Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelly Lee. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Kelly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of being an entrepreneur or creative is the kind of crazy stuff that happens from time to time. It could be anything from a disgruntled client attacking an employee or waking up to find out a celebrity gave you a shoutout on TikTok – the sudden, unexpected hits (both positive and negative) make the profession both exhilarating and exhausting. Can you share one of your craziest stories?
This past fall, I had a unique opportunity to help Liza from Fox and Fern with a high-end Scottish themed birthday party, where she incorporated vintage taxidermy into the floral designs. The colors and textures Liza chose were just gorgeous, and I had so much fun making centerpieces and these lush swags for all the sconces, but the standout part of the experience for me was tackling the dilemma of how to get the mounted deer head attached to the stone wall above the mantel. Liza wanted him to look like he was peering through all these beautiful, elaborate mantel arrangements she had designed, but we weren’t allowed to put a screw into the wall to hang him. The venue maintenance man had a great idea to wrap bungee cords around the deer’s neck and attach him to cinder blocks that we placed on the mantle. So this wonderful man was sitting on the mantle messing with cinder blocks, while I had one foot on an A-frame ladder and one on my step ladder, basically hugging that deer around the neck, while we fiddled and finagled and tried different things to get his weight balanced. We finally got him in place, and Liza tied a tartan bow around his neck to hide the bungee cords, and he looked amazing! It was such a beautiful, lavish event! But scaling ladders and wrangling that deer head into place was the highlight for me. So much fun!
Kelly, 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?
Sure! I think at my core, I’m a nerd who loves to learn and loves to try things. I was a stay-home-mom for over a decade, and that is such a multi-faceted job, and I loved it! A few years ago I decided to try my hand at construction. My family often gets together to do home improvement projects, and I had done a lot of work on my home, and I just wanted to learn more about building, and especially restoration of older homes. I loved so much about construction, but I did find it challenging being the only woman on the team. I ended up pivoting to woodworking, which was so much fun! But again, I was the only woman on my team. I started assisting Stephanie Lang of Lang Floral Designs on the side, as a creative outlet where I could spend more time with other women. It turned out I had a knack for floral design, and I really loved the buzz and excitement of helping people get ready for a joyful occasion. Last year I started freelancing for a few other florists as well, while still doing a little woodworking from my home, and after taking a class on entrepreneurship this past fall, I decided to launch my own floral business.
I’ve been designing for about three years now, but I didn’t have experience with things like pricing or meeting with brides or business finance. I decided to hire my first floral boss, Stephanie, to be my floral business coach, and that has really accelerated my learning curve. I still make mistakes, which I think is a super important part of learning, but I can benefit from her knowledge and experience and jump into my new role with more confidence, knowing that I can run things by her when I have a question. It’s also just fun having a mentor. We meet regularly and tackle new subjects every time. My younger brother helped me set up a website, and Stephanie started referring some of her smaller budget weddings to me, and I’ve just jumped right in.
My focus will be on weddings and other large events, and my weakness may turn out to be my brand! I’m not super tech savvy, but I love meeting in person, and I love corresponding about the details. It turns out a lot of potential clients are happy to meet for coffee to consult about their wedding florals. They like having someone who is interested in them and gets excited about their big day. It’s just nice to connect face to face and look at each other’s Pinterest boards on our phones and smile and talk and listen. I love trying to catch their vision and filling in any gaps of uncertainty with options from my experience. I feel like I’m a good listener, and because I have worked with various talented florists, my experience is broad. I’m happy to try things that are a little out of the ordinary, for the bride or groom who wants something unique, and I feel confident in my ability to research, experiment, and pull off unique installations. My natural style tends to be a little wild and organic, but my tastes in colors and styles are eclectic. Neutral colors feel calming for me, while jewel tones feel energizing. I like to ask how they want to feel on their wedding day. Do they want to feel peaceful? Joyful? That helps me catch their vibe and support them in their goals.
