Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Wallace.
Ashley, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I moved to Manhattan after college at The University of Texas at Austin to pursue a career in the legal industry. My best friend and I lived in Greenwich Village and every day, on the way to the subway to go to work, I passed this beautiful flower shop. The little neighborhood shops in New York City are what makes the city feel like home and I fell in love with this flower shop. From that point on, I had a dream of opening a flower shop! Fast forward 10 years, I have moved back to Houston, married the love of my life, have 2 dogs and a beautiful 2 year old daughter and live in the “suburbs.” A place I’d never dreamed I’d be 10 years ago, as a single, city girl who danced the night away at a club in the Meatpacking district until 4am every Thursday, Friday AND Saturday nights with my best girlfriends. Here I am in the Sienna Plantation suburb with an amazing corporate job downtown and more than enough at home to keep me busy, and I decide “now is the time!” I have to open a flower shop. I have this annoying personality characteristic that once I set my mind to something, it has to happen NOW. So, here we are. I made the dream a reality and opened The Tallest Tulip in March 2017.
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?
No, it has been anything but smooth. I’ve been in business a little over 2 months and have already experienced challenges. The first hard lesson I had to learn is that you can’t make everyone happy. There will always be that one person out there who can’t be pleased no matter what. My tactic is to kill them with kindness and do everything possible to make it right. I’ve also been dealing with problems of scale. This business has taken off very fast and I’ve struggled to keep up at times. In fact, last weekend I filled over 65 orders with prom and Mother’s Day falling on the same weekend. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s just me and I’m making the flowers, tracking the orders, answering the phones, responding to emails and providing all customer service…AHH. For 5 seconds I thought I wanted to quit, but then I realized that this is a good problem to have and every challenge offers me the opportunity to learn and adjust my business model to make it better.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Tallest Tulip – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The Tallest Tulip is a floral event business. I make pretty flowers for pretty events. Weddings, corporate events, parties of all kinds, showers…we can handle flowers for any event where flowers are appropriate…and that’s almost every event!! We are proud of the personal touch make sure to give each order. This isn’t just about creating flower arrangements for your party. This is about spending time with you, getting to know you, listening to you, understanding your style and using all of that to create flowers that will make you happy!
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We have a lot to look forward to as a brand new business! We are excited to see where The Tallest Tulip takes us and know there are big things in store!
Pricing:
- Event florals starting at $300.00
Contact Info:
- Address: Sienna Plantation, TX
- Website: www.TheTallestTulip.com
- Phone: 713.835.0730
- Email: ashley@thetallesttulip.com
Image Credit:
Martiza Anderson Photography
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