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

Sam, appreciate you joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I would honestly start my (current) creative career at the exact same time! I think those previous professional experiences made me a better business owner and ultimately helped me get to where I am today. I can’t imagine trying to run a business right out of school with minimal experience in the professional world. I learned workplace etiquette, how to write an email, how to receive client feedback, how to deal with difficult people, and so much more. As miserable as it was during those years in corporate, I absolutely needed those experiences to properly run the business I have today.

I think being a lifelong artist and professional digital designer with a BFA in graphic design gave me the design-eye I needed to pick up floral design somewhat quickly. It’s a different medium but design principles and color theory are transferable. Don’t get me wrong, I did plenty of bad work at the beginning. But I took online education courses and practiced a ton. Beyond just practicing and creating, I was able to look at my designs critically and work to improve them day after day. I think having that creative experience and design training absolutely gave me a leg up while I transitioned into working with this new medium.

Sam, 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 worked as a digital designer for about 7 years at 3 different companies. I worked with several not-so-great managers among other circumstances that made the experiences subpar. I was a pretty good visual designer but I wasn’t passionate about the work I was doing.

Deep down, I knew I didn’t want to be tethered to a desk for the rest of my career. In high school, I considered being a chef but I was dissuaded by a well-meaning family member that the job came with “bad hours.” At some point in my corporate career, I thought about getting into the event world. It seemed like it could combine several of my interests and get me out from behind a desk, at least partially.

I didn’t really know how to get my foot in the door though. My now-husband pushed me to make a tiny investment to test the waters. I took two workshops at a local flower shop. I liked it enough so I enrolled in a 3-month night course at an old-school institution in Boston. It was as traditional as it gets and full of flower foam. But it was enough exposure to catch the bug. This was in January 2020.

Later that month, my contract job ended in an extremely toxic work environment. The pandemic hit in full force not long after. I sporadically interviewed for similar digital design jobs but nothing was panning out. Finally in the summer, I took it as a sign. Maybe I shouldn’t go back to that old life. Maybe this was a sign to take a leap in another direction. That was the moment Moonflower was born.

I decided to start selling monthly subscription bouquets and hosted outdoor workshops since events weren’t really happening. In 2021, I started meeting other vendors through Instagram and started building my portfolio through styled shoots. I flowered a handful of real weddings that year including my own.

I broke $100k in sales in the 2022 season in New England. Then my husband and I decided to test out West Coast living. I didn’t want fear to keep us from moving or doing something we wanted. So I took all that momentum and threw it out the window. During the 2023 season, I rebuilt the business from the ground up in Seattle, Washington. We just completed our best season yet, completing over 20 weddings and events in the greater Seattle area.

Despite working many weekends, early mornings, and occasionally late nights–I can’t imagine going back to any kind of office job. This path was always meant for me, it just took a little longer to get there.

Now I mainly focus on wedding florals and create for a handful of other events during the year as well. I love mixing classic wedding flowers like roses with lots of seasonal, locally-grown flowers. The Pacific Northwest flower farms are incredible and the product I have access to every week is unmatched.

My previous training and experience taught me to be intentional with all my design decisions. I’ve carried that over into my floral work. Every couple’s design concept is completely unique and I’m taking lots of factors into consideration such as seasonality, overall vibe, the venue, their style and lots more. I always say even if I do a million white weddings, they will all be unique. I’m not just repurposing the same flowers and designs over and over. It’s truly a custom design concept for every couple I work with. I do a ton of research when working on the flower selection for each event. I obsess over the details before I even order the flowers from the market. Actually making the designs in real life is only half the battle.

I also want to know all the little details about the rest of the design. What color are the linens? Is it a plated dinner or family style? How big are the tables? Etc. Even if I make a great centerpiece, I still want it to make sense with other design elements in the space. It needs to all work together aesthetically and the florals are just one piece of that.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

After having my business in New England for only 2 years and just starting to build momentum, my husband and I decided to move across the country. Mostly just because. I didn’t want fear to keep us from doing something that we wanted. There are a lot of perks to the job, but one downfall is that the business is very location based.

Six months before the move, I started marketing the business in Seattle. I joined Facebook groups, I updated my website location and info. I started reaching out to planners and other vendors in the Seattle area. I booked maybe one or two weddings in that timeframe.

I invested a ton of money and time into styled shoots to get my work into local venues and collaborate with other vendors. I consistently posted on social media several times a week. I blogged and posted about four times a month. I joined vendor organizations like WIPA and Emerald Hour to connect with other wedding vendors. I did a handful of weddings in Seattle and a couple back on the East Coast in 2023. It was a true exercise in patience and self-trust. At times, I felt like it would never happen. That’s where the magic is though–when you keep showing up even though the results aren’t visible just yet. I kept myself busy with consistent needle-moving activities and eventually I saw it pay off in the 2024 season. I created floral designs for over 20 weddings and events. Many of those clients booked because of vendor referrals and the reputation I had built.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I have a love/hate relationship with social media. It’s undoubtedly important to have a presence but it’s not the only way to market your business. It’s just one piece of the puzzle.

I’m not an expert by any means. Social media has just been yet another exercise in patience. Consistency is definitely important and growth happens during periods where I show up consistently. I’ve taken courses with coaches to help with strategy and how to speak more specifically to my ideal clients.

The most important thing I’ve learned is to not overthink it. I see so many people saying “I stared at my phone for 2 hours but I couldn’t craft the perfect caption. So I didn’t post.” This is a classic case of advocating for imperfect action rather than doing nothing at all. If you’re posting a few times a week and have something perform badly, who cares?! No one is looking at you as much as you think. In a few weeks, that post will be buried and no one will be the wiser.

Social media is also a place where the energy you put in is directly correlated to what you will get in return. I think for a long time, I was putting the bare minimum into it. We’ve all seen people ranting about the algorithm constantly changing and how they can’t keep up. Post anyways. Keep engaging with other people on the platform. That’s the whole point. Comment about someone’s beautiful designs. Chat with people in the DMs. I’ve met SO many people through Instagram and many of those conversations have turned into real life friendships and working partnerships.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.moonflower.design/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moonflowerdesignco/

Image Credits

Tetiana Photography
Amanda Pool Photography
Miranda Florer
Kayla Sprint
Shaunae Teske