Grace Gering | CEO, Olive&Grace Floral Co.
Grace fell in love with flowers at a young age, and fell deeper in love with the ins and outs of the floral industry while working in a flower shop during college. When she was presented with the opportunity to start her own wedding and event floral business, she knew she had to try. Today, she’s the owner of Olive&Grace Floral Company, a fine art floral studio located in Sioux Falls, SD that specializes in weddings and events. Read on to learn about her inspiration from life growing up on the prairie, her undeniable passion for her work, and her unmatched commitment to her clients.
The Basics:
Hometown: Freeman, SD
Current city: Sioux Falls, SD
Alma mater: Augustana University, Sioux Falls, SD
Degree: Business Communications
Very first job: Subway
Hustle: Owner and Lead Designer, Olive&Grace Floral Company, LLC
The Basics:
Babe you admire and why?
When it comes to my business and my life in general, I highly admire my former boss and floral mentor, Bridget Fitzgibbons Peterson. She taught me to arrange my first bouquet, and pushed me to open my business after she closed her own flower shop. She has been so supportive and I can’t thank her enough for her knowledge, wisdom, kindness and guidance. Since the first day I met her, she has become a staple in my life—a close friend and confidant. I wouldn’t be where I am today without her.
If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?
I had the wonderful opportunity to live on the coast of Maine for two summers and if my life ever gives me the opportunity to move back, I will. Not only were the sunsets breathtaking, the nature wild and the beach roses abundant, the ocean always gave me a sense of mindfulness—a way of making me realize the world is so much bigger than the little life I live—but that’s okay. It was just what I needed to find more compassion in the everyday.
What’s your favorite flower at the moment?
Hellebore will forever and always be my favorite flower. It is delicate in appearance with the most beautiful movement, while still being hardy and strong. It is a symbol of serenity and peace. Once planted, it comes back year after year even after a harsh winter, showing its resilience.
The Hustle:
Tell us about your hustle.
Olive&Grace Floral Company is a fine art floral studio located in Sioux Falls, SD, specializing in weddings and events. I am inspired by the true nature and integrity of flowers. With muted color palettes, my flowers are recognizable through the garden-y, organic shapes of the designs, and I try to limit the amount I manipulate flowers as much as possible. I am lucky enough to be able to operate out of an in-home studio in my garage and have a small flower garden in the backyard. For the most part, I’m running a one-woman show, taking on the titles of lead designer, social media manager, website design, meeting manager, customer service, custodian, and gardener, etc. I do employ one part-time assistant and she has been my life-saver the last two wedding seasons. The bulk of weddings in South Dakota happen May-October, and we’ve been operating at anywhere from 1-4 events a weekend. Our flowers usually arrive on Wednesday or Thursday, giving us time to prepare for Friday and Saturday weddings and the occasional Sunday event. The rest of the week is for email correspondence, supply ordering, meetings, and the like.
When did you know you wanted to pursue floristry?
I’ve always loved flowers, running around in my grandparents’ gardens as a child, but never saw it as a career until after I graduated college. I took a job halfway across the country in hospitality, then realized that I deeply missed the artistic outlet of the adorable little flower shop I worked for in college. Then, one day, my old boss called me and told me to move back and start my own business doing weddings. Long story short, I made the decision and everything started falling in place after that. I’ve been operating for close to five years now.
What did you originally set out to accomplish with Olive and Grace? How (if at all) has your mission evolved over time?
In 2017, Olive&Grace was just going to be a side hustle to help pay off my student loans faster. I had intentions of building a full-time career elsewhere. Fast forward, and it’s now my largest source of income and proudest accomplishment. At first I didn’t see it becoming this large a part of my life—let alone seeing it past the first season—but now there are so many possibilities of growth for the future. I just have to decide what path to take.
What sets Olive and Grace apart from other wedding + event floral businesses?
Olive&Grace is different from other floral studios, especially in our area, because I pride myself in creating new floral recipes for every client. I’ve never made the same bouquet twice. I’m able to accomplish this by straying from “traditional” pricing models. The way I charge gives the client a unique and personalized experience, while letting me have the freedom to create with what I desire. The floral industry is always fluctuating limiting the amount of ‘promises’ I can make to clients. Instead, I ask them to keep their expectations high but not get too hung up on specifics and I guarantee to create something beautiful.
How have your past professional and academic experiences and lessons prepared you for the work you do today? How have they not prepared you?
