We recently connected with Morgan Baldwin and have shared our conversation below.

Morgan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

It was a pretty crazy and fast experience when I started my business and got my first client. I was actually in an idea accelerator program for a different business idea; I wanted to start a clothing store.. However, I was feeling super discouraged and not excited about it anymore. The next morning after one of the sessions, I was trying to decide if I wanted to stay in the program / if it was worth my mental health not being super great. I wanted to do something that made me excited, and the idea of putting on build-your-own bouquet events for sororities came to me. Initially, the idea was to potentially raise money to start my clothing store. The idea immediately excited me and I started laying out all the costs and road blocks I may face with doing this. By that afternoon, I had a lot figured out: wholesaler options, costs, what I would price it, and I even had talked to one of my entrepreneurship professors about the idea. That night, I created a one page advertisement and sent it to all the sorority presidents at UGA. I was so curious if I was going to get any responses. The next afternoon, I looked down at my phone to someone reaching out and ready to book me. I remember screaming. I was so excited. I called my dad immediately and teared up a little bit. This feeling got me out of the discouraged mental space I was in about my future. By the next week, I had multiple inquiries and two sororities booked, and it was the start of my event, flower shop!

Morgan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Morgan Baldwin, and I am a recent graduate from the University of Georgia. I have always wanted to start my own business and was in the entrepreneurship program at UGA. I am the owner of Marigo Flowers which I started as a junior in college (spring of 2021) and put on build-your-own bouquet events for different sororities. Shortly after I launched, I started getting inquiries to provide pre-made arrangements for different events and corporations. I began adding pre-made arrangement options to the services I provide, and I expanded my network by doing multiple pop-ups outside of Epiphany (a boutique in Athens), the Graduate Hotel, at a UGA fashion magazine release party, etc.

I began to receive inquiries for wedding services. After doing my first wedding and really enjoying the experience, I began accepting wedding orders for the following spring (2022). I kept saying yes to different opportunities that were coming my way, and by the time I graduated in May of 2022, I was able to pursue this as my full-time job. Being able to devote all my time and effort in my company has allowed me to really focus on growth and expanding my skill set. I have developed my own style in floral design which I describe as luxe-garden with whimsical touches. I have loved getting to utilize my love for color and textures in my job, and I am really grateful that I get to call this work.

My faith is a huge part of why I do what I do; I believe flowers are a great reminder of the intentionality of God in our lives. If He takes care of such a small flower then how much more caring He must be for each of us. I hope this reminder is reflected in my work with each client. I want them to feel heard and understood, and I hope this attention to detail is seen in each piece of my work.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I read the book “Love What You Do” by Dana Spinola when I was a sophomore in College. In the book she really emphasized not being scared to ask questions especially from people we admire. She talks about how we shouldn’t be hesitant to ask people to get coffee, learn from them, and rack their brain. If you want to be a clothing business owner, find one that you admire and ask them how they got there, what challenges they faced, etc. This can apply to any position and job and makes the path to get there a lot less daunting.

This completely changed my perception of asking for help. People aren’t as mean or scary as what we build up in our heads; most times, people want to share their experiences and help the next people walking in their footsteps. This really helped me learn a lot about business and the steps they took that led them to be successful.

Meeting with all these different people taught me that there isn’t one rule book for life that you have to follow and if you don’t you are failing or wrong. Each person is different and our experiences are different, and I began to embrace this instead of using it as comparison. Starting my business in college and deciding to pursue it full-time right after graduation probably seems like the crazy and risky thing to do, but just because it isn’t the typical path doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

For my very first build-your-own bouquet event, I bought the flowers through an online wholesaler and for some reason my card information wasn’t going through their system. I kept having to re-try but would receive an email hours after I placed the order that it failed. Finally, after about six tries and calling the company for help multiple times, it went through. Little did I know until delivery day, one of my failed attempts actually worked, and I received double the amount of flowers and greenery than I needed. I received about 1,500 extra flowers and had no idea what I was going to do with them / how I was going to make back that money. I tried not to get stressed out about it, and I honestly found it funnier than it was stressful. I knew I had to come up with a plan of action because with this extra inventory I wasn’t going to make a dollar on my first event which is not an ideal way to start a business.

I ended up calling multiple locations in Athens asking if I could set up a last minute pop-up shop to try to sell them. I kept hearing “no”, and I decided I would just have to set up shop in the front yard of my tiny college house. I advertised on every social media platform, created facebook groups, sent it in sorority group chats and had my friends share the information. The day of the pop-up came, and I was so curious if anyone would come. The event ended up being a huge success! I was overwhelmed with support from the community, and I ended up making all the money back. It ended up turning into a great way to introduce my company to the world, and it is really funny to look back on.

Contact Info:

• Website: marigoflowers.com
• Instagram: marigoflowers
• Facebook: Marigo Flowers

Image Credits
Captured Media Co. for the one of myself