EP79: Growing a Multifaceted Floral Design Business: An interview with Carly Cylinder

Lean the F*ck Out | Fempreneurs | Women Entrepreneurs | Female Business Owners

This week we talk with Carly Cylinder, owner of Flour LA, Inc, author of The Flower Chef and host of The Flower Kitchen. Carly shares how she started her business out of her small apartment and how she’s grown it to a bicoastal, full-service studio. She shares what it was like to publish her best-selling book The Flower Chef and talks about her show The Flower Kitchen on Bluprint.

Episode Highlights:

• How Carly runs Flour LA with locations in LA, NYC and Dallas
• How her book was published and the details of the process
• Carly talks about her show The Flower Kitchen on Bluprint
• How she uses Instagram as a portfolio

Biggest lessons Carly’s learned from running her own business:

• Wait for those bigger jobs that are the right fit. By saying “no” to projects that are not the right fit, you allow room for other opps you are more aligned with
• Give yourself more financial security - have some sort of regular income
• Recommended reads: The 4 Hour Work Week and The Big Leap
• Stay in your own lane, keep focused
• Don’t look at what other people are doing

Carly’s advice on leaning out and doing your own thing:

• Remember “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill
• Be open to change
• Know where you want to go

About Carly Cylinder

Owner, Flour LA, Inc & Best-Selling Author of The Flower Chef

Carly Cylinder is owner of acclaimed florist Flour LA, Inc with studios in LA, NYC, and Dallas. Her first book The Flower Chef was published in March 2016 by Hachette Book Group and named Best Books by Amazon. She is the host of The Flower Kitchen on Bluprint (NBC). Vogue named Carly Cylinder and Flour LA as one of the best flower classes in the country.

In 2009 at 26 years old, celebrity florist Carly Cylinder founded floral design studio Flour LA, Inc. What started as a daily delivery service based out of her small apartment quickly grew into a bicoastal, full-service studio. Flour LA Inc specializes in events for the beauty, fashion, and tech industries, installations, and high-end weddings. Carly’s first book THE FLOWER CHEF: A MODERN GUIDE TO DO-IT-YOURSELF FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS was published in March 2016 by Hachette Book Group and named Best Books of 2016 by Amazon Books. She has worked in nearly every major city doing celebrity and luxury events.

Follow Carly online at: The Flower Chef book Instagram Flour LA Download the FREE Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit

If you are thinking about starting a business or side hustle, check out our Lean the F*ck Out Launch Kit. The kit gives you tools and inspiration to start thinking like a fempreneur and start designing the life you want! You’ll receive a guided meditation to help you figure out your vision, a budget worksheet to see what you need financially to make a go of it, daily practices including printable worksheets and daily affirmations to help you keep your head up when your confidence is waning. Again, it’s free and it’s available at leanthef-ckout.com/launchkit.

Music: Sunshine by The Icicles