We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lindsey Zovko a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lindsey, appreciate you joining us today. So, what do you think about family businesses? Would you want your children or other family members to one day join your business?
As a mom, business owner, and wife to a business owner, I can say that having family businesses is a huge blessing in that we ultimately get to make our own schedules and decide how our days are spent. That being said, because we’re passionate about our businesses, it can sometimes feel like we work 24 hour days, so finding balance can be tough.
Of course the reality is that true balance will most likely never be achieved, and some days business will be prioritized over family time. However, we’ve managed to find our happy place by keeping certain pillars in place: dinner together every evening, family vacations where work talk isn’t allowed, and bringing our daughters to work with us so they can feel that they’re a part of our dreams.
Though we’d love to think that one day they may want to be a part of the family businesses, the ultimate goal is to show our girls that it’s possible to be present as a parent while pursing passions and building careers that you love.
Lindsey, 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?
I’m Lindsey Zovko, the owner, flower grower and floral designer behind the brand Liliharp Flowers. All of my designs are comprised of flowers and greenery grown on and foraged from the 3 acres of flower fields I spend my days in. Seasonality is central to what I do, and I’m proud to offer a sustainable approach to floristry that provides a unique experience for clients while also supporting pollinators and the environment.
My work is often described as whimsical and perfectly imperfect, which is how I’d describe flowers as they exist in nature – and that’s exactly where I draw all of my inspiration from.
Besides offering custom event design, I also offer weekly bouquet subscriptions, flower delivery, and an a la carte event shop that allows clients to purchase the essentials for weddings and events without needing to meet the minimums that come with a custom design approach. As a former wedding photographer, I often saw the struggle that couples felt when they couldn’t invest in a custom floral design but also didn’t have the skillset to create floral designs themselves. So, I wanted to offer this online event shop that allowed those with a smaller budget to be able to have professionally designed pieces while avoiding the stress that can often come from doing floral design themselves.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Spreading happiness through flowers and doing my part to save pollinators by using a sustainable and seasonal floral design approach are the pillars of my mission. Knowing that the flowers I grow and design with are providing beauty, respite, and joy to others while feeding pollinators and supporting a healthy ecosystem is a great feeling, and a longterm goal is to show others how to do the same.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Starting a 3 acre flower farm from scratch, with only about a year and a half worth of growing experience under my belt, proved to be one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced, both physically and mentally. The land had been sitting vacant for years and had never been grown on, so the poor soil produced short flowers – if any seeds sprouted at all. Then, just as it seemed like the flowers were improving, an extreme drought came that summer. Which brought about the starving deer and woodland creatures desperately breaking down barriers to eat whatever had managed to grow in the sub par conditions. Every morning it felt like I awoke to new wreckage in the fields and feelings of hopelessness in my gut. I now joke that my tears were the only water the plants were getting that year.
While all of this was going on, I was also needing to fulfill client orders and create event designs that had been booked the previous year. So, needless to say, it was definitely a season of testing, as the temptation to order flowers from a traditional wholesaler was strong. How much easier it would have been to place a bulk flower order online and patiently wait for it to arrive in the mail! However, I knew that people were hiring me because of the look that only local flowers can produce, and drawing inspiration from my time spent in the flower fields was how my creative process worked. Plus, creating an eco conscious, seasonal business model with a low carbon footprint was at the core of my why. I didn’t want to just use buzz words like “garden inspired” and “local” to look good on paper. I wanted to truly embody that, and I refused to give up on the vision.
So, though that year almost broke me, keeping the dream alive in my mind pushed me to be gritty, flexible, and strong. And now, finishing up my third season at the space, I can honestly say it was worth all the pain and frustration. The flower fields are thriving, I create for customers and clients who fully embrace seasonal design, and this upcoming year I’m excited to provide an educational leg to the business that helps people find joy from growing flowers in their backyards – and help them embrace the challenges that may come along the way. That year also helped me to form relationships with other local growers who I can order flowers from if there are gaps in my fields, and these women have also become incredible mentors who I can call for advice or to commiserate with when the growing gets tough.
As they say, it’s the trying times that make a story interesting. and looking back I can honestly say I’m grateful for that season to be a chapter in mine.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.liliharpflowers.com
- Instagram: @liliharpflowers
Image Credits
Eilish Bailey Photography Lindsey Zovko