A Letter From The Owner of Biofloria
Dear Reader,
My name is Maya. I am the fortunate Owner and Head Floral Designer of Biofloria (bye-oh-flor-ee-uh). The reason I consider myself fortunate in this line of work, is you. You and all the amazing brides, grooms, vendor pals, and community members I have had the joy of connecting with through the beauty of flowers. My job brings me to so many unique places and I always get to meet the kindest souls along the way. Flowers make those connections even more inspiring and beautiful, of course.
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I suppose you may be expecting me to tell you all about my years of experience and why I do what I do, right? Well, I'm going to, but it might not be what you expected to hear. You might not want to get so personal so quick. Although, I think you will appreciate the vulnerability I am about to succumb to by the end of this letter.
The journey to becoming a wedding florist has not always been easy. Perhaps it was just my experience (doubt it), but nobody ever seems to talk about how hard the climb is in the floral design world. All of the dirty work. All of the condescending and arrogant behavior you receive from others. Many of us start off with absolutely no schooling or prior experience, just a longing to learn and a creative eye. A negative experience can happen anywhere, but it may have been even more likely if you began in a mom and pop shop. With little regulation of acceptable practices and workplace ethics, you may even suffer verbal or physical abuse at the hands of the very people cutting your paychecks. Taking everything being thrown at you in the name of them getting ahead, and you just doing what you're told. Is that how all business is? We're talking about flowers here, the most beautiful specimens on Earth. How bad could it have been?
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Sometimes, designing in shops felt like a beauty pageant or maybe even a race to an invisible finish line. In a place where creatives should be harmonizing and congratulating one another for their talents, hard-work, and beautiful designs, the everyday standard was competition. Jealousy and passive aggressive towards someone if they created a show-stopping design or got to fulfill the order you wanted. Tampering with other people's work behind their backs if it was "subpar." Sometimes even outright hateful comments about how someone else is doing in their floral design journey. So contrary to how you would think people in a place filled with beauty should behave. Constructive criticism for the goal of helping someone advance their skills and the company is totally acceptable. Judging people's raw efforts without any desire to help them grow is just bullying.
As a woman, as a multi-ethnic woman, and as a single mother, life in the floral design industry (also life in general) was and is not always easy. That seems to be the theme around a lot of our lives because life is hard, but I am only opening up about my experiences so that you know why my passion in this industry runs so deep. It was often assumed I wasn't a designer in the workplace by customers that thought I didn't fit their description of a "designer," I was told that I would never be a good designer by my superiors, I was yelled at and silenced by co-workers for standing up for myself against racial slurs, and I was expected to work double the amount of appropriate workload for any human in order to prove I was valuable or important (yes, for little compensation). Coworkers would talk down on me because of my family-life situation and use it as leverage against me. I needed the extra money, right? If I didn't do what they asked or acted entitled to receive, they would respond with "She just doesn't know how to balance being a mom and keeping a job." Being a parent is hard when you're doing it alone. Double hard if you're doing it alone while simultaneously trying to work in environments where you don't feel accepted or appreciated.
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I do recognize that not all of the bad things that happened or were said are due to a direct result of the floral design industry / culture. People can be unkind. Anywhere. Anytime. But I do not find it coincidental that the theme stayed consistent across the many floral design jobs I had and they were not just happening to me. I think the issue is pressure. Pressure to produce, succeed, and move ahead. Everyone wants their work to be recognized as beautiful and better than the rest. That's how you get on top right? Luckily, I realized it wasn't the right way to get to the top and decided to do better.
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Although I felt pain, confusion, and failure in an industry that kept making me think I didn't belong, I knew they were wrong. I knew that this is exactly where God has destined me to be and that I DO belong. So instead of giving in to the doubt, I did the only thing I knew how to do and continue to do it everyday. I make beautiful floral designs. I make them for myself, my family, my friends, and my amazing clients. I took a leap of faith and quit both of my jobs to pursue my dream as a full-service wedding and event floral designer. Instead of trying to prove everyone wrong, I proved myself right and continue doing so.
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I love what I do so much. My goal is to pour all the love and kindness into this industry that I possibly can and give other people like my coworkers and clients an experience much different than the one I had. My team will always know that they are valued and that our success and collaborative efforts are shared. We win together, we lose together. I love teaching floral design now and strive to be a teacher that makes people feel good about everything they do, even their "mistakes." Everyone has to start somewhere, and I will never forget where I came from and what it felt like to be new. I'm still relatively new (6 years new), and I don't believe I will ever achieve an optimum period of growth or experience. Passion doesn't work that way. You will continue to grow, learn, and be inspired for as long as you're in love with what you do.
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For my clients and vendor friends, I promise to give you an experience full of strong communication, flexibility, and acceptance. I will never discriminate against you or make you feel less than. No matter your race, age, sexual orientation, religious or cultural beliefs, budget or any set of circumstances that apply to you! Biofloria is rooted in the beauty of nature and the need to connect with it and cherish it's beauty, and that's the same way I feel about people!
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I hope that you feel empowered to follow your dreams and never let anything or anyone stop you! I also hope there are plenty of flowers on your journey.
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With Love,
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Maya McCarthy
Owner & Head Floral Designer
Biofloria
