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

Rochelle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Who is your hero and why? What lessons have you learned from them and how have they influenced your journey?

I am very grateful to have had multiple heroes throughout different stages of my life. My parents for the way they have pushed me to be my best, my husband for being my biggest supporter/rock, my sister & sister in-law for lifting me up through tough times, and for the friends that have brought so much brightness into my life. However, my biggest hero is definitely my Mawmaw (Grandma). Growing up, I was very fortunate to live a few homes down from my grandparents and spend a lot of time with them. I developed a special bond with each of them and they taught me the importance of hard work, kindness, and understanding/respecting others. My Mawmaw was a mother to two very different sons. One who loved Science and then my dad, who was the typical chill beach bum. When her granddaughters were born, she was finally able to pour her love of art, dance, and creativity into us. I remember endless days of crafts, dance parties to ABBA in the upstairs bonus room, and painting wildflower pictures in the kitchen. She also loved the art of flowers and gardening. She would light up when gifted an orchid, but would be even more excited with the small flower (they were actually weeds from the garden) bouquet that my tiny self would create for her. I remember those little bouquets staying in her kitchen, perched up like they were the most beautiful creations she’d ever seen. That is when I started to see how much happiness flowers could bring into one’s life.
Through my life’s journey, my Mawmaw has always believed in me and helped me believe in myself with the unconditional love she gave. She has encouraged my creativity through life and I am so thankful for her support. I’m honored that now I get to bring more happiness to her and to other’s lives by creating actual bouquets/centerpieces.

Rochelle, 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?

I am a Florida native with ten years of experience in the event industry. I grew up knowing I wanted to be in a creative industry, but originally thought I’d end up doing interior design. I love pairing eclectic colors, textures, and different elements to bring a space together. In college, I ended up going to UCF Rosen College and majoring in Event Management. I had the idea that I would work in the wedding industry as a planner and then do fun interior projects on the side. I ended up interning at a large, corporate style florist that specialized in everyday floral and events. I jumped on the opportunity to start working in their wedding department as soon as a position opened and that’s when it all began. As time went by, I started to develop a love and passion for the art of flowers. I also quickly realized how I could still bring in the styling elements by pairing the floral with different colored linens for the tables, natural pieces like stone to add texture, different style vases, and even adding in fruit for a splash of fun. I was in awe of how many talented/creative vendors came together on an event day and truly transformed a space. About three and a half years ago, I really wanted to be more intentional with my clients and have that one on one experience for them. I really enjoyed bringing unique, artistic looks for couple’s special days and seeing how much happiness it brought to them. In 2019, I really leaned on God, took a leap of Faith, and opened Gather and Grace Designs. I really trusted that this was what I was supposed to do with my life and I knew that I wanted to help create dream looks for people.

At Gather and Grace Designs, we are more of a “boutique” style florist and styling company, which means I take a limited amount of weddings because I like to really focus on a couple’s overall design. I love working with bold, passionate clients who aren’t afraid to step outside of the norm and I find excitement in pushing new limits and designing custom looks for them. This can include adding one of our special structures into the ceremony, candles/styling items into the reception space, and even outsourcing items. We carry a variety of rental items in our inventory that can help bring the overall vision to life.

During these last few years, I’m so grateful for the growth and to have the most amazing team to work beside me on these beautiful events. The G&G team is full of passionate, hard working ladies that enjoy creating lush designs on-site and working with every detail to make the day happen. We have a lot of fun working beside each other, designing the floral, and we truly believe in kindness/team work. We know that a wedding/event wouldn’t be able to happen without all the amazing vendors coming together and we enjoy jumping in wherever we can assist.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Back in 2019, I knew the first thing I had to do when starting my business was to get my name out into the industry. Luckily, I did a lot of networking at my old job and had developed some amazing relationships with vendors. This helped when I started to plan the (3) different styled shoots that would help showcase my work. I knew I wanted to go all out for these, so I set aside a big chunk of my starting funds for this marketing budget. The idea of a styled shoot is to create a “mock wedding” with a couple, ceremony set-up, special vendors to showcase their work, and a reception table set-up. Each of these shoots showcased my take and design style on different wedding trends (one garden, one boho, and one eclectic style). After collaborating with some amazing friends and talented vendors, the three styled shoots got picked up by some of the more popular wedding publications. This really helped my following grow fast.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Definitely COVID! The pandemic hit during my first year of business. All of my Spring, Summer, and early Fall weddings ended up cancelling/postponing and I ended up celebrating my one year anniversary during quarantine. I wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen next and really didn’t know if my small business was going to make it through. Luckily God has a plan and I trusted that in time things would start to look up. Thankfully couples were still wanting to get married, even if that meant eloping or doing a micro wedding instead. I had to be creative with how I would be able to still do these weddings and started to really grow my rental inventory during this time. With the shortage in fresh floral, I started to work with dried blooms and practicing different styles of design. This way I was still able to create some arrangements, but then fully rely on my rentals to help bring in the rest of the design.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gatherandgracedesigns.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gatherandgracedesigns/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GatherandGraceDesigns/

Image Credits
Erica Sofia Photography Sydney Marie Photography Alex Michele Photos Faith and Cody Photo