Botanical Brouhaha Podcast

Marsha Parker is back on the podcast two and a half years after her first visit in Ep. 118, just before she retired from teaching high school and devoting her time to growing her floral business. A thriving three-time cancer survivor, she now runs Refined Gatherings full-time as a social enterprise, offering floral workshops for cancer survivors and social and emotional learning workshops for teens. She won the 2025 Flowering with Purpose grant from Bloom Trust Co and stretched the grant money to produce flowers and education for a school workshop, a photo shoot, and a charity auction. She also shares what changed once she stopped comparing herself to other florists. Hint: she began attracting clients who hire her for who she is as an artist and what her business stands for!
This episode of the Botanical Brouhaha Podcast is brought to you by:
Madrid Blooms
Design Talks. Workshops. Installations.
The European floral congress shaping the future of botanical design. MADRID BLOOMS brings together acclaimed designers, professionals, and students to
learn and explore new visual languages and push
the boundaries of floral artistry.
You can find show notes and more episodes of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast at botanicalbrouhaha.com, and you can find Amy on IG at either @botanicalbrouhaha or @bloomtrustco and Natalie at @hey.nataliegill or @native_poppy
This episode of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast was produced by Joel McGee. Original music by Landon McGee.

We're back with Semia Dunn who first joined us on the BB podcast back in Episode 35, sharing how she bought a flower shop at 22 and later launched Flowers by Semia (which was later rebranded as SEMIA) and then The Floral Reserve, a wholesale flower company (built by a florist, for florists!). In this catch-up episode, Semia returns to reflect on what's changed and what hasn't. She talks candidly about growing her team, breaking into destination weddings, building a new e-commerce system for the wholesale business, and holding onto the values that got her here. It's a grounded, honest look at what scaling a floral business actually takes, and what stays the same no matter how big things get.
Join us as we chat with Semia about:
Growing The Floral Reserve from 1,200 to 3,200 square feet
How the pandemic accelerated shipping and shaped her wholesale business
Partnering with New York Flower Group to launch a new e-commerce web shop
Retaining employees long-term, including a 20+ year team member
Breaking into destination weddings
The logistics of traveling for weddings
Growing planner relationships and what percentage of business now comes from planners
Wholesale pricing, and educating florists on the true cost of flowers
Confidence and mindset shifts gained through experience
Current color palette and design trends in the industry
Revisiting her original definition of success from our interview years ago
This episode of the Botanical Brouhaha Podcast is brought to you by:
Madrid Blooms
You can find show notes and more episodes of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast at botanicalbrouhaha.com, and you can find Amy on IG at either @botanicalbrouhaha or @bloomtrustco and Natalie at @hey.nataliegill or @native_poppy
This episode of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast was produced by Joel McGee. Original music by Landon McGee.

In this episode, we sat down with Bloom Trust Co and Circle member Shelley O'Neill, a former fourth-grade teacher turned florist who recently added a retail shop called Oyster Flower Co. to her existing wedding flower business in Annapolis, Maryland! Shelley walks us through what pulled her into CIRCLE (we talk more about that in the episode), what's kept her in Bloom Trust Co. for three years running, and together we break down exactly what's inside: the resource library, Office Hours, meetups, a private podcast called The Back Room, and the Flowering with Purpose grants.
If you're a florist (and it doesn't matter if you're a retail florist, wedding/event florist, or farmer florist), we built the BTCO community for you! We're in no hurry to expand it beyond the point where we know your name and your business model. We thrive on the connections and relationships built slowly with an attention to trust and accessible floral resources.
When you succeed, we all succeed! We firmly believe that. It's why we do what we do.
In this episode, we talk with Shelley about:
Her path from event planning to full-time floristry to opening Oyster Flower Co.
Leaving a career as a fourth-grade teacher for flowers
Opening a retail flower shop and finding the support of the BTCO community along the way
The real difference between CIRCLE (8-week deep dive, twice a year) and Bloom Trust Co. (year-round community)
The scope of floral resources inside Bloom Trust Co
How Office Hours work and why they're never recorded
The Flowering with Purpose grant and past recipients
This episode of the Botanical Brouhaha Podcast is brought to you by:
BLOOM TRUST CO.
You can learn more about Bloom Trust Co here.
You can find show notes and more episodes of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast at botanicalbrouhaha.com, and you can find Amy on IG at either @botanicalbrouhaha or @bloomtrustco and Natalie at @hey.nataliegill or @native_poppy
This episode of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast was produced by Joel McGee. Original music by Landon McGee.

In part two (Ep. 151) with Alex Vaughan of FLWR Shop in Nashville, Tennessee we dig into the real, tactical side of her decision to step away from wedding florals. Alex opens up about the politics and power dynamics of working with luxury wedding planners, the financial reality of pivoting to retail and corporate events, and how she and her husband Quinn split the business responsibilities between them. She also gets specific about staffing, delivery logistics, website headaches, and what it actually means to lead a team well.
Join us as we chat with Alex about:
Why she stepped back from wedding florals to focus on retail
Taking a public political stance and the fallout with wedding planners
The power dynamics between florists and luxury wedding planners
Advice for florists considering adding planning services to their business
Rebuilding revenue through a new retail location and corporate events
Team structure and staffing at a full-service flower shop
Website and POS struggles (Squarespace, Hana, and exploring Shopify)
Delivery logistics and staying a day ahead of orders
How she and Quinn divide roles in the business
Gift buying philosophy and building a cohesive brand
Social media approach and staying personally involved with followers
Making hard financial decisions: layoffs vs. investing in the shop
Defining good leadership and what it means to be a good boss
Her new brand and business consulting offering
This episode of the Botanical Brouhaha Podcast is brought to you by:
Madrid Flower School
You can find show notes and more episodes of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast at botanicalbrouhaha.com, and you can find Amy on IG at either @botanicalbrouhaha or @bloomtrustco and Natalie at @hey.nataliegill or @native_poppy
This episode of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast was produced by Joel McGee. Original music by Landon McGee.

How Alex Vaughan Built a Beloved Flower Shop
Alex Vaughan of FLWR Shop in Nashville built her shop with her partner Quinn from nothing — no family money, no connections, just a rented house, a second mortgage, and a vision for what a flower shop in Nashville could be. In Episode 150, she traces the wild, winding path that took her from a hippie commune in the forest to a flower shop in Boston to celebrity orchid maintenance in LA, and eventually to the city she now calls home. We talk about what it actually took to open a shop, survive a tornado in March 2020, and come out the other side with a business — and a life — she's genuinely proud of.
Join us as we chat with Alex about:
Growing up in Miami with zero exposure to flowers
Falling in love with flowers at a tiny flower shop
Seeing a peony for the first time
Working her way through flower shops in Boston, LA, and New York
Meeting her partner Quinn through a shared courtyard
Why they chose Nashville
Moving to Nashville with $3,000 in a shoebox
Opening their first shop: a Victorian four-square in East Nashville
Renovating a shop while living upstairs
Building a brand, not just a flower shop, in a city that didn't yet have one like it
Losing visibility after losing their retail location to a tornado
Why physical presence matters for a flower business more than most people think
Letting go of weddings and why that was the right call
Why running events and retail simultaneously is really running two different businesses
Connect with FLWR Shop:
Website
Instagram
This episode of the Botanical Brouhaha Podcast is brought to you by:
Madrid Flower School
You can find show notes and more episodes of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast at botanicalbrouhaha.com, and you can find Amy on IG at either @botanicalbrouhaha or @bloomtrustco and Natalie at @hey.nataliegill or @native_poppy
This episode of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast was produced by Joel McGee. Original music by Landon McGee.