What is the name of your business and when did you start it?

Our business is “Sunday + Sage, LLC” and I proposed the idea to my business partner Lauren on July 4th, 2020. Within a month it was up and going. No planning – we didn’t know what we were doing! The idea came about during COVID, when Lauren and I couldn’t see each other in-person for months during the lockdown. We ended up surprising each other by dropping off flowers on the other’s doorstep! I had also started growing a rose garden that summer, and had been experimenting with making flower arrangements. I thought, “We should do this for fun!”

We had zero experience with the floral industry. But we started it over the summer, held pop-ups, marketed through social media and found out that a lot of people want flowers! We’re both working full-time in education, and had no idea what we were getting into when we first started. But now we’re much more organized and everything is going much smoother.

What was the process like of starting your business? What was the hardest part?

All of the legal pieces were the hardest – getting your ducks in a row. We both were primarily interested in the fun, pretty aspect of starting a floral business, but it was the tracking expenses, filing the right taxes, getting the licenses straight and all of those parts that we have to learn overnight that were the hardest. We did everything wrong at first. But we applied for our LLC and started getting letters in the mail from the Business Bureau telling us what to do, and we were really just learning on the spot trying to not break any rules. Taxes were hard. But we just figured it out all on our own through Googling and made it work. We’re both really similar and love the floral arrangement and creative piece to our business, but sometimes we can both avoid the logistic parts for too long.

But it doesn’t feel like work to us except for the business side - making flower arrangements feels very meditative. When we’re doing that part of the business, we have a calm peaceful presence in our life. But there’s a lot more to running a business. Sunday + Sage helps take our minds off of the heaviness of our careers. It’s a stark contrast to school psychology.

How do you juggle this and your full-time internship? What is the typical work like for your business?

We practice sustainable floristry, so our season ends when the farmers’ season ends. We go by the weather - March to October - and take a break all through winter. We did start planning for the spring farmer’s market and experimented with other business ideas during the winter, but the seasonal aspect makes it really nice with our jobs - we’re both off in the summer since we both work in school settings so it’s a good balance.

What have been the best parts and hardest parts so far about having your own side business?

The best part has been learning about the floral industry and the environmental impact. Importing flowers from other countries is really harmful and common. It’s such a big part of the world that I didn’t have to think about before. I’ve learned a lot.

Organizing and all of the administrative details has been tedious. Both myself and Lauren are introverted people, and it can be draining to communicate back and forth with individual clients. We’ve primarily been marketing through Instagram and Facebook, and are working on a website.

What words of advice do you have for anyone considering starting their own business? What skills/mindset have been most helpful on this journey?

Just do it! If there’s something you like or are good at - don’t be afraid of it. Don’t talk yourself out of it - but plan better than we did. Learn how to have a business and find someone you can ask those hard, logistical questions to. If I can do it in graduate school and as a full-time school psych intern, anyone can do it. Though, you have to have a certain personality to work like that.

Where do you see yourself next year as a school psychologist with a part-time business?

Maybe one day we could have a location. Or a flower truck! We have a lot of dreams and are just seeing where they go! It’s exhausting sometimes – I’m working seven days a week until the school year ends, but I’m happy to work with the flowers on the weekend because it’s so therapeutic.

How can we support your business?

Come to the Pearl Street Farmer’s Market and get flowers! Follow and share your flowers with us on social media @sundayandsageco!