Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Hi, and welcome to the Confessions in the Home Office podcast. My name is Wendy Hill, and for the past almost 20 years, I've been running my marketing consulting firm, Market Momentum, out of my home office in Greenville, South Carolina. So each week I either go over a work from home topic, a marketing topic, or many times I have a guest. And this week, I have a guest.
So today I have a great guest. She's creative. She's got that creative side that I don't have. So I'm a little envious. Her name is Emily Headley, and she is actually a neighbor of mine. We live in the same neighborhood, and Emily recently did all the flowers for my wedding that we had back in June. So welcome, Emily. I'm glad you're here. Thanks.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: Good to be here.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: I wanted everybody to know kind of what you've been up to, because Emily has. She can give you all her background. But, Emily, you're a music kindergarten teacher, correct? Preschool.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: Well, preschool, yep. Yep.
[00:01:08] Speaker A: And she went out on her own, and she has her own floral design business. So I'll let you take it from there and talk about your background and kind of how you got things going.
[00:01:16] Speaker B: You got it. I'm sure there's a name for somebody like me, somebody who, like, continues to change my trajectory in life.
I am. I actually have a music degree, so the name of my business is the Lyrical Lily. So the lyrical part touches on my music degree that I have. And I'm a singer. I have a voice degree. And, you know, when I was 22, I thought I was going to be a star.
I moved to Nashville. I did the whole thing.
And then I quickly realized I could not pay my rent doing that. So I went back to school, and I became a dental hygienist.
[00:01:56] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:01:56] Speaker B: So there you kind of see the science part of me that I tap into.
And also the dental hygiene part also is a teaching part, and that's a big part of what I like to do as well.
And then once I had my kids, I took a break, like a lot of women do. Not everybody, but it was a choice that I wanted to make, and I set up my life in that way so I could be home to raise my boys. So I did that. And then when we eventually moved to Greenville, I. My boys were in school, and I was thinking, I've got to do something. And, you know, I live here now. My boys are settled. I need to do something for myself. And so I started teaching preschool.
I use my music there. I'm a music and chapel teacher there. And then Covid hit, and I needed an outlet because I was slowly going crazy. And that creative part of me really kicked in. And I also loved to garden. And so I would just go out and I would pick my flowers, or I would go to the grocery store and pick up flowers, and I started designing flowers and putting it out on Instagram.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: Right.
[00:03:16] Speaker B: And lo and behold, I did not realize that bubbling underneath that was a little business.
And that was three years ago. November 1st is when I started in 2021.
[00:03:28] Speaker A: Oh, wow. Well, happy anniversary.
[00:03:30] Speaker B: Yeah. And my little birthday is coming up.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: Well, I remember the first time. I mean, we met through the neighborhood. But then I remember you were decorating front doors for the Christmas. Christmas. And, you know, I don't really. I'm not crafty or anything. And I was seeing these pictures of greenery and bows and all this, and I was like, I'll pay her to come decorate my front door. And my front door looked fantastic. And so you really have the knack for it. So you didn't go to school for floral design?
[00:03:56] Speaker B: I did not. I did not. I just like to be creative, and I.
That's a funny story about the Doors. I actually was doing my own door and my own mailbox, and a friend of mine's sister who lives in Maryland said, you really should, like, put that out there, that you do that. And I thought.
I mean, this was before the Lyrical Lily, even. So a year before the Lyrical Lily, I was doing Doors, and I made a pretty good chunk of change in December doing Doors. And I quickly realized, oh, wow, I can. If I'm not careful, I can stretch myself too thin too. Right.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: Balance.
[00:04:37] Speaker B: I needed to figure that out. So. But yeah, no, that. That was another part of the Lyrical Lily that kind of helped launch me that first year, because once I started in November, I.
I needed to get my name out there. And so I was, like, trying to do the Thanksgiving centerpieces. And then I had to make the leap and say, okay, I'm going to do Doors again, and put that under the Lyrical Lily umbrella. And so that really kind of helped get some money in the coffers for sure.
[00:05:12] Speaker A: Right. So are you going to do Doors this year or no?
[00:05:15] Speaker B: Well, I am, but I'm trying to figure out how to balance that again.
I go out and I forage all my own stuff, so all my own foliage, and it's getting. It's very labor intensive. So I need to decide, do I want to just order all of that and raise my prices.
[00:05:36] Speaker A: Right.
