We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lindsay Ann Stockhecke a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lindsay Ann, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
The industry we service is one and is many, which both lends itself to an unconventional approach as well as challenges lots of established norms. When I left my 9-5 gig in 2017 to pursue Deliciously Ordinary full time it was a mere glimmer of what it is today. It was a nudge, and a leap, and a free fall into a something I knew I was meant to fulfill.
I was styling photo shoots and events on a very small scale, sans flowers, and after unexpectedly losing my sister I had a visceral disdain for doing work that didn’t feed my soul. Several months into the leap I added fresh flowers to the docket with zero experience in regards to running a business or arranging flowers. Shortly after that I moved into a storefront in the downtown district of our quaint town of 7,000.
Being a transplant to the area and having no interest in running a traditional storefront this challenged everything the floral industry was and had been locally. We didn’t keep regular hours, didn’t work with faux/silk florals and initially had minimal expertise in anything florals. I was learning as I went without regard for duplicating or regurgitating a business model that had ever been before. I was here to figure things out on the grandest scale and working out of the box was a tough sell to the community. Over the years the uncertainty about what we were doing and how started to wane, and where it didn’t wane we foraged on with the knowing that the ability to remain out of the box was the whole point. The business is a container for life to be lived, challenges and failures to be had, and joy to be perceived.
Lindsay Ann, 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?
Deliciously Ordinary is the name, the vessel, for the life we have chosen to live as working creatives. The business today is a floral and freelance design studio specializing in an out of the box experience.
As a transplant to Southern Illinois from Central California, I have spent the last 13 years effortfully finding all there is to love about the region, while trying on a variety of ventures with the biz. The hidden treasures, the less-known gems, the history and the new visionaries, these are the parts and pockets I sought out and seek out today.
With the area being more rural it carries a much lower cost of living providing the perfect opportunity to explore a creative business without the costly overhead that may accompany a similar endeavor in a more metropolitan area. On the flip side, there is the inevitable circling of wagons in regards to outsiders. An ingrained belief that you ‘don’t fix what ain’t broken’. This has proven to present a variety of challenges and opportunities that have allowed Deliciously Ordinary to become what it is today. We have the perfect balance of skeptics and supporters to keep things interesting.
On the floral side of the business we provide fresh florals for weddings and events in addition to weekly deliveries. I love to create each floral design as a one of a kind piece that is delightful and whimsical for the client. When working with florals (and throughout all design) I find myself seeking the unexpected, shying away from anything overtly symmetrical or traditional, believing in knowing the rules so you can break them.
In regards to freelance, we work with a wide array of clients to enhance their customer/client/event experience through a variety of creative applications. Some examples of this include immersive art installations, social media content, branding + marketing, writing copy and creative consulting. This is where our love for collaborating takes center stage. Throughout the evolution of Deliciously Ordinary community over competition has rang supreme and with our freelance work we approach life and interactions with a keen eye for mutually beneficial community and creative enhancements. What is your history, your magic, and how do we make it pop rock in everyones mouths! We extract the dazzle you don’t know you have and harness your blind spot.
Sometimes we meet and we see the exact path forward, and perhaps it’s a path we ain’t walking. We find the map, the cliff notes map with all the bells and whistles. We source the yummy snacks and accouterments from the best of the best foodies. We research the absolute ‘must have’ shoes that’ll keep your dogs from barking and we will set you down that path feeling good, with some tried and true friends to help along the way.
We are weaving webs, and the best part? We don’t know how vast and far reaching that web may be, and we think that’s pretty cool. We have just gotten started.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
We have woven a pivot mentality into the fabric of our business, only ever setting malleable goals to allow for the unexpected and intuitive leaps of faith. We have found that when in flow we tend to give all of ourselves to what we are doing and when that season feels complete we embrace the pivot without defeat (or perhaps a little defeat when it’s warranted, with a large dose of lessons learned).
My husband, Tim, came on board with Deliciously Ordinary full time two years ago this coming April. At that time we had our rented space but had yet to open it up to regular, foot traffic hours. The timing felt ripe and we felt motivated and excited to start and explore this next chapter and officially open up our doors.
With minimal foot traffic and dreams calling us in other spaces, the storefront wasn’t making sense. We heard crickets and we listened to them. Just eight months after opening to foot traffic we hastily, and with full guttural knowing decided to close the storefront and move (back) to our home studio. Although we had chatted about the concept briefly before the actual decision was a lightning bolt with no plan of action. We were both scared and uncertain.
Would moving the shop home be the right choice, the best choice? Were we killing our business, making a mistake? Would we be able to continue at the same level of flow and productivity? Would people still patron us, believe in us, support us, feel we were relevant and credible?
December was full of doubt and unease and very real grief. With Covid running through most of our family, Tim spent weeks cleaning out the shop and the garage getting everything organized and moved. It is a gift I will never forget as I am deeply aware of how much more painful the move would have been had I been more involved (seriously, how did I land such a rockstar husband and partner?!).
December 31st we officially christened our new Deliciously Ordinary hub with a New Years Eve wedding for the ages. Once I created at home, on our own land, surrounded by our own flow and energy there was an overwhelming sense of peace and certainty. There was a release and a renewal that was both unexpected and wildly refreshing. We were home all doubt melted.
How’d you meet your business partner?
Tim and I met 12 years ago when we were both working as Drug and Alcohol counselors for a juvenile methamphetamine program. I had only moved to the area a little over a year earlier and knew very few people or things about the area. He introduced me to the beauty that is the Shawnee National Forest, a magical place evoking feelings of Fern Gully or Lord of the Rings. Having received his undergrad in Art History he also helped nurture my mostly unknown-to-me interest and ability in the world of making art. Over the years we have found the ability to create in tandem, for I have entrusted him with my tether.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.deliciouslyordinaryevents.com
- Instagram: deliciouslyordinary
- Facebook: deliciouslyordinary
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3ALindsay++Ann+Stockhecke&s=relevancerank&text=Lindsay++Ann+Stockhecke&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
Image Credits
Nina Wilson Photography Savanna Burgrabe Photography My Sun My Moon Photography Alaina Christine Photography