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

Valerie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

In the wedding and event industry it is practically impossible to take a vacation, especially if you’re booked every weekend. I have learned that a vacation is important. I have now started out carving out time to take a break. It allows you to refresh yourself and it helps to combat burnout.

Valerie, 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?

Xpressions Floral Designs is a full service florist and event design company. We specialize in weddings and events, however over the past few years our business is expanding. We are also known for creating permanent silk retail installs and our one of kind be spoke arrangements.

Our company is constantly growing. We are known for our unique approach to floral design and the array of blooms that we work with . No two arrangements are alike.

Xpressions provides floral services throughout the Carolina’s , Georgia, and Maryland.

Our job as designers is to work with couples, retail businesses, and corporate clients to bring their vision to life. Our clients come to us with and idea of the experience that they would like to provide their guest. Our job is to listen and to make their vision a reality .

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Xpression’s started as a side hustle. As a single mother of one, it provided extra means of income. Never in a million years that my little floral company would be my full time job. Throughout the years I have been consistent. Flowers has always been there. When my husband and I got married Xpressions was pushed even further on the back burner. As a military wife we moved around a lot. Once we finally moved back stateside I begun working on flowers again. I started back doing flowers for photoshoots and then I started booking weddings again.

The huge influx of business I started to receive was amazing. Throughout the entire journey I remained consistent. I continued to show up on my social media. I started sharing more of the joy that flowers bought me. Eventually I started booking more and more clients and one day I realized I had out grown my house. I also started realizing that I needed more hands. I needed more than just my husband and daughter. As my business continued to grow I reached out to other designers for help. The support was amazing. Honestly, without them the amount of weddings and the size of weddings would not have been possible.

Eventually I moved to an even larger space. Currently we have a much larger space, a full size walk-in cooler, and 6 part time staff. The growth was fast. Consistency is key. Remember to always show up and keep at your craft.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Social media is amazing. I love social media because it allows clients to get to know you and your business. I try to share a mix of personal and business on my page. I have found that clients like to get to know who you are. A lot of clients have found me on social media. They have been able to learn my style . I share a lot of behind the scenes as I shop for floral and wedding day.

I have found that my audience loves it. Social media has allowed me to connect with our vendors as well. Which in turn has turned into referrals.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.xpressionsfloraldesigns.com
• Instagram: xpressions_floraldesigns
• Facebook: xpressionsfloralandeventdesign

Image Credits
Photos- Logan Jay Photography , Crystal Cofie Photography , Picman704