[00:05:36] Speaker B: Or continue to go out and forage everything and try to keep my prices low.
So I don't know. I haven't decided yet. I'm definitely doing them. I just don't know how many I'm gonna do.
[00:05:47] Speaker A: Okay, good, good. Because I don't know if you did it. Did you do it last year? Or maybe I just missed it last year. I don't know.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: I don't know if I did last year for you. I don't think I did, actually.
[00:05:56] Speaker A: I don't know. Who knows? It's kind of nutty around here.
[00:05:59] Speaker B: Flies by.
[00:06:00] Speaker A: So you have the special occasions. You have Christmas, and I know Valentine's Day is big and Mother's Day and things like that. How have you been able to fill in the gaps between holidays since floral a lot of times is a seasonal business?
[00:06:14] Speaker B: That's a good question.
It is very, very seasonal. And sometimes you're thankful for the downtime, right?
[00:06:21] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: You know, I just have to kind of think about my calendar. So, you know, at the beginning of the year, usually January is a little slow just because you're coming off the holiday. And then you've got to start already ordering for Valentine's Day.
[00:06:36] Speaker A: Right.
[00:06:36] Speaker B: And thinking, okay, what am I going to do? So you got to get your.
Get your ideas together, get your designs together and get them out on your website.
So Valentine's Day is big. And then I go right into.
Even before Valentine's Day are like father, daughter dances and wedding season where we live. The summer is not a big wedding season here, right? It's too hot.
[00:07:02] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.
[00:07:04] Speaker B: Unless you're up in the mountains and that, you know, there are good wedding venues up in the mountains where it stays cooler.
So in those downtimes in the summer, I try to focus on, like, doing classes or like me personally taking classes, like building up my own knowledge and also doing classes for other people, too.
That's one way I do it in the. In the summer downtime. But then quickly comes homecomings and more weddings. And the fall brings all of the other busy seasons. So.
[00:07:43] Speaker A: So maybe between, like the national holidays, there's all these things that kids do, kids do with parents, all these other events that kind of pl again. Now, do you do subscriptions, too?
[00:07:53] Speaker B: I do. Okay, yes. That's another way I diversified.
That was one thing that I really wanted to build up first.
And again, that kind of ebbs and flows as well.
Sometimes you have several subscriptions at one time, and sometimes you just have one and that's okay, too.
But yeah, the subscriptions are a Great way to. To keep money flowing. And it's a great way to diversify. There are so many different ways you can diversify.
Oh, there's my son.
There are so many ways you can diversify in. Especially if you're a home studio. You can do the subscriptions, do weddings.
I do everyday deliveries, but I kind of feel like my niche has been.
Whether I like it or not, my niche is doing wearables and, like, floral corsages and boutonnieres and things like that for homecomings and proms. And that's kind of morphed into grab and go weddings for the brides who don't want to spend a lot on their wedding flowers, or they're just doing a really small wedding, and they just want something added to the venue. Like, they might be doing an outdoor venue, or they're eloping, and they just need personal flowers. And so I become that person, which is.
[00:09:24] Speaker A: Right.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: Great. I enjoy that.
[00:09:26] Speaker A: Well, I know when. When I was planning my wedding, I don't even know if we ever really talked. Maybe one time on the phone, it was text and Facebook messenger and email, and Emily sends me these boards where she's mocked up the flowers for myself and my daughter. And I was like, this is fantastic. Like, I told her what I wanted, and then we did some tweaks, and it was just hand. So.
[00:09:47] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. And that's. That's an interesting part of this business is when I've got a client like you, and you had very specific things you wanted, and. But I. I had to try to educate. That's where that teaching thing comes in. Had to educate where. Okay. If you want this color and this color, we got to bridge that gap.
[00:10:07] Speaker A: Right.
[00:10:07] Speaker B: Or it's gonna look too stark. And I think it worked out really well. I thought.
I thought it was great. Your wedding was beautiful.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: It was good. And you educated me on. This kind of stem is really expensive. Or we can go for the same color. We can look at this type of stem. Because how. You know, I was thinking up here, but I really need to be here. So it was.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:10:25] Speaker A: So what's something that's come up as a challenge that's helped you, like, reshape part of your business or how you plan to do things? Have you had any type of event or just something happened where you thought things were going one way and maybe it's changed a little bit?
