is so important that you know, just because you're a woman and just because you're in a job, that is beautiful and it can be really, really fun. And I do have those moments where I think this is really cool, that this is my job. This is very cute, this is very happy. Yes. Just because like those things are true does not mean that it isn't hard, that you don't know what you're doing, that you're not a professional, that this isn't a career. This is a career. This is what I'm gonna be doing for the rest of my life.

SPEAKER_03 32:25

And I feel like, too, like a point that I really want to touch on as well. Like, I had this realization as we were talking. I think what makes it hard for me to legitimize what I'm doing is the fact that I'm a college dropout. And I know a lot of girls are as well. That it feels like, oh, I dropped out to do something, you know, just easy. Like it feels like it was the easier thing to do when realistically, at least in my case, it was the logical thing to do. There was literally no other path for me to make floristry make sense unless I was willing to get a degree that I didn't have intentions to use. And I'm not saying that that's that I I fully, fully believe that like every amount of education is is greatly impactful for your mental health well-being. Like it's great to be educated.

SPEAKER_01 33:17

Yeah, I mean, I I got my degree, and my degree is in uh marriage and family therapy. I did not go on to do my master's, but uh yeah, I'm depressed, and so any education in therapy is helpful for me. I'm grateful for it. At the same time, I do feel like I wasted a lot of time and a lot of money.

SPEAKER_03 33:38

Yeah, and I I think that that's what that's a gets it for me. And it's it's kind of this back and forth of like, I think, yeah, people don't take me seriously because it's like, oh well, she just dropped out of college so she could do flowers. But you know, when I explained it to someone, like, well, there was the one floral design class at BYU and they did not have half the majors they have now, like I think I would have been happy to do like experience design management or like and being able to do like hospitality or like something like that would have been way more applicable, but like literally that didn't exist. The business major had a 20% acceptance rate, like pass.

SPEAKER_01 34:17

But nobody's calling you Andrea and saying, Hey, I want you to be my florist. Can you can you show me what level of education did you get? Yeah, what's what's your degree?

SPEAKER_03 34:28

Like it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01 34:29

Nobody's asking that.

SPEAKER_03 34:30

People do, I do find people say, like, oh, like what what do you have to do to become a florist? Like, I think more out of the curiosity, and I'm like, uh, start a business. Like, and I think that's what does surprise people is some of the people that would have would love that job because it's not like advertised, like it's it's like, well, I don't know where to start, like, so I'll just kind of keep going. Like, I think people don't understand, like, oh, you can just you can just do it and you know learn what you want to learn.

How To Treat Year One Seriously

SPEAKER_01 35:04

Okay. I wanted to talk about your little flower business, and if you are at the beginning, if you're at the beginning of your flower business, because I can say like this isn't a little flower business. I've been doing this seven years, we're doing these amazing things. Andrea just had the biggest event of her career and it was amazing and gorgeous. What if you're at the beginning? What if you're in year one or year two and you are still doing kind of small things? Maybe you even still have another job. How do you kind of like treat this when it maybe it does feel like a side hustle? Um, and I I was having this thought. One thing that has helped me a lot when things were, you know, towards the beginning and maybe they weren't going as well as I wanted them to. And I would look at other florists and say, like, oh, they're so far along, like, why can't I get there? I would tell myself, if I was working a corporate job, I can't expect to start as the CEO. I would start at the bottom of the totem pole and I would work my way up.

SPEAKER_03 36:04

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 36:04

Today I was kind of pondering on this idea and thinking, like, where do we see an example of this? And of course, it's gonna be in a rom-com. If you think of the movie The Proposal, okay. Um he's a Ryan. What's his last name? Reynolds. Ryan Reynolds. Um, he is not, he's not like the editor, right? He's like the assistant in that movie, but he takes his job so seriously.

SPEAKER_03 36:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:32

It's not that he's he's not saying, oh, well, I'm not the head of this company, so like my job doesn't really matter. It's just kind of this side thing that I do. No, he's starting at the bottom and working his way up, and because of that, he takes it like even more seriously. He hasn't seen his family in years. They don't hear from him. He is at this woman's back and call doing all these crazy things for her because he knows how important it is to put in the work at the beginning of his career so that he can work his way up. And I think that's the way that we need to be thinking about this. Like, if you're at the beginning, that doesn't mean that you're any less valid or you're not working as hard as other people, or that this is a hobby. Like, if anything, you're working even harder to get this off the ground.

