From a florist employed at multiple flower shops to a Flower Studio Owner. How Eugenia started her own flower business!

Entrepreneurship is so much better with friends by your side! If you’ve ever been curious about how the small businesses in your community have gotten to where they are today, you are in the right place. In this series, you’ll get to meet your fellow YEG Entrepreneurs and hear their stories of launching a business, overcoming obstacles, and building a career they love.

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Today, I’m sitting down with Eugenia of Ma Chérie Floral Design [Fr.] Ma Chérie pronounced – mÁ shey-ree . Pour a cup of coffee and join us as we learn more about her business journey.

Hi everyone! I’m Eugenia, owner/head florist of Ma Chérie Floral Design.

I am a jack of all trades in my business and do a little bit of everything starting from actually being a florist and designing customers’ orders to developing my website, SMM, content photography, wedding planning and more.

My passion is (might sound cheesy) but it’s truly my work and what I do =). Of course, there are moments where I hate my job like everyone else does, but most of the time it is my passion. I love how beautiful and aesthetically pleasing my job is, I love sharing it with the world. Flowers are my passion.


Q. Tell us more about you! We’d love to know about your business today and the story of how you got there.

A. I’ve been always creative and started my career as a cake designer, I graduated from one of the best Cake schools in Toronto. Worked in a few cake shops and restaurants, unfortunately, I developed gluten sensitivity and making cakes didn’t feel right anymore that’s when I got a part-time florist job and fell in love. Today I own a home-based floral studio and I’m planning to open my flower shop someday. It’s been a long journey before I decided to start my own, I’ve been working in a few flower shops and at some point felt like I’m ready to start my own and here we are=)

Q. Let’s dive more into the specifics of your business. What products/services do you offer? What do you do for your clients that sets you apart?

A. Ma Cherie Floral Design offers a full range of flower services. Birthdays, special occasions and wedding flowers, of course. I’m pretty sure our style is very unique and there are not many florists here in Edmonton who have such pretty packaging as we do. Ma Cherie Floral Design is all about Parisian Chic, unique flowers and stylish trendy packaging. 

Q. What inspired or influenced you to create your business?

A. The lack of great flower shops on the market. I’m from Ukraine and our floral industry is 10 years ahead of what’s going on here in Edmonton. In my humble opinion, the flower designs that most of the flower shops are offering here are very outdated and tasteless  (I’m talking about the retail experience, not the wedding industry). I just wanted to bring European flower trends here.

Q. What are you most proud of in your work?

A. I’m proud of our signature look and style, I’m proud of our great customer service and that our flowers are unique, they are sourced from Holland, Kenya, Ecuador and other leading flower market countries where flower quality is top-notch.

Q. What is one challenge you’ve overcome as a business owner, and what did you learn from it that you can share with others? 

A. The hardest part for me was starting the business, I always had doubts if I had it in me or not. Everyone around me told me I should start my own because what I do is so beautiful, but I was very afraid that I was not meant to be a great business owner. I would say that you have to try anyway, it doesn’t hurt to try and if you don’t try you will never know. Rather than asking “what if?” make it happen because at the end of the day we only live once.

Q. What is your favorite part of what you do?

A. I definitely love the creative part of it, coming up with the new floral designs and collections, styled photoshoots, modeling with my flowers, wedding and event flower designs also bring me a lot of joy.

Q. What is one thing you do to set yourself up for success every week?

A. Meditation and journaling are very important to me. They help me clear my thoughts and worry less because as a business owner I worry a lot and being stressed out doesn’t help with being a successful business owner.

Q. What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

A. I used to have problems with personal boundaries, I would help and say yes to a lot of uncomfortable requests from my employers (for me personally), and then I would feel used, it happened at work a lot. The best advice for me personally was that I need to learn to say no without feeling guilty when I feel like something doesn’t sit right with me and value my time. I’m still learning to say no when I don’t feel like it, it’s a long process but I think I’m getting there=)

Q. Where can people find you to learn more?

the website is almost done and published www.macheriefloraldesign.com
Instagram and Facebook – macheriefloraldesign

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