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

Jesse, appreciate you joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

I LOVE owning my own business, I have worked for myself for the past 17 years and I truly cannot imagine it another way. Do I think about working for someone else and getting a regular paycheck? YES, ALL OF THE TIME. Being a small business owner, especially the floral design trade and retail can be very daunting since there is so much unknown. One week could be amazing and the next I am asking myself WTH am I doing?! BUT making my own schedule, creating my own designs, making all of the decisions is worth it for the day to day struggles.

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

One of my first jobs as a teenager was at the local florist in my hometown. I just knew at a young age that floral design was something I felt very passionate about. I left it for years but somehow it always came back to me.

Backbone was founded on the idea of designing fresh and dried florals that are not like your typical florist.
We design for any size of events or weddings. From larger scaled corporate events to our al carte weddings, we love creating something unique that stands out.
We love being a part of our community in Mission Hills and always give back when we can, whether its donating a portion of our sales to different youth charities or schools, we also love hosting events for local non profits and merging events with other small businesses.

We often get asked where the name “Backbone” comes from. That would be my daughter Billie! She’s what held me together through some tough times and she continues to do so.

We moved to 910 Fort Stockton Dr. this past February. You can find our fresh grab and go flower bouquets, dried flower bar , vintage home goods and clothing, greeting cards, gifts, local art, vases, and more. We offer local San Diego delivery and US shipping for our dried florals.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Well I started my Backbone account on Instgram in 2019. I was selling vintage goods and designing florals for events out of my garage. I had just left a partnership where we did mostly wedding and events for 3 years and it took just about that to hit the 3k mark for following… So starting from scratch was tough. To be truthful I used to care more about that but now with so many social media platforms and algorhythym changes it just doesn’t feel the same and feels super overwhelming at times. Unless you love to sing and dance! :)
I have considered hiring someone but also struggle with the idea. I think if I had any advice it would be to BE PATIENT, create good simple content that draws people in, and know that a large following DOES NOT mean success.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Well I opened my doors for the first time in Jan 2020 only to have to shut them down just one month later due to covid. I continued to pay rent/bills while having no business whats so ever. It was rough. I didn’t qualify for much funding because they all went off of previous numbers, which I couldn’t show as a brand new business. It was devastating. But with the emotional support of my friends and family I was able to push through. Maybe a drained bank account but here I am still climbing and trying to grow!!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.backboneco.com
• Instagram: @backbonefloral
• Facebook: backbone floral
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/backbone-floral-san-diego

Image Credits
Maleia Bisera, Megan Guerrero, Alrlene Ibarra, Indigo West ,Ashely Ricci