SPEAKER_03 37:16

And I do think too, like, I always try to like tell this to people. Like, I I have interns twice a year. And so obviously, like I'm in a position where I do talk a lot with people who are just kind of getting their feet off the ground. I mean, even deciding if they want to pursue a business. And it's so hard when, you know, after six months or so, they kind of reach out to me again and they're they're in the like, yeah, it's not really happening. And I think it's hard when you see those, you know, couple success stories where they start their business and it just explodes right away, you know, and for whatever reason it works. And they're this is my this is my rom-com um tie-in. It's you need to think about it like he's just not that into you. Um, in that one, they have the line, the it's not they say like that's the exception, it's not the rule. Um, where they're like, you know, people tell these stories, right? Where it'll be like, oh, you just went through breakup. And then someone might be like, Well, you know, my sister, like she and her boyfriend were broken up for three months and they didn't talk, and then one day he called her up and they got back together and they got engaged like two weeks later. But that's not the that's not the rule. That's not what normally happens, that would be the exception. And so I think like when we think about our businesses, you're expecting, you know, this literal rom-com fairy tale, like, oh, I'm gonna become a florist, and then I'm gonna be rolling in the dough, I'm gonna be making it big, I'm gonna be booked and busy, and like, but that's not okay realistic.

SPEAKER_01 38:49

Insert here in It Ends With Us, Lily Bloom says one day, I wanna be a florist, and she just like opens a brick and mortar floral shop, having no floral experience, and then it's just like successful. What?

SPEAKER_03 39:03

Yeah, she's just like, and we're super busy. Mind you, I was also just in Boston, and I'm like, Yeah, I don't feel like that would have worked. Honestly, the Collaine needs to do a little bit more research, I think. Um, it I wasn't seeing it. It's it was the exception and it's not the rule. And it makes me sad because I see so many florists who genuinely have talent and they just give up so quick because they just feel the they feel like, oh, I'm not I'm not making it. But like when you're comparing yourself to me, and not to be like, oh, I'm I'm you know the most successful out there. But like when you're comparing yourself to someone like me, I'm seven years in at this point. Like, it took me seven years to book a wedding at the scale that I just did. Like, it did not happen with even the first two years, three years, four years. Like, you have to work, you have to continually push and you have to like get your body off the ground. I mean, like, think about it like a freaking workout class. Do I work out to practice? No, I don't. I've done it a couple times. I've gone a couple times to a couple classes.

SPEAKER_01 40:04

I've heard of this exercise thing.

Keep Going When It Feels Brutal

SPEAKER_03 40:06

I've heard of this, no, in my in my twice experience of going to a workout class, here's what you probably can pick up for me. I'm not a quitter. And so, like, even if I'm literally dying, I have okay, I have this thing called POTS. It's postural tachycardia. Oh, dang it, I can't remember the acronym. Basically, I pass out uh often if I'm like sick, if I stand up too quickly, it's like stuff like that. So I've learned that certain workout, like high cardio classes, like HIIT workouts, are not meant for me because I have like passed off on more than one occasion. For a minute I didn't know, and I just thought I was super weak, and I was like, what's wrong with me? Um, turns out, turns out it's actually medical. Turns out my heart is turns out you're incorrectly. Um but when I've done a workout class and I'm like, freak, this sucks. Like, I don't want to be here, but I'm like 30 minutes in and I'm like, okay, well, I'm gonna have to figure it out because I'm not gonna walk out and leave. Like, I will finish this class. I'm like, you have to dig deep. Like you, you have to dig deep and find the like, why am I here? How am I gonna feel after? And I think that's how you need to look at your business. Like, you're gonna hit those like, I don't want to keep going, my legs are tired. I'm in like literally, you're gonna be like, My legs are tired, like, I don't want to keep doing this. It is not easy, but I mean, just as sappy as it is, like, but I definitely think it's worth it, and if not more worth other jobs, like because you have that passion and you have like you get to feel the high highs of your business successes more when you've been in the low lows. I think, you know, like if you're working for someone else who assumes the risk, like if someone else is assuming the risk, I just don't think you feel as amped when there's like success because you're just like, yeah, okay, cool. Like the thing I wanted to have and happened.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

Yeah. Well, and that's one of the reasons why this year has felt so good to me is because last year was so hard. And honestly, all the years were were hard. All those times that I thought, like, why am I doing this? And then you again get those glimmers of like this is it, it's working. This is why I'm doing this. Yeah. And the answer is like, you just don't stop, you just don't quit, you just keep going.

