Meet Roxana Rodriguez CFD of Inspirations. Floral. Artistry in South Bay

Today we’d like to introduce you to Roxana Rodriguez CFD.

Roxana, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My love and passion for flowers truly began back when I was six years old, playing hide-and-go seek in the dewy summer grass with my friends, and spotted the tiniest of pure perfection amidst the spread of green lawn- a beautiful flower!

From there my passion grew throughout the years, and I always found a way to incorporate these precious gems into my life, even literally adding a “flower” at the end of my signature! But it wasn’t until I began to study the art of floral design, first as a hobby, that I learned how much this passion was instilled in me.

As I progressed in my studies of the art form, I always had a dream in mind of one day owning my own shop and becoming a member of the prestigious organization, the American Institute of Floral Designers.

But, as what happens quite often, life had other plans for me, and my dream seemed to be slowly slipping away and growing dimmer with each passing year. It took me 30 years to finally see my dream start to come to fruition. Thirty years and many, many ups and downs, trials and tribulations, and constant challenges, including being diagnosed with breast cancer just a few short months after my daughter and I decided to take the risk and open our shop in November of 2012.

Just when I was beginning to feel that wonderful exhilarating feeling you get when you see your dreams start to happen, I was devastated by that one phone call that no one ever wants to get from their physician’s office- “you have cancer”, and the very week of our first Valentine’s Day! And, as most people know, that is one of the busiest weeks in the floral industry.

Now my life became a series of surgeries, Chemo, doctors’ visits and seeing myself spiraling down into a deep depression, asking “Why me?”

But, the one thing that kept me going was that passion and my love for what I do. If it were not for the shop, I would have given up. Throughout the turmoil of cancer treatment, I never gave up on my dream. I decided one morning that I could lie in bed and continue to spiral downward, or I could get up and keep fighting. Being stubborn and knowing that I deserved to have joy in my life, I fought. And, trust me, I fought hard.

And, through it all, sometimes feeling sicker than a dog, I still chose to pursue my other part of my dream- becoming an AIFD designer. The test for obtaining this distinguished addendum to your name is grueling and is only given once a year at rotating venues around the United States, not to mention the fact that it is always quite expensive. But, I knew I was meant to be that, so I persisted.

After 3 failed attempts, and frustratingly missing by sometimes only one half of a point, I finally received the letter that I had longed for, for nearly 3 decades- congratulating me to be inducted as a member:
“It is with tremendous excitement and pride that I advise you that your PFDE results… were excellent, and as such the AIFD National Membership Committee would like to extend to you an invitation to become an Accredited Member of AIFD! This is most exciting as your membership in AIFD will demonstrate to the floral industry that you are not only an extremely talented floral design artist but that you are also dedicated to the advancement of professional floral design through education, service and leadership”

Today, I am proud to say that I will be inducted this July in Seattle and officially be pinned and recognized as an AIFD designer – the only one in the entire South Bay area! And, my daughter and I continue to build our business in our newest location on Pacific Coast Highway in Torrance.

I am eternally grateful that I have overcome the battle with cancer, thus far, and that I continue to fight every day to reach my dreams and make our business better than we could ever imagine.
I know that with faith and trust, we will.

Great, 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?
As mentioned in my previous statement, the road has never been smooth for me. Most significantly, the obstacles and challenges that I had to overcome ranged from financial struggles to breast cancer, with a plethora of others in between.

Inspirations. Floral. Artistry – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Inspirations. Floral. Artistry is a more contemporary and modern approach to the traditional flower shop. We provide the unique experience of presenting our floral designs as sellable works of art to meet each individual client’s taste and preference.

Our retail space is designed to enhance and highlight the beauty and wondrous colors of our flowers and designs, and as a reflection of the oppositions in life and art. Therefore, our “signature” is black/white, mixed with the natural tones of green.

We are most proud of our customer service, attention and personalization that we provide to each client and every order. We live by the credo of “excellence in everything, including quality, service, design artistry and expectation of creative vision.”

We are also excited and proud to announce that as of July of this year, we will be the ONLY floral shop in the entire South Bay area with an accredited AIFD designer.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment of my career, thus far, has been finally passing the intensive Professional Floral Design Evaluation exam, after trying three times, to obtain membership in the prestigious organization of American Institute of Floral Designers, a world-wide recognized organization of the floral industry.

In the design evaluation phase of the PFDE exam, participants are required to demonstrate their design artistry by creating five (5) designs in specific categories: Sympathy design, Arrangement, Wedding, Flowers to Wear, and Duplicate design, within four hours. Designs are evaluated on a point scale from one to five, for the following criteria-
• Category Interpretation
• Scale (Proportion)
• Balance (Physical and Visual)
• Line (Movement and Rhythm)
• Color (Balance, Harmony and Rhythm)
• Creativity
• Unity (Harmony & Texture)
• Focal Emphasis
• Depth

“If the cumulative score from (a) CFD participant is 20 points or better with no one design scoring below 3.75, then (the) participant demonstrates an advanced floral artistry talent. This successful participant will then have their name submitted to the AIFD Membership Committee suggesting they be asked to become an AIFD member.”

• Mechanics (Professional Application)

Contact Info:

• Address: 3146 Pacific Coast Highway
  Torrance CA 90505
• Website: www.inspirationsfloralartistry.com
• Phone: 424-250-9125
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @inspirationsfloralart
• Facebook: @inspirationsfloralartistry
• Yelp: INSPIRATIONS. FLORAL. ARTISTRY

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.