We were lucky to catch up with Cassandra Solmonsen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cassandra, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Trigger Warning: Assault

Florals by Cassandra was a risk, most if not all businesses are. But Florals was special (I know all parents say that about their baby) it wasn’t a risk because it was a business or because it was a different direction than my degrees. Florals by Cassandra was a risk because it was the first thing in five years that I had done for myself that was not for my safety. You see, from 2016-2022 I was wrapped up in a court case against my rapist, a case that honestly wasn’t even mine. I was just a piece of evidence for the state to show a pattern of behavior and I had lost myself in that fight. Florals by Cassandra has helped bring me back to life and reconnect with the person I was before the assault.

What was supposed to be a first date turned into a years long nightmare. It wasn’t until I finally started to come up for air that I realized how every aspect of my life had been impacted by that night. I feel very fortunate that I was able to seek therapy during that time, and continue to to this day. That my friends and family believed me, and have supported me throughout this ordeal. It was actually one of my best friends that pointed out that flowers had always brought me joy and peace. When I found myself wondering what to do with all of the energy I was no longer focusing on the trial, or the case, or that night- she suggested I look into expanding my hobby into a small side venture. What neither of us knew was that Florals by Cassandra would grow so quickly.

The grocery store by my apartment used to sell $0.99 bouquets and I would buy them out during my lunch break and arrange them when I got home from work. I’d always enjoyed flowers. My grandmothers and my mom always had beautiful gardens that I would run around in, likely barefoot. So the plan was to start an Instagram page and try to sell a few arrangements to people in my neighborhood. At the time success for me looked like have a handful of steady orders each month. Apparently the universe had a different plan.

One of the first things I saw when I start that social media page was an advertisement for Bellevue Floral Co’s Mise en Fleur retreat. It looked like a dream. I told myself that maybe in a few years I would go and learn from experts in the field, again the universe had a different idea. Christina Yan very generously offered up a scholarship that year and I was the lucky recipient of. Just a few short months after launching my business I was driving through the windy roads of Sonoma, CA about to learn from not just Christina Yan (Bellevue Floral Co) but also Ace Berry (Ace in Full Bloom), Kristen Alpaugh (FLWR PSTL) and Conner Nesbit. Those three days changed my life forever and the trajectory of my business. I made life long friends, found my flower moms, and found confidence in my work. I still had so much to learn and still do even two years later. But that workshop helped heal a part of my soul that I didn’t realize was still bruised.

Florals by Cassandra was launched two years ago almost exactly (August 3, 2022). To this day I still work out of my small Seattle apartment, my friend’s attic a few blocks away (that she thinks is haunted), and my dad’s garage when I have larger weddings. I’ve been apart of more celebrations, weddings, parties, and fond memories than I can count. I’ve won awards for my installations in honor of Pride Month. And most importantly, I’ve found my voice again.

My work is a reflection of the PNW, of the forests and stunning nature that surrounds us. I teach workshops focusing on ‘the art of noticing’. Instructing students to take a step back and work with the flowers instead of trying to force them to bend to our will. I ask my students, and myself, to let the flowers breath, much like the flowers have helped me to breathe again. I work almost exclusively with locally grown blooms and greens, crafting pieces in thrifted vessels and reusable structural pieces. I want my work to look at home in the forests that surround me. I want it to be wild and feral, stunning and elegant. I want my work to be an extension of myself and the woman who has grown right along with it.

Florals by Cassandra is not just my business, it was how I found myself again. It’s one of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken, second only to going to the police. Florals by Cassandra has helped healed my soul and I cannot wait to see how the future holds for my business and myself.

Cassandra, 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 was grew up in gardens. My Gram has always had the most beautiful garden, full of roses, hydrangea, irises, rhododendrons, dahlias, zinnias, and so many more flowers, vegetables, and herbs. When I was little my mom gave me my own plot in the garden to grow herbs and flowers along side her vegetable garden. And to this day my Nana still picks strawberries and tomatoes from her garden for me when I come to visit. I wish I could say I inherited their green thumbs, I didn’t. But I did inherit their love of nature.

Between summers spent in the forest at archery tournaments, in my family’s backyard running through the ferns, or picking blackberries on the road to our home. I’ve been lucky enough to grow up in nature (probably barefoot) and surrounded by flowers, admiring their beauty and learning the stories that they can tell. It’s my family and the Pacific Northwest that have inspired my work. The forests here are where I feel most at home (or on a paddleboard in the middle of the Puget Sound). I’ve always wanted my pieces to feel at home in the forest- like a very obvious fairy trap.

I see the arrangements I make as fleeting pieces of art. The temporary nature adds to their beauty as they will never be able to be replicated. Each one is unique and beautiful in it’s own right. It’s one of the many reasons I adore working with nature.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

While I may have started Florals by Cassandra in 2022, my love for flowers and nature has been a lifelong affair.

I’ve spent countless hours noticing nature. The curve of a fern leaf, the way moss blankets the forest floor, mushrooms that have found homes on fallen trees, and wild flowers reaching up to the sun. My grandfather was a falconer and my dad is a hunter, so I was raised to notice, to spot a bird of prey camouflaged in the treetops, or a deer along the tree line. How the slightest change in color can make a difference. How to see the small details and the big picture all at once.

As a florist and an artist, I have the honor of working with the natural world. Each stem its own unique beauty. Creating arrangements is looking at the small details and the big picture all at once. Seeing how the curve of an anemone stem flows through a base of hellebore. Using the soft petals of sweet peas to juxtapose the bark on stems of spirea. My floral arrangements are an extension of myself and how I look at the world around me. I am able to take a lifetime of knowledge and use it to inform my art in a way I’ve never been able to in my 9-5.

The floral community is one of the nicest industries I’ve ever entered. Creatives don’t see competition because there isn’t any. Every single one of us has our own style, our own way to look at the world. We may start with the exact same ingredients but will always end up with different creations. I often have a bucket of flowers in my apartment and find myself arranging when I need to process emotions or even when I have writers block for my day job. When I started this adventure I was hoping to learn more about floral arrangements. What I didn’t expect is that I would learn more about myself in turn. Creating floral arrangements is like speaking a new but universal language. I’m beyond grateful to continue to learn something new everyday and be supported by some of the most caring and creative people on the planet.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

There’s not.

When people ask me about my goals for Florals by Cassandra I always respond with “I have no idea what’s happening most days and I’m just happy to be here.”

This business blew past the first goal I had for it in a few months and it has been growing ever since. I firmly believe that if I had laid out a business plan and created benchmarks for myself I wouldn’t be where I am today because I would have been trying to follow that exact path. Instead I took any opportunity that came my way and learned so much about the industry and what facets I liked and wanted to grow in to. No job was too small and even though some where probably too big for me to take on myself, I threw myself into them.

The last two years have been incredible on so many levels and my only goal for the next two years is to keep embracing opportunities and maybe get some more sleep.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.floralsbycassandra.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/florals.by.cassandra/

Image Credits

West Coast Media Service (Pride Meadows Mannequin at Pacific Place), Ammy Huynh (watercolor inspired bridal bouquet), Lilly Red Photography (green top with florals photos), Catherine Leanne Photography (marigold and sunglasses photo)