Riding The Waves Of Wedding Season

SPEAKER_03 42:26

Yes, and I think like momentum does slow down sometimes. Like, for context, I don't feel like we've talked about this yet, so correct me if I'm wrong. But like for me, this year, my bookings have been really odd. Where like I just booked the biggest wedding of my career, and then the rest of my May is I have one wedding in May. I have one wedding in June, and it's a family wedding. Like, I'm not just because I'm getting success, it doesn't mean that I'm booking that wedding every single month. Like, it just comes and goes, and you can't control a lot of it, especially in this industry. Like, a lot of our like it just depends like what date does everybody like this year. Like, yeah, there's not a lot of control you have over being booked, and even when you are doing consistent marketing and you're getting some business and but not all, like, and there's just no explanation, it's not anybody's fault, it's just like kind of how it goes, and you kind of just have to like celebrate those moments as they come and you know, make it all worth it. I feel like I don't know. That's kind of my thing I've been in lately, having had this big wedding and feeling kind of like, oh, I feel sad that you know the rest of my season isn't stacked with all these weddings. But I'm getting a bunch of inquiries for next year that are all beautiful, and I'm like, Well, like it just I don't know, it'll it'll come and go, and you just kinda hang on to you hang on to the moment when you can.

Using Slow Time Without Shame

SPEAKER_01 43:56

Yeah, and you just keep going. And I think our job is so much uh And flow, it truly, truly is. And me and you are really great at this, but if you can use the slow moments to rest and to um, you know, get everything in order so that the busy moments are easier and you have the energy or whatever, like that's what we need to be doing. I mean both me and you, when we're in the rest, we have a hard time resting. Like we just like want to go, go, go. Um, but I think like that is the beauty of like if you can find those pockets to be like, okay, I'm not booked. I'm not booked in June at all. I'm not booked in June at all. But I'm gonna go to Mexico in June. I'm super excited about that. And and if I can like use that month to just rest from the craziness that this May is gonna be, and then the craziness that's gonna happen in July and August.

SPEAKER_03 44:53

Like And I think like that's kind of what I'm doing with this Hawaii trip I'm going on this week. Like, it was kind of a my my husband and I, we have this like funny little thing that's happened to us a few times where like we're like, ah, wouldn't it be funny if we bought a house and we're like ah, and then like end up buying a house. It's like we joke and and like we move make a move, and then like suddenly like nothing really stops us.

SPEAKER_01 45:15

You're both looking at each other like, wait, are we doing this?

SPEAKER_03 45:18

Yeah, that was basically Hawaii. I was like, Oh, I really want to go to Hawaii, but like, you know, I have enough going on in the summer that it it's not realistic for me to basically take another vacation until literally October. And I'm like, Oh, I just want to beach, and it's his birthday next week. And I was like, why don't we go? We were originally literally this is how it started. We were looking at going to Park City.

SPEAKER_01 45:39

What a jump. What a jump.

SPEAKER_03 45:41

I know we're literally like looking at Park City, and then he's like, Oh, like, so we have a timeshare for whatever story. There's a whole other story that I'll spare you. But it's like a Marriott timeshare, so it's like any Marriott property, it's not like the traditional timeshare that you're probably thinking of, where it's like a specific location on like certain weeks, and so we love it because it gives us a lot of freedom to like go random places and like just know where we're gonna stay. So he was online like looking into the park city dates, and then it was like a deal for Maui, and we were like, ooh, kind of jokingly, like, oh, that would be kind of awesome though. Like, should we do it? And so we're like looking at flights, and they were actually like pretty, pretty good, and we were like, Oh, dang, like, I think we could make this work, and then he's like, Well, what do you have this month? And I was like, Well, I just have like the one wedding at the end of the, you know, end of the month. Um, but I was like, there's no way it's gonna happen, and and it ended up working, and I, you know, part of me was like, I don't know, like, you know, just because I don't have a wedding doesn't mean like I said at the beginning, like, I'm still busy, like I still have things I need to get done. But I was like, you know what though, like, yeah, let's make the most of the fact that I'm not slammed every single weekend with a wedding. Like, I'm gonna go to Hawaii and like enjoy my time because then I think it'll help me like appreciate, you know, being home for the rest of the summer and you know, having had that like little relaxation. So I do think it's like sometimes I take the push that the universe gives me of like I'm not booked this season and that feels bummed. Like I'm bummed about that. It feels kind of lame, but what else could I do with that time and like what what would help me stay in the present instead of like you know, focusing on what I don't have? Like, let me just focus on what I could have or you know, want to do.