[00:10:42] Speaker B: Well, I would say, for me, my biggest challenge in this business is it's my own personal stuff. Right. Like, I haven't. I Haven't had an actual event that has been super challenging.
[00:10:54] Speaker A: Right.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: I haven't had a diva bride. I haven't had a diva mother of the bride. Right, right, right.
But my. My challenges come in the logistics. And I can. I know this about myself. I have. I'm sure I have ADD and have not been diagnosed. And it's easy to get into analysis paralysis. Right.
So it's just making myself sit down and really plan out the logistics part, which is not the creative part.
[00:11:27] Speaker A: Right.
[00:11:28] Speaker B: The parts. The part I love, it's that analytical part that I struggle with.
But then again, I also love a challenge. So I kind of like to work that out too. But, like, knowing how much to order, not over ordering, Making sure you order enough.
Again, making sure you word something correctly to a client that you don't tick them off. You know, you don't want to. You don't want to offend somebody's sensibilities because they have a specific vision maybe for what they want. And you gotta break it easily to them that you can't afford this $5,000 wedding on your $500 budget. And so you just.
That that's the challenge is it's just your own personal stuff and letting go and not trying to spend somebody else's money. You just. I just have to present to them the vision that they have asked me to present. And if it's above what they want, then we can work together as a team and whittle it. Whittle it down.
[00:12:36] Speaker A: So has there been anything that's really surprised you, being in the floral design business that you didn't expect when you got into it? And it's kind of similar to the last question, but.
[00:12:46] Speaker B: Surprises. Yeah, I guess probably the gatekeeping disappointed me a little bit. How much gatekeeping there was.
I feel like I have kind of broken through that a little bit with some people just because I don't quit asking questions. Like, I'm. I feel like I'm continually learning, and I have such a hunger to learn because I started this business so late in life.
I want to make sure I'm doing it right, and I want to make sure that I am putting out a product that people are going to want to come back and buy again. And so when I run into somebody who's. I ask a question and they immediately shut down, I think, oh, wow, I will not do that to somebody who asked me the same question years down the line. Like, it's so frustrating, but I have found some really good floral friends here in the city, and Online who?
It's been easier for me to break through the gates when I run into the gatekeepers.
[00:14:00] Speaker A: It's that way in marketing too. You would think. I mean, there's plenty of business to go around. No one's trying to poach business. But sometimes when there's like a new technology or something's changing, you want to ask. Some people are great and they'll tell you everything. And other people are just, they don't, they don't even want to go to lunch. They're so afraid that you're going to ask the wrong thing. And I, you know, you just kind of have to back off from that.
[00:14:21] Speaker B: Why do you, why do you think that is? Like, what do you, what's your opinion on that?
[00:14:25] Speaker A: Well, sometimes I think that they may not have as much business as they need to and they're. It's a fear thing or they've been burned in the past from somebody. Yeah, I mean, I'm just. Yeah. I would never poach business from someone, but I know that has gone on with other people before. So I just wonder if maybe that's what it is, just from something from the past or a fear of, I need more business. I can't lose anything.
But then there's some people that will share and share a ton and I feel like that they're the ones that have the best relationships. Right. With others.
[00:15:00] Speaker B: Right. Right. I have had not, I guess I try to live with an attitude of abundance and they're like you said, there's to go around.
But it is frustrating when it's not necessarily other florists, but like the mock ups that I sent to you for your wedding.
I'm learning that maybe I shouldn't do that so much because I have found actually two brides in the last month. I have done that and then I get ghosted and they take your designs and they go on to somebody else and see if they can. They basically just take your intellectual property.
[00:15:40] Speaker A: Right.
[00:15:41] Speaker B: And see if they can go get it cheaper somewhere else. And that's been disappointing and challenging. But, you know, that's business and that.
[00:15:49] Speaker A: Happens in marketing too. You can. You don't want to give away too much because they might go give that idea to somebody else. But you have to show them that you know what you're doing. So it's that whole fine line. I thought you sending over the ideas were fantastic. I mean, they just, it made me realize everything was coming together and I could show them to family members and, and everything. So I hate that that happened.
[00:16:11] Speaker B: But yeah, well. And it's just in my. In my personal business, like the way I have set up the lyrical Lily, I did not start out wanting to do weddings.
[00:16:23] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:16:24] Speaker B: In the beginning because again, everything kind of revolves around my boys and being a mom to them.
