We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lizbeth Domínguez Rivera. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lizbeth below.

Lizbeth, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Thank you for having me here again, it’s always a pleasure.

I believe that the key qualities to success are having a strong work ethic and an open mind to being wrong and to welcome different ideas. Working alongside other successful designers has helped me learn from the very best so that when it comes to my business and how I decide to run things, I can apply the little things I learned along the way and that I will continue learning in the future. I’ve been lucky to create great relationships along the way with other talented people, which allows me to grow and learn every day. I know that anything I can learn from other florists is just as valuable and worth trying. You never know when another method makes more sense than yours until you’re open to trying it. Having experienced this industry in many levels of the “chain” allows me to connect with many people and be empathetic since we’ve been through similar things, which ultimately helps with my personal work ethic.

I feel successful when people see my effort. If people see my effort, then a good relationship grows by default. When your clients trust you, you produce your best work. And as an artist, that’s the biggest win.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Of course! My name is Lizbeth, I’m 24 years old and I’m an event florist. I’ve been in the industry since I was 19, but I’ve been a floral designer since I was 21. It all started when I worked as a salesperson at a couple of floral wholesalers in Atlanta, that’s how I learned everything about flowers and when I fell in love with them. Floral design was something I rarely paid attention to (if any) before working around it. I never thought I was going to be a florist before. In fact, I went to school for Psychology, so not very related.

I started freelancing full-time for other designers on their events, mostly weddings, and that’s when I got to put into practice everything I knew in theory. All my expertise is thanks to my years working for other fellow event florists.

I started executing florals for my own events late last year, so I’m super excited to see how far I’ve come, and how it always comes full circle. My brand now is going toward the corporate event world, I’ve designed florals for intimate dinners and even a red-carpet movie screening, I simply couldn’t be happier about that. I enjoy the creativity and artistic freedom I have when working for a corporate client. As a florist, you always know the type of design that can enhance the entire room, and working with other artists and producers makes this task even easier as my opinion is always valued.

I feel the proudest when I see my vision come to life, the feeling I have after my team and I have created something beautiful is one that doesn’t get old. All we often need or have is an idea and a color story, and it’s up to us to bring that vision to life. When we have trust, we know we will produce the perfect design, and I cannot be more fortunate to know that I have that with me.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Word of mouth has been my most successful tool to build new relationships. I’m good at what I do, so I’ve been lucky to work with people who appreciate my work and refer me to other folks that might need the same. There’s no better recommendation than one that comes from a person you trust. I believe the most important relationships are the ones you build with your client. The production teams and planners are the ones that will come back to you if they liked the way you interpreted their vision. We’re all out here representing each other’s brands, so building a strong network that cares for each other’s reputation is great. I’m sure there are many other strategies out there to build clientele and also an audience, which at this point is hard to know which one is more important than the other. I’m still relatively new to the industry, so I’m learning as I go and I’m welcome to any more knowledge that comes my way.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

The fact that I’ve experienced many aspects of this industry is what has been my most beneficial tool. Having that experience under my belt is always helpful not only to myself but also to others. Like I’ve said before, I’ve been wearing many different shoes within the same industry for the past 5 years, so I can easily put them back on and change my vision as needed so that I can figure out the best way for everyone involved. Because of that reason, my work is appreciated enough not only by Georgia designers but also by other florists around the country. I’ve been blessed to be invited to fly out to different states in the US to be part of really amazing projects. As much as I love designing for my own events, freelancing for others is something I love and will continue to do for as long as I can so that I can keep being part of fascinating projects like I have been thus far.

One of the things I like about my job the most is that it always comes full circle. The same people that I freelance for, are the ones that now have freelanced for me. The floral industry is so wide, and yet is very small at the same time. I’m fortunate to be a part of a community that takes this to the next level and allows you to grow more intimate relationships through your work. We’re all just a network that supports each other when we can, and I love that.

I’m excited to see the new relationships I will grow in the future and how far I can reach through my work and my flowers. I will be sharing every step of the way, so don’t miss it.

Contact Info:

• Website: drlflwrs.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drl.flwrs/

Image Credits
1. Photo by @kurtischute
2. Best Man by Peacock Red Carpet Screening
3. Amazon Influencers Dinner
4. Rocnation Dinner
5. Installation for @missmillys photo by @glorious.moments
6. Arrangement for @flowermagazine. Design for @missmillys
7. Baby Shower Installation