Today we’d like to introduce you to Jackie Miller.
Hi Jackie, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I worked at a landscape architecture firm for 8 years, where I started doing all of our bookkeeping, office management, proposals, etc., while simultaneously going to school in architectural design and drafting. I eventually was able to work on pot planting and hardscape material specifications for certain projects and would add them into the plans. We worked on large-scale projects such as master-planned communities, multi-family housing, and mixed-use developments.
I had my daughter Penelope in 2013 and realized that I wasn’t happy not seeing her some days because I’d sometimes leave before she woke up and get home when she was already asleep. I started doing flowers about a year and a half prior for friends when they asked me to. I loved plants, and flowers were an extension of that passion… I took floral design ROP classes twice in high school because I wanted to be out of school early my senior year – priorities. lol. I leaned into florals more after she was born and took on more and more events and would be up until 2 am working on them a lot of nights…
Once I realized I could make decent money-making florals I decided to go full steam with it. My sister would hire me for her firm’s events, which was a big push for me. My
Boss allowed me to work part-time because he knew I wanted to be with my daughter, but he also knew I started my own business. In hindsight, that was pretty cool.
I left my job to do florals full time in May 2016, got my first studio in October 2016, and had my son August in March 2017. It was a wild year, I had to go back to work fully just 9’days after having him., with my first event just two weeks after having him. I had started a small business and had no choice, so he lived at the studio with me in his bouncer and blankies and would be at my meetings with me. He was so well-behaved and cute. My husband Chris really stepped in here and held our lives down since my schedule was so chaotic. If you ask anyone who knows us, he is this family’s glue.
The business took off pretty quickly, doubling our revenue each year thereafter (until COVID hit). I always thought it would be “fun” to have a retail flower shop/event space, so I started looking into it. In November 2019, we began talks with Centercal’s 2nd & PCH about potentially having just a kiosk where we sold florals. They then presented us the corner space we have now there, which really excited me.
We decided we wanted to go for it in February 2020 and signed our lease. Our week to open was the second week of March that year which coincidentally was when the world shut down.
We faced cancellation after cancellation, threats from clients, and our studio/event floral & design business was on life support because events weren’t allowed to happen, and people were losing it. It was the scariest time, and people were genuinely their worst selves. Don’t get me wrong, some clients were actual angels, but a handful were horrendous, and I faced threats from them daily because they were scared. I’ve faced a lot worse since then, lol.
May came, and I spoke with Sam at 2nd & PCH, and I had a couple options. This space was obviously not going to be an event space since events weren’t allowed to happen. I decided to take a leap off faith and open a retail shop that sold flowers, plants, pots, and other gift items. It was a “hey, let’s just see what happens” thing (which is my signature move). My motto in business and life is “if I don’t die from it then I’m good, let’s try it.” If you’ve ever asked me how I’m doing, my response is almost always, “I’m alive.” Some people say I’m fearless; I rather think I just think of things from an extreme perspective. I get this from my dad. He’s a man that’s not easy to scare in business and life (not AT ALL). Drives my husband nuts.
We opened a popup on Fashion Island in November 2020 and left in May 2021. We opened our Newport Beach permanent location June 2021. We signed our lease for Dana point December 2021, opened Dana Point March 2023. We closed down our Long Beach store in June 2022 because we anticipated opening Dana Point that same year, and I didn’t feel like I had the bandwidth to run our design studio in Huntington Beach plus our retail stores in Long Beach, Newport Beach, and Dana Point. It was a lot, and finding good help during COVID was challenging. We have since reopened Long Beach and plan to make that our long-term home.
Our design studio took off in 2022, and from then on, we began to take on more and more larger multi-day events, working at Coachella, Bottlerock, Rose Bowl, the Grammys, SoFi, Disney, AFI, and the list goes on. We had finally bounced back, baby.
Today, we continue to operate our stores and design studio, focusing on larger high-end events for the studio, and were able to service smaller events through our stores. It’s been a wild ride, but I feel like we are finally where we need to be.
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?
COVID was obviously the biggest challenge. Navigating all of the uncertainty of what’s allowed what’s not, and the complete lack of normal sales trends due to it has made the last 4 years incredibly challenging. Staffing has been nightmarish – a lack of qualified candidates, along with an entitled mentality and unwillingness to work, has made operating in a normal fashion almost impossible. We find ourselves constantly pivoting and needing to adjust.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a floral and event designer. I think I’m most known for playful designs as I try to create events with an unexpected and remembered design elements. I’ve always been pretty transparent on social media, and some people love me for it, while others just don’t. I won’t lie for someone’s comfort, and I feel that we can always improve. There’s always going to be someone better than us, so why not keep striving to be better?
I’m most proud of somehow starting the retail component of this business (which is the most recognized) during COVID. When a lot of people were folding up, we pivoted and created jobs for, at one point, 19 staff members. I worked tirelessly to keep the business alive during it all. It consumed me.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Value your relationships – the people that come to you and want to give you work. Nourish those relationships no matter how relevant you think they are now. Build true friendships and offer value to those clients. They will remember you for it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.penelopepots.com. www.shoppenelopepots.com
- Instagram: @penelopepotsfloraldesign @shoppenelopepots
Image Credits
Nathan Palmer
OC Marketing Media
