We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shannon Brown a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shannon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

As I started Fiore D’Amore Florist, I focused on the education that I would need as a floral designer. There is so much work behind the scenes from sourcing flowers, learning the care for hundreds of different types of flowers, keeping the flowers fresh from prep and storage. That education process took over 6 months and is still ongoing daily. After I felt comfortable processing flowers, I quickly fell in love with high-end trees and silk flowers. I started sourcing from all over the world to find quality manufacturers. This took a while, as I wanted to create a relationship with someone that could incorporate my vision. Soon I ordered my first two 8ft white cherry blossom trees. These trees brought me into the world of wedding and event design.

I quickly learned that if I incorporate high end silk flowers and trees, fresh florals for the bouquet and tablescapes, you get a one-of-a-kind, gorgeous design. I believe this has brought something different in the industry standard. Most people hear silk and think of your grandmother’s plastic flowers on the dining room table. Silk flowers have come a long way. Most people say, “That is real correct?” and I smile and shake my head no. High end silks in the industry are called Real Touch. They even feel real. We have grown our stock to include silk flowers walls, silk heart for engagements, 10ft silk arches, 8ft silk trees and flowers runners. We incorporate these in almost every design we do, while including fresh flowers.

Not only does this give a high-end look, but it is affordable. We understand here in South Florida that clients want to stick to a budget. Most are shocked on how much you can save when you incorporate both silk and fresh flowers.

We have grown to love our trees so much, we are going bigger for the year 2025. Our first 13ft White Cherry Blossom Tree, with a 15ft tree canopy, will be delivered in the beginning of 2025. We will continue to grow and expand our stock to keep up with the demand from our clients. We are excited and honored to be a part of the beautiful world of floral and event design.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have a very interesting background. I think I look back now and say, this is where I have always belonged. I started my career at NASA and remained there for 9 years. I was laid off when the Space Shuttle retired. I thought, what am I going to do now? I really wanted to do something I loved. One of my greatest interests is fashion. After much research on schools, I moved from Central Florida to Fort Lauderdale to attend the Art Institute of Design. I graduated with a degree in Fashion Design. After graduating I had another thought of, what am I going to do now? After meeting the love of my life and planning my own wedding, I fell in love with the whole design process. I immediately told my husband, this is something I want to do.

Becoming a floral designer is very similar to fashion design. Both use color, lines, aesthetic and overall design appearance. Even using the color wheel became very important in my studies for becoming a florist. So I look back now and say, I was always meant to be here and absolutely love it.

I think another thing that helped me in life was how I was raised. I was raised in a family who all owned businesses. I worked in my grandmother hair salon, sweeping floors and answering phones. At 14, I started to work in my uncle’s glass business and even learned to tint windows. I was taught very young that you can achieve anything through hard work. Something my grandfather always said to me was there will always be someone willing to work harder. That sticks with me on days I am tired or overwhelmed. I’m not afraid to work hard and to achieve my goals as a business owner. That often means I will go above and beyond for clients. I think that is something very noticeable when working with Fiore.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think word of mouth for our company is starting to shine through. I create relationships everywhere I go. This is not just for business purposes. I was raised a Southern. We love to talk and get to know everyone. So it’s been a natural process for me in creating those bonds and relationship. I also think that’s important working with clients to build trust. Clients need to trust that you understand their vision and most importantly, that you can deliver. Trust is huge and we are honored to be growing with our clients and new clients.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

We have several areas of business that we have explored this year. All of our work through Fiore is available on our website. We also have started selling bridal bouquets on Amazon. It’s an affordable way to reach people all over the country. We plan to expand this, but right now we are researching how the market reacts to our products.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://fioredamoreflorist.com/
• Instagram: @fioredamoreflorist
• Facebook: @fioredamorefloristwestpalm

Image Credits

Jenna Youngblood with Youngblood Photography