We recently connected with Kenzie Nixon and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kenzie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

I’ve always been creative and a very hands on person. I love making things. When I went to college, I decided to go into nursing school and became a registered nurse. A year into nursing, I felt like I needed a creative outlet. I didn’t know what I wanted to do exactly, but I started daydreaming about owning my own business someday. Around the time of me wanting to find a creative outlet, my husband gifted me a yellow beach cruiser bike for Valentine’s Day. As soon as I saw it, I said “I’m going to put a basket on this and sell flowers out of it!” I began creating my vision board and researching how to start a business. I threw around business name ideas but nothing felt right. One day my husband just casually said “you should name your business The Flower Peddler.” I thought it was perfection. I loved the double meaning behind peddler- selling and peddling on a bike. And that is how The Flower Peddler was created! After a summer of selling on my bike, I discovered an old 1973 mail truck on Craigslist. It was perfect for a by the stem flower bar. I purchased the truck at the beginning of 2019 and got to work creating what is now the Flower Peddler truck!

Kenzie, 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?

As I mentioned in the background of creating my business name, a year into my nursing career I needing something else to also do to fulfill my creative side. After deciding I wanted to start a flower business, I began my journey to become a self taught florist through reading, workshops, watching videos, etc. If it was flower related, I was invested! The flower truck is set up as a build it yourself flower bar. The flowers are by the stem, and you get the option to build your own bouquet! I try to stock the truck with locally grown florals as often as I can. There are times that my assistance is requested to build a bouquet and it’s usually a team effort. And every now and then someone will give me full creative liberty to build any style of bouquet. I love seeing what other people create, but I also love creating for them as well! I especially enjoy working together to make something beautiful in their own style.
I also have dried everlasting bouquets on the truck. I love fresh flower bouquets, but often times I find myself more excited of the everlasting bouquets that I make.
On occasion I will get requests for flower crowns, and that is when I’m most proud of what I create!

Have you ever had to pivot?

I began the flower truck journey in New Braunfels, TX in 2019. I launched on Mother’s Day that year and had a huge success. I began to grow my business and reputation as well as regular clientele. And then 2020 happened, the year we all had to pivot! As a precaution earlier in 2020 I took a pause on in person truck events and began to offer contactless weekly bouquet deliveries. But I became more and more busy with my nursing job, that the flower business had to take a pause. It was definitely a time of learning and patience, but eventually I was able to be back out with the truck when it was best and safe for everyone. My husband and I then decided to make a move in 2021 from New Braunfels to Austin. I was so nervous to move my business after building relationships with my clients. I felt like I was taking a huge step back and felt like I was starting over, but I’ve had such an amazing response from the Austin community and have built even more connections and friendships.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

As many can imagine, owning a vintage vehicle comes with a lot of mechanical issues. Vintage vehicles require a lot of upkeep, and they can be unpredictable at times! With the flower truck being an old postal truck, it has been a headache to find parts for it since it’s not a common vehicle. There have been times where the truck will just stop running. It will run great one day, then something is wrong the next time it’s driven. I have found an amazing mechanic in Austin that has done major work on the truck so luckily I don’t deal with many issues as I did when I first purchased it! But as you can imagine, lots of tears have been shed. I feel like I’ve poured everything I have into the truck, so when I experience truck troubles it can be defeating. There have been times where I’ve wanted to give up and call it a loss, but I push through that and remind myself how far my business has come and that it will get fixed and be full of pretty flowers again!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theflowerpeddlertruck.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowerpeddlertruck/

Image Credits
Ashley Medrano Mack Eveland