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

Nancy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Being from a family of gardeners and conservationists, who founded Callaway Gardens, I was raised with a deep appreciation for our native environment. Growing up, many conversations centered around flowers brought in from the garden, or the trees during the change of seasons. This love of noticing and admiring stays with me still, and naturally translates into floral design.

I took a floral design class that helped me land my first florist job. In the class I learned the “right way” to make boutonnieres and wire stems and process flowers, which was luckily enough to get hired. But then you work for different florists and learn all of the other ways to do these things and eventually you figure out what suits you best. Like with most creative jobs, as a florist you really have to learn by doing. The more work I do, the more I get to try out new ideas, the better I get at designing! And the more people you work with, the more you learn. Which is why the community is so amazing! One of my favorite things about this job is that there are always opportunities to freelance for other florists. I think of it as a great way to keep growing my skillset and share ideas. I work by myself most of the time, but I learn so much when I’m working with other designers at all different skill levels. I’ve had to take a break freelancing while my baby is at home with me, but I look forward to getting back into it some day. And in the meantime I have other freelancers come work with me!

Looking back, I probably wouldn’t have started out looking for traditional flower shop jobs, but instead reached out to wedding florists for freelance work from the start. They typically do bigger jobs that include large scale installations, and you learn so much, so fast. The hours are crazy, and the work is not as consistent, but it is way more fun! Every job is totally different, and freelancing gives you opportunities to work on weddings that you might not book yourself.

Nancy, 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?

Floristry is a beautiful mixture of two things that I’ve always loved: creating art and observing nature. I love creating moments for people to stop and notice the beauty of flowers. That’s always in the back of my head when making an arrangement, trying to create a moment in the design to make you stop and admire. That’s why seasonality is a big focus of my work. Using blooms that you can only get a certain time of year makes an arrangement especially memorable and fun to look at. I try to nudge all of my clients’ in the direction of seasonality. In my experience, this leads to unique events and happy clients!

I’m very proud of the fact that I’ve gotten to a place where my work attracts clients that want me to create something creative and seasonal. When I get an inquiry from someone who found me through photos of my work, that’s a huge compliment. Getting to bring someone’s vision of their wedding, one of the most special days of their lives, to fruition is such an honor. And being entrusted with that task because of my previous work is something I’m very proud of.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’m in the process of pivoting right now. I have a one year old that is at home with me all day every day, so running a business on top of that presents some challenges. I certainly couldn’t do it without some very dependable grandparents and a supportive spouse, so I feel really blessed to have them. I’m making it work by taking on fewer weddings(for now) and depending on family for help. It has been key to schedule times to clean and prep way in advance so when design days come around I am completely free to focus on the flowers. Same goes for planning and writing proposals—I just have to stay on top of my schedule. It hasn’t been easy, and I’ve definitely been in my studio a lot less this year. I’m determined to be present both in my business and as a mom, and I’m learning how to balance both aspects of my life.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

The greatest bosses I’ve worked for have had really positive attitudes and made a point of having fun while working together. Making sure there is music on, everyone is fed, has some personal space, and a positive headspace to create makes a huge difference! We all probably know what it feels like to be under appreciated at work, so I want all of my freelancers to know how much I appreciate them. I really need them! I literally could not pull off most weddings without a few freelancers to help. I have to trust them to make design decisions, and I want them to be in a good mood and having fun while doing so.
How can you expect someone to make something beautiful with flowers if they are in a negative headspace? I’m a firm believer that a shared positivity is reflected in the designs we create.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mossandclay.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_mossandclay_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mossandclayflowers

Image Credits

Bala pham
Brittany Sturdivant
Kristen Knox
Ariel Cameron
Zach barron