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

Olga, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I am very happy to be the owner of my small local flower business! I quite often recall my past and realize that I had to go the way to my own business that I did. Before becoming a floral designer and opening my own flower business, I worked as the CEO of a retail company in my native Ukraine. It was very cool, interesting, prestigious, and very difficult physically and emotionally. I was a hired manager and managed a large team and a chain of stores. I made a lot of decisions, took part in many processes, and managed other people’s resources. This is a huge responsibility. Then, after moving to America, I had to work as a manager of a flower shop, and it was an invaluable experience for me: a new country, a new field of activity, new processes, and a new language. Without this experience, I would make a lot of mistakes on my way to my own floral shop. Now, analyzing my experience and comparing it with the experience of a business owner and the main floral designer, I can say that, of course, having your own business is much more difficult, because you are primarily responsible for yourself and, personally, I am not a very loyal boss to me as an employee. Being self-employed means working 24/7. Even if it’s a day off, you’re always mentally working, planning, and analyzing. Working for yourself means constantly worrying about your image, customer satisfaction, and all processes that are involved. Considering that It is one woman-operated business, I am grateful for my experience, which now helps me navigate all processes, from bookkeeping to managing social networks. Do I feel better where I am now? Definitely! This is the best thing that has happened to me in my life and what I appreciate the most is the people – my buyers and recipients of my flowers. Their emotions and feelings with which they order and receive my flowers are priceless. I couldn’t feel the same way being a cog in a big company.

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 started my floristry journey in 2017, when I attended my first floristry workshop in the city of Dnipro, Ukraine. Then I fell in love with this art. I understood that it is not just putting flowers in one bunch, but that it is really an art that has its own principles and elements, its own laws, and a lot of absolutely unique processes. I studied in Dnipro, then in Kyiv for two years, and then we moved to California. I understood that I would create my floral design studio here, but first I needed to gain experience working with flowers in a new country. For a year, I worked in a flower shop as a store manager and floral designer. I liked this work, I learned a lot about the flower business, customers, and traditions here. But after some time I felt cramped in this environment and I realized that I am ready to create my own company and do what I like the most – create my own floral designs. Working in the store gave me a lot of experience and understanding of what I want and what I will not bring to my business. For example, cooperation with intercontinental flower delivery companies. This absolutely soulless activity did not attract me at all, and rather depressed me: the production of hundreds of identical bouquets according to someone’s recipe did not entail any creativity at all. Therefore, the main idea of ​​my business is the uniqueness of floral creations, because floral art, like any art, is a fluid thing. It is like a fashion, like a language, like a science that constantly changes, develops, and is influenced by socio-political, economic, and cultural events. So how can you create the same bouquets for years? Every flower and every plant has its season. Each season has its own color, its own mood, its own vibe. Even if you order the same product on my website, you get a different bouquet every time. Because even roses of the same type and color in the same pack are different. Flowers and branches dictate to the designer how to create a masterpiece. My mood, my inspiration from the latest floristic seminar, or the show of a world-class florist can force me to use a new technique, a new way to make it when creating a regular bouquet and it will be a unique, one-of-a-kind bouquet, created just for this person, just in honor of their special event, with my thoughts about them. I unwittingly become the keeper of many people’s stories of life: happy and sad, cheerful and funny, stories of pride and respect, friendship and love. All this inspires me to create not just a bouquet, but a piece of floral art that is a personal message from one to another. So, if the customers look for a special gift, for something that they never received before, they are in the right place at Dragonfly Florsitic. I offer flower bouquets and arrangements for any life occasion, I also offer wedding florals and event flower decorations. Corporate flowers, floral subscriptions, and floral workshops are a part of what I do for my clients.
I am proud of the flower community I’ve created.
Remember, once you get flowers from Dragonfly Floristic you won’t look for more!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

So the floral design is a very difficult area for social media to grow. It is really hard to navigate through all these algorithms and AI development. The main lesson I learned regarding managing my social media is frankness. You have to be on social media. Now is the time when people appreciate you for who you are and what you do. There is no more place for strategies and plans you just have to be you do what you like sincerely and share your passion with the audience.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

I sell my products on my own website www.dragonflyfloristic.com. I made it myself on a base of one of the build-yourself platforms.
I sell a very specific product and deliver only locally, so in my case, it does not make sense to make a store on large marketing platforms

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dragonflyfloristic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dragonfly_floristic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DragonflyFloristic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ukrfloristusa
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dragonfly-floristic-cupertino-2