Meet Emma Seitz | Floral Designer

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

Hi Emma, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born and raised in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon by two entrepreneurial parents. My mother was an independent real estate agent and my father had a trucking start-up, so I was surrounded by people working incredibly hard and on their own terms. That definitely gave me something to live up to, but an understanding of the sacrifices I would have to make and the amount of work to put into my career to make it successful.

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.
It’s hard to say if I am an artist or a working professional–maybe a little bit of both? I started my career as a wedding planner back in 2014, after a long arduous path of college, law school, and a bit of floundering trying to find my footing. I loved how being a wedding planner utilized my organizational skills and love of preparation, and I was fortunate to be able to grow my own independent business as a planner. But in 2018 I started exploring florals, educating myself and working on arrangements, feeling confident to add them as an additional service to wedding planning in 2019. When the pandemic started, I realized flowers brought me more joy than planning, and I worked to phase out coordination and planning to put my full focus on providing florals for weddings and events. The pandemic was a crucial time in my business, as I used the downtime to work on my relationships and contacts with those in the industry I knew best–other planners! They watched my skills improve and grow, and appreciated my planning background and how it affected my methods of repurposing arrangements, the flow of the day, and logistical details. Some very amazing planners gave me my first opportunities, and when weddings started up in 2021, I said yes to nearly everything that came my way. This allowed me to figure out my more signature style of arranging, my ideal clients, favorite venues, and how to build my business and team. 2022 allowed for an explosion of business, and I have been able to grow my team to 5 part-time employees and moved into 2 warehouses for prep. I still have a lot to learn, and I am about to go through more changes as I re-brand my company and launch a new website. But I know that hard work, thinking outside the box, and a willingness to collaborate will help the success continue.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In my last 19 years as an Angeleno, I’ve lived in a quite a few areas, but my soft spot is for my current locale in the South Bay. The coastal communities of Los Angeles have so much to offer, and I would encourage a visitor to start in Venice, and spend the week working your way down to San Pedro. Each locale–Venice, MDR, Playa del Rey, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa, Redondo, PV to San Pedro–has their own personality and adventures. I always suggest walking as much as possible, starting with the Venice canals, to the jetty of Marina del Rey, the beach side walks throughout. Hot spots for eating would be Main Street in El Segundo (Havana Sandwich Company, Brewport Tap House, Jame Enoteca), Manhattan Beach Blvd (Simzy’s, Manhattan Beach Post, Strand House), a little brewery tour in South Redondo or San Pedro, seaside cocktails at Terranea.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to my husband–he’s a true partner in all things I do, and 2022 has been a marathon of work where hasn’t let me down. We have two small daughters and he’s an attorney with a busy schedule of his own. I’m out majority of the weekends, and he manages everything at home while I am out (and vice versa while he has a big week). He’s given me the freedom to grow and expand my business, always providing a sound board for questions and concerns, and is proud of what I do.

Website: https://www.letaverbena.com

Instagram: @letaverbena

Image Credits
Julie Shuford Photography, Carmen Lopez Photography, Jim Kennedy Photographers, JoJo Ortiz Photography, Figelwicz Photography, Zachary Ryan Photography