Rising Stars: Meet Jonathan Estrada

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Estrada.

Hi Jonathan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I am originally from here and was actually living in New York at the time where I came up with the idea to start my own floral business. I was working as a Creative Assistant in the beauty industry. Towards the end of my lease, I decided to quit my job, break up with my boyfriend and move back to LA to relearn myself and dig a little deeper. This is when I came up with the idea of working with flowers seriously and had a mission to build community through my creative work. I started to work under other local florists in Los Angeles and basically got paid to learn. After a few months of this, I started to make my own arrangements and post to my Instagram [@deuxfleur_] and started to gain attention in January. Since then it’s been really consistent for me and I’ve met a ton of amazing florists and customers along the way. This has been something I have been doing for about 7/8 months now and I am really surprised at how fast things have started to happen! It never feels like work, no matter how laborious things can be at times, it’s really therapeutic for me.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think the biggest challenge was finding my way into the floral industry without spending thousands on traditional floral classes. I basically solved for this with a TON of cold emails until I received a response. I really just had to follow my gut with this and trust that it will all work out. Creative burnout is a real thing with any sort of creative work so I am still learning that it’s okay to take a break when I need it.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I work with exotic blooms and have a very whimsical floral style. I stray far away from anything traditional and like to look at the arrangements as artwork rather than a bouquet etc. I think I am most proud of the amazing opportunities I have had for being such a small fish, I’ve worked with Sephora Studios, Joe & The Juice and facile skin to name a few. I think what sets me apart is that I only really work with blooms, no greens ever. I really like to give my customers the most bang for their buck and prioritize the quality of my arrangements over anything.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Well as someone who’s lived in NY and LA. There are pros and cons to both, LA is home to me always and it’s a place I can really envision things and have complete mental clarity. In terms of flowers, California has SO much variety that everything is really at our fingertips. I like the slow pace here and the relaxed energy I have surrounded myself with here.

Dislikes, I just think in general LA can be a hard place to find your niche especially if you didn’t grow up here. It’s really easy to get wrapped up in the sceneyness of this city. I wear my SoCal native patch on my sleeve and LOVE that I grew up here. That and traffic!

Pricing:

• Small Arrangement $165
• Medium Arrangement $200
• Large Arrangement $245

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.deux-fleur.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deuxfleur_/?hl=en

Image Credits
Marcus Carrillo