We recently connected with Aileen Casillas and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Aileen, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

I had started Florian at home, thinking it would just stay small scale until my kids graduated high school in a few years then I could think of opening an actual shop. As life would have it, within 6 months of starting the business it graduated to an actual brick & mortar. When I started the business at home, I knew a website and social media presence were important. I immediately came up with the name Florian, secured a couple of domain names and social media identities, obtained the proper federal identification numbers. opened a business checking account, signed up for QuickBooks, and researched wholesalers. In just 6 months time,the demand for my floral arrangements was more than a small garage could handle. This propelled me to look for a physical location.
Once a brick & mortar location was secured, I immediately had to work on the processes for the shop. Deciding on how much to spend on flowers each week, what services would I offer, what are the policies for my shop from refunds to customer contact to sales, scheduling for time marketing, emails, designing, cleaning/cooler maintenance, and more.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I had always been involved in the arts by way of painting, drawing, clay-sculpture/throwing/hand-building. At 28, I was a wife and mom of a 5 year old and just had twin sons, I craved creativity. I had started a part time job at a large bookstore retailer and happened upon their floral design section. Flipping through the books I realized that flowers were just another medium like charcoal, pencil, paint, clay. Being a stay at home mom to three kids did not afford me the time to go to a floral design school, so I researched long distance ones such as Floral Design Institute, which is where I completed their basic floral design program. Working at various flowers shops from San Diego to Chicago. In 2011, I went through a divorce and knew that working at a flower shop would not support myself and three kids. I pursued an education in fire, ultimately becoming a certified Firefighter/EMT and Wildland firefighter. In 2013, I was involved in a historically tragic fire. At home, I continued to keep flowers around and use my skills for my personal use, not knowing it was therapeutic. In 2017 when I left that industry I returned to my roots as a floral designer.
What sets Florian apart is that we are 100% independent. We are not connected to any of the major wire services. Every customer purchase is filled to 100% of the value and every dollar goes directly to us, not a call center or to fees. This makes it a challenge that we are proud to take on. It is why word of mouth is so important for us. We pride ourselves on providing excellent customer service, doing what it takes to fulfill our customer’s requests to the best of our ability.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Florian was started in August 2018. Being completely independent and not relying on sales from a wire service, we had survived the first year of business. Then in early 2020, the pandemic hit. This completely forced me to pivot the business and figure out how I was going to fulfill flower orders & deliver them all on my own without help. To include all the other hats I was already wearing- social media marketing, website maintenance, bookkeeping, networking, creating new designs, continuing education, purchasing and inventory. Although the shop had to be closed to the public, I was working 7 days a week to accomplish the tasks to keep the business running smoothly. I had a strict routine that I needed to adhere to otherwise it would throw a wrench into the system and it was a ripple effect.
Fall of 2021, I contracted Covid. This forced the shop to be closed for a month and a half. Upon my return I had extreme fatigue which required 5 hour naps a day… causing the shop to be open for very limited hours. I had enough energy to design the days orders and that was it. Once I was done, I went home. Thankfully my daughter was able to deliver and run the shop in my absence. By Feb 2022, I had just slight fatigue left and was able to return to the shop full time. I think understanding the adversity in front of you and adjusting to it, figuring out a way to work with it is important in order to pull through it. Accepting what is and being flexible are definite key components to being resilient.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

It was important to me to have the business identity ready before the website launched or the social media platforms went live. I felt that would give it a great foundation to build upon. A Facebook page was created along with Instagram and twitter accounts. I posted about Florian every day-whether it was just a photo, a video, or a live moment. When flowers arrived into the shop, I captured that moment live for people to enjoy. Often I spoke to the audience directly, showing them specific flowers, bits of education, or fun facts. The identity of the business was always featured in the shot or the video or live feed to get people to connect to the flower shop. Only recently, have I delved into the TikTok platform, it’s been fun and interesting to learn this. The advice I could give is to study your analytics… find out when your audience is checking out your posts, what days and times are most attended and what is the draw. What was it about that post that created the most interaction. Watching and learning the heartbeat of your audience is important for the marketing of the business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.florianfloral.com
• Instagram: florianfloral
• Other: tiktok: @florian_floral

Image Credits
“Carnes” files- Anya McFadden Photography