Today we’d like to introduce you to Kellen Clarke.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve lived in Islamorada most of my life. I’m a conch, born in Key West in 1994. Since I was young I was always the quiet artistic type, I have always been enamored with the flowers & fauna surrounding me. I worked hard to do well in school, taking honors & AP classes (including honors art classes).
Art was always my escape from the stress that went along with them. When I was in my sophomore year, I decided I wanted to get a job to make some of my own money. One of my friend’s moms worked for the Chamber of Commerce and mentioned that a flower shop in the area was looking for some part-time help. I thought that this would be perfect! Combining my love for flowers & art!
On my first day on the job, I felt at home. My boss, Debbie, quickly became like a second mom to me. She taught me everything I know. Not only did I fall in love with being around the flowers but I fell for the wedding industry and knew I wanted to be around it for the rest of my life. I worked for Floral Fantasy for the rest of high school, learning floral arranging and the computer end of things. I found I enjoyed working with the couples and seeing their visions come to life.
The only time I lived away from The Keys was when I went away for college. I went to Rosen College for Event Management. Figured I would try to be a wedding planner or something to stay in the industry. I made it about two semesters but I was burnt out. Learning wasn’t fun anymore. I missed being by the water. I missed the weddings. It was time for me to come home. Debbie & the flower shop were waiting with open arms. I dove in and decided flowers were always going to be my career.
When Debbie decided to retire, I asked my uncle, Brendan, to partner with me and take over the business. I couldn’t let it go. We bought the business in January of 2019 and moved it to our current location that March. And the rest in history! We have grown the business greatly. We now have roughly 10 employees including my dad, grandpa, & my boyfriend. I seriously could not do any of this without their support.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When we took over the shop, I was never concerned about how I would manage things. I gained extensive floral knowledge along the way. I knew how to arrange it. I knew I was fortunate to have such a great family & boyfriend as my support system to help me get the shop running. But nothing prepared me for the challenges I have run into.
In 2020, COVID hit us hard as it did everyone. We had stressed couples calling left & right to cancel or postpone. Luckily, most of our couples were rescheduled and we were able to create their weddings at a later date. Right before the shutdown, I also found out I was pregnant. I had our healthy baby boy in July 2020. Being a first-time mom was amazing but overwhelming at times.
We turned the office at the shop into a mini nursery and Kashton became our littlest employee at 2 weeks old. He is our everything and our need for comic relief on a busy day. Shout out to all the brides that heard him crying in the background of our phone calls but didn’t say a thing. To say 2020 was stressful is an understatement but so much growth came from it.
Beyond that, finding a “Dream Team” has had its difficulties. The cost of living is so high here, a few of my lead designers commute over an hour to work with me. I’ve had excellent team members be forced to move due to housing issues. Also, down here we deal with what is called “Keys Disease” and trying to find employees that are both relatively sober & talented has proven difficult.
Watching people that I’ve worked with for years ruin their lives due to abusing alcohol is heartbreaking. Having to know when it is time to let people go because no matter how much I care for them, they aren’t what is best for my business or family. Also thinking people are on your team, but are just out for themselves. I suppose these are the not-so-fun parts of being a business owner. I am a bit of a softy, but I’m working on growing my backbone.
Despite all of this, I have finally found my team. All of our strengths complement each other so well. They have grown like family to me. I couldn’t do it without them.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I aim to make floral fantasies come true every day. My team & I all have our strengths which allow my shop to fulfill a large range of styles. My favorite styles to create are boho, wildflower, & tropical modern.
We specialize in any event, but especially weddings. Baby showers, proposals, birthday bashes; you name it! I find them all fun. Not only do we provide the floral for your event, but we have a large inventory of arches, lanterns, candles, custom signs, & detail items. My dad even started custom-creating our candles so you can have any color, shape, & size!
We also do local deliveries. I always aim to bring in high-quality blooms and unique things that you can’t find just anywhere to offer a one-of-a-kind experience. We offer subscriptions where weekly, biweekly, or monthly we deliver a creative arrangement for your home. My clients can decide on color schemes but leave the rest up to us which is amazing. They trust us to be artistic with what is in season & most interesting.
I am so proud of some of the wedding altars & installations I have created. Some of them have my literal blood, sweat, & tears in them (lol). But I’m most proud of how I have learned to manage my team & my business at a young age.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Thanks to social media, making your wedding ready for the next “Scroll Stopping” moment seems to be the goal of many brides and grooms.
We see our couples more willing to allocate budgets towards large floral displays for the ceremony or even having us design floral photo opportunities. In the next wedding-ready generations, I see this trend continuing as long as the economy stays positive. Flowers can be seen as a luxury and not a necessity, unfortunately.
I hope to see the floral industry shifting over to more sustainable & eco-friendly design practices. Foam-free design & recycled glass will hopefully be easier & more affordable to access. I also hope to see this be more universal at a farming level.
Contact Info:
- Website: FloralFantasyWeddings.com
- Instagram: @FloralFantasyWeddings
- Facebook: Floral Fantasy
Image Credits
Jannette De Llanos
