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

Steph, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I, like many others, has a story of a big shift that happened during the pandemic. The idea came while, being at home with our two daughters (9 & 10 at the time) and really digging deep on what I enjoy most in the world of business and how I could also take care of my family. During the pandemic, I was working part time at my current employer and being home with the girls so they could attend school online. While all of this was scary and unknown I continued to have the feeling that there was something bigger that I wanted to be doing and also being a strong role model to our girls.

After many many long conversations with my husband, we had an ah ha moment of clarity. I absolutely love the art of floral design and have a college degree in horticulture with an emphasis in design. Why not grow unique flowers and greenery that you don’t normally see in Fargo and grow them intentionally for my clients. What a minute… is that a thing??

The idea became when clients approach me about their wedding day, if they booked at least 9-12 months prior, I research and plan what flowers and color palettes grew during that time. I use sustainable practices in my growing and floral design approach. Meaning using products that can be reused again and again, using earth friendly fertilizer/compost and never ever using floral foam.

I start from seed and have the flowers flourish as they were planning their wedding day. As they grow together in planning, so do their flowers. During the week of their wedding I harvest the flowers and design. This creates a unique design that would not be replicated because of the seasonality of flowers and you know that Mother Nature is not the same each year. I want to create an experience for my clients from filling out the inquiry form to tear down of their celebration.

In this idea, what I am solving for our wedding/events clients is designing with the freshest flowers either grown in my gardens or sourcing from American flower farms. Creating designs with seasonality for a unique style. Always having the best intentions with sustainability and environmentally friendly practices in what we do for our clients.

Would this be possible? I had no idea but I knew it was unique to our community and that it would set me apart from the rest. What made me most excited is that I bring both my love of nature and growing flowers with my love of the ever evolving art of floral design.

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

I have been in the floristry business since I was 15 years old. Starting out working for our local Parks District tending gardens around the city. This progressed into getting my Horticultural Degree from North Dakota State University. After college, floristry stayed with me in my employments. I was a lead Horticulturist at the Roaring Fork Club in Basalt, CO, property management working with landscapes both exterior and interior in both Colorado and North Dakota and here we are today owning Botanica Floristry.

What I solve for my clientele is treating floral design as an art form collaborating with couples for their wedding and event with sustainable foam free floral designs. I grow flowers in our garden specifically for our couples to create seasonal uniqueness in their garden style designs. When I am unable to grow or I need a few more blooms, I source primarily from American flower farms. Creating an experience from seed to event.

What I am most proud of and what sets us apart is growing beautiful unique flowers in a cold climate and using sustainable floral design practices in all that I do. I truly love flowers and am passionate about making the experience for our couples genuine and intentional. It is always an honor to be part of someone’s special event or day and I do not take it lightly when I am chosen to bring my expertise to them and their guests.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

There are so many resources I use daily and I do not know where the business would be without them. I believe that learning continuously is the backbone to Botanica Floristry. Here are my favorites:

Bloom Trust Co.

Flowering Minds

Flower Math by Allison Ellis

Floret

Thrive Podcast

Botanica Brouhaha Podcast

Profit First by Mike Michalowicz

I will teach you to be Rich by Ramit Sethi

Marie Forleo – books/podcast/you tube

The Flower Hat

Have you ever had to pivot?

I would have to say I am currently pivoting. The first year in business I wanted to grow a large quantity of flowers/greenery in our gardens, aka Farmer/Florist, design for weddings, have a flower truck and do pop ups at breweries and secure floral subscriptions with corporate clients or home owners.

During my second year I have tripled my weddings, grew better flowers and was really trying to secure those weekly subscriptions. The flower truck had to go, even though it looked like the coolest part of the company, I came to realize that I was stretching myself too thin and not embracing what I love most with growing flowers, my clients.

My pivot, after much mentoring and soul searching, is that I had to simplify to stay true to being intentional with growing flowers with my clients in mind. I let go of the flower truck as mentioned above, I let go of cold calling corporate businesses to prove that locally grown flowers designed in an artistic way would be beneficial to their guest/customers. I am embracing and putting all my time and energy into my wedding/event clients and growing the best flowers I possibly can for them.

Within this pivot, I am learning that success means different things to different companies. My success is not in how many flowers I sell, it’s who I design for love working together as a team to create amazing, unique designs for their celebrations. It also means being in the garden as much as I can because it brings me the most joy. Success also means that I get to spend time with my family as we all grow as a whole.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.botanicafloristry.com/
• Instagram: @botanicafloristry
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/botanicafloristry
• Linkedin: Stephanie Leininger
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/botanicafloristy/

Image Credits
M.Schleif Photography Libbylu Photography Kiella Lawrence Photography Alyssa Ashley Photography