We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ana Cuciuc. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ana below.

Ana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

One of my biggest problems was to set boundaries between my work and my personal life. For the longest time I identified myself with what I did and wasn’t able to detach and rest. I would say yes to almost any client and any budget. That inevitably led to a big burnout, followed by a couple disrespectful clients and one very bad experience with a bride. I remember having so much anxiety on her wedding day. My body was shaking and I was so mad that I put myself in that situation. Her whole family was a nightmare.I remember thinking “This is not me. This is not how I work. I love what I do and I will not let anyone take that away from me!”. I realised that was the price I had to pay for not trusting my gut and for not setting up boundaries.I promised myself that day that I will never ever get into this situation again.

After that experience I took two weeks off, gave myself some time to recover physically and emotionally, reframed the way I wanted to work, and started again with a fresh perspective.

Looking back now, I see that experience as a lesson that allowed me to grow. I realised how important it is to protect my creative energy, and the fact that I own a business doesn’t mean that I have to please everyone.Once I started saying no to projects that didn’t align with my vision and/or values, I made more space for those who did. Now I feel that I got myself back. I’m more inspired, balanced,and motivated.

Ana, 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 first got into flowers when I came to LA for a vacation four years ago and ended up landing a job in a flower shop. I was ecstatic and decided to move here and start a new career. Worked there for a couple years, fell in love with flowers, and when I was ready to quit, the flower shop closed down. A couple months later the pandemic hit, and I was finally able to take a break without feeling guilty. I spent a lot of time in nature, hiking, foraging, camping, painting, making dried flower arrangements and really figuring out what I want to do and how I can make a difference. We were all fed with a lot of terrifying news, social movements, families weren’t able to see each other, people were getting sick, a lot of us lost friends or family members, and overall living in constant anxiety and/or depression. I thought it’s time for me to go back to making flower arrangements and help people connect with nature and with each other.

In 2020 I founded Wild Stems LA and was on a mission to create beautiful wildflowers arrangements and deliver them all over LA. I wanted to share the beauty of flowers and spread joy, kindness and love.
I knew I didn’t want an ordinary flower shop, so when my boyfriend Ben joined me right before our first Mother’s Day, we decided to add a collection of vintage clothing and rock n roll memorabilia. We redecorated our space with a couple road cases, records, vintage guitar magazines, one of a kind ceramics and our own paintings. We hosted a live music night, connected with a couple local artists, cultivated our community and created floral arrangements for some big celebrities.

The thing that I’m most proud of is finding and supporting local flower growers, and offering our customers the freshest, most aromatic and unique flower arrangements. If you grow flowers or know someone who makes a living from that, please reach out and let us know! We’d love to connect and support you!

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Yes! I’m on a mission to offer a tailored floral experience to all our customers. I always encourage them to tell me some details about the occasion or the recipient, and create based on their stories. I believe everyone deserves one of a kind floral arrangements.

I’m also on a mission to have sustainable business practices. I’m always inspired by the locally grown flowers, their short seasonality and their slow growth.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think buying from local artists is the first thing that comes to mind. Hire them and give them freedom, share their stories, if you have a space- organize pop-ups, art or music nights. If you are an artist- reach out to friends or businesses that share the same values and see if you can collaborate. Gather together in nature, talk ideas, support each other, listen to each other, encourage and celebrate each other. We live in a beautiful city where people come from all over the world. A lot of us left our home countries and came here to find ourselves and pursue a creative path.. We should value that and strive to connect and create meaningful relationships and collabs.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wildstems.la/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildstems.la/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildstems.la
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wild-stems-los-angeles-2

Image Credits
The ones from the live music night credit goes to Tanner Sanz ig @tannersanz The rest is Wild Stems LA :)