We’re back! This week is all about Hannah Allen soon-to-be-Anderson on Sustaining Craft the Podcast, a series that features those in a creative field. We’re adding video! Watch below or on YouTube, or listen below through Fireside, or simply keep reading to learn more about Hannah Allen and how she wants to shake up the florist industry.

NEW: YOUTUBE

PODCAST

Hannah Allen needed a new job.

She’d grown up in Sherwood, graduating from North Little Rock High School after attending a private school for ten years. “I was always really artsy and kind of out there and weird,” Hannah shared. “I thought farts were funny and so I was kind of outcast for a while, but I went to college for music.”

She attended Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, pursuing music performance on bassoon. She realized there were no career options in her chosen field, and she had what she describes as a mental breakdown, causing her to drop out of college. After some time waiting tables, she was looking for a change. “My mom didn’t want me to wait tables anymore,” Hannah explained.

She stumbled into the flower industry with a customer service job. “I had no intention of touching flowers whatsoever,” Hannah said. “Only because my manager was just like, ‘This is your job. Don’t expect much.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, sure, fine.’ I was young and dumb, so I was like, ‘I’ll just do whatever. Just give me a paycheck.’”

Then the head florist, Marie, asked her for some help. “She got really overwhelmed one day and she was like, ‘Come on over,’” Hannah said. “She was drilling me on the flowers, on what’s what, I had to label them. She taught me all the basic arrangements that I needed to know.”

Marie was transferred, and Hannah became head designer at the shop.

She’d always loved weddings since she was young. As the flower girl at the weddings of her mother’s friends, Hannah was determined to do the best job she could. When a bride came into the shop looking for affordable wedding flowers, Hannah remembered how much she loved weddings. “A girl came in looking for cheap wedding flowers on the fly,” Hannah said. “My manager handed me this big binder full of wedding information on all the questions you need to ask and all this stuff. And he was like, ‘Here you go. You can do it.’ I was like ‘Oh, ok.’ Having that sit down with the bride and getting excited and talking about what we’re going to do for her wedding was what ignited that, I think. I had this entire trade-style crash course on how to have a wedding consultation. That’s where it started, I think. It was the wedding stuff.”

In 2018, when she decided to “go rogue” as she described it, she started with Hannah Allen, Flower Gal. Then came Petal to the Metal Floristry. “I was just making an Instagram post one day, and I was just like, ‘Everything is going so fast, it’s petal to the metal.’ It just clicked in my head. It was the best pun of all time for a flower business.”

She wasn’t the first one to think of the pun and added “AR” at the end to identify her Arkansas-based business. “My silent partner, Lacey, she also just absolutely loves that name because we’re rock and roll,” Hannah shared. “My flowers might not necessarily be ‘on brand’ but it’s because it’s not my art, it’s for someone else. I’m not going to make a spray for a veteran rock and roll and black. But you can always ask and I’ll be happy to.”

She nabbed her business license earlier this year in February of 2019 as Petal to the Metal Floristry, offering floral arrangements and installations for holidays, special occasions, and weddings. But the business itself was a long time coming–and there were some hiccups along the way. “It was all just trial and error,” Hannah explained. “I personally have a problem asking for help. The first five years of everything was me literally just writing down the information and just showing up. I knew kind of what I already needed to accomplish. But paperwork started stacking up and I had to get more organized.”

She found help in Su-Lauren Wilson, a friend who provides business consultation. “She got me set up on the computer, which is my weak point,” Hannah said. “I have no computer skills whatsoever. … Getting past that threshold helps me feel so much more organized and real as a business rather than just some wacky artist working in her master bedroom.”

Hannah has still made her mistakes along the way. She’s struggled with pricing her services appropriately, and even with ensuring that the cut flowers live long enough to survive an event — which is a big enough challenge on its own. “They paid me correctly, and I was so appreciative, but the flowers died,” Hannah shared. “The good ones. It was subpar. It was a long-distance, traveling kind of wedding. Transporting the flowers is a whole other part of the issue. The best flowers that were really expensive, so pretty and unique, straight up just fell apart. It was because I ordered them too early and I was like, ‘I’ll just take care of them. I’ll keep them refrigerated.’ … She was happy, she was so cool about it. She didn’t even notice. She was enjoying her day. That’s the best kind of bride to have. She was an A+ bride, no stress whatsoever, just happy to be there. She had no problem with it, but I saw what was wrong. That was her money that I put towards that and then it just went to waste. That’s also the name of the game that I have to learn. Flowers fricking die. I’m over it, it’s all cool, she’s cool with it, the pictures turned out great. It wasn’t really even a failure, but I will always feel like it was a failure.”

Over the years, however, she’s been able to refine her process, which means that she first gets to know the bride. “The more I know you, the better it’s going to be,” Hannah explained. “That’s why I like to meet with my clients face-to-face and get to know them and their vibe. It really helps because there’s so many styles of wedding flowers and I don’t want to do what everybody else does.”

And then everything happens within three days. The first day is all preparation, paperwork, and ordering flowers. The second day includes flower delivery, greenery removal, and most pieces prepared. And the third day is when the magic happens, including all the arrangements for the bride. “Then I save the bride’s bouquet for the day of,” Hannah shared. “So that way, I’m able to wake up in the morning, have my coffee, have this pretty, natural morning light. … I make it really, really special for me because that’s when I make my best work, is when I’m in my artistic zone. I just completely disregard anything that has to do with business. I just make flowers. Then I deliver it and I give it to someone who’s having the best day of their life. That’s what I try to focus on. Make sure there’s as many good feelings and love put into the flowers as possible.”

Her long-term goals include getting some acreage for a flower farm and wedding venue. “There’s so many venues where you have to be out by a certain time and there’s no alcohol allowed,” Hannah shared. “I want to be able to have that venue where you can have as many people as you want, and be able to drink and go crazy, and be also affordable. … I’d like to have a separate barnish shed that could be my workshop, and have work tables to be able to have classes and sessions, and maybe even have bridal DIY parties, and maybe even have a bridal suite, extra house where the wedding party can stay in or the girls can stay in for the night and they can make their own bouquets. Just make it welcoming to whoever rents it out. And then I can have love in my house the rest of my life and just stay home forever.”

She’s also aware that things might not work out the way she plans them to. She went back to school three times, earning her degree on the third attempt. Hannah refers to that time in her life as a hard lesson. “It was a rock solid plan that I was gonna go to New York,” Hannah shared. I was gonna be in Julliard. I was gonna travel Europe and play music. But I just straight up said, ‘Nevermind.’ So obviously, nothing is written in stone if I think it is. All of this could go to shit tomorrow and I’ll be okay with it. I’ll be fine. I have plenty of avenues. Flowers aren’t the only thing I have to express myself through. If my hands get broken tomorrow, I’ll be okay. I’ll figure something out.”

Her advice for others is to go for it. “Well, first of all, yes, do it, I support it, live your best life,” Hannah said. “Get a client first. I feel like being completely transparent about where you are about something helps so much. My first two years of brides were so gracious and so good to me. They just wanted to support me. They are also like me, broke gals just trying to have a great wedding and feel good but also it not suck and be overly expensive. I don’t want to break their bank. So, just being transparent and saying, ‘I’m just starting. Can you be my guinea pig?’ Just be honest. Honesty has gotten me as far as I’ve gotten now because there’s no shame in starting and beginning.”

Follow Hannah on Instagram or Facebook to see what she’s working on. She is booking weddings for 2020!