Where Culture Meets Floral Luxury - Crealuxe Design Studio

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in floristry but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Brittany Bowens, Founder of Crealuxe Design Studio, located in Atlanta, GA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Crealuxe Design Studio is a Luxury & Conscious Floral Design Studio that believes in impact, sustainability, and luxury. We specialize in luxury fresh flowers and offer weddings & special events floral services, self-care-focused floral workshops, and fresh floral subscription boxes. We have a mission to provide luxury florals and experiences to black women in hopes that it promotes social justice & self-care.

Tell us about yourself

As a young black woman, I spent a lot of my 20s waiting around for others (much like other black women in my family). Whether I was waiting for friends & family to travel, be interested in the things I was at the time, or simply have time in their schedule to experience something with me. At times I waited for people to care to spend money on the things I thought were meaningful and not just the bare necessities. I often waited for significant others to take me to nice places (instead of taking myself) or to buy me nice things. I was depriving myself of luxury and experiences because I thought if others didn't desire them or experience them with me, then I didn't deserve them. Sounds crazy - right?!

Quite frankly, I got tired of playing the waiting game! And to be real with me, no one asked me to wait! There was a very pivotal moment where I realized that no one owed me their time, nice things, and beautiful experiences - that if I desired those things, I was the only one responsible for providing them! And in a blink of an eye (and several therapy appointments), I stopped waiting!

As I continued in my career in the wedding industry, I started to meet black women who had the same mindset as me! Who felt guilty spending money on things that weren't a "need," who didn't think they deserved nice things, and who spent a lot of time WAITING for someone to tell them that they deserve nice things.

As the Owner and Lead Floral Designer, It's pretty simple for me. I believe that black women deserve luxury & beautiful experiences. I'm a Certified Wedding Planner & Floral Designer, and I've been in the event industry for ten years serving all nationalities. The one thing I come across more often than not is how much Black Women deprive themselves of luxury and experiences due to various reasons. Whether it be taking care of others before themselves, talking themselves out of experiences, or waiting for others to give them their flowers. I built a brand centered around changing that narrative - through flowers.

My goal is to provide luxury flowers & floral experiences to black women in hopes that it encourages them to continue to pour into themselves, not wait on others to see how valuable they are, and hopefully pass down to other generations the importance of self-care & self-love.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Wow, so hard to choose. As a self-proclaimed Habitual Celebrator, I tend to think everything is a big accomplishment. We will go with my most recent accomplishment. At the beginning of this year, I set a goal for our company to put luxury florals in the hands of 100 Black Women and to teach black women how to care for fresh flowers. As of today, we have taught 189 black women how to take care of fresh flowers and provided luxury flowers to 242 black women. We offer a giveaway once a month and constantly partner with local black-owned businesses to continue this mission for the remainder of the year. We're beyond proud of the work we're doing in our community, and we hope that you can help us continue.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Whew! One of the most challenging things for me is balance. Most times, as business owners, we're so passionate about the work that we indulge in no end. Because work doesn't always feel like work, I have to make sure I balance my time and not let it consume my entire day and weekend.

And outside of just managing time, I realize that I desire to be a person outside of my titles and business. I always want to be relatable, have other skills that aren't attached to my work, and remind myself how important it is to be balanced.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Building & scaling a business can be chaotic - or what I call beautiful chaos. If there is anything I could share with someone who desires to start or grow their business, it would be:

1. Always Walk in Your Purpose: Make sure your business serves your passion & purpose. Make sure it doesn't always feel like work. Make sure you feel connected to the services and products you offer. Your clients or customers can tell.
2. Discover & Remember Your Why!: Always remember your why! Entrepreneurship can be hard and very inconsistent. It's also super easy to become trapped in keeping up with the trends and adding on more services and products just to appease everyone. As long as you have a "Why" to remind you to keep going - you will win every time.
3. Be a Sponge!: Research your industry, obtain certifications, take classes, network, and understand the full complexity of your business and industry. Be a sponge! Never stop learning!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.crealuxestudio.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crealuxestudio/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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