We recently connected with Lindsey White and have shared our conversation below.
Lindsey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?
I think inflation has touched every industry. However, I can only speak on the floral industry from my experience.
Clients usually book me out a year or so in advance. It used to be much easier to gauge what pricing would be when their event came around. Now, things are all over the place.
Since the pandemic, the pricing of flowers, floral supplies, hired labor etc, increases constantly and makes it hard to protect your profit margin.
As an owner of a floral design studio, I’m still learning to adapt to the ever changing pricing. Clients may be in sticker shock but I find that if you explain and educate them on what is going on, they understand. They want the best product and if you are up front about everything they usually make a little room in their budget.
I’ve been doing event florals for 9 years now, primarily weddings. There is a sort of attitude in some circles that the florist has it easy or that we’re expected to give stuff away for free.
“Can we just have a few blooms for the photographer for a flat lay?” . These can easily be $20-$35 worth of flowers. When you do 20 weddings a year that really adds up. Same with cake flowers.
When building my quotes I’ve started accounting for these things.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m Lindsey White. I’m a floral designer specializing in events and production flowers. I got started in 2015 when I was preparing for my own wedding. I thought, “hey! This is fun, I wanna give it a try”. I slowly started doing wedding after wedding and almost 9 years later here I am.
I love colorful palettes, funky textures and out of the box thinking.
I’ve come to really love floral installs. Figuring out how to build something out has become a favorite challenge of mine. It’s all so ugly underneath but the outcome always ends up amazing. I did a really amazing piano install for John Legend that was build entirely out of buckets covered in chickenwire. With flowers on top, you could never tell!
I’m most proud of Cassie’s flower moment in Euphoria. It was so special to be apart of.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
There’s a common misconception that you need a lot of money to start a business. Wrong- you need customers to start a business. Start with what you have.
I’ve gotten a lot of help over the years from money books/podcasts such as Profit First, Dave Ramsey, and Ramit Sethi on staying within your means and building your business without going into debt.
Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?
In all honestly, this is the slowest my business has been in 9 years. Usually my calendar for the following year is full by now. It’s crickets. I’m scared. A little panicked. I have a baby on the way so it’s really amplified those fears.
I have to stay positive., change my thinking.
Instead of- “Oh god what am I going to do?!” I try: “thank goodness I’ve been so good about saving and have time to welcome my baby without having to scramble business stuff around”
I know the more positive I am the more I attract what I need. It’s worked in the past. I just have to keep one foot in front of the other.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lindswhitestudiola.com/
- Instagram: @lindseywhitestudiola
- Yelp: https://yelp.to/m6X95nx68T
Image Credits
E Noelle Photo and Design So Cal Standard Miriam Brummel Ashley Randall Photography