We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rachel Burch. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rachel below.
Rachel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later?
MUCH sooner! I started my business back in 2017 after working a variety of customer service/support jobs ranging from entry level to management and I would 100% prefer to a) work for myself b) do something creative and c) have my work/life balance on my own terms.
Rachel, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I fell into flowers by accident after being laid off TWICE in 2 years. It seemed that I wasn’t meant to work for a standard company/9-5 job. I took it as a sign. One of my good friends, Kelsea of East Olivia, was in town for a mutual friend’s wedding and she was doing all the florals for their big day but she needed some help. She suggested I come along for the ride and that’s just what it was! I absolutely loved the experience and dove in 110% from there. I learned my craft through doing and mentored with the florist who had done my own wedding previously, the lovely Laura Williams of Poppy Hill Flowers. After that I began freelancing with other talented florists in my area and grew my business to taking on my own events.
Velvet Blooms was established in 2017 and has been serving LA, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez counties consistently ever since! We’ve even done some beautiful destination weddings outside of that. My style is deeply rooted in color and texture with a natural edge that is perfect for any eclectic couple or large scale event. I mostly focus on weddings. Unlike the cut and paste design, I have honed my creative style to build vibrant arrangements centered around a simple mantra; find your voice and let it bloom.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Working with creatives is such a beautiful and interesting experience. The floral industry is unique in that most designers don’t have a set team or employees – we mostly use freelancers. The perk of this (besides taxes) is that most designers all freelance at some point so you have the chance of having an extremely seasoned designer or a brand new one. Both work out but sometimes you just get lucky. While I do have a strong opinion or oversight throughout my designs I also have learned to play to my designers strengths. Over time, you begin to understand who executes what designs best and I always allocate tasks based on that. Additionally, there are some designers who have more experience and talent that I do and I’m happy to let them be free to design in certain cases. The beauty of creative design, whether it’s flowers or something else, it’s subjective so there’s really no right or wrong way to design.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of this job is that it’s all about expression on my own terms. I love that I can pitch an idea or style that I’ve been wanting to try and a client might be on board! In addition to my own designs, I absolutely love collaborating with other designers. The floral industry is very welcoming and supportive. We all help each other out and don’t think of each other as competition.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.velvetblooms.com
- Instagram: @thevelvetflorist
- Facebook: facebook.com/velvetblooms
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/velvet-blooms-ventura
- Other: pinterest.com/velvetblooms
Image Credits
Albany Katz Photography, Abi Q Photo, Geoff and Lyndsi Photography