Mostly, I want to bring joy. I want to model joyful living. I hope that the beautiful things I create can bring joy to families on these momentous days. And I hope as my business grows that my team and I can be our beautiful selves in ways that bring joy as we work together to serve as creatives.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Yes! I do a lot of reading and researching. I keep a picture book–I love Michelle, Uplifting Words from the Forever First Lady– by my bed. It is a simple little book with pictures of Michelle Obama out doing her thing, with inspiring quotes on each page. Michelle does a lot of reframing how you look at a situation. Reframing something hard that happened, so that you can see the advantage in it. For example, “You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it’s important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages.” If I feel stuck or upset, I often will pick up that book and read a few pages until I find something that speaks to my situation and gives me an alternative point of view.
This winter, I read Failing Up, by Leslie Odom, Jr., who played Aaron Burr in the original cast of Hamilton. He talks about taking risks, continuous learning, and using failures to give direction and experience. As a recovering perfectionist, I love the idea of reframing failures as a normal part of the learning process. A normal part of maturation, growth, and upward movement. I also always want to gain insight into what it’s like to be the minority in a given setting. So I loved hearing Leslie share about some of his unique experiences as a black man in theater. I want to be able to look around in my life and see a variety of people around me. I feel like listening to other’s perspectives and experiences helps set me up for that.
I also love following Passionflower Sue on Instagram. She is a high end florist and floral educator who loves experimenting and trying unique things. I had asked a local florist I admire to recommend floral design training opportunities, and she recommended Passionflower Sue. When Black Friday rolled around, Sue had some of her tutorials listed at half off, so I invested! I bought a couple that I felt like would help me with things that would commonly come up, like bouquets and flowers for the hair. And I bought a couple that I felt like would give me a unique skill to offer, like living jewelry and floral tattoos. Sue’s tutorials are worth the investment! I was so excited about the living jewelry one, that I bought two beautiful succulent plants to begin using. However, I have learned that succulents are not easy to upkeep! Both of my plants are barely hanging on to life! So I definitely have things to learn about that! But hey, I did learn things, didn’t I?
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I definitely wanted my home to be the hub for my creative work. I am hypoglycemic, so I need to eat frequently. I value self care, and I noticed when I was working full time outside of the home, that it was challenging to prioritize doctor and dental visits for myself and my son. From a work perspective, it felt like I was being naughty (missing work) for doing things that I believe are wonderful things. I wanted a schedule where I could prioritize taking care of myself and my family. I also believe that as I cultivate healthy practices for myself, that will have a positive effect on others I encounter, including people who work for me, and the people I serve.
Right now, I just need to get started and get things rolling. But down the road, I definitely want to build a diverse team. Diversity can make working together a challenge in some ways, but it has been repeatedly proven to build strong companies. And there is always in my heart a passion for restoring old homes in urban settings, in such a way that they remain affordable to the current communities. Restoration was definitely part of my motivation for getting into construction. I love old buildings, old hardware, old woodwork. But so many times “restoring” a neighborhood results in pushing out the original community. That’s a serious problem. I don’t have an answer, and I know that seems unrelated to florals, but this idea is in my heart, so it’s something I want to keep in mind.
Beyond that, living and modeling a beautiful, joyful life is my mission. “More is caught than taught.” I learned to love reading, because I watched my mom stay up late reading a book she couldn’t put down. I learned to love flowers and gardening, because I watched my grandfather and mom enjoy caring for roses and other beauties. It looked like fun, and I wanted to do it too. It is fun! I hope as I do the things I love, it will influence others to find beauty and joy in doing things that they love.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gildedgardendesigns.com
- Instagram: @thegildedgardenchatt
- Other: Business email: info@gildedgardendesigns.com Will probably add Facebook down the road! More to come.
Image Credits
Kori Elizabeth Photography, Lang Floral Designs, Fox and Fern Botanical Styling, and Wild Seed Floral Co., Sarah Larae Photography