Floristry Feminism And Speaking Up

SPEAKER_01 47:26

Yeah, because like what a gift, what a fun time that that like after this huge wedding you came off of, you got to go to Boston with some girlfriends, yeah, and then you get to go to Hawaii and have this break. Like, that is truly so amazing. And looking at that from that abundant mindset instead of the scarcity mindset of like, oh my gosh, oh no, what am I doing? Like, I don't have any weddings, like freaking out about it. Okay, I want to bring this full circle. Um, we're gonna, I want to kind of bring back to our highs and lows of uh our week. And I'm thinking about your high of like running this big team on this big event you did, and my high of like the magic of seeing my bride with her her tears and her just cute, cute bright florals, and there were disco balls everywhere. Yeah, there's like so much magic in us being women in this business. The fact that like we both mentioned rom-coms in this podcast, like we don't have to turn that side off of us, like we can still have so much fun with this. We can have those moments where like my job truly is so fun, and at the same time, know that like we're doing the real shit.

SPEAKER_03 48:35

And you know what, just to kind of tie that in too, like, I think changing the culture amongst floristry, like it starts with us owning it and making it clearer to people. Like, I I think maybe my little goal like from this whole conversation, clearly people need some education on it, is to be a little louder and a little prouder about what it takes. So instead of letting someone call it my little floral business, I might just make a snarky comment about how my little small business got me a$5,000 Prada bag. Like, yeah, it did. Clearly, clearly it's not that small. Like, if I can do those types of things, you know, or like and like I'm I don't love the vibe necessarily, but I'm trying to kind of maybe change, change the culture around it instead of it being like, Oh, how cute, like, oh yeah, how cute that, you know, in a couple years I might be matching my husband's salary. Like, in your case, I feel like you're contributing quite a bit, if not more, than your husband, which Yeah, it's been more for two years now, which isn't like to shame anybody.

SPEAKER_01 49:45

No, absolutely not. He is doing God's work with his children. Um, but yeah, I just make more money than he does.

SPEAKER_03 49:52

And you know what? He does a great job. He does, but the point is, like, I would love to continue like owning our feminism of like not only are we working, and that might make some some older women uncomfortable with the idea that we are w working women, but also like it's okay, it's okay that we're working, it's okay that we might out-earn our spouse.

SPEAKER_01 50:12

Yeah, or maybe we're never going to slow down and have kids. Like, that's kind of where I'm at. That I just want to keep pouring myself into my career and my relationship with Christian.

SPEAKER_03 50:25

And it and that's the thing. I think it's we're in a good spot. I feel like with women kind of taking that self-reflection of like, yeah, like there is not just one path for for women as a whole, or for me, like you you can do whatever you want, and and you can be good at it. And that's and no one is in charge of dictating that for you.

SPEAKER_01 50:49

And that right there is the definition of feminism. Um, women have the right to choose what they want to do with their lives.

SPEAKER_03 50:58

Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_01 50:59

Apparently, we should have named this episode uh being a florist and a feminist.

SPEAKER_03 51:03

And you know what? I'm actually I'm gonna blame some of it on my Boston trip because shockingly, most of the history that we did happened, like we did not know this going into it, but like heavy on the feminism. And I was like, wow, like good for these ladies and these giant mansions that like they own. So I I'm in a big I was influenced by my weekend.

Subscribe And Send Us Your Stories

SPEAKER_01 51:27

What an excellent influence and refreshing history for sure.

SPEAKER_03 51:31

Well, we're so excited that you spent this time with us, and we hope that you'll come back to sit with us. And we cannot wait for our next episode. So, as always, subscribe and let us know. Shoot us a message if you have any specific requests or if you had a story that you wanted us to share, we would love to. And we'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_01 51:51

Bye.