Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Dy
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
A homegrown local to my community, I was born and raised in the neighboring cities of Azusa and Glendora. Capturing heart & mind, I graduated with a degree in psychology and marketing from Azusa Pacific University to work in curating events for businesses, organizations, and private clients. I am best known for my hyper attention to detail, adaptability, delivering beyond expectations, and my boisterous laughter! My unique blend of talents & skills has allowed me to work across industries, from small businesses and non-profits to the university level in fundraising, planning, and executing successful events.
The way I want to contribute to the world is by working with people to create beautiful moments – or, as I like to say simply, “making things pretty”. I cherish the sweet opportunity to be a part of your story and your built-in best friend during the event process, so everything is bliss on your special day!
In my free time, I enjoy an iced coffee at any time, laughing and crying to rom-coms with my sister, singing love songs at the top of our lungs, and probably still playing with some flowers – I am OBSESSED!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not always been smooth sailing on the journey. Along the way, there have been a few “quarter-life crises” as I like to say. From swapping majors & careers to a long-planned business purchase falling through, every experience has taught me the art of the pivot.
As a small glimpse into the biggest challenge of my life thus far, I spent a long time designing and learning from my mentor in florals. We had discussed at length, on multiple occasions, my purchasing her business and continuing her legacy of luxury floral design in our community. Over a tumultuous year following the COVID-19 pandemic, she decided she was ready to sell and retire. I went about avenues to secure a loan and began the process. As we were coming up on completing the process, she had a change of heart. I was stunned. I had sunk my life savings and trusted her word as we had been friends for almost a decade.
If at first, things do not seem to go to plan, how do we adjust to make it all work out the way it was meant to in the end? Being flexible and keeping a level head is key to solving any issues that come up, as well as leaning on your community and being okay with asking for help when necessary.
Back to the story – As we tried to work it out and continue on the path we had before, it was no longer the same. Our friendship and the taste it left in my mouth had soured. This business had lost track of my main goal. I absolutely love, love. I covet the chance to bring some extra joy and love through the luxury of flowers. I wanted to bloom for the sake of clients and their stories. Little did I know that through this process of self-realization, my former friend and mentor had ideas of her own. My employment with them was promptly terminated. It was time for a pivot.
One of my best friends came because of the relationship with the previous floral shop. She had started a small floral brand for herself back in 2016 and had put it on the back burner to spend more time with her kids, and freelancing opened up that possibility. She was a designer when I managed the shop. She and I became fast friends during our time there, and during this pivot, we became business partners. I bought into her brand and decided that I had been running a business for someone else for all these years with the goal of “someday”. I instead took “someday” and made it “today”. I told my friend we would be blooming together from this journey, and I pushed us hard and fast this first year we were in business together.
My story shows hard work pays off. Within the first year of pushing my own brand and being authentic to the vision, we were awarded the honor of being voted “San Gabriel Valley’s Best Florist 2024”, strengthened our current relationships as preferred vendors with Mountain Meadows Golf Course in Pomona and it’s sister locations, and became preferred vendors of various venues including La Villa Bella in Upland and Wilson Creek Wineries in Temecula purely based on word of mouth. We did not have a crazy marketing budget or sponsored posts on social media. All we had was our hard work, branding and professionalism, and our service for the love of the flowers and our clients. All of that showed, and our clients continue sharing us with their friends, and we just keep growing! It has been truly an honor and such a humbling experience to see how much your community comes around you when you are willing to show up for them in any small way you can – shoutout to the Glendora Chamber of Commerce for being such a great resource and community we have had through this growth process!
As a TLDR, if you skipped to the end, the key to growing through any challenge is to remain flexible, be open to the pivot, and act in community. Remain steadfast in your vision and push. You’ve got this!
As you know, we’re big fans of Wild & Blooms. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Wild & Blooms specializes in custom wedding, special event, and corporate floral design, but there is so much more to us than your average floral designs.
I want to say something cute like, “I’m wild, she’s blooms,” but the truth is my business partner started the brand years ago, and when I came along, the name “Wild & Blooms” was just the perfect way to describe us as a pair and our style. We met years ago, and the name stuck – for the love of flowers…and each other! As the business has taken off this year, my business partner will be taking a step back while remaining on the team as a designer while I take my experience and continue to spearhead our growth and client experience.
We love to work hand in hand with our clients as their built-in-floral-BFFs through the process so that they know us authentically and we know them. It is truly our honor to be a small part of your story, whether through a day as special as a wedding or a party for your organization to dress up the tables and stage! We focus on custom blooms, a unique recipe and package of florals for each unique story, while keeping every budget in mind. We have a strong eye for details and design each event as though it were our own – and we are very much Type-A kind of girlies! While we are able to match any vision and style, we like to say our style is like a naturally layered garden, but make it perfect.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Growth and community matter most to me. We are all stronger together than we are alone. I fully believe that in acting as one body, any community can flourish more than the sum of its parts. If we are to truly love one another and seek service above self, we all win and grow together. I know it sounds like a cookie-cutter answer on how to solve the world’s problems, but I have seen it in action. When we work together and push each other to grow, look out for one another instead of just ourselves, and love one another well, we can see “magic” truly happen.
Pricing:
- Custom Quotes on Floral Packages
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wildandblooms.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildandbloomsfloral
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildandbloomsfloral
- Twitter: https://x.com/wildandblooms
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wild-and-blooms-floral-glendora-2
- Other: https://bio.site/wildandblooms
Image Credits
Pauline Conway Photography
Noel Brower Photography
