Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Meredith Bell Alvarez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Meredith thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I’ve always been creative. I wake up every day with the purpose of making the world a more creative place. Whether the medium is the spoken word, an intricately designed piece of paper, or a fragrant bouquet of mother nature’s splendor, I pride myself on being a storyteller. Every design is unique. Every design tells a story. And every design leaves the world a more creative and beautiful place.

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 the daughter of an engineer (my dad) and a mathematician (my mom), My first love was performance. Whether dancing, acting, or singing, I felt at home on stage and loved to convey the art of storytelling in front of any audience. My love of performance continued at the collegiate level and I attended Northwestern University where I majored in theatre. Upon graduating, I helped found a theatre ensemble in Chicago and over the next decade I performed in numerous productions throughout the city.

While at Northwestern, I met a man named David Alvarez and while I followed my acting passion he walked along-side me and supported my dreams. When we became engaged I decided to handle much of the wedding planning myself, and this included designing my own wedding invitations. From design to printing to production, I oversaw every aspect of my wedding paper, and the suite was so well received among friends and guests that I received inquiries for future design work.

So essentially our 2006 wedding marked the birth of Bell Papel, a graphic design company that creates custom branding, stationery, invitations, and announcements. For over 15 years, I’ve had the privilege of telling the stories of countless clients. In January of 2020, I decided to start Bell Flor, a subscription-focused, full-scale floral studio in San Antonio. Both businesses offer a customized, tailored, and one-of-a-kind product that tells a story.

When I’m s not running these two companies, you’ll likely find me supporting various San Antonio non-profits like the Blood and Tissue Center Foundation, The Public Theater of San Antonio, and the Rey Feo Scholarship Foundation. or spending time with the loves of my life – my husband David and our two boys, Josiah and Theodore.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Sharing my story and my journey (which never ends!) with others. We live in a world that heavily values measurable skills and quantitative data. Creativity is often overlooked or undervalued as a marketable skill. But for me, working in a creative field of my own making, every single day is a new adventure and no two days are ever the same. We collaborate, we play, we build beauty out of raw materials. It’s empowering to know that we can leave every day having created something new.

I love cultivating the spirit of creation, and I live for providing opportunities for other creative souls to share their talents and tell their stories. Every single day truly feels like a new story, and I am honored to tell each one.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

In January 2020, I decided to start Bell Flor, a subscription-focused, full-scale floral studio in San Antonio. With a tagline of “Effortlessly Beautiful Flowers”, subscription clients choose one of four sizes and one of three frequencies, and flowers appear on their doorsteps. And while subscriptions are a large part of the Bell Flor model, we are now able to take single orders as well. We’re not a typical retail florist (all arrangements are made to order to ensure their freshness and cannot be purchased on a walk-in basis), Bell Flor offers one-of-a-kind floral designs for all of life’s milestones including birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and memorials. Bell Flor has had the honor of being nominated by San Antonio Magazine as the Best Florist in both 2020 and 2021 and recently won the honor in 2022. And I still feel like we’re just getting started.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bellpapel.com and www.bell-flor.com
• Instagram: @bellpapel and @bell.flor.sa
• Facebook: @bellpapel and @bell.flor.sa

Image Credits
Under the Sun Photography Gillian Menzie Photography