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

Hi Jody, thanks for joining us today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

My hero is my mother. As a single mother, she has taught me too much to list here. But some of the most important lessons have been to never give up, work hard and don’t take crap from anyone. She was a tree climber, construction worker and now a retired truck driver.
I was a planned pregnancy for her and her then partner, Carole. I watched my mother persevere through decades of homophobia with her head held high no matter how weary she was. In demonstrating that kind of intestinal fortitude time and time again, she demonstrated to me how to be the powerful woman I am today.
There is so much more to her story, but the gist of it is, that woman is definitely my hero.

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

I am a 46 year old woman that has lived many lives in this one lifetime. When I find a skill interesting and fulfilling, I do my best to master it. After many endeavors, my latest is this wonderful flower shop I stumbled upon. For most of my life I have held multiple jobs simultaneously. I worked for Penny, the previous owner, part time for about 5 years. She decided to retire and I offered to buy it from her. Unbeknownst to me, she had turned down other interested buyers. When I asked if she would let me buy it, she responded with “that would be an answer to a prayer because you have integrity.” She had faith in me.Her father started this business in the 1930’s! For her to trust me, well I can’t quite explain the pride that welled up in me. I bought this company right before COVID. That was the hardest couple of years,but I still managed to pay off the business in the first year and a half!

I acquired an amazing team! First it was Leigh Webb, Jane Ellington and myself. These women have become family. I could have never done any of this without them.

Today we have 6 employees and service 5-9 weddings/events every weekend, during season. We are a wedding and event florist, not a daily florist. We filled the floral needs of 111 weddings/events last year. It is mind blowing the amount of work that goes into our events. Thanks to Greg Damron, Penny’s husband, we have a direct link to the farms in Equador, Holland and Columbia, making our flowers the freshest and the most cost effective.

We pride ourselves in building your dream wedding, not ours. We are one of the last wedding florists that does not have a minimum order requirement. We understand that our clients have a budget, and we provide beautiful florals for all economic classes. With the hard work of all of my employees, the loyalty and satisfaction of our clients and God’s grace, we have grown exponentially every year.

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

Acquiring this business months before COVID hit was by far our biggest challenge. Immediately we had to pivot. While we were still able to provide services for a few weddings, we obviously had to postpone most of them for at least a year. This made me focus on finding other means of revenue. Thankfully, a few local country clubs and churches liked my idea of sending arrangements home with their clients to brighten up the lockdown! In conjunction with some government assistance, we were able to sustain until we were fully operational again.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

First, our best source of new clients comes from the experience of our previous brides. By working hard to provide exactly what THEY envisioned, our clientele grows mostly by word of mouth. Secondly, our customer base has expanded through the development of relationships with local wedding venues and country clubs.

Contact Info:

• Website: Pinkpetuniadesigns.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/pinkpetuniadesigns?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PinkPetuniaDesigns?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Image Credits
I took these photos. I have tons of photos taken by actual professionals on our Instagram.