Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Clark and Diane Hill.
Hi Courtney and Diane, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m Courtney Clark, my momma, Diane Hill, and I run Dahlias Flower Truck. The unique vintage VW truck stocked with beautiful, fresh and fragrant stems of flowers placed in French galvanized buckets provides a very unique experience for guests at bridal showers, weddings, and corporate events. It’s an adventure that we never imagined would take off like it has, and we couldn’t be more grateful. As a mother/daughter small business, we’ve learned more about each other over the last 2 1/2 years of running a small business together than ever before. Diane is a full-on entrepreneur with the most beautiful dreams and ideas (aka this little blue truck), while I am the floral designer and tend to be the ”let’s get it done” one who makes sure all the little details fall into place.
In the summer of 2018, I returned from living abroad for the past four years, and Diane was looking for work after a nationwide layoff at her pharmaceutical sales company, where she had worked at for 16 years. With no real idea of what the future looked like, little conversations of “should we” and “could we” turned into “okay, we’re doing it” and the little blue flower truck was created. The first time we introduced the little blue truck to Central Florida was doing a “pop-up” at a bar/restaurant in Sanford. Within a couple of months, Dahlias Flower Truck was popping up all around Central Florida. We have just been so grateful for this flower adventure. It’s connected people all over Central Florida through florals and has connected us to the Orlando Small Business community, which we absolutely adore.
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?
We are always learning. Starting a small business isn’t about showing up perfectly and knowing how to do everything. It’s full of making mistakes, learning and growing into something better. Like most small businesses, 2020 has been our hardest year yet. This time last year we were receiving calls from all of our corporate events saying they needed to cancel due to COVID and we started to cancel our pop-ups due to safety concerns. Both of our ways of producing income had halted. But before we could go into full panic mode, we threw a couple of photos of pre-made bouquets onto our social media outlets and were blown away by the support of our community. We ended up pivoting (I can only picture the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. episode when using this word) and started to do deliveries throughout Central Florida. Something we honestly never thought we would do. We continue to offer deliveries and free pickups Wednesday-Saturday, are currently booking the flower truck for events again and are starting monthly pop-ups.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Dahlias Flower Truck?
Dahlias Flower Truck is a 1969 VW mobile flower bar where you can create your own bouquet or we can help. We are open for deliveries or free pick-ups (with our community partners at Good Crowd Shop in College Park, Maple Street Biscuit Company in Oviedo and Hourglass Brewery in the Hourglass District). We book the flower truck for corporate or private events such as bridal and baby showers, apartment community events, weddings and more. And we also pop up around Central Florida, where you can come and build your own bouquet.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Favorite book: Love historical biography’s such as ‘I Am Malala”. Favorite editing app is PinkPapaya. Po Favorite Podcasts: Hidden Brain, Practice Good, & Experts on Expert with Dax Shepard. We always recommend small businesses to check out and get involved with their local SCORE chapter. They provide mentoring and training to help guide your small business.
Pricing:
- Delivery or Pick Up starting at $35
Contact Info:
- Email: dahliasflowertruck@gmail.com
- Website: www.dahliasflowertruck.com
- Instagram: @dahliasflowertruck
- Facebook: @dahliasflowertruck
- Pinterest: @dahliasflowertruck
- Other: Tik Tok – @dahliasflowertruck
Image Credits
Gina Fig Photo @Ginafigphoto
