Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Esther Shokair. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Esther , thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

My passion to create things with florals drove me to spend hours online to research techniques from various florists. However, not having a lot of money to start, I looked to YouTube to learn whatever I could from various florists around the around. I honestly, wouldn’t change how I learned things. Because through trial and error, I gained experience. The one thing I wish I would have done more was to put myself out there to freelance for free for bigger floral designers just to learn more to help speed up my learning process. The biggest skill that is essential to our line of work is people skills. You can be an amazing artist but not knowing how to manage people or effectively communicate with difficult clients can turn your business away. I feel that many of my creative friends and colleagues get fatigued quickly in our industry having to deal with difficult clients and even other vendors who don’t have an understanding of what we do. I am constantly managing my team along with communicating with my clients and other vendors. Having People skills allows you to communicate effectively so that your event goes smoothly on both ends.

Esther , 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?

Hi! I’m Esther from Wallflower Inspiration Floral Designs. I started my business 9 years ago when I found out I was pregnant with my first born. Doing florals like most, started out as a hobby then quickly morphed into a growing business out of necessity to work while being at home as a mother. Starting a new business in an industry that I wasn’t completely familiar with while navigating motherhood had lots of challenges on its own. However, I always believe when you are passionate about your craft, product and the people you will find ways to persevere to make dreams happen. Often times, the issue that we face especially post covid when costs are at an all time high, is how to make the most of every dollar spent. In all my consultations and walk through and meetings, I walk the clients through their day and we take notes and prioritize what is important to them. As much as I am a dreamer, I’m also a realist and understand that not everyone has endless expendable money to spend on florals for their wedding. However, I help to see that in certain areas we can go big and others we can scale down. By doing so, it helps the clients see that I am mindful of their budget while desiring to make their dream day happen. The thing that I am most proud of in my work isn’t actually the product that I create, but the relationships that I have created and built over the years. From growers, to industry colleagues to past clients that have turned to friends, I am so blessed to have met such incredible, creative, thoughtful, intentional people over the years. It takes a village to create a beautiful event.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is collaborating and learning from others. It’s the most humbling and incredible experience that can only push me to be better at my craft.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

We live in a world that thrives on fast fashion on cheap costs. That concept hurts small business owners and artists who are trying to create something that takes time and unique resources that tends to be expensive that helps set apart our work. I wish that society can respect the value in what we bring into the world and to every event. Flowers for example are something that most people do not entirely value for its cost especially for a big special event. The time it takes to create an arrangement to the overhead that business owners have to maintain to the labor cost and transportation costs all adds up with the experience we put into our craft is wrapped up into the value of an arrangement that many find difficult to understand.

Contact Info:

• Website: wallflowerinspiration.com
• Instagram: wallflower_inspiration

Image Credits
cred: @breeandstephen + @nataliebrayphoto