And they are both baseball players or were ones in college now. And so I could not. I couldn't give up my weekends.
[00:16:39] Speaker A: Right.
[00:16:40] Speaker B: There was just no way I could do that. Or I was willing to do that. I could have done that, but I wasn't willing to do that.
So now that one's in college and one. The other is, you know, more self sufficient and he can drive and I don't have to be the taxi cab.
[00:16:57] Speaker A: Right.
[00:16:58] Speaker B: I have more time. I've kind of been able to get into more of the smaller weddings and the grab and go weddings and the maybe the second weddings or the elopements, that kind of stuff.
[00:17:11] Speaker A: Right.
[00:17:12] Speaker B: So that's. That's been something that I have. I'm dipping my toe more into and actually it just kind of started this year.
And that's one of those things where you kind of. Where the universe is funny thing where you just kind of whisper it out in the universe and then all of a sudden you start noticing the opportunities right in front of you.
[00:17:33] Speaker A: Right.
[00:17:33] Speaker B: That's kind of how it happened with me. I just kind of whispered it out loud in January, February. And I think you actually called right after I heard it.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: I heard it from down the street.
[00:17:47] Speaker B: From down the street.
[00:17:50] Speaker A: No, it was great because so many of these, so many florists have just gotten where they have these huge minimums and like you said, this second wedding, and we just wanted something really small and it was perfect. Even if we were having a bigger wedding, I still would have gone with you just because you were so flexible and transparent with pricing and ranges and all that. It was great.
So I see your social media some.
How do you feel like that's helped.
[00:18:15] Speaker B: You in the beginning? That was the only way I was marketing myself. I didn't have a website actually until the beginning of this year.
[00:18:23] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: So I was what, almost two years in and I didn't have a website again because I didn't want to get too big too fast because I knew I was still trying to be mom, you know?
But then once I.
Once I got my website up, then it was kind of like hit the ground, hit the ground running. But social media is an interesting beast. You know, it's. It's a necessary evil.
As creative as I am, I struggle with that part of my creativity, that's normal.
[00:19:00] Speaker A: That's how I am. I could do anything for anybody else. When it comes to me, it's. I'm just so critical and overthinking it.
[00:19:07] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that part's tough. But, yeah, in the beginning, it was. It was what built my business. And so I'm thankful for it. I'm thankful for Instagram, I'm thankful for Facebook, and I have just started on TikTok as well.
And I do kind of different things on TikTok than I do on Instagram and Facebook. I feel like my TikTok is a little bit more educational.
[00:19:33] Speaker A: Right.
[00:19:34] Speaker B: And more geared toward talking to other florists, whereas Instagram, Facebook is more strict marketing, you know, trying to put product out and show what I'm doing and color palettes and things like that.
[00:19:50] Speaker A: Well, I think you're using those platforms in the right way because they're not all the same. So I think people go out on. It's kind of scary that people go on TikTok to find out so much information, but they do. And so that is a good place for you to put.
[00:20:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:02] Speaker A: Information for other floors. I saw you had a speaking arrangement or speaking engagement recently. So you did, like a whole education.
[00:20:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I actually. That day I actually did two speaking engagements.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness.
[00:20:12] Speaker B: Hilarious.
Yeah, that one was for some interior designers here in the upstate. And again, another way to diversify. Back to the beginning of our conversation.
It's good to get yourself out there to other professionals who might use you. Right. And so in my dreams, I would love to be some interior designers, go to in house florist for when they want to stage something. And that has happened.
And corporate floristry is really a great way for a small studio florist to diversify as well. But then on the reverse side of that. So that was at like noon, I think, that day. And then that night, I did a Girl Scout thing with a bunch of kids. So it was.
[00:21:01] Speaker A: I was just fried by the end of the night. Probably two different audiences and public speaking all in one.
[00:21:07] Speaker B: Yes. And I had taught that morning, too. I had taught my preschoolers that morning. So it was. It was. I was using all of. All of my parts.
[00:21:15] Speaker A: You're on all. Selling all my gifts.
[00:21:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:18] Speaker A: So what piece of advice do you have for somebody if somebody's interested in getting into a creative field like this, Whether it's floral design or something similar? Do you have a piece of advice you'd give them?
[00:21:29] Speaker B: Just do it.
One of the things When I first started, probably the hardest thing for me was just pressing submit, pressing post on the announcement that I was gonna do it.
