Meet Sydney Distelhurst | Botanical Designer

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

Hi Sydney, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
For a long time I thought the concept of starting my own business was something unattainable and unrealistic. I was working as a plant care technician for another large company for a few years when one day someone I met who saw me watering plants asked if I could do the same for the plants in their small business. The company I worked for at the time only worked with large scale clients and charged a lot of money for these big accounts, and I knew this person wouldn’t be able to afford what they would ask for so I offered to do it myself. From there things exploded; within a month of saying I would take smaller scale projects on my own I started getting referrals from new clients, friends, old coworkers, and suddenly I had more on my plate than I could handle, because I was still also working for that other company. I started doing the math and realized that it could actually be a viable thing for me to do this on my own. I had thought that if I was going to start my own business that it would take a lot of knocking on doors (literally and figuratively), money spent on advertising, and things of that nature to get enough clients to sustain myself, but the power of networking and word of mouth did more for me than I could have possibly imagined. So when I finally felt secure enough I quit my other job and started doing botanical design and horticultural services full time on my own.

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 actually took me a while to think of myself as an artist working with flowers. I had taken care of plants long before I started working with flowers so I just saw it as an extension of that. But once I started posting photos of the floral arrangements that I made and people told me how beautiful and unique they thought they were, I realized that I actually was using my artistic ability to create all of these pieces.

All of the floral arrangements I make for people are custom pieces, I’ve never made two pieces exactly the same. When someone asks me to make them an arrangement I ask them if there is a particular color or flower or vibe that they’d like me to use, then I take what they tell me, pull flowers that feel right at the flower market, and then create something in the moment. Sometimes people tell me to make whatever I want, which can be scary to have nothing to go off of, but it also gives me artistic freedom. I’m honestly always so worried that I’ll make a bouquet for someone and they end up hating it! But that hasn’t happened yet (knock on wood).

I truly owe so much to people who have recommended me to others and trusted me to make them something or choose plants for them to put in their home, they have been the sole backbone of my business. It hasn’t been easy getting to where I am, especially with flowers being so seasonal with holidays and wedding season and things like that, so sometimes there’s a lot of business coming in, and sometimes there isn’t. But thankfully having both the knowledge of horticulture and floral design has allowed me to expand my business in many directions and find success in different places.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My first choice will always be The Huntington Library and Gardens. You can spend an entire day there and see plants, flowers, books, art, eat in the tea room, shop at the massive and incredible gift store, I always take people that are visiting there. Next would be spending time on the East Side in the Echo Park/Silverlake/Los Feliz area; walking around both lakes, getting coffee at Canyon Coffee or Bru, lunch at Alcove or Homestate, dinner at Sticky Rice, Bacari, or The Lonely Oyster, and finishing it off with either a dirty gin martini at The Dresden, or a margarita at Bar Flores.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I mean I definitely have to thank all of my friends and family on this one, the number of people I know who have ordered bouquets from me during holidays, who have hired me to do bouquet making for their bridal showers, and put faith in me to refer me as a wedding florist for my first wedding, they have all given me the support to not only get my name out there but also pay my bills! But specifically I want to thank my best friend Noah David; when I thought the idea of starting my own business was a pipe dream, he was telling me to think about how I could become a million dollar business in five years. When I was nervous about doing something or unsure of what direction I should go in, he always had advice for me and honestly believed in me more than I believed in myself. I would like to dedicate this shoutout to him for pushing all of the people in his life to constantly do and be better.

Website: https://www.hausbotanicals.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hausbotanicals/