Year End Reflection - Part 2: Highs and Lows, Lows and Highs

This is Part 2 of a Year End Reflection. Read Part 1 here.

So, back to 2024. This past January, I was feeling happy, confident, successful. We'd had a profitable 2023. I felt like I'd made good on promises to myself coming off of a very unprofitable 2022.  I had paid myself a bonus - my first ever. I was even able to pay bonuses to everyone who had worked for me that year. It felt like such an incredible accomplishment. I honestly had what felt like conservative hopes for 2024. The goal was to simply repeat 2023. I wasn’t shooting for the moon in terms of sales for our subscriptions or events. 2023 felt sustainable. I didn’t want to do more. Well, the universe had other plans, to continue to humble me... 

The first hit was falling for a major scam. The kind of scam that causes the NY Attorney General to file a lawsuit against your bank, because they are so negligent at preventing them. Literally 90% of the funds in my account were stolen in a matter of hours. 5 weeks of hell ensued - though silver lined by so much compassion and assistance from so many people. In the midst of this, we pulled off our largest event to date at the gorgeous Cedar Lakes Estate over a three day, three night weekend. It was such a strange situation - to be so proud of the work we were doing, simultaneously terrified about what would happy to my business. There was no reassurance we would be made whole.

I’m happy to say, five weeks late, I was so lucky to have the funds reinstated. 

During this time - the first 5 weeks of 2024 - I was also in the process of signing a long term lease on a new studio space in Sunset Park. A space that had taken months to find, and hours of work with a lawyer to iron out lease terms. I was so proud to be accepted as a viable tenant - and now utterly ashamed that my bank account was wiped nearly clean. Highs and lows.

It was jubilation to see my bank account balance restored the first week of February, to be able to pay off the remainder of the security deposit, and to move into a gorgeous new location with WINDOWS, so much natural light and a friggin kitchen!

And then, at the end of Feb. another sobering P and L (profit and loss) report from my financial advisor showed two months of losses. Not super unusual for a seasonal business, but still something to keep an eye on. We felt we could still recoup over the coming 10 months.

A shiny and larger new floral cooler build was completed in early March. We had experienced a few weekends in our previous space our old one (made almost entirely of salvaged materials) didn’t cut it. I thought I would try to build from salvaged materials again but it proved difficult; in the end I went for a new one, figuring the lease is 7 years - why not invest in something built to last? So, another large capital expense not entirely planned for, 2 weeks of labor, but another accomplishment and major relief on completion. 

April was a better month. One of our busiest Aprils to date (6 large events) and full of so many gorgeous seasonal spring flowers. I held the first of 5 floral design workshops in the new space. It was really fun to begin sharing the stunning view and creative space with others. A profitable month. I was so relieved.

Flowers for Claire and Kellyn at the Greenpoint Loft, April ‘24 (Photo by Eryc Perez de Tagle)

In May we broke even. More pretty events. 

Flowers for Sarah and Alex, Weylin Williamsburg, May ‘24 (Photos by Forged in the North)

June: Profitable. But, I was nervous. I knew our subscription sales were down. Way down compared to 2023. And we were half way through the year. I knew July and August would be slow. Subscriptoins always dipped as people left town for weeks at a time. We hadn’t booked much summer work. And our expenses were higher now.

July: I took the opportunity to take a real vacation (2 weeks) - the first in a year -  and also took a loss for the month. 

August: Profitable. 

September: Profitable. Up, down, up, down, up, down.

By this point, I knew we were headed for a loss for the year. I merely wanted to try to mitigate the damage as much as possible. An employee coincidentally asked to reduce her hours. Another announced she wanted to transition out, to launch her own business. Normally these kinds of abrupt changes can be stressful - this year, they dovetailed with a need to cut spending. 

We completed some gorgeous events this year, and some of our best work to date - this is the true high of 2024. Still, the end result of a loss overall is sobering and upsetting, when you feel your job is 24/7. What I had hoped for myself - a raise - did not come to pass. That’s hard. At 43, it makes you question everything. You feel like you should know better after all these years in business. And yet, how could you? You didn’t grow up in a small business, no one taught you how to do any of this. You’re trying as hard as you can to resource yourself, but nothing could prepare you for the inflation effect. (Running voices in my head).

I invested a lot into marketing our subscriptions over the past year, because I love them dearly and want them to succeed. But the drop in sales really hurt us this year. We have some very, very loyal customers, who we love and consider our personal celebrities - I even got to meet some of them this year in person at our workshops, which was so nice. And yet, a major issue this year was that we couldn’t find new ones, despite investments in marketing to reach new customers. My colleagues and I agreed it was a weird year for retail. Life got very expensive for people and flowers are a luxury good. 

All this to say that here I am at the very tail end of 2024, and I am not riding that same high I was a year ago. I’m walking into 2025 quite grounded, clear-eyed, armed with more information and experience - this time, about what can happen when you suddenly invest in your company at the same time the economy goes a bit sideways. Good information. Planning to run a tighter ship in 2025; no need to make any major investments - just produce excellent work. I'm glad I won't be overseeing the renovation of a new studio, negotiating a lease, or handling the fallout of a financial scam. In that light, 2025 should be easier. 

I am so proud of the beautiful work we created in 2025 and the many positive reviews we received. We supported local farmers as we typically do, and siphoned so much organic waste away from landfills. We lived our values in sustainability and made our clients happy - that's not nothing.


I also know that the people who invested in our subscriptions loved them, and continue to love them. We finally managed to keep our subscriptions running year round - a major win - and I have been so encouraged by so many returning subscribers continuing with us through winter in 2025. Every time my Shopify app dings to tell me we have a new sale I am so grateful. No promises in the new year - we will need to make it from 50 to 75 members to continue our subscription project past February. I’m feeling cautiously optimistic. We just sent out potted amaryllis which feels like sending up a kind of botanical prayer to the universe; intention setting for good things to come in the new year. 

I am deeply grateful to all the clients who entrusted us with their events this year, and to all our industry partners - venues, planners, photographers, DJs, Hair/make-up artists, videographers, and stationers.

I’m deeply grateful for my team, such a hard working crew: Paige, Liz, Eliza, Tina, Evelyn, Kelly, Rebeca, Jessica. And for the freelancers who have become regular faces in the studio - we love and appreciate you: Isobel, Emma, Thanh, Marit, Jessica, Zara. 

To the other small business owners out there having to work through tough growing pains, I see you. Here's to another year of micro failures, small wins, learning, and growing. We never know what’s around the corner.