Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Gassaway.
Hi Amanda, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Katey and I met in the spring of 2023. My family and I were new to the area, and our kids became friends. Katey and I soon discovered we had quite a bit in common – we were both transplants from the East Coast, both of our husbands were former Navy pilots and now both are currently pilots for American Airlines; we have similar tastes in music, style, and hobbies. We started getting together for what we called “book club”, but could more accurately be described as “wine and design”. We would start our afternoons scouring the local grocery stores for flowers – we’d grab some wine and cheese and spend the rest of the evening designing floral arrangements. We’d try different techniques, different vases and we would just have fun learning together.
When our kids decided to go to prom together, we decided to make their bouquets and boutonnières. We ended up making them for their entire friend group for free – and they looked good!
A close friend of ours mentioned that we should start selling our creations, and the idea just stuck.
A month later, Lulu’s Floral Design LLC was formed. We created a website, got a business phone number and started advertising on social media. Calls started coming in. We developed relationships with local flower wholesalers, we made business cards and set up shop at a few local day markets. In July 2024, we decided we needed a little bit of formal training and headed to the Texas State Floral Association for classes, in August we got ourselves a booth at the Argyle High School Back to School Bash and by September we found our storefront.
We held the grand opening of Lulu’s of Argyle on October 23, 2024. We jumped into this business with both feet, all in – we had no idea what would happen, but we absolutely felt like it was our time. As each door opened, we walked through it and here we are a year later – ranked in the top 3 Best of Denton County and busier than we ever thought possible.
We love every minute of what we do – we have beautiful flowers and unique, thoughtful gifts and we get to share all of it with our amazing community.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We have definitely not had the smoothest of roads – creating a business from the ground up is hard work. There are a million daily decisions to make, and when you have a business partner – you have to make them together. It takes compromise and a lot of communication. Katey and I have navigated it all pretty well, but we’re two imperfect people coming together to create something – just like a marriage, we have to compromise, listen and make the best decisions we can. For us, recognizing each other’s strengths and encouraging each other in those strengths has been key.
Of course there have been other obstacles as well – figuring out how to manage perishable inventory, balancing our finances, hiring employees, etc – these all come with bumps. For my part, I pray a lot and I seek God’s guidance with each decision. Our motto from the very beginning has been: Everything is Figureouable – and that’s what we do – figure it out one step at a time.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We are a small floral design business – we have a storefront with grab and go flowers as well as a gift shop with thoughtfully curated, unique gifts. We are mostly known for our grab and go $10 bouquets and our faith based gifts. We also do custom arrangements and event florals – and we deliver in the local area.
We are most known for a beautiful flower arrangements. Everything is custom – we don’t have recipes – we like to call it “freestyle floristry” and people often comment about the wispiness of our arrangements and about how long our flowers last. We take good care of our flowers and we insist on stocking quality flowers.
While our flowers are beautiful, there are a lot of people who can design flowers – what sets us apart, I think, is our customer service. Katey and I do what we do to make people happy – to bring joy into people’s lives. We go out of our way to greet everyone, to do everything we can do to exceed our customers’ expectations – and we do that through the value we give them and also through a listening ear and a friendly smile. We love our customers; they are why we do what we do.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
For me, happiness is knowing I’m right where I’m meant to be. Right where God wants me to be.
Katey and I both have husbands and children and lives outside of the shop – we both occasionally struggle to balance work with caring for our families and we have to rely on each other to help maintain that. One carries the load while one rests or we are by each other’s side getting it done together – either way when we have balance, we are able to use the gifts God has given us for good. That’s my happiness.
We have story after story of people in our shop who just need a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, or flowers to bring joy to someone else. Those moments make us so happy – when we’re in balance, we can help bring balance and happiness to someone else.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lulusfloral.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lulusofargyle?igsh=MTJyOXI2anl6N2Excw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/19QHMpJVqS/?mibextid=wwXIfr
