I grew up hearing the stories of my family’s creative business ventures and always dreamed of ways I could do the same. My first taste came in high school and early college with my older sister, teaching private music lessons through a company we named “Notes of Joy”. I learned then that working alongside family can be one of the greatest gifts in life. It doesn’t work for everyone, but there’s something truly profound about a shared vision among blood. No one understands you better or has your best interests in mind like family. I think that’s why so many family businesses can healthily last for generations.

For the past decade I’ve had the privilege of owning Faith’s Florals, and as all small business owners know, a small business quickly becomes a family business when you’re invested in success. My biggest lesson learned: make sure your family wants to be involved! My husband has been my biggest supporter, playing coach, design assistant, babysitter, delivery driver, and cheerleader. My business would’ve quickly died in its first few years without him. I’ve also included my kids as much as possible. They come with me on delivery runs and are my assistants for venue visits and styled shoots. I talk with them about my floral designs and will let them make their own arrangements with leftover stems. I want them to feel like they’re a part of my business so that they don’t come to resent it. I also recognize that these are my golden years of motherhood and I don’t want my business to be something that pulls me away from time spent with them–I want it to be something that knits us even closer together!

That being said, I also think it’s also key to set a work-life balance. We’re a homeschooling family, so setting a balance becomes more and more important each year. After all, part of the reason we work is to enjoy the one life we get! There are definitely seasons where work bleeds into the entire day, but I do try to set regular times for emails and design work. I only offer consultations on certain days of the week so I don’t miss out on our family routines. I think missing a work-life balance is the biggest killer of any family business. When your relationships with your family members morph into only work interactions it sucks the joy out of what you’re doing (and I think it misses the whole point!). My motivation behind including my husband and kids in my business is to foster more opportunities to be close with them. We become a stronger family unit when we’re working towards the same goals. I also hope that spending time working together will position my kids to take over the business someday. They’ll be better owners in every way if they’ve played an active role alongside me.

I’ve worked with countless vendors since then to find what I think are truly the most realistic stems available on the market. What sets me apart from a traditional florist is that I don’t order in bulk from just one vendor. I’ve done the research, ordered samples, met with reps, all to find the right combination of stems that look as close to fresh flowers as possible. To me, floral design is an art form and each piece I create is an expression of me so I don’t take my work lightly. I’ve gone so far as to hand-paint leaves and petals for a client because I wanted the coloring to be perfect! I also bring a unique perspective to the table: I have a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology. As I’m considering a design I’m not only thinking about the the styles and colors, I’m also contemplating the physics of the form and structure. My clients (and their planners) have peace of mind because I can talk shop with their venue about weight distributions, table loads, etc, from a numbers perspective.

When I first started offering online orders, I went with Etsy because of their reputation for custom and handmade items. But I have to say it didn’t last very long. While you do get great advertising and having a presence on Etsy boosts your SEO, I found the fees were a revenue killer! You have to pay a fee for each listing, a fee on the profit of each sale, a PayPal fee on top of that for each sale, and they now charge an extra fee if you ship an item. All of those fees either take a cut of your profit or force you to pass it along to your clients with increased pricing. I just couldn’t stomach either of those options so I chose to stop selling with them. In all honesty, I think Etsy is a great platform for a larger company that is selling in bulk. For a small business like mine where each order is unique, I feel that offering orders directly through your website is a much better option.