Today we’d like to introduce you to Shaun O’Dwyer.
Hi Shaun, 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 started doing flowers in High School at Bristol County Agricultural H.S. where I took floriculture, landscaping, and arboriculture. Although I excelled in Landscaping at the time, I eventually found my way to floral design as I found it more gratifying. I was working in Little Compton RI. one summer and the florist was out on vacation and someone needed a dried flower arrangement and so I stepped in. They loved it and soon my reputation got out to another florist in Providence RI., I then moved to Boston where I work for Winton Flowers in Boston one of the top florists in the world. In 1996 I decided to move to Atlanta, Ga., and worked for Robert Long Flora Design. It was here that I honed my skills and had the opportunity to work with celebrity clients such as Sir Elton John and Usher, Eventually, I made my way to Winter Park Florida, and Opened my Business in 2017, it has been the best thing I have ever done. Today we have daily flowers we deliver to clients all over Winter Park, Orlando, Maitland, and Windermere, and we specialize in weddings all over the country
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Business always has its ups and downs, and being in the flower business is very challenging at times. When covid hit for example, we had to a lot of orchids and containers due for a short time of no flowers being imported from out of the country.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a full-service florist. We deliver flowers daily and specialize in weddings and events, residential or commercial. We offer weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly flower subscriptions. I believe what sets us apart is the quality of our flowers as we import our own flowers from various sources around the world; I would have to say I’m most proud of our style of how we design flowers when clients receive an arrangement from Shaun O’Dwyer Flowers they are so grateful and love the colors and design and say things like wow we’ve never seen such beautiful flowers. I like more people to understand the floral industry and its value, to know how much time goes into flowers. Most people think oooh, flowers how fun and for the most part it is, however, there is an extreme amount of labor that goes into every arrangement. It starts off with planning sometimes weeks and months in advance figuring out what flowers are available and what looks, style, and colors we want. Then there’s the ordering., From the moment flowers are ordered, sometimes they have been on several flights and trucks to get to you, then we spend hours processing and caring for the flowers in preparation for making the arrangements, not to mention all the containers that have to be unpacked and cleaned, this could be 20-40 hours of labor all before, and arrangement is even made on a weekly basis. The results, however are worth it when you see our work!
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I took a risk opening my own business late in life it took all my savings and hundreds of hours working out all the details, and I would say to anyone that is wanting to work for themselves to do so and not wait. Pour your heart and soul into your business, and I have no doubt you will be successful. It’s not your 40-hour work week job it’s more like 80 to 100 hours, but it’s yours, and you have control over your own future and destiny.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shaunodwyerflowers.com
- Instagram: shaunodwyerflowers
Image Credits
Shaun O’Dwyer
