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August Bloom is a boutique event floral design studio located in Chicago. There are three owners of August Bloom, Malaika Martin, Querida Quinn and Ruckiya Ross also known as The Ladies of August Bloom.

How did August Bloom start?

The Ladies of August Bloom have known each other for years, meeting in high school (we won't say how long ago that was...). We started the business in 2009 after taking a floral design course at the Chicago School of Flower Design. We enjoyed the course so much and realized it would be a great business. We already had clients before we "graduated" from our course.

What makes August Bloom unique?

We are unique because we offer non-traditional, artistic floral arrangements that are mainly inspired by Fashion, Art, and Beauty. We call it Floral F.A.B. Our specialty is event floral design. We love coming up with concepts for weddings, galas, and other special events. We also create floral art collections. So far we have done collections inspired by iconic musicians, ballgowns, art, and even nail lacquer and denim trends. 

Hardest lessons learned as a business owner?  

Understanding our worth. You always want to give patrons a good price so they will work with you, but there is a fine line in being reasonably priced and underpriced. It is important to understand the value of your time, skill, and the quality of your product. That value should be reflected in what you charge customers. They may not always agree but it is your responsibility to help the customer understand the worth of the product you're offering and stand your ground when they try to negotiate to a lower cost. 

Advice for future entrepreneurs and would be business owners?

Start with a plan. Writing a business plan is a tedious task, but it is so vital to the success of your business. It helps you focus on what your goals are as a business and helps your map out how you will achieve those goals. 

What do you most enjoy about owning your own business?

Setting our own schedules. (laughing) Even though our clients actually determine our schedules, not really ourselves. We also get a sense of pride, knowing we started something that people really like, and ask for. 

How do you balance your work and social time?

That's always a hard one and ongoing process. But sometimes we just have to tell ourselves we deserve time to just relax and not think about work. I think we have been pretty good about balancing our work and social time. 

Our design studio is currently located in the Zhou B Art Center. Since art has a heavy influence on our work it seemed appropriate for us to be located in a place that is very art focused. Our neighbors are very creative and talented artists and that energy inspires our work. To order flowers for an event we have an initial complimentary consultation with our clients to determine their floral "vision". From there we present a proposal, which the client reviews, and upon acceptance, we ask for a deposit to reserve us for their event. We always keep in contact with our clients throughout the creative process until the flowers have been designed and delivered.