Art and Craft

Grace Scott spent nearly a decade working as a florist in the wedding industry. Over the years, Scott received “countless requests for flower preservation services,” and found herself exploring this creative process in detail. In 2020, Scott pressed and preserved her own wedding bouquet between two panes of glass – turning it into a piece of floral art – and immediately knew she was onto something. When Scott and her husband were expecting their first child in 2023, they knew they wanted to have more flexibility and control over their work lives, to spend more time with their impending newborn. That’s how the San Diego-based entrepreneur wound up launching For Keeps Florals, through which she memorializes others’ special blooms. Today, Scott is happy to be able to stay at home full-time with her 1-year-old son, while growing her business and pursuing her creative talents. Here's our lightly edited Q&A, from The Story Exchange 1,000+ Stories Project. How is your business different from others in your industry? We can press flowers from anywhere in the country using our simple shipping method. We have frames ranging from a reasonable $100 option, to more extravagant $500 masterpieces. We’re a small family business and we create everything in-house, which allows us to control all parts of the preservation process. Our happy customers speak to the quality of our work. Tell us about your biggest success so far. This business started as a hobby, but quickly morphed into a full time gig – and building it is our biggest success so far. We've been able to scale in a way that brings our family together and lets us work as a team, while also prioritizing our baby, who was born only a few months after we launched. We have been able to balance our growth with my husband's full time job as a first responder, and share time with our families. This year, we have been able to increase our traffic and revenue by around 50% every month, while still learning how to advertise, market, and operate a growing website all on our own. It sure has been a ride! What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? There has been a lot of trial and error when it comes to designing our frames and jewelry. The jewelry took a lot of time, especially – from finding the right epoxy resin, to finding the right jewelry chains and links. It was also tedious figuring out which frames would work for what we wanted for our end products. We went through a lot of different ideas and samples! Learning how to preserve flowers also was a big challenge in and of itself. We dealt with molding flowers, flowers that weren't dried long enough, and flowers that were framed too early. But in the process of learning, we stumbled upon some great techniques! What is your biggest tip for other startup entrepreneurs? Research everything before starting! From taxes, to materials you want to use. It is important to decide and learn everything you can. How do you find inspiration on your darkest days? My family. My son, who is 1, and so, so joyful. My husband, who is very supportive. My twin sister, with whom I am very close. I also go outside and get a good walk in – that’s a huge reset for me. What is your go-to song to get motivated on tough days? "Simply The Best" by Billianne. It calms me down and reminds me of my husband and son. I hum my son to sleep most nights with that song, so it always takes me to a state of happiness – and motivates me to work harder! Who is your most important role model? My mom. She is strong for our family, and the most creative person I know. She was an art teacher all over our county for decades – I like to think I got her creativity and her spunk! She is everyone's friend and cares for people so well. I hope to be like her – and make her proud. Instagram: @ForKeepsFloralsFacebook: @ForKeepsFloralsTikTok: @ForKeepsFlorals Share your story! Check out our Advice + Tips for entrepreneurs starting-upWatch our latest videosSubscribe to our podcast

Art and Craft

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Art and Craft

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