We were lucky to catch up with Amy Forsyth recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amy, thanks for joining us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

Where to begin? I hit the absolute jackpot when it came to my parents. I truly have nothing but wonderful things to say about both my parents and my grandparents. Their influences have so heavily shaped me into the person that I am today and I owe them so much credit, specifically for my work ethic.

Earlier this year, my Mum told me that I was a very strong-willed child and that she read many books on how to guide and mold my drive into something positive. I’m forever grateful for my Mum because I know she did not have the easiest time with my headstrong and determined personality.

Growing up, I watched my Dad work tirelessly at all hours, spending months away at a time from our family working in America while my Mum and brother stayed back in Scotland. When we moved to America, I literally watched my Dad live the American dream and accomplish every single thing he set his mind to including the acquisition of material objects. I was always very aware as a child to appreciating that the choice of hard work could result in the consequence of opportunities for an enhanced lifestyle and I decided at a very young age that I wanted to acquire what he had and vowed to work just as hard as he had to achieve those goals.

That said, despite the gaining of wealth, my parents have never lost sight of who they were or their very humble beginnings and I have always admired this ability to stay grounded and remain true to themselves. As they grew into their 40s and 50s, I watched them selflessly and abundantly give to others in our community and former church. I’d like to think that I have inherited their generous nature; it’s certainly a personality trait I want to be known for and remembered by.

At the end of the day, material objects are just that, but above all, health is wealth and your relationships with your friends and family are everything. I heard someone say, “relationships are the currency of life” and it rang true with me as a very powerful statement – one I have always lived by, but could never quite state so simply and eloquently.

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

Absolutely! Hi everyone! I’m Amy, the owner and founder of Forsythia Florals. I am a wife, Mother and entrepreneur who has lived in Austin for nearly 25 years. I was raised around gardening by my beloved grandfather, cultivating my desire to learn how to design from a young age; but it was pushed to the side as life became filled by graduate school, working full time and raising babies. When my beloved friend and maid-of-honor became engaged, I vowed to not let her overspend on underwhelming floral and she graciously provided me the opportunity to flower her wedding. This experience helped me to ignite my passion and secret talent for floral arranging. Six months later, the business was official and Forsythia was born!

For nearly 4 years, I guided people on the worst day of their lives. As a florist, I do not take the privilege of celebrating with clients on the best days of their lives lightly. It is an honor to be a part of such joy after figuratively holding the hands of so many who will never be able to experience such happiness. I am so incredibly grateful for the lessons my previous work (working for years on the National Suicide Prevention Lifelife) taught me, it has made me the woman I am today and I choose to live every second of my life to the fullest.

On wedding days, I so often have clients and their family members comment on my personality and customer service, even before they compliment my flowers. I think that this is something that sets me apart from other florists in the area, who should be noted, are some of the most talented people in the state. Austin has so much talent and I’m so incredibly grateful to be a part of this industry. I don’t think that the magic of weddings will ever grow old to me. Every single weekend, I still feel excited to meet my clients, design their venues and interact with their family and other vendors. Magical really is the only word to describe it.

Lastly, I think another selling point for clients is my pricing. I fully appreciate that flowers are a luxury experience and that not everyone can budget thousands of dollars to floral product. That’s where I come in. Flowers are a completely transformative experience and can enhance even the dullest of spaces, but they don’t need to cost ten thousand dollars to be impactful. My clients can attest to the fact that I am always honest and transparent with pricing. I will never encourage customers to overspend or purchase a piece that they don’t want or love.

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

For my family both personally and professionally, 2021 was a year of resilience. I look back and I truly don’t know how we made it through. It was by far one of the best and worst years of our lives. Resiliency in business and family have many overlapping experiences, but with business you can pivot, with family you can only fight through.

In 2021 I single-handedly flowered 77 weddings and events during shortages, extortionate shipping costs and extremely stressed out clients. I worked manically, fervently and often at the expense of my health. There were days I stayed up for over 48 hours straight.

Of course, owning a business during and post pandemic is just scratching the surface of this wild year. The hardships I faced with my business were nothing compared to working full-time in Tech, supporting my husband through an extremely rare cancer, raising two toddlers and being pregnant with my surrogate son.

It was all so very overwhelming, but I never complained. I leaned on my friends and family for support. Kept my pregnancy completely private to both coworkers and clients. And always had a smile on my face when it mattered.

I know for a fact that I can handle and cope with literally anything after this year. It was the year that changed everything for us, but I’ve never been so madly in love with my husband (who is now in remission), appreciative for my body for carrying 3 perfectly healthy children and grateful for my wonderful tech job + successful business. There is always good with the bad, or the very very bad. You just have to choose which thing you are going to focus on. I chose to fight and I’m all the better for it.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Whether you are managing a team, department or single person, you have to present yourself in a standard of excellence that makes others want to emulate you. I strongly believe in leading by example. Being humble while being brilliant and never giving up. Always be the first one up in the morning and the last one off at night. Do the most.

Every day you have to be “on”, because your team will take that energy and it will spread throughout the rest of your day or task. Managers don’t get to have days off or “mental-health” days because you have a team that is depending on you and looking up to you for guidance. Especially when you are running a business – there are literally, literally no days off. To feel needed in this kind of capacity is a big deal and not something that should be taken lightly. It’s a huge responsibility, but it’s a very cool feeling to have this kind of control and know that you have the power to change someone’s experience for the better through your management style and positive perspective of both work and life. Every day is a new opportunity to make an impact on someone, to make money and to turn ideas into reality – what an incredible gift!

Of course, you will have off days as a manager and of course you will feel constantly overwhelmed, exhausted and experience feelings of worry that the job won’t get done, but you can never show this. Managers can only move their concerns upward, never downward. It is not your team members concern to worry about your problems.

Lastly, praise publicly and criticize privately. Have fun with work where you can. Laugh often and celebrate every small victory. Be the manager you always wanted to have and make sure to leave a little sparkle everywhere you go, so that your team feels motivated, inspired and encouraged after every interaction with you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.forsythiaflorals.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forsythiaflorals/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forsythiaflorals/
• Other: The Knot: https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/forsythia-florals-austin-tx-2047822 Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mrsamyforsyth/forsythia-florals/

Image Credits
– Carthart photography – Sarah Tribbett Photography – Harperblankenship photo – Kayla Snell Photography – Hansmith Photography – Brooke Taylor Photography – Heather Wise Photography