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

Hi Maria, thanks for joining us today. Often the greatest growth and the biggest wins come right after a defeat. Other times the failure serves as a lesson that’s helpful later in your journey. We’d appreciate if you could open up about a time you’ve failed.

In 2022 I was focusing on doing makeup for quinceañeras, the moms the aunts etc… through out the year business started to slow down for me. When this happened it took a toll on me because it was something I truly enjoyed doing. 2022 was a challenging year not only in my professional life but also in my personal life. It has been one of the hardest year yet. As I started 2023 I questioned myself on what I wanted to do with my life. I felt completely lost in life and started comparing my life to those around me. Personally, I had never made any arrangements of flowers or bouquets. Well a month before Mother’s Day I started thinking that it would be a great idea to sell something that holiday. I decided to take orders for bouquets and it was such a successful sale. On my first Mother’s Day sale I have around 20 orders!! I remember almost crying of frustration because I genuinely did not know how to wrap a bouquet or how to work to get a good shape. I look back to those pictures and honestly, for my first big sale I did amazing! I’m so proud of myself for taking initiative with this new dream of mine! I’ve learned to not give up on my goals and to stay active on my business page.

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?

I’m a 23 year old, who has always dreamed of having her own business. This year 2023 I decided to start doing floral bouquets for any kind of occasion. I help my clients bring to life any idea that they may have. I do each bouquet with lots of love, as I know how special it is to receive flowers from a loved one! My clients know that they can count on me on any special occasion even on those last minute orders! Sometimes I stay up all night working on orders to have them ready in the morning ready to be picked up or delivered.

I am truly proud of what I’ve made of my business so far. Huge shoutout to all of my clients that support my business I’m extremely grateful with everyone that supports me with a like, comment, share and/or a purchase.

It was never in my plans to become a florist but I’m so grateful I did! This 2023 has been the happiest year of my life as I feel I have found what I truly love to do and enjoy 150%!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

In order to start this crazy dream of mine I had to invest in the moment an amount of $500 which at the moment I didn’t have. My main source of support for businesses was my mother. She let me borrow the money to start doing floral bouquets. I asked her if she believed and me and with no questions asked she gave me the support and helped me buy every single thing I needed to start.

How did you build your audience on social media?

KEEP POSTING. I remember asking my fellow florist friend Belkis from Bels.blooms what she recommended to do to grow my business. The only think she told me was to keep posting everywhere! You will not grow if you don’t show your work. I also did giveaways and I plan on doing many more! Focus on always posting on TikTok, Facebook, Facebook market, Instagram anywhere you want post promote your business!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.instagram.com/mgafloral?igshid=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Instagram: MGAFLORAL
• Facebook: MGAFLORAL