5 powerful tips to market your unique self as a floral designer
LuAnn Dickson of EveryStem florist software recently sat down with Valerie Crisostomo the founder and president of Black Girl Florists to discuss the critical topic of how to market your unique self as a florist and female entrepreneur.
Let’s begin with a little background on these two unique and wonderful ladies.
Valerie started Black Girl Florists in the summer season of 2020. She saw the need for resources and representation for black women in the floral community. A hassle-free, free service for black women to be celebrated and their businesses to be patronized. She viewed the pandemic as a “new path”, a new and better way forward.
After multiple professional setbacks following the “right”, more traditional career path, she said enough is enough. Slowly she built her event design and coordinating network that eventually led to her floral career as a freelancer and the owner of One Soul Freelance. Today Valerie enjoys being a strong freelancer and loves to work on large scale events.
“You have this ‘super power’ of floral design that enriches people’s lives.” Valerie says.
That is a powerful perspective. How could you not feel powerful when viewing your talent that way?!
For more information about Valerie’s incredible network click here: Black Girl Florists
LuAnn is no stranger to freelancing either, but before she began freelancing she ran a successful boutique floral design and retail shop in Austin, Texas for 12 years. She’s produced hundreds of successful events and countless artful floral installations.
After selling Verbena Floral Design in 2018, LuAnn began freelancing to keep her floral skills sharp and began exploring florist software options because many of her flower friends struggled with creating accurate flower orders. LuAnn soon realized she could develop something to truly help florists cut down on hours of stressful flower ordering. She launched EveryStem florist software in April of 2021 and met Valerie soon after through introductions by some wonderful EveryStem members who are also members of Black Girl Florists.
EveryStem florist software allows you to buy from your preferred local vendors and wholesalers, automatically calculate your retail prices, and allows you to create a floral library of all your favorite stems! There are so many other features that this software can perform to help you and your business be more profitable. So if you’re not familiar with it, check it out here: EveryStem
Now, let’s get onto the good stuff!
5 powerful tips for you to to market your unique self as a florist!
The first of Valerie’s tips for marketing your unique self as a floral designer is to freelance for other florists.
Both Valerie and LuAnn agree that freelancing is the best option out there for florists to learn, gain experience, and grow their community. From learning new and different varieties of flowers while processing to seeing the mechanics of a large hanging install first-hand, there is no limit to what you can learn and gain from freelancing regularly.
This is the best method to help you, as a budding florist, manage your expectations about the floral industry and realize which tasks you love and excel at and which tasks you won’t be giving high priority. It is so much more than just “playing with flowers” and freelancing shows you that.
You’ll get hands-on training and experience of all the ins and outs that florals require and recognize what works best for you by freelancing for other florists.
Valerie suggests freelancing for a few different florists. Just as we are all trying to market our unique selves, every unique florist has something new to teach you. Everyone’s brains operate differently. So working with a variety of florists shows you there are many diverse approaches to the same installation or challenge. Soak up as much knowledge as you can. It’ll only better you in the future.
Valerie’s second tip is for you to be selective in your niche and your projects!
Once you’ve gained enough experience through freelancing, you can be picky. You can say no to the jobs that don’t make you happy. Really understanding your floral identity will help you succeed and understand what you’re saying no to and why. “What you say yes to should bring joy to your day to day work” says Valerie, President and CEO of Black Girl Florists.
Here’s a quick helpful exercise Valerie wants you to do right now:
Take 5 minutes to write down what you enjoy most. Jot down the first tasks that pop in your head and how each certain task makes you feel. Be intentional and select projects that most align with those tasks and feelings that bring light to your eyes.
Grab your phone. Set a 5 minute timer and give this exercise a chance!
Sometimes it can be difficult to say no to jobs, especially when you’re starting out in floral design.
Imposter Syndrome can set in and make you feel frantic. You feel obligated to say yes to every single offer. Fight the urge to take any chance to prove yourself.
Combat the imposter syndrome. Don’t stop even when you don’t feel up to par. The more times you do something, the more confident you inevitably feel and become more comfortable in those skills.
Valerie wants you to practice, practice, practice and watch yourself grow.
Valerie’s third tip for you is to show examples of the type of work you want to attract.
If you hate working with pampas grass or get bored with only white and green weddings, don’t post those!
It’s important for you to know that every experienced florist has hundreds of images of their work that never make it to their feed. Valerie explains that passion projects should be your priority, but it’s okay to toss in a few projects that pay the bills. Those are important too! A balance must be struck, but remember it’s best to be selective. Check out Valerie’s One Soul Freelance IG profile here for examples.
Next Valerie shares a story about booking her first wedding which happened to be a classic white and green color palette. She mentions how easy it was using EveryStem to make her floral order and how it simplified the task of writing her recipes. She was able to replicate those white and green floral designs over and over again. It felt good at first!
Naturally she posted her work to show her improvement and love of floral design. Then she started getting tired of those white and green weddings. She started wishing for clients who wanted colorful designs and started getting frustrated when all her inquiries were for white and green.
And then one day it clicked. She was booking so many traditional white and green weddings because that was the only work she was sharing with her audience!
She realized what she was sharing was driving force for the clientele she was attracting!
Valerie wanted more adventurous clients. So she had to start sharing more of her unique self and what she could create with bold colors.
Valerie’s fourth tip is this. There is only one you. That is powerful, use it!
You’re going to produce your best work and put your best foot forward when you’re enjoying your work.
Valerie believes that happy finds happy. Valerie suggests to make sure that you have a portfolio outside of social media. Social media is a great and very helpful tool, and quite honestly a necessity these days. That being said, social media is just a platform. You can use those platforms to drive traffic and consumers to your website.
And who exactly are those potential consumers seeking out? You guessed it, they are seeking YOU! It always comes back to you and what your followers love about you.
So you may want to think about these two beliefs that are deeply held by Valerie and the members of Black Girl Florists.
Honor your true self!
Define your own lane!
How can you use these beliefs to market your unique self as a florist? Valerie encourages you to focus on you.
Celebrate the subjects and collaborators, of course, but don’t forget that your following came to your page to learn about you. Make it personal and explain where your inspiration came from.
Here are a couple of suggestions Valerie shares for wining content for florists.
Tell a funny story about a mishap from the process.
Make a time-lapse of the build.
Your audience wants to know your florist point of view. They’re seeking your voice and input. Go ahead and give it to them!
Valerie’s fifth and final tip is share how you did the flower thing.
These days, you can find anything on TikTok or Google. Simply sharing still images of your beautiful arrangements or your breathtaking floral installations just aren't enough anymore.
Your audience wants to know how. So consider these questions next time you plan to share your work.
How did you get that shape?
What mechanics did you use?
Could you show anyone how to make this? If yes, what steps would you take?
What variety of rose did you use in that design?
Valerie’s wish for you is that you’ll build a community that supports you and your craft of floral design.
Provide people with the information they’re seeking in easy, fun, digestible ways and you will build a loyal following. One that celebrates your vision, your design, your goofiness, and most importantly, your unique self.
Click here to watch the full interview on YouTube with a lively florist community Q&A session to wrap it up!
EveryStem Florist Software CEO LuAnn Dickson interviews CEO of Black Girl Florists Valerie Crisostomo about marketing your unique self as a floral designer.