We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erin Champion. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erin below.

Erin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I think most people would read that question when posed to a flower farmer and assume that my answer would be about flowers, farming, or even making beautiful physical spaces. Sure, those things are obviously important to me but those are not the things I want most associated with me and my legacy.

I hope my legacy will be about real, authentic human connection and a true, loving community. Flower farming and beautiful physical spaces are simply the vehicles I use to create those things.

Growing up, my life goal was not to become a flower farmer. In fact, flower farming found me and I am so thankful it did. Flowers have a way of connecting people that is unlike anything else. We [Posie Fields) like to say “flowers say what words can’t, we want everyone to say flowers” Flowers allow you to both celebrate a wedding and mourn the death of a loved one. Flowers can, and often do, instantly change a mood or even the atmosphere in a room.

And of course, the right arrangement of either fresh or dried flowers can completely alter the aesthetic of a room or space.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

5-years ago, I was hired to be the Operations and Events Manager for Martin’s Garden at Coleman Farms, a small, urban farm in Roswell, GA. Martin’s Garden is primarily a vegetable farm so one day, I asked the owners if I could have a couple of rows in the field to try my hand at flowers. They said yes and then I quickly realized that didn’t know how to grow flowers.

I literally Googled “how to grow flowers”. That was the first time I had ever heard the term “cut-flowers”. That’s how little I knew about flower farming. From my continued search, I found Floret, a flower farm in Washington state who offers a comprehensive online class on flower farming. In this class, they teach you how to go from seed to market. It covers everything from where to buy the seeds, to how to market and sell your flowers at various markets.

Today, we sell fresh, locally grown, and harvested flowers in both retail and wholesale markets. more than 80% of the flowers sold in the US are imported from another country. So, we are proud to be part of the “Slower Flower Movement” which means we grow and sell what is in season. Additionally, it means that we get to be part of the effort to bring flower farming and floriculture back to the US.

Additionally, we sell dried flowers and dried floral products. Dried arrangements not only require zero maintenance but they are also timeless. They can be used as holiday decor or can be used year-round. They also make unforgettable gifts.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

We focus a lot of our attention on social media, specifically Instagram. Not only is it a great place to showcase our flowers and events but it is a two-way communication that allows our customers to tag us in their own posts as they display our fresh or dried bouquets in their homes or business.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

We officially launched Posie Fields at the beginning of 2020, which was also early in the Coronavirus pandemic. Having done the Alpharetta Farmer’s Market under Martin’s Garden, our plan was to use that as our primary source of income for Posie Fields. However, with the uncertainties caused by Covid, we had to figure out another way to generate sales. That is when we came up with the “Porch Posie”, a fresh flower subscription model.

Our Porch Posie members can enjoy a 4, 8, or 12-week flower subscription. During their subscription, we will deliver a fresh bouquet of flowers to their front porch. The first delivery includes our exclusive “Porch Posie Bucket”. For subsequent deliveries, the member will place the bucket on their front porch with water in it. Our delivery driver will simply place the bouquet in the bucket and snap and text the member a photo of the delivered bouquet. This created a contactless delivery model which was necessary during the pandemic.

We continue that service today to approximately 80 members.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.posiefields.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/posie_fields/
• Facebook: @posiefieldsflowers

Image Credits
Credit: Posie Fields