We were lucky to catch up with Anne Rizoulis recently and have shared our conversation below.
Anne, appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
I love this question! I think the elements of being successful in floral design are similar to those needed in other businesses.
*Resilience (better than perseverance!) – bounce back from challenges. See “failures” as opportunities and move on. When my subscription florals didn’t yield the results I wanted, I kept them as an offerring, but shifted my focus to events. Events, and weddings especially, are the backbone of my business and are a great match for my skills, personality and financial goals.
*Flexibility – don’t get stuck. Pivot when needed, and don’t think you are the only one with the answer or that there is ONE way to fix/address something. Creativity applies to problem solving too. I find that being flexible on site for events is essential. If the wind kicks up or it’s hotter than planned I can’t stop and cry – the team and I move in to back up plan mode.
Similarly with floral material – nature chooses what color to be…if it’s not exactly what I wanted, or the specific item isn’t available or looking good, I need to quickly choose alternatives.
*Communication -builds relationships, helps to grow business and sets expectations to avoid misunderstandings. It allows you to build trust with clients, your team and suppliers. Communication also helps in the industry. Share information, know you’re suppliers, vendors, and other industry team mates.
*Curiosity – ask questions. Keep learning. With curiosity you’ll stay fresh, engaged and motivated. Try NEW things! I love to freelance to learn how other floral professionals do things. I also love to see what’s new to bring unexpected elements to clients and guests.
* Humor (a best friend to resilience) – don’t take yourself too seriously. You can be an expert and still laugh at yourself. In tense moments with tight deadlines, humor has helped myself and my team relax and keep moving forward.
The extra sauce for success in design is knowing your core competency and niche. It helps you be direct, share your expertise and lead teams to a common goal. It’s important to have a point of view/opinion about design, and clients appreciate when you articulate it in ways they can understand.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
At Fleurish, our floral design starts with a love of beauty, people and wellness. We’re passionate about our clients and approach all projects as collaborations. We help people dream and create experiences through floral design. Client connection is vital to us at Fleurish. We believe that being a good match as a vendor partner and clients is critical, and we spend time listening and asking questions to get to know our clients and projects before we move forward. When we connect we can truly create our best work.
Fleurish [flur-ish, fluhr-]…it’s what we’re all about. Our mission is to help people share a thought, express an emotion or create a vision through flowers. Small or large, we deliver a personal experience that’s customized and beautiful.
We believe everyone can Fleurish with flowers!
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
My floral business was a side hustle and my passion project along side a corporate job for several years. I held assorted production/product development roles at apparel and furniture retail companies in The San Francisco Bay area for over 20 years. Little did I know how well the skills I learned in these roles would serve me as a floral designing entrepreneur!
In my corporate life I worked with designers and merchants sourcing products, travelling internationally, negotiated prices, developed and sourced fabrics as well as manage timelines, teams and logistics for a cross functional team. The last 6 years of my sourcing career was an exploration seeking more flexibility, autonomy and less travel. At my exit interview when I resigned a trusted HR leader (who is a dear friend) encouraged me to pursue my floral love. She clearly saw that I had a passion for my floral design business and believed that I could make a living following a creative pursuit.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I firmly believe that flowers heal and express emotion – it’s what nature does. Flowers are a language, and I’m the interpreter.. In my work I really listen to my clients to capture the emotion and essence of their relationship and/or event. My mission is to express the memory and emotion clients want to relay. It’s a love language of sorts. I feel honored to help people celebrate milestone events (wedding, birth, birthday, death), and nature/flowers help me do that. I endeavor to help people speak flowers and thru my mission, I work to honor the seasons, locale and everyone who touches the flowers along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fleurishca.com/
- Instagram: @FleurishCA
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/anne-rizoulis-2837b01
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/fleurish-ca-oakland?osq=fleurish+ca
Image Credits
Weston Table, Orange Turtle Photography, Someplace Images, Drew Altizer Photography, Abbey Jo Photography, Karen Obrist Photography, Gabriel Harber Photography, Anna Wu Photography