Today we’d like to introduce you to Tracy Post.
Hi Tracy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
At 53 years old, I am living out my childhood dream. I am spreading smiles one bloom at a time throughout Central Florida. Florida native. Entrepreneur – first business at ten years old. UCF graduate. Mother of three. Married 25+ years. I have worn many hats – as an event planner, program developer, historic venue operations manager, small business marketing consultant, and educator. All setting the foundation for now.
In 2018, my younger brother was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and passed away just over four weeks from the day of the diagnosis. One of the last conversations I had with him, he told me to “go LIVE.” Don’t wait for the right time, enough money, or the “someday I want to.” Do your passion. LIVE.
I discovered what made my heart fill with happiness was to spark joy in others and to full fill, a childhood dream of someday work with flowers. On my travels, I loved the how the Europeans embrace flowers into their daily lives making them accessible on street corners. I wanted to bring that to Central Florida. Petals and Stems Market was born to “Spread smiles one bloom at a time.”
In Fall of 2018, I launched the first Parisian flower cart in Central Florida. Bringing the flower cart filled with buckets of fantastic blooms to farmer’s markets and pop-up events where you can purchase by the stem or pick out a pre-made seasonal curated hand-tied bouquet. Sharing flowers in the community and experiencing the joy when people saw the cart filled with blooms has been amazing. When quarantine shut things down, I had to shift. I began to deliver bouquets and provided on-line floral design workshops.
The support from Central Florida has been amazing. Petals and Stems has taken flight beyond what I could have imagined. Today, I am designing florals for weddings, events, hotels and retail establishment. Providing hands-on floral and botanical workshops for kids through adult. Plus designing large-scale floral installations for businesses and restaurants. We are blooming.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Taking an idea and launching it into a business is never smooth. I grew up in a family-owned business; I knew the road wasn’t going to be easy. But when your doing your passion, it doesn’t seem like work.
Just like so many other businesses, 2020 came with its challenges. I had a full calendar of pop-up markets, weddings, corporate floral concierge contracts and workshops all canceled. In addition, the availability of getting flowers came to a halt as flower farms had to shut down production and shipping became an issue. Once I was able to get flowers, I updated my website to offer door-drop bouquet deliveries and created an online flower design workshops. We were able to deliver for Mother’s Day and Teacher Appreciation.
As events are beginning to happen again, the obstacles I had to navigate through and explore other options has position the business in a better position. It was a hard time, but as we are beginning to book up again, I am excited to be back out sharing flowers in the community.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Petals and Stems Market launched as Flower Cart for pop-up markets and has bloomed into a Floral Design business from my home-based Studio. With my years of experience in the wedding and event industry, I am designing florals for weddings, events, hotels and retail establishments. I also offer an array of floral design and plant workshops that are hosted at local businesses or can be booked for a private events – team building, garden clubs, social/civic organizations or as an activity for a bridal showers or birthdays.
Florals are not just for weddings. I also specialize in designing large-scale floral and botanical installations that are displayed on the exterior or interior of business or restaurant establishments. Since I use faux blooms, the installations can withstand the weather elements and stay up for months. The amazing large floral designs create a special ambience as it greets guests to set a special arrival experience. Businesses are seeing a bolster to their brand and increase in business traffic. The response by the community has been incredible.
I am most proud of to be providing hands-on floral and botanical workshops for Senior Living Communities. It is so fulfilling to have residence reminisce about certain flowers that have been woven into their life story. During the Covid quarantine, Senior Living facilities were in total isolation for almost a year. During that time, I teamed with local flower farms and received donations to bring buckets of blooms to some local facilities where the staff would distribute the blooms to the residences. Spreading smiles one bloom at a time.
Contact Info:
- Email: petalsandstemsmarket@gmail.com
- Website: www.petalsandstemsmarket.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/petalsandstemsmarket/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PetalsandStemsMarket
Image Credits
Rania Marie Photography, Colmenares Photography, Tracy Post Photography