And just don't be afraid of opportunities when they present themselves. Be confident and take every opportunity. You can say yes to everything.
[00:21:57] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:21:58] Speaker B: In the beginning.
[00:21:59] Speaker A: That's what I've learned. Say yes and then go figure out how to get it done.
[00:22:02] Speaker B: Exactly. It's funny you said that, because when I started again, going back in time, back in the COVID era, I was putting out just things I was doing, and one of our neighbors saw something that I had posted and said, hey, my son's getting married. This was in October. No, this was in September. She said, hey, my son's getting married in October. Do you think you could do the rehearsal dinner? Flowers?
[00:22:27] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:22:27] Speaker B: And I, in my mind, said, heck, no. But my mouth said, absolutely. Good for you.
I was like, panic. Okay, now I gotta figure this out. And so social media was a big help. I went to social media and YouTube and I learned as much as I could in that month, and I knocked it out and I made some money. And that's when I thought, okay, I'm.
[00:22:53] Speaker A: Gonna get something going.
[00:22:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm gonna do this. And so that was October 1st, and then November 1st is when I hit submit, hit post on that. On that social media post. And then I thought. I literally thought to myself, all right, you just jumped off this cliff. You better learn to fly on the way down. You better get a parachute or grow some wings quick. Right.
[00:23:18] Speaker A: Well, I'm glad you did, because that was great. Yeah. I mean, our people talked about the flowers at our wedding for weeks and weeks afterwards. And then when pictures came in more. So the. All the little table arrangements that you made for the. For the brunch afterwards, we gave those to people, and those went to nursing homes and relatives and people's houses, and so they got spread all over the. Upstate. So pretty cool.
[00:23:40] Speaker B: I'm glad.
[00:23:42] Speaker A: Is there anything else you want everybody to know about you? The business, the industry?
[00:23:49] Speaker B: I would say, as far as the industry goes and trends that I see happening.
[00:23:56] Speaker A: Right.
[00:23:57] Speaker B: A lot more sustainable floristry I'm seeing.
I think people are trying to use a lot less, like, one time, use plastics kind of thing.
So that is something I'm tinkering with and trying to figure out how I can incorporate that in my business. It's hard. It's hard to travel with things when they're not really locked into, like, foam, which is what I do a lot of my wedding design in.
But I'M I'm. I'm seeing more and more mechanics of ways to do that that I really want to try and see if I can make that work and also see if it's more budget friendly, too.
But again, as far as trends go, I would say anything that's going on in fashion or anything that's going on in interior design will eventually bleed into floristry. So right now I'm seeing a lot more color, especially in weddings. For a while, it was just white and blush.
[00:25:03] Speaker A: Right.
[00:25:04] Speaker B: And now you're just getting brides who are brave. And I love it.
Absolutely love how brave the brides are. And they're not afraid of color. And that's a good thing.
[00:25:15] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And then think about the sustainability. So that'll definitely change.
[00:25:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:21] Speaker A: Products and things that you use.
[00:25:22] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. But I'm so thankful, though, in my little business that I married a man who could balance a checkbook and let me be creative. So he's my cfo, my husband, Nathan. And so I thank him a lot for all of his help and everything we do with the lyrical Lily. He's got a good business mind where I have more of the creative mind, and he is always right there behind me, helping me keep this train on the track.
[00:25:51] Speaker A: That's great. That's great. When you've got that balance like that.
[00:25:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Good.
[00:25:56] Speaker A: So how can everybody find you? And I'll put this in the show notes, too, but.
[00:26:00] Speaker B: Oh, great. I am on Instagram and Facebook and TikTok as at the lyrical Lily.
[00:26:07] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:26:08] Speaker B: And I also have the lyricallilly.com as a website, so you can reach me there. You can. There are inquiry forms on there if you want to reach out as a bride.
And then you can always call or text my business number, 864-2026131.
And. Yeah, or you can call Wendy and she can get you in touch with.
[00:26:32] Speaker A: Right, let's DM her on Facebook.
[00:26:34] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:26:35] Speaker A: Yeah. No, like I said before, it was a great experience. I know people get really stressed working with wedding vendors, and it was just a breeze.
It was great. So I appreciate it, and I'm glad that you could be on here today and this will come out next week.
[00:26:52] Speaker B: Okay, great. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks so much for having me.
[00:26:54] Speaker A: Thanks.
