Member Spotlight: Bold & Blooming Floral Design

Hey Gabby! Tell us a little about yourself! How did you discover floristry, what's your business name, where are you based, what's your floral style, dreams, goals, life story?

Discovering floristry came so naturally to me. I grew up loving the outdoors, playing in mud piles, exploring the garden with my dog, picking flowers and making daisy chains to wear. Every week, my Mum would come home from shopping with new flowers or foliages. Still, to this day, my parents home is a constant rotation of florals, leaves, foliage, dried designs that Mum has dried herself & hundreds of plants.

In year 11, I was an exceptionally lost teenager. Being told to go to university with absolutely no idea what I would do there. I spoke to a careers councillor at school and I asked about floristry to which she responded with a snide laugh and a “no way. You won’t make any money and it’s not a real job”. In that moment, I buried a passion  and dream until the right time.

Flash forward a decade, through family engagements and wedding planning, my passion for flowers and design came flooding back like a tidal wave. I had no choice but to jump, hold on tight and find out where it would take me.

For 2 years, I rambled to my partner about floral design, read books, designed flowers at home and watched Ash’s Wildflower Academy from the wings. I was finally told by my beautiful husband to either stop talking about it or go for it, followed by being informed that he had already purchased my ABN & business name, as Bold & Blooming Floral Design was a known name in our household before we even knew what that would look like. So we jumped together and have not looked back for a second!

Bold & Blooming Floral Design was born in November 2022. I am based in Newcastle, NSW with the Hunter Valley being our main area of design, however 2025 is seeing us travel to Sydney and The Blue Mountains for weddings, as well as Europe for a styled shoot.

I feel like I am constantly discovering my design style. I try new things all the time & sometimes it lands & comes to me naturally, other times it doesn’t. I think we can all relate to designing something we love & then looking back 1-2 years later & thinking how much we would change. I often find it hard to not get swept up in trends as well. Some trends are beautiful & timeless, but some have me sitting & pondering how is this going to look in 2 years time & does that even matter? 

Bold & Blooming Floral Design is about taking what mother nature has gifted us and transforming it to be bold and beautiful, sculptural and elegant, timeless and fun. We love colour, we thrive in texture and shape, and by all means, we love pushing the boundaries, whilst remaining environmentally friendly and sustainably focussed.

We recently jumped on a coaching call together and I was so impressed with your work ethic, motivation and mindset towards business. What’s your approach to building your biz and what does success mean to you?

I think success for me is proving to myself that I can do it. Whatever ‘it’ is. Maybe the ‘it’ is building relationships with growers, maybe it’s booking a dream venue, or as simple as reconciling my receipts after the markets. Every single step in business is scary, but I also know that it will only be scary once.

I look back on everything I have achieved over the last 18 months and it is actually so overwhelming. But, I also get to sit here and say that I did that. No one told me to do anything, I got up and got to work and wanted to see where it would take me. Of course I have had an extreme amount of help, support and guidance which never goes unnoticed or unappreciated. I suppose it comes down to my extreme stubbornness and competitive spirit. It’s not about money for me, that comes later, for me it’s about wanting more in every aspect. I want bigger weddings, bigger designs, more boldness, creative freedom, more flowers! I am in my grind era!

When you work a second job and your business is your ’side hustle’ you have to work and you have to work hard. I still currently work a second job in NDIS, so every spare second is Bold & Blooming. I use all of my leave to design, I start work early and finish late to allow myself to go to the markets on other days when I need to. I am up at 2am, home from Sydney by 8:30am, prep the flowers and at work by 11am. I work late at night, early mornings and on my lunch breaks. Right now, I am writing these answers while my husband drives the car from a weekend away. Every moment is valuable and an opportunity to do something for my business, big or small.

After our call, how did you feel and what were the first actions that you took? What steps did you take to implement a plan and create momentum after the call and what results did you notice?

I absolutely adored our coaching call and I plan on booking another one in a few months time to touch base again. I was so incredibly motivated and I implemented suggestions immediately!

I did market research and sent emails to all old enquiries that night. I started posting more on Instagram, & we already had a new logo, branding and website in the works. I changed up my phone consult strategy and took every opportunity as a way to try something new and see if it worked.

Over the last month I have hit over 5 million views on a single instagram reel and with that I have now gone from 1,200 Instagram followers to over 5,000. I received my biggest enquiry ever of a $10k wedding at Redleaf Wollombi. I reached my goal of booking 10 weddings for 2025 and now have 12 on the books (and counting) at some absolute bucket list venues of the likes of Guestlands and Redleaf.

I had momentum before, but now it's a whole new level and I am not slowing down anytime soon!

Loving the re-brand: The styled shoots, new graphics and direction of Bold and Blooming! What's inspired this evolution and have you noticed any differences that have occurred as a result?

I am obsessed with my new branding. Bad Trad absolutely killed it! I was honestly so nervous to rebrand because I didn’t know what I wanted. I hate having to self reflect and look at who I am and what I want my business to be because you and your business are ever evolving. However, with the support from Emma, I put together a random Pinterest Board of things that I love, that I’m drawn to and colours that make me happy and with that, she went to work and created something absolutely extraordinary.

Honesty, the new rebrand came hand in hand with the advice from Ash and it all took off together. However, I will say that I think the rebrand has made people stand up and notice me, but also take my brand seriously.

You’ve got a busy life with lots of juggling. How do you prioritise education and learning new skills in your business? Have you always loved learning and advancing your knowledge?

