Today we’d like to introduce you to Mandy Clayson.
Hi Mandy, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story is very nonlinear. I ended up as a wedding florist by happy chance. I never thought about being a florist and it wasn’t a goal I had when I was younger. I have a PhD in Sociology and I worked teaching undergraduate classes for 10 years. I first started playing with floral design when I was working on my PhD as a creative outlet. My life as an academic led me to burnout so I shifted into a private life coaching practice to help people with their relationships and mental health. This work was very meaningful, but it also felt very heavy at times. Meanwhile, I was still dabbling with flowers and started taking on friends and family as clients for floral wedding design. As it turns out I kept getting inquiries and it turned into a full-blown business. Once I realized I could shift into floral design full-time I was all for it! I have always loved flowers – even as a kid – so I feel blessed to create art with beautiful flowers.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Sometimes you get drawn into things and it feels like a magnet is pulling you forward, so even when there are practical struggles you can work through them fairly well. As I mentioned earlier I really struggled in my previous jobs from burn out and heavy emotional burdens. Moving into wedding floristry was very different. My job is to help enhance a huge life celebration – it is so positive by nature. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t take real work and effort to run my business. I work a lot on getting my brand in front of the right people (i.e. potential clients). And there are a lot things I don’t enjoy like preparing taxes or maintaining vehicles for the business. A typical event requires me to work 18-hour shifts the two days prior to the event. I can’t start earlier because of the perishable nature of flowers. It involves struggle and effort, but overall it all feels worth it because I’m doing something that brings me true joy.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I work as a wedding florist. My style of floral design incorporates lots of texture, movement, and artistry. I specialize in accurately creating color palettes exactly how my clients want them. Something that makes us unique is that we use all locally grown flowers from Utah farmers in our work. My business helps supports other local businesses and the local economy, and by using locally grown flowers we are able to reduce our environmental impact by opting out of imported flowers. Most people don’t know that about 80% of flowers used for floristry in Utah are imported into the state; however, there is a thriving local flower farming sector that is capable of providing so much more! I have a network of about 15 farms throughout the state that I source from, and because Utah has 6 growing zones there is so much variety. I personally know the farmers I work with, so I know that the flowers come to me without pesticides or harsh chemicals. This makes them safe for me to handle on a regular basis and I know they will be safe for my clients. My work is a reflection of the season, so I don’t have the same flowers available all year long, but they are always super fresh and beautiful.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up I was a very sincere child. I wanted to be friends with everyone. I had an imaginary friend that was an old man – he lived in one of our trees. I loved art and music, and I learned to play the cello and sing. I loved to read all kinds of books. People have told me that I was always smiling, which makes sense because I did have a very happy life as a child and youth. As a teenager I loved punk rock music and hanging out with my friends. One time we played a prank on one of our friends. It was common for where I grew up to leave your car unlocked. When my friend was out of town for an overnight school sport a group of us spent hours putting used paper through a paper shredder until we had enough shredded paper to fill his entire car. We filled it up from floor to ceiling and front to back with the paper. He was so confused when he got back, but we all laughed about it in the end. Sometimes when I see people decorating the bride and groom’s getaway car I think about that prank.
Pricing:
- $350 for flowers for just the bride and groom
- $1000 typically for a full wedding party (bride, groom, bridesmaid, groomsmen, parents, flower girl)
- $3000-5000 typically for venue flowers
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.flowersbymandy.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowers_bymandy
