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

Hi Ana, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’ve had my side hobbies or “little businesses” that would bring me joy, freedom, and money ever since I was 17. It felt right to have an idea and make it happen. I sold clothes online, had a jewelry brand, created the first website for gift lists back home (Moldova) where the concept was extremely new as we didn’t have Amazon or other big online platforms.

Before starting Wild Stems LA, I managed a flower shop and then co-owned one. In quarantine, I decided to leave my ex-business because it didn’t bring me joy. I couldn’t fully express myself and needed a break to figure out what I really wanted to do with my life. Turns out – I LOVE flowers more than anything, so I decided to start my own company. I wanted to rediscover the beauty of seasonal flowers and support local growers. I wanted to bring the joy of receiving wildflowers to my customers. I felt like I needed to create so other people can enjoy it. It’s another passion turned into a business. Apparently, this is a way of living for me!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started Wild Stems LA with the idea of taking flowers to a deeper meaning and share it with the world. I wanted to emphasize that feeling of being wild and free. I love working with seasonal and local flowers and focus on sustainability. When I pick up my flowers, it’s like choosing colors and textures for my next painting. I get a lot of emails from clients who say they find my color pallets interesting and my designs very unique. Lots of them just go with the Designer’s Choice and let me have fun. That’s actually the part I enjoy the most. I just need to know a lil bit about the personality of my client or the vibe of the event, and then I just trust my instincts. Of course, it took me a while to get to this point, but I think every step of the journey was important. I’ve learned to invest in my education, always learn something new, always find better ways of working or designing, trust my intuition, and do things with love. I’m currently working on a new collection of floral arrangements and installations while learning to set and stick to my boundaries. I’m leaning into creative collaborations and set designs where I could reinvent myself as a floral designer and make something unseen before.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m actually waiting for one of my friends to come visit me from Italy. The first stop would be Malibu, so she could enjoy the ocean. We would have dinner at Nicolas Eatery. Then, I would drive home through the Santa Monica Mountains. I would take her to the shop (of course haha), show her the neighborhood. A day Huntington Gardens, another one riding bikes in Venice, Abbot Kinney, take her to SoFar nights, live concerts, Sunday brunches. Laurel Canyon, Trails Cafe in Griffith park, and Cafe Gartitude. We’ll drive on Sunset Blvd all the way to PCH, go to The Last Bookstore and art museums. Dance in a live music bar for sure!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am beyond grateful for my boyfriend Ben Price, who supported all my crazy ideas from day 1. He believed in me, encouraged me, brainstormed ideas, and later joined me at the shop with his curated vintage collection named Wild Threads LA. Now he helps me run the shop so I can have some days off to rest, and makes our customers’ day with his kindness and jokes.

Also, before opening the shop, I had a calling to visit Colorado. I needed to be in nature. On that trip, I came across the Wabi Sabi concept. My Air Bnb hosts had a book (that I now carry in my shop) about this ancient wisdom. I read it in one night and was curious to find out more. I ordered right away another book called “Wabi-Sabi. Japanese wisdom for a perfectly imperfect life”, where Beth Kempton talks about the acceptance and appreciation of the impermanent, imperfect, and incomplete nature of everything. She explains the correlation between nature, humanity, and the cycles of life and invites us to find more meaning in soulful simplicity.

That book went straight to my heart. It made me want to rediscover the beauty and meaning of flowers and share it with the world. If we would take a closer look, we could observe how every stem takes its time to unfold and bloom, and how every step has its own beauty. Some flowers dry nicely and can be enjoyed forever, while others have a very short period of grace. Some flowers will be available year-round while others have certain seasons, making them even more special. There are so many little things that hold deep wisdom and are there for us to discover and enjoy.

Website: https://wildstems.la/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wildstems.la

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildstems.la

Image Credits
Photos taken by Katie Nolan (ig @katie_nolan_photography)

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.