Growing Your Team

Photos by Sarah Beth

I started working with flowers because:

• I needed some cash
• I was feeling drained as a full-time mom and needed an outlet to use my brain in a different way
• I love working with flowers, and I even feel like I am pretty good at it
• I love love and celebrating it
• I love business and have always had a hard time fitting into structures, rules, bosses, regular hours, and staying on task!

I did not start working with flowers because I love working a million hours by myself into the wee hours of the night. Sadly, this is what my little business had become. I was lonely. Working hard and alone was disheartening and demoralizing. I was limited in so many ways — in the scope of work that I could take on and limited by my weaknesses. For example, I am not great at bookkeeping or staying on top of email. Add to that; I tend to crash past 10 pm. These weaknesses were holding my business, Blossom & Vine back.

So I sat down with my "ideas notebook" and scratched out a vision for my business. The picture that I was painting was not a one-woman show. I dreamed of creating a place where people like me could find a work-life balance. Where we could use our creativity, and work with our passions. The picture was one where we work our butts off and strive for excellence. I wanted us to have the ability to build the largest scale floral installations while still paying attention to the tiniest details. To treat every person with whom we come into contact with kindness, curiosity, and openness. I wanted us to learn from and work with the people who inspire us the most and to earn a living while we are doing it.

Photos by Sarah Beth

Ok, so now the scary part. I hired Erica. And Charlotte. Both started with part-time hours. Will I be able to afford them? Honestly, it makes me nervous, but you better believe that the three of us have a very detailed plan on how we are going to make it happen. In our first three months as a team, our business has transformed. I knew Erica was reliable, good at accounting and a hard worker but I had no idea that she has beautiful ideas on how to make our clients feel so special. I knew Charlotte was steady, budget oriented, and has a lot of experience in purchasing but I
wasn't anticipating the hours that we would spend on the phone talking next steps, big pictures, and dream chasing. 

Hiring has helped tremendously. For example, a wedding that used to take me 24 hours of production time, took the three of us working together 7 hours total. We are now more efficient, able to take on more work and I can spend a lot more time with my kids. So while initially, I will take a bit of a pay cut, I can get my business back on the track that I want it to go on.

I know that this all sounds idealistic, optimistic, and a little over the
top. Maybe we will fail, but for today, we are growing our team! I hope this encourages you to consider the same if you're at a place where you think you might need it.