Today we’d like to introduce you to Alejandra Manjarres.
Alejandra, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born in Barranquilla, Colombia and moved to the United States when I was five years old. Growing up, my mother was always a great inspiration and showed me the value of hard work and prayer. While in high school, I had many different ideas of what I wanted my career to be like, I went back and forth between wanting to pursue a career as a trader in Wall Street to wanting to be a sports reporter for ESPN. During that time, my mother launched ACA Flowers, which is a business dedicated to helping local wholesalers and florists throughout the United States have access to flowers directly from farms in South America. Even though I was in high school, I immediately got involved with ACA and helped in any way I could, from filing papers to driving after school to the US Customs office to get the required export papers to ship out the flowers. It was then that I discovered the love for having my own business, it was also how I discovered the importance of knowing your company from the inside out. I have done almost every job required to make ACA work, I have represented the company at top expos in the United States and I have also driven down to the airport to deliver the boxes of flowers that need to be shipped to our clients.
After graduating from Florida International University with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, I fully dived in and made ACA Flowers my sole focus. In the two years since graduating, I am extremely proud of how much ACA has grown and the recognition we have received from our peers in the industry. We have broken into new markets and become the go to for luxury event designers. Our flowers have been in many celebrity and athlete events from Rick Ross’ birthday party to DeMarcus Cousins’s wedding this past summer.
Has it been a smooth road?
Is it ever a smooth road? Whether in your personal life or business, life will always find a way to challenge you. One of the most important things I try to remember is a verse in the bible that in summary says God will never give you anything you can’t handle.
Starting any business comes with a bucket full of challenges and in the initial stages you have to wear many different hats between my mother, father, and myself we were ACA’s sales representatives, marketing representatives, accountants, drivers, quality control, pretty much everything and anything that came up it was up to us to handle it. This company was born in a small office that my father built in our backyard, with a laptop computer and black expedition we used to transport the flowers, fast forward to today, ACA Flowers is a multi-million dollar corporation that services clients across the US and the Caribbean.
One of the biggest challenges we have faced was breaking in and staying competitive when Miami is filled with flower companies. How do we stand out? How can we convince people they should trust us instead of the other 20 companies down the road? What we have found throughout the years and the key to our success is building strong relationships and giving people a quality experience. How we treat our clients and our employees will determine how successful we are. Are our employees in an environment where they feel motivated, supported, and challenged? Do our clients trust us to know we have their backs and we want to help them develop their business? These are questions we are constantly asking ourselves and finding ways to innovate and make sure we are always providing a top of the line experience.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the ACA Flowers story. Tell us more about the business.
We are a farm direct flower importer, we bring flowers from South America and distribute them across the United States and the Caribbean. We have found a niche market selling directly to local wholesalers, florists, and floral designers, these are customers that in the past would have had to turn to major wholesalers in their states to get flowers. We are able to provide them access to a greater variety of flowers at a substantial lower price, helping them grow their business. One of our greatest accomplishments has been seeing clients come to us barely knowing anything about flowers and helping them grow to be leaders in their communities now teaching floral workshops and creating spectacular designs for their events, ACA Flowers is known for having amazing flowers and a terrific team. Our clients love that they have access to us 24/7 and become friends with our staff. We are so much more than just the people you get your flowers from, we are your friends, we want to share in the joys with you and if you need anything we want you to know you can count on us.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
In the next 5-10 years, I believe the amount of flower companies in South Florida will decrease. There is an overwhelming amount of companies providing “farm direct” services but within the coming years, only the companies that truly focus on their client’s needs and provide exceptional service will continue to prosper. The floral community is very small circle where everyone knows each other social media has been a great tool to connect florists and designers. On these platforms, you have clients constantly sharing their feedback both negative and positive, this drives us to always be on our A-game and provide the best service possible.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3400 NW 74th Ave, Miami, FL 33122
- Website: https://www.acaflowers.com/
- Phone: 786-603-0250
- Email: sales@acaflowers.com
- Instagram: @acaflowers
- Facebook: @ACA.Flowers
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