Today we’d like to introduce you to Arianna Heyward.
Arianna, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My first memory of tea is my mom giving me a sleepy time tea when I couldn’t sleep and of course being in the south we had sweet tea around the house. This sparked an interest in tea and tea culture and it became my drink of choice from a young age. I didn’t really think about it being able to be a business until my early 20s with a push from friends and family that I was blending tea and tisanes for at the time.
In regards to this becoming a business for me – I had gone through as I like to name it a “quarter-life crisis.” After graduating a few years ago and trying to navigate multiple new chapters happening in my life at the same time from work, relationships, and friendships, etc. I ended up extremely stressed to the point I was going to all these medical appointments to figure out what was going on with my body – it was a very scary time and luckily it – it turned out to be extreme stress and during that time tea and prayer became synonymous to solace and rest for me. This scare had me really reflect on my life and I decided I needed to make a change and do things that I absolutely love.
After going through that experience, I kept seeing posts and ads for schools that focus on herbalism and wellness and after thinking about it for months and talking to my parents about it constantly at family dinners they told – “why don’t you just go for it.” I am so glad I did. I fell in love with all the plants and all that I was learning that I kept enrolling myself in various herbalism classes and also found myself enrolling in tea sommelier school too. (I still enroll in class because I love to learn and it makes me a better resource.)
I wanted to share all this amazing information and love of tea with others and at the urging of my family and a few friends flower girl sprouted into existence in 2017 and I debuted Flower Girl to the world in early 2018.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely was not a smooth road and is not a smooth road. I am only in year two of business while still working full-time but I have such a passion for tea I couldn’t see not doing it at the moment. If you have something placed on your heart, it’s not for no reason. I’ve met some amazing on this whole journey. Also, if I hadn’t gone through that scary time when I didn’t know why my body was working against me then Flower Girl Apothecarie wouldn’t even be a thing. Now, I can not imagine my life without Flower Girl Apothecarie. Difficult things can propel us back into what our purposes are and we make them realities if we rise to the occasion.
Flower Girl Apothecarie – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Flower girl Apothecarie is an artisan line of organic, hand-blended teas, tisanes and wellness products. All materials we use are carefully and thoughtfully selected to serve a purpose. The products we create are crafted in hopes of providing you with a pure, vibrant source of self-care, while also utilizing the beautiful plants that God has provided us with to use to aid in our overall well being.
We are known for our loose leaf tea blends and definitely find our selves being able to cater to the novice tea drinker to the tea aficionados which just makes my heart sing. A mom told me she and her daughter have tea parties and it reminded me of times I would share a cup of tea with my mom or dad growing up. Tea can be enjoyed by one person but it always seems a little better sharing with another.
I like to think what sets us apart from some other companies is our some sourcing practices, It is very important to me that things are organic, fair trade and/or ethically traded – it costs me more as a business owner – but I can go to sleep with a peaceful conscience. I am most excited to bring in black tea, green tea, and white teas – I’ve been asked at shows, but I didn’t want to do it just to land a sale. I needed to be able to bring them in on my own terms especially since herbal tea was my wheelhouse.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
To be completely honest- starting it and getting into my first market which was Boerne Handmade Market for their spring 2018 show. I was so shocked that I had even been selected since it is a juried market and I had not done a market before. Flower Girl Apothecarie was well received and it leads me into doing a few more shows, pop-ups, and even workshops. If I had not started it at all who knows what I’d be doing right now (besides my full-time job that is). It truly brings me such joy to share this passion with others.
Flower Girl Apothecarie has brought so many amazing and wonderful people into my life especially all the awesome women makers of BSBSATX. They are some of the most supportive women I know and it is all about community over competition. That concept being a reality makes me overjoyed and is super encouraging to me as a business owner and maker! Let’s cheer each other on.
Pricing:
- Tea and Tisanes $12-$15
- Bath Salts $14- $20
- Body Oils – $35
- Facial Tea – $12
Contact Info:
- Website: www.flowergirlapothecarie.com
- Email: hello@flowergirlapothecarie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowergirlapothecarie
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/flowergirlapothecarie
Image Credit:
Beth Bradford Doughtie of ‘A Perpetual Journey’, Arianna Heyward
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