We recently connected with Ana Cuciuc and have shared our conversation below.

Ana, appreciate you joining us today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

My favorite orders are the ones nobody else could fill.

When someone has a truly distinctive taste, generic arrangements aren’t just wrong, they’re almost insulting. So before I touch a single stem, I do my research. Who is this person? What’s their world? I’ll go through their Instagram, ask for pictures, get a real sense of their aesthetic.
Then I chose the flowers very intentionally and design for them: their colors, their energy, their style.

The feedback makes my day every time: “My wife doesn’t really like flowers, but yours were an absolute hit”, or “She just can’t stop starring at them”. She didn’t just like them, she felt seen. And that’s exactly what intentional design can do. When flowers arrive and they feel like you, it’s no longer a gift. It’s recognition.

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’m Ana, an artist, floral designer, and founder of Wild Stems – a floral design studio in Los Angeles built for clients who refuse the ordinary. We create intentional, art-driven florals for private and corporate events, brand activations, installations, and a curated delivery service.

My story with flowers started in 2018, almost by accident. I was on vacation in LA, applied to work at a flower shop on a whim – and got the job. I fell in love immediately and never looked back. A few years later, on a hike in Malibu, the answer to what I really wanted became clear: go back to flowers, but build something of your own. So I did.

For me, floral design is a practice of devotion. We don’t put flowers in a vase – we design with intention, conveying feeling and transforming spaces. When we work with brands, we choose flowers that speak their language and amplify their identity.

What sets us apart is that people feel it. Our loyal inner circle keeps coming back, and clients who discover us through a delivery often return for their biggest events. This year one of my dreams came true- we were featured in Vogue, and just seeing our growth and evolution is what I’m most proud of.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I started Wildstems, I had no business plan – just a deep desire to create beautiful things and bring some light into a heavy, pandemic world. I got a space, transformed it into a flower shop, and built something real: florals, gifts, vintage, local art. A true neighborhood gem.

Three years in, I was drinking my coffee at home and felt it in my body – that’s it. The shop has to close. No spreadsheet told me that. I just knew.

I realized my true passion wasn’t in selling flowers, it was in creating floral art.
So we pivoted. We closed the shop, took on fewer clients, and went after bigger, more ambitious projects. Bigger budgets meant more creative freedom, and that’s where Wildstems really found itself.

It felt strange at first. We had worked so hard to build that community. But closing that chapter was the best decision we ever made for this brand. Sometimes growth looks like letting go of what’s working to make room for what’s meant for you.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Intentionality has been our secret sauce. We work with fewer clients and give them everything – no shortcuts, no watered-down versions of someone else’s vision. We’re selective because we care, and that standard shows in the work.

Working with celebrities and their teams has also shaped our reputation significantly. That world demands discretion, professionalism, and flawless execution – and delivering on that consistently has opened doors and built trust at every level.

At the core of it all: we genuinely care about the quality, the design, and the art form. And people can feel the difference.

Contact Info:

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

Image Credits

The photo with the uber florals are from CNC Agency, the rest are ours