USneakPeek is back with another series of features to uncover the lives of our NTU-USPians and faculty members!
First on our feature is Png Wen Ann, a second year English Literature student, and the owner of an online flower shop Wildflower. The 20 year-old shared about how she decided to start her flower shop, the challenges and the not-so-glamorous scenes of running a flower business singlehandedly for more than a year.
Interview by: Josh Goh & Ashley Jin
Written by: Bai Yingzhi
Photos by: Ashley Jin
“You do not have to follow a particular image or a fixed recipe. This is the beauty of flower arrangement.”
What made you pursue this path?
I have always been interested in flowers and I have always loved flowers. So, after my A Levels, I went around looking for a job and I found a job posting at a flower shop. I decided to try it and I worked there more than a year. I started off as a part timer at this flower shop where I learnt all my skills. After that, I decided to start my own (business) on Carousell, and then moved on to Instagram.
Describe some life lessons you have learnt along this journey.
I would say look for help when you need help and try not to do everything yourself. Also, plan ahead. During my first very big event of this flower shop, which was Mother’s Day this year (2019), I made a Google form where people could order flowers from me. I did not expect so many orders, and in the end, I had about a hundred orders. It was really difficult for me to do, so I had to ask my friend help me with the preparation of these orders. I realised that I should have planned more in the beginning, rather than taking all the orders and then realise that I have too many orders to complete.
What was the most interesting experience you had while you were doing this?
I think the most interesting one would be Mother’s Day this year because I have never had so many orders before. I remember that during that period, my friend and I did not sleep for two nights straight. Instead, we spent those two days wrapping flowers. My whole entire house was filled with flowers! It was really an intense period, and we ended up with more than 200 bouquets, which was quite a lot for 2 people. My bouquet collection point was at Dhoby Ghaut MRT. However, I did not think about how I was going to bring so many bouquets to Dhoby Ghaut MRT. So, it turned out to be quite a struggle. In the end, I asked a friend and my parents to go with me. We had these super big recycling bags and we just stacked the bouquets. Nevertheless, the whole experience turned out to be okay. We managed to find a spot at Starbucks where everyone could collect their bouquets, instead of me standing for 4 hours at the MRT station.
When you tell people what you do, does their expectation of what you do match up to your reality of what you actually do?
Before working part time at the flower shop, I’ve always thought that working at a flower shop is so glamorous and nice because you get to see beautiful flowers. However, after working there, I realised that a lot of effort is required behind the scenes because the flowers are actually very dirty when they first arrive. For example, roses are full of thorns and leaves and they are super long. So, you have to cut the stems, remove the leaves and the thorns which are really bad. All flowers come with leaves, and they have to be removed as well. The dried flowers that I worked with had a lot of dust, so it really gets everywhere. It is really more of an unglamorous job than one would think. The end products often look nice, but the process of doing it is quite unglamorous in a sense.
I would say that people don’t really know the behind the scenes of managing a flower shop. Flowers are quite dirty, leaves fall out, liquid from the flower comes out, so before we make the bouquet, we must really condition the flowers. Sometimes, the petals of roses are closed and some of the outside petals are rotten which needs to be plucked. There is a method that I use to open the roses which is to blow into them. At times, you could even find caterpillars in the flowers!
Do you have a favourite flower arrangement?
I don’t really have a favourite arrangement. It really depends on when I am wrapping. This makes my bouquet unique in a sense that I don’t really have a set design that the customers get to choose from. During Mother’s Day, I let customers pick the flowers that they want for example, two carnations but they can’t choose exactly the other flowers that are in the bouquet. You do not have to follow a particular image or a fixed recipe. This is the beauty of flower arrangement. I like coming up with the design on the spot, selecting what flowers are in the bouquet and the colour of the bouquet.
If someone wanted to pursue a similar path as you, what advice would you give them?
You must really have passion in what you do. I know it sounds very cliché, but you have to love what you do in order to keep doing it. For me, I cannot imagine myself selling anything, other than flowers or something that I am interested in. I feel that you must have passion in what you do, enjoy what you do. For me, when things got tough, especially during the busy period, I really thought to myself, “Oh my I really should not have taken in so many orders. How am I going to do it?” Fortunately, in the end, everything turned out fine.
Check out Wen Ann’s bouquets here: https://www.instagram.com/wildflower.sg/
About USneakPeek
USneakPeek is a series that uncovers the stories of NTU-USPians and faculty members, from globetrotting to initiating a community service project. Join us as we take a sneak peek into our very own NTU-USP community!
