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

Hi Shannon, thanks for joining 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?

This question resonates deeply as I am currently balancing having a full-time job as a High School Floral Design Teacher and building my floral design business, 512 Flower Company. Since I have a “regular job,” I do not think about what that would be like. On the contrary, I think about what it would be like to be a full-time business owner.

Entrepreneurship has never been on my radar. I grew up pursuing good grades in order to get into a good college, participated on teams and in clubs in order to receive scholarships, selected jobs that would build my resume for a future career and so on. And I accomplished all of those things, checked all of the boxes. After pursuing the same dream throughout my entire grade-school experience, I completely shifted my career pursuit during my junior year at Texas A&M University. Fast forward seven years, where I stand at a crossroad between a stable job, in which I consider myself to be very good at, and taking a risk to build my business.

I have never been much of a risk taker; however, the past few years have challenged me to reflect on what actually makes me happy. What is good for my mental health? What is good for my family? What brings fulfillment into my life? I love being a teacher and find fulfillment in that role. I feel that education is a calling of mine and I have been given a gift of being able to touch the lives of so many teenagers in a positive way. As the demands and strain on educators continue to increase, I find myself yearning more and more for a moment to breath. Since March, I regularly think about what my future could look like as a full-time florist, remaining in my current role and continuing wedding floristry or even moving into an educational administrative position while continuing to pour into my business. There are so many “what if’s” and inherent risks that terrify me.

During the second week of October, I had the opportunity to flower for a styled shoot facilitated by Atlas Weddings & Co. and for the wedding of one of my couples, Lauren and Nathan. I took two personal days in order to make these events happen and these two days were full of joy, encouragement and collaboration. I left those experiences feeling like my bucket was full. I also think about the opportunity that I had to freelance with Kinsey Harbert of Truth & Blooms this summer for a spectacularly beautiful wedding which required nine florists to execute. The styled shoot and freelancing experiences allowed me to network and collaborate with creatives who genuinely build one another up, want to see their colleagues succeed and freely share wisdom that they have acquired throughout their own experiences.

The wedding industry is one that I could absolutely see myself loving to be a part of full-time. My fear comes from the need for financial stability. I have confidence that I have the abilities to create at the caliber needed to provide a sustainable income, but taking that risk is not something that I feel ready for quite yet. I am aware that I also still have a lot to learn in the field of business management and marketing. As you could probably have guessed, I have always been a learner so maybe it is time to add some business classes to my transcript… Business ownership is so much more than simply applying my floristry abilities to create beautiful work. Although I am not sure when or if I will leave education to become a full0time business owner, I must remind myself that I am only 26 years old! I have my whole life ahead of me and am feeling optimistic about 2024, so I will continue to pour my heart into my students and clients and see where this crazy, busy, beautiful life takes me!

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?

As mentioned in my previous response, I am currently a High School Floral Design Teacher. During my student teaching internship prior to graduating with my teaching degree from Texas A&M University, I was responsible for planning and teaching five different courses. One of those courses was Advanced Floral Design. I had zero floral design experience at that point and was learning as I went, absorbing as much knowledge from my supervising teacher as possible. My supervising teacher received a phone call from, what many would call a “legend” in the floral design educator world, asking if I was looking for a job in the Austin area because he knew of one that I should apply for. This position just so happened to be teaching Floral Design.

The summer leading up to my first year of teaching was filled with workshops covering the Basics of Floral Design and Advanced Floral Design principles. I have participated in an extensive list of workshops between then and now, including one at the Benz School of Floral Design. I research design techniques, follow pillars in the industry that share tips and tricks and ask a lot of questions. I am willing to try new things and take design risks in order to achieve any look desired by my clients.

512 Flower Company provides floral services for weddings and events in central Texas and surrounding areas. After officially starting business in March of 2023, I have been lucky to have at least one floral event each month to flower for. That was more than expected as a newcomer to the industry! The first large event for 512 Flower Company this year was designing for the Abbey Lights Up COTA Gala put on by The Abigail E. Keller Foundation at the Circuit of the Americas. I also participated in the ACS Bridal & Wedding Expo held at Kalahari in November. Events big or small, I would love to work with you!

Despite my still holding a full-time teaching position, I will give my clients my 100%. I take my role as a couple’s wedding florist very seriously and will not squander that opportunity. I am honest about the value of certain aspects of the florals and will offer options to repurpose designs or ideas to allow the couple to get the most out of their budget. I will collaborate with couples on designs to determine what will complement the space and/or support their vision. I have a wedding coming up where I will be building wisteria trees to use in the instance that the outdoor ceremony must be moved indoors, an idea that the couple had not considered. In all aspects, I want to be an asset to the execution of the wedding or event that I am part of!

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I have to give my husband, Cody, a huge shout out when it comes to funding the start of 512 Flower Company! We both have full-time jobs, but he has been a catalyst in the starting of my business. He has had full confidence that I have the ability to turn this into something that could provide significantly for our family. He also sees how passionate I am about floristry and how much joy it brings me. His profession has a direct correlation between the amount of work done and money made, whereas teaching is a salary role. The hiring of a CPA, filing business and tax paperwork and purchasing coolers, shelving, etc. all came out of our own pockets. Words cannot express how grateful and blessed that I feel with the traction that 512 Flower Co. has received this year, which has given me the freedom to participate in marketing events. Marketing events such as styled shoots and bridal shows are funded by the vendor, so I have poured all of my profits back into my business.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

In July, I reached out to the Styled Shoots of Texas Instagram account about opportunities to become the florist for a styled shoot. The woman who runs that account, Kaitlin, informed me that it is simply used to promote shoots and does not host them. In August, Kaitlin sent me a message to see if I would be interested in flowering for a styled shoot hosted by her company, Atlas Weddings & Co. All because she remembered that first Instagram message!

This led to collaboration, venue walkthroughs and installation plans for what turned out to be the most fun and stunning day! There was a great group of photographers who paid to participate in this shoot held at The Grand Lady in Manor, as well as in incredible team of vendors who brought Atlas’ vision to life. This was a huge investment for me, as my floral plan included unique and high-end flowers, as well as a hanging installation. This was not only an investment for my business, but an event tied to Atlas Weddings & Co. and the photographers paying to participate. I knew that I had to bring my “A-game!” This was also the first time that I had created a hanging installation of this size, so there was a significant amount of planning and preparations that went into ensuring this build could be installed with little to no hiccups. Everything went as planned and the finished product was beyond what I could have imagined! The connections made from that day are invaluable and it was an honor to have been invited to be a part of that day.

Contact Info:

• Website: Coming Soon!
• Instagram: @512flowerco
• Facebook: 512 Flower Company
• Other: Email: [email protected]

Image Credits
@kaitlinrodgerphoto @jgroverphotoco @stephaniequirkphotography