We recently connected with Carly Thurman and have shared our conversation below.

Carly, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Saying yes is the ultimate risk. In this business, everything you do is risky. It’s not finding organs to save lives but nonetheless it’s a high pressure, high stakes job that shuts wimpy behavior or personal needs down at the door. If you say yes to any of it..to another added client on a full roster, to something you’ve never done before and logistically have no ground to stand on, to large yet fragile installations you’ll need two Marvel Superheros to suspend for you but you don’t so you check your life insurance instead. Yes to throwing money at any situation to make it all work because it’s all on the line to get it exactly right every single time and it’s your meal ticket.

Saying yes to what we do when what we do is chock-full of variables and inconsistencies-you don’t have an option to try again another day, to take extra time to finesse, wait until the product you planned on to come in at a later date or in better condition. You do the job under all sorts of conditions that require strategic and tactful Macgyvering on the fly. It’s just what we do and is an adrenaline rush of messy imposter syndrome and angsty creative minds working equally as hard on both sides of our brain. I used to question what I was doing for a living 94 times a day because of the constant calamity of the industry but now I don’t even want to say no because this job is anything but boring.

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

Thurman & Fig creates artisanal florals for life’s most authentic moments with about 95% of our clients being couples getting married. We hone in on capturing what the client wants even when they can’t put it into words and work hard at producing something even better than they imagined. I think it is important that we really listen to what our client wants and not let it get lost in translation when working alongside other vendors that are in the process with us to ensure every aspect we create is curated for them.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Before Thurman & Fig, I was in roles that had a higher volume of staff so managing a team is one area I can confidently say I was trained on. Keeping your team happy is single handedly the most important job you have other than essentially creating and selling a product people want. Be good to your team and your business will run itself.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I get asked this question a lot when others starting out are worried about how to launch their business if they don’t have capital. I started with a personal debit card and a basement studio. No backers, no capital, no loans, no safety net. It can be done. Don’t let funding scare you as long as you have a way to pay your existing bills while you are growing your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thurmanandfig.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thurmanandfig/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thurmanandfig
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carly-thurman-49ab335b/

Image Credits
Cathryn Fink