Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Schoepp.
Amber, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My love of flowers began at a very early age, picking wild blooms from the hills behind our house, in Northern California.
I never made it to girl scouts, but as a Brownie (maybe age 6 or 7?), I learned my first sales skills selling cookies and such. I remember we did a gardening project of some sort, and then took home our little creations to watch them grow. As soon as I got a few little sprouts to come up, my mini plants were in the red wagon and I was knocking on doors for my neighbors to buy them. At age 8 or 9, I remember hosting a one-day flower shop in our driveway, with bouquets of wild flowers from the hills– mixed with my neighbor’s flowers from their yard, and arranged in our kitchen cups. A few neighbors were kind enough to look past the fact that I picked THEIR flowers, and obliged me with a sale or two.
Jumping to age 16, my first real job was at a flower shop in Tiburon, Ca. A wonderfully eccentric Native American woman owned the shop. I would watch her every move, how she processed the new flowers, how she designed, and how she engaged the customers. After a few weeks, she trusted me enough to leave me at the shop “for a little while.” She’d say “I’m going to pick up the kids, I’ll be right back” and then leave for hours. So, much of my beginning floral training was “by eye”, similar to how a musician learns a song “by ear.”
I obtained my first business license in my early 20’s. I had two weekly restaurant accounts, and did a handful of small weddings for my friends and referrals.
It took me seven years to finish college, going to school here and there, working in restaurants, etc. in between. When I graduated, I went into sales and marketing. In 2000, I moved to Atlanta “to go work for Ted Turner”…a goal of mine. I did end up working for Turner for three years, then moved on and eventually got a great job traveling the country training radio sales teams how to use an online marketing program…. but I longed to get back in to flowers….
In 2006, I opened Flower Bar. I researched as much as I could to make sure no one else had a company named Flower Bar, in Atlanta or anywhere else, and began my journey, pretty much “faking it until I make it”…. advice my Mother would give me. (There are now Flower Bars all over the country, in Singapore and Australia– A mistake on my part not to trademark the name!).
I tried as hard as I could to be a different kind of flower shop. I built my own website, started a blog, started DIY workshops where people could learn how to make their own arrangements, and I sold “cocktail bouquets” out of bar glasses, tag-lining them as “Intoxicatingly beautiful bouquets!” Ten years later, here I am. I moved out of my current building in 2009 and then moved back in just two years ago, and freelanced from my home workshop in between that time.
In 2006, the Atlanta Beltline didn’t exist but our building is right where the Eastside Trail begins. Today it’s a thriving part of the Atlanta community and I am very thankful to be here, and to be so supported by our neighbors and neighborhood.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As I mentioned, I moved out of my original spot in 2009. It was just after the economic recession of 2008. All of the sudden, my weekly accounts no longer had a budget for flowers, and my wedding client’s budgets were next to nothing. I made a brief visit back to media, and worked for CBS Radio Atlanta for about a year…while designing flowers from my home, sometimes filling my entire kitchen, dining table and bathroom with wedding flowers.
I also moved to Vegas in 2011, for 7 months, to help my Father make several phases of plans for how to care for my Mother who developed Alzheimer’s disease. She passed two years ago this Easter. When I was in Vegas, I had several annual events, I had been doing for years, and was thankful to be able to call on a few other Atlanta freelance designers I’d worked with, to coordinate the project from out of state. It all worked out.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I specialize in everything! But my favorite is my DIY Workshops. People always love the activity, and walk away saying “wow, I can’t believe I made something so pretty.”
A customer who remembers me from when I first started Flower Bar gave me the best compliment I can remember a few weeks ago. He said “You are a pioneer florist in our area. You were doing some very creative things before any other florist in Atlanta.” I was so flattered. I’m not sure what he was referring to exactly, but I’m guessing it was my DIY Workshops. All things DIY are very popular now, here in Atlanta and all over the country really. I remember when I started my DIYs, Martha Stewart had her own show for the Apprentice. I named the different levels of workshops something like “The Novelty,” “Hidden Talent,” “The Martha,” and “The Apprentice,” ha-ha.
Of course, I love doing weddings and events. I invest a lot of time and energy listening to my client’s vision and making it come to life, within their budget. Each project is different, and I love that. Sometimes I wow them with my ideas, and sometimes my clients wow me with theirs– and I can’t wait to make it a reality. That really charges me.
One of the more recent developments of my floral career is the booming film and music industry in Atlanta. I’ve had the thrill of creating many flower arrangements for high profile actors and musicians, and for sets. My biggest coo is that I got to do five backstage flower arrangements for Prince’s last show on earth. He played “Piano & a Microphone” at Fox Theater last April, and his stage manager said my flowers were the prettiest he’d seen on that tour. I did get very giddy when I got the Prince job, but other than that I’m pretty cool about celebrities…got to keep my professional cool on!
I don’t know if it “sets me apart” but I do spend a LOT of time on all the social media outlets now. When I started 11 years ago, there was no Instagram, Pinterest or business Facebook pages. It takes a lot of work, but I think I’m one of the more active florists on social media in Atlanta.
What makes me most proud is when people take time out of the day to call me back and thank me for their order, or wedding, or delivery. I’m probably also pretty proud that I don’t get many complaints at all. Only one out of 100+ orders this past Valentine’s Day….that’s pretty good! 🙂
What were you like growing up?
According to my Mom: a rugrat, a rascal and I could sell ice cubes to an eskimo.
According to me, brave but also very insecure. Always with the love of flowers. Maybe a little bossy, or is it entrepreneurial? Besides the driveway flower shop, I did a driveway library once (coding every book I had), I choreographed a few dances with the neighborhood kids, stuff like that.
Pricing:
- DIY Workshops: flower arrangements, succulent gardens, flower crowns, etc. $50 ea.
- Daily flower delivery $8-$12 fee in metro Atlanta area
- Weddings- free bridal bouquet ($120 value) with weddings of $1000 or more
Contact Info:
- Address: Flower Bar (at the Irwin Street Market)
660 Irwin Street, Atlanta GA 30312 - Website: atlantaflowerbar.com
- Phone: 404-431-0811
- Email: flowerbar@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/atlanta_flowerbar
- Facebook: facebook.com/atlantaflowerbar
- Yelp: yelp.com/biz/flower-bar-atlanta
- Other: pinterest.com/flowerbar
Image Credit:
Elizabeth Karp Photography
Our Labor of Love Photography
Photos by Gannon
Flower Bar
