We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Taylor Cooper, owner of Best Buds – a floral design studio. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Taylor below
Taylor, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?
I wouldn’t necessarily say Corporate America gets anything wrong in our industry, because I’m honestly not sold on the idea that we’re even in the same industry. Yes, florals are the product, but what and how they are used is the service that differentiates us.
Trader Joes, Whole Foods, 1-800-Flowers, etc are in the bulk/retail product industry. They all serve an important purpose by offering extremely accessible and affordable flower bundles or arrangements for everyday needs. I obviously love flowers, and want everyone to share in that feeling and enjoy them. However, through large bulk orders directly from commercial sized growers, these large corporations are able to offer consumers unmatched prices, but the have limitations on varieties, customization, and creative services.
Best Buds is in the design industry. We, like so many other floral designers, provide a custom experience. This isn’t something a large corporation can offer or tailor to fit every client’s needs. We source high end, unique florals that won’t be easily found in all “big box” retailers. We create room designs that incorporate centerpieces, installations, focal/large display arrangements, bud vases, candles, and additional prop-styling. We work with Event Planners and Creative Directors to elevate an overall experience or product and editorial photography. We also create custom singular designs for those who prefer a unique design aesthetic.
This differentiation is an important element we (and other small business owners) navigate day-to-day. It can be really challenging to explain to a potential client why an event centerpiece with us will cost them $250-300, when they can just “grab some flowers from the grocery store for $15-30”, but I don’t necessarily blame corporations or the potential client. We only know what we know, and not knowing everything that goes into running a small business can skew perception of what’s practical and what’s not.
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 background and context?
My name is Taylor Cooper and I started Best Buds – a floral design studio, based in Nashville, TN. Our creative focus is on aesthetic-forward floral designs, with a heavy emphasis on texture, movement, and unique floral varieties. A lot of our inspiration is pulled from the visual stimulation provided from architecture, fashion, and everyday landscapes – picture kind of a luxe-meets-organic vibe. I believe it’s the details a small nuances that truly set things apart in life – explaining my love for unexpected or elevated aspects of floral design.
I’m proud of my ability to adapt and my desire to continue to grow and push boundaries. I hope this shows through my work and what I create for clients. I also feel clients will benefit the most from a designer who is their own worst critic, and trust me, for better or worse I am harder on myself than any client will ever be.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative in your experience?
When a client trusts us to either bring their visions to life in ways they didn’t expect, or allows us the autonomy to create from the ground-up, using our innate design aesthetics and attention to impactful details. Some clients have a beautiful and concise understanding of color palettes and spacial design, some have a handful of inspirational thoughts that may work on their own, and some just know they need a professional to handle the ideation.
There is an unspoken language and expectation in floral design – successfully cracking that code is the most rewarding.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
This isn’t necessarily a resource, but there is an overall mindset that my partner consistently reaffirms – “don’t allow art and business to have a ceiling, or place limitations on your creativity.” What can be envisioned can most likely be achieved through creative problem solving.
And most importantly, don’t diminish the value of your work by creating or pricing something only to please someone else. If you can’t stand behind and believe in your own work, how can you expect others to?
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Image Credits
All photography by Brooke Dainty