Luckily, I have had many wonderful opportunities to work in different industries and for different types of employers and managers, which has led to resilience. This has prepared me in ways I couldn’t have predicted when facing the creative wedding industry. Surprisingly or not, my business degree didn’t set me up for success in ways that one would assume it would. Running a small business is nothing like they explain or describe in college classes. In all honesty, my degree and working for other jobs taught me that a lot of the world, at least the U.S., sees employment as “anyone is replaceable.” Unfortunately it carries over into artist services and the small business world. Understanding this idea has helped me process when and why some clients are quick to move on when they find what they consider to be a better deal. It took me a while to realize, but I’ve finally come to terms with seeking out the clients that want me for my work, and not for my pricing. At the end of the day, everyone involved will feel more appreciated and the end result will be of gratitude—gratitude from the client and for the client. A little bit of compassion goes a long way and that’s what I always want to bring to the table whether it be for clients or my current and future employees and knowing that we all live lives worth compassion.
How does your business practice sustainability? What motivated you to be environmentally conscious, and why do you think it's important that other businesses follow suit?
In all honesty, my sustainability efforts in the floral industry are hard to accomplish, yet I feel a responsibility to try. It isn’t the most convenient way to get things done, nor the most cost effective. The waste I create weekly and the lengths my flowers have to travel to get to me are both hard pills to swallow, especially in South Dakota where flowers aren’t readily grown locally. So I make little changes all the time to help offset what I can. Buying from local farmers and foraging from my parents land when I can, using little to no floral foam, only using recyclable packaging, and simply recycling what I can are some of those efforts. In the future, I will try my best to reuse water from the flower buckets to water my own garden and grow my own flowers. I do not design with faux flowers either. In my opinion, we don’t need to use the energy or resources to keep creating another synthetic product when the earth is abundant and ready to provide us with flowers and foliage. We just need to start listening to her, and branching out of our comfort zones.
How has being a woman impacted your professional experiences? What can we collectively do to support and empower women in your industry today?
I think one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced as a woman in the working world is feeling justified in speaking my mind and holding my ground. When a client is being unreasonable or a wedding guest is being rude, I’ve found it hard to not worry about looking harsh or difficult. Maybe it's my “always nice” Midwestern roots, or the smaller voice of being a woman, but it’s a frustrating and guilt-provoking situation for me. I think women can empower other women in moments like this by simply being supportive, without question but within reason, when they witness other women taking a stand. We all have things worth saying, and it’s important that we also take turns listening.
How would you describe your style as a florist? Are there particular flowers or designs you find yourself favoring lately?
I would consider my designs to be very garden derived. I let the flowers do the talking. With lots of textures and using the flowers at their peak, I can produce a lush effect. I would say color is also the most important aspect of my designs. In the ever changing supply and demand of perishable wedding flowers, I can substitute pretty much anything as long as it’s still in the color scheme at hand. At the end of the day, I don’t want a contrived look so the more asymmetrical, the better.
How does it feel to be such a huge part of someone's special day? How do you handle the pressure of such an important responsibility?
To me, someone trusting me with such a big part of their day is the greatest compliment. Seeing the bride’s face light up when she sees her bouquet on the day of the wedding will never get old. It’s the most important aspect of my business, and I want to continue to be able to help them achieve a dream wedding, no matter how emotional it might get!
What’s one thing you’re proud to have accomplished in your career thus far?
Reaching the five-year mark this coming December feels like a huge milestone for me.
Who are some women in your field that you look to for inspiration?
There are many instagram accounts that I find inspiration from with or without personally knowing the women behind them. A few of them can be found by these handles: @thefloraclub, @sirenfloralco, @fieldandcanvas, @kinflowerlnk, @jovialfloralco, @evergreenflowerco, @twistedwillowflowers, @naliasfloral, @ashleyfoxdesigns
Career and/or life advice for other babes?
The best piece of advice I received when I started my business—from a woman I hold dear to my heart and former business owner herself—was to only worry about yourself. It applies to both business and life. Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing because you need to take care of yourself first. If you only focus on what your “competition” is doing, how will there be any energy left over to perform to your best ability, to create the best product you can? It’s a slippery rabbit hole, and it’s easy to get stuck in—so put your self care as your top priority. I like to not think of competitors as such. I want to be happy and motivated for them and their accomplishments.
Also, remember there won’t be a hustle if you can’t get out of bed each day so drink that water, take the time to do that yoga video. Take the walk. Visit with a friend. Make sure you take five, ten, or sixty minutes a day to do something for yourself. Get a full night of sleep. Pick up that book you’ve been meaning to read, and put down Instagram. The time you put into yourself will outweigh the time you lose scrolling on the web.
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