We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Le and Valerie Rudd a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ashley and Valerie, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Ashley and Valerie have been friends since their freshman year of high school (which was 14 years ago, but we don’t want to think about how old we’re getting) A few years down the road, they both ended up getting jobs working for a floral department in a grocery store, and were lucky enough to have Valerie’s mom as their boss and mentor. She taught us everything we know today. This is where they both fell in love with being florists! Fast forward to 2019, they were driving around running errands and Ashley started talking about a dream she had that night. She dreamt that we had a floral shop called Le & Bee. For context of the name, Ashley’s last name is Le, and for as long as we can remember she has called Valerie: Vallerbee which was eventually shortened to just Bee. As soon as that name was brought up we knew we had to try to make our dreams of having our own floral business come true. It was a breakthrough moment for both of us. We love flowers and making people happy with what we create, but hated the retail/grocery store setting that we started in. We also knew that other florists charge insane amounts of money, specifically for weddings. So our goal was to be a company that allows couples to get their dream wedding flowers without breaking the bank. And so far it’s working wonders. We have had multiple brides that start crying tears of joy when we give them their quotes, because they never thought they would be able to afford the flowers they wanted, but we made it happen. The moment that makes it all worth it is always seeing the couple’s reaction when we deliver their flowers, that’s our favorite part every time!
Ashley and Valerie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
We are both Colorado Natives, who love the Avalanche. When we’re not making beautiful flowers, it’s safe to bet that we’re watching hockey! We both grew up as very crafty and artistic kids, and have always had an eye for creating. Valerie started learning about flowers at a very young age from her mom. She would go to “Take your kid to work day” with her mom and started learning how to make boutonnières and corsages at age 7. Years later, Ashley ended up getting a job working for Valerie’s mom as well. Learning all of our techniques and skills from the same teacher really helps our business now, because we tend to attack certain tasks with the same mindset and have the same ideas on how to problem solve. The thing that sets us apart from other florists, is we want to be affordable and get as close to your dream flowers as possible, within your budget. A lot of florists have an “order minimum”, meaning, no matter what you actually need the least you can spend is $3,000. In the case of elopements, there is no reason that a couple should HAVE to pay that much just for a bridal bouquet and boutonnière. We value being open and honest with our clients, so when they come to us saying “the last florist quoted me ‘this amount’ for this bouquet” we will gladly tell them that there is no reason it should be that much, and we can do it for a much more budget friendly price. We want to change the wedding flower industry for the better, even if we’re the only ones doing it.
We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.
Ashley and Valerie met their freshman year of high school and it was definitely best friends forever at first sight! Ashley had just transferred into a public school, and didn’t know anyone yet. She was really nervous but hopeful to make new friends. The first class on her first day she walked in and sat down not sure what to expect and a voice from behind her said “hi! I’m Valerie, I like your cardigan!” And when she turned around, Valerie was wearing the same cardigan as her, just in purple instead of grey. They talked and realized they had a ton in common and soon formed a bond that would become inseparable. From that day on, as they say, the rest is history!
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
We started off just doing weddings for friends and family, which gave us the content we needed to start posting on Instagram and Facebook to try to market our business to a bigger audience. As we continued growing, we learned that the best networking happens at the actual weddings. We have met so many other industry professionals that have become good friends and great connections to more clients. From planners like Allison from A Bride’s Best Mate and Liv from Let there Bee Love, to bakers, and stationary companies. We are so grateful for all of the amazing connections we’ve made, and all of the clients they have brought to us! Another big factor is always word of mouth! Our everyday interactions bring us more business opportunities than we could have ever imagined!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/le_bee_llc?igshid=MWI4MTIyMDE=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lebeeevents?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: Email: lebeeevents@gmail.com
Image Credits
Carole Rudd Photography Lauren Finch Photography Le & Bee LLC Sarah Kemper Photo Ashlee Crowden Photo