Meet Sarah Marshall | Floral Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah Marshall and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
This is a LOADED question for me. I have two young children (7 and 4) and a husband that recently completed his medical residency. Over the 2.5 years that I have been in business, things have constantly shifted. It has been a non-stop pivot.

This is something that I have struggled with MAJORLY as a mother and a business owner. Since things have been a non-stop pivot, I have had to learn to provide myself grace in this process. Both roles are important to me but at times I have had to sit back and handle “first things first”- at times this has looked like taking a step back on the shop (not having routine retail hours) and allowing myself to restructure the shop function to fit the needs of my family.

The older my children get, the more I hope to have a solid structure but until then I just have to take life as it comes. I make myself as available (with built in flexibility and help from my employee) as I can without taking away too much from my role as a mother. This comes with time though and it has taken me a while to reach a point of even beginning to see some balance.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a creative, my brain has bounced from idea to idea (a blessing and a curse). Again, I go back to learning to provide myself grace in this process. In a creative environment, things are constantly being constructed, deconstructed, and then reconstructed in a different way- so is life.

I love floral design. I absolutely love it. It allows me to tap in to an inner peace- something about putting the flowers together, blending the colors, and watching a design come together is so soothing. So creatively, this gives me much reward. BUT in the business of floral design, it can be hard to continue to find that peace in the midst of large events, daily deliveries, etc. Time isn’t on our side in this industry as we work with such a perishable/fragile medium therefore, it comes with its challenges.

I think that professionally I am reaching new levels in learning to be more strategic in the work that I do accept. I can’t say yes to everything that comes my way (as I did in the beginning) because that compromises quality AND my happiness. It has taken time but just allowing myself that time for the progress to naturally unfold has been very important in my growth and understanding of my future goals.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I will shout out to a couple of people/groups because I wouldn’t be standing without the support of others.

To my customers: I have had a difficult time in balance, as I spoke about, but they keep coming back. They see the value in what I am doing in my role as a business owner but also as a mother. There have been a few customers that I have lost due to trying to maintain this balance but I would say that a large majority of supporters have been unbelievably understanding which has kept me coming back with a positive attitude/outlook at times when it has been hard!

To my family:

I am grateful to have two beautiful babies that find so much joy in sharing “the shop” with me; it has been such a wonderful experience as a mother. They have watched me struggle/stress but have also witnessed the great joy that comes with doing work that we love- this is a lesson that is so important for me to continue providing in their lives.

Website: gaiaflorals.com

Instagram: @gaiaflorals

Image Credits
Ashtynn Bree Photography