Absolutely! I am a big believer in improving your skills and knowledge constantly. You can never stop and if you do stop wanting learn more, you should probably look to do something else. Someone out there will always know more than you, they will have a better idea, they would have tried what you tried & know it won’t work, they have more experience or little tips & tricks. 

I thoroughly believe in working smarter and not harder. If I can educate myself from someone who has put the time and effort in, who has years of experience that I don’t yet, and push my business forward, why wouldn’t I? Working another job doesn’t leave you with a lot of time to experiment. I have to use my time wisely and a main part of that is Ash’s classes, workshops and coaching calls.

I’ve been loving seeing more of your face on socials and hearing about the stories behind the flowers - can you share some tips for other’s on how to get past the fear of judgement when jumping onto Insta to connect with your audience?

No one is looking at you! Absolutely no one cares. My best, yet brutal, advice is that we live in a world where everyone is pretty obsessed with themselves. No one is paying you as much attention as you do. It takes me about 10 takes usually to post an Instagram story, they are never the first take I guarantee you. There are lots of bloopers, lots of ‘oh shut up Gab’ talk and if it means I can grow my business & book more weddings, then I will try it. 

As Nedd Brockman says, you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. When I started talking on Instagram, I told my closest family and friends that I was trying this but nervous so please support me with no judgement, so now they all do instead of making little funny comments. 

What are some of your favourite classes from the wildflower academy membership and why?

I absolutely love the classes where Ash was most honest about her business. Prices, her website, recipes, spreadsheets, how and why she runs things in a certain way with her business. I still refer back to them all the time!

I absolutely adore the designing classes, but for me, running my business effectively & efficiently is most important.

Can you share any favourite wins you’ve had along your flower journey?

I touched on this earlier, but booking weddings at venues like Redleaf and Guestlands has been a huge goal of mine. But what honestly means so much more to me is the community I have built around me. The florists I have admired for years are now my friends, we chat at the markets and build each other up in business. Vendors who I have idolised are wanting to collaborate and work with me. That is huge!

I could not do what I do without my florry friends, in particular Jasmine from As Sweet As Jasmine and Lily from Lily & Mae. These girls have taken me under their wings and lifted me up. They have answered every question I have ever thrown at them and been so humble with their honesty to share parts of their own journeys with me. I think that’s a huge part of the floral community that we should be proud of. Trying to reduce the competitiveness and instead lifting each other up, exactly what Ash has created with the academy. Pushing each other with designs & business strategies, in my opinion, is a lot more valuable than trying to tear each other down.

What’s been your biggest challenges when growing your business and how have you overcome them?

I think I have two major challenges. The first has been working a second job and trying to grow my business. I have had to turn down a lot of opportunities in order to not lose my job that puts food on the table and pay my bills. That is really tough! However, it has also helped me to not take on too much and grow in an organic way that I can control and keep on top of.

The other challenge that goes hand in hand with the other is having patience. Patience is key in business! Businesses take up to 5 years if not longer to establish a trusted brand and name for themselves. I am often not very patient, I want to work hard and have things happen now! Business takes a long time to grow, and it’s tough! You get knocked back and knocked back time and time again. Getting back up and continuing to push your business forward is what will separate you from others. You also have to realise that everyone else works really bloody hard on their businesses too. When someone else locks in an amazing wedding that you wanted, that’s ok, keep pushing, something else will be right around the corner for you. Use that not back as an opportunity to learn. 

A side note, celebrate the wins. As a business owner running your business solo, I often celebrate a booking for about 24 hours and then I am on to the next thing. Stop, celebrate, YOU did that, and it’s ok to cheer yourself on.

What are your business goals for the future? Tell us where Bold and Blooming is heading!

Bold & Blooming is going to be having a huge 2025! I am so excited! I am hoping to cut back my second job and start to make those bigger leaps in business. Travelling and taking Bold & Blooming overseas is going to be so exciting and challenging. Any florists in France or Italy please hit me up!

I want to excel in my design, as well as the experience I can offer my couples. From how my couples find me, to when they land on my Instagram, TikTok or website, to enquiring, booking and up to their wedding day, I want to offer my couples a bespoke experience that they can’t get anywhere else. I have a lot of ideas! 2024 is my growth & prep year, finessing all of my processes and prepping for the year to come. That’s what business is, giving 110% in every moment but constantly thinking about how this will impact the next 12 months to 5 years. You are always looking forward & never behind!

Styled shoots are going to be a huge part of next year as well. I am dabbling in them in 2024 and finding my feet with them, which I am already so proud of what I have created. I am already chatting with vendors who I plan to work with & where I want to design.

Have you got any words of wisdom for new florists wanting to start their business and dive into the floral industry?

Do it! There is never a right time to change careers or start a business, you just have to jump.

Start small, find florists you love and message them to freelance for them. Work hard, listen and ask questions when appropriate.

Never think you are too good to learn more, because you’re not! Resources like the academy, books, Instagram, TikTok, they are all at the tips of our fingers so get researching.

Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there! 18 months ago limited florists knew who I was, and now I get to chat with so many amazing people at 5am in Sydney markets and I absolutely thrive off it. Social media allows us to connect with florists all around the world, I have spoken to florists in New Zealand, America and Europe. Running a business is lonely, find your community and build each other up.

My last bit of advice was don’t ever think you aren’t worthy to achieve amazing things. If you want something bad enough and work hard, you can achieve it. Every single florist started from where you are at some point.