Blooming Bold: How Cindy Gonzalez Turned a High School Passion into a Flower Shop at 18 | Networked Podcast Ep. 3

At just 18 years old, Cindy Gonzalez turned a high school floral design class into a full-blown business — launching The Bloom Flowery in East Wenatchee shortly after graduating from Eastmont High School.

In this episode of Networked, Cindy shares how she went from making bouquets in her family’s garage to opening her own flower shop, the decision to stay home and pursue her dream instead of going to college, and what it really means to be the “main character” in your own story.

Whether you’re a young entrepreneur or just love a good origin story, this episode is full of passion, hustle, and heart.

Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

#NetworkedPodcast #TheBloomFlowery #YoungEntrepreneur #NCW #InspireInvestEmpower

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:17 Finding a Passion for Flowers
• 8:03 From Garage to Grand Opening
• 15:20 Support, Sacrifices, and Chasing Big Dreams
• 25:58 Signature Questions & Reflections
• 30:44 Closing & Outro

Transcript

00;00;07;05 - 00;00;35;08
David Mabee Host
Are you ready for the network podcast? Hey, how you doing? Welcome back to network, where we bring you real talk to inspire, invest and empower right here in north central Washington. I'm your host, David. Maybe the marketing director here at NCW Tech Alliance. Today, we're excited to introduce you to one of the region's newest and youngest entrepreneurs, Cindy Gonzalez, who was only 18 years old when she founded the Bloom Flower in East Wenatchee.

00;00;35;10 - 00;00;56;14
David Mabee Host
What started for a love for flowers in a high school classroom turned into a garage based business and is now a full storefront. All before most people finish their first year college. Cindy's story is packed with courage, creativity, and a deep appreciation for her community. If you've ever wondered what it feels like to bet on yourself and chase your dreams early, this episode is for you.

00;00;56;21 - 00;01;17;14
David Mabee Host
Welcome to the Network podcast. I want to introduce you to Cindy Gonzalez. Cindy, how are you doing today? Good good good. Honored to be on the podcast and excited to bring my story to, Everybody listening. Yeah. The crowd. I don't know if you heard them in the background. The crowd is excited. So we're stoked to have you here.

00;01;17;17 - 00;01;38;11
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
Cindy, I just want to get started here. Take us back to the beginning. How did the high school flower design class spark this whole journey for you? So I started off taking floral design my junior year in high school. It was just kind of like an elective to take, kind of just for fun and down the road.

00;01;38;11 - 00;01;54;12
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I kind of discovered that I really liked and enjoyed working with flowers. I mean, I always liked having flowers in my room and just like around the house and stuff. So I think that part of me was always there. But floral design just kind of like helped, I guess, in a way, to discover what I really liked.

00;01;54;14 - 00;02;16;25
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And then it wasn't until my junior year later on, like the second quarter of the year that I took a financial literacy class, and the teacher's name was Mr. Bloom. I also had a teacher or a friend in that classroom, and her name was, Diana. And we were really good friends at the time. She was dating, my boyfriend at the time, best friend.

00;02;16;25 - 00;02;40;04
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
So it was like all four of us were kind of, like, connected in some way. But her boyfriend and her, like, we're really lovey dovey, and he'd always get her flowers, and I would, like, never really get flowers. So Mr. Bloom would here as talk about, all of like our, I guess, our love stuff going on. And the class was super quiet, but he was just, he we sat, like, right next to his desk.

00;02;40;04 - 00;02;57;25
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
Always kind of like, told him, Oh, and I forgot to mention the teacher's name of that class was Mr. Bloom. And he's been teaching there for quite some time. Anyway, we, I was you on there to tell him about our stuff, and then it got until I think it was like, around fall time that I was like, you know what, Mr. Bloom?

00;02;57;28 - 00;03;12;24
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I'm tired of not getting flowers. I'm going to do something about it. And as a joke, I was like, I'm going to, like, start a flower business to make myself happy and then make other people happy. And he's like, okay, Cindy, you do that. And so I was like, no, like he I think he didn't really believe me.

00;03;12;24 - 00;03;30;05
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
He was just thinking I was, I don't know, saying something random. And I was like, no, like, I am and I'm going to name it after you. So originally it was the flowery bloom, but then that didn't really make sense. I was like, I think we're going to do it. Name it The Bloom Flowery. And then that's where I guess I kind of named it after him.

00;03;30;05 - 00;03;46;19
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And that's awesome. He didn't believe me. And you know, he was just like, okay, whatever. Because we'd always like, talk all this nonsense. He was like, okay, right. So did he sign over his naming rights or is he going to come after you later for the for the name or this guy, you might come after? You guys are on a pretty good terms.

00;03;46;19 - 00;04;02;19
David Mabee Host
I bet it does. Does he still give you advice on, on the business and everything that's going on? He's still keeping contact? Yeah. I don't see him too often. I saw him for Valentine's Day. And he stopped in the store, and he's like, oh, I'm grabbing a last minute gift for my wife. She loves anything that has her last name, bloom.

00;04;02;19 - 00;04;20;26
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And I was like, well, you came to the perfect spot because we had a bunch of stuff that had bloom all over it. So, yeah, we kind of still keep in connection, communication and stuff. He's just a simple like, I know he's a calm guy, and he's just like he used to work in, like, building houses and stuff and all that.

00;04;20;26 - 00;04;42;28
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And now he's just a teacher who lives in Leavenworth. So he drives to East High School. Every single day. He's committed. He's a really cool guy. And this happened, like I said, back in the fall time. And then we fast forward until to the winter time of 2023. And then that year, I decided that I was going to, like, fully launch it.

00;04;42;28 - 00;05;02;14
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I made the Instagram account that full time when I told Mr. Bloom about it and when I came up with the name. So that's when the account was originally created, but it just kind of sat there all fall until the winter time. I was like, okay, Valentine's Day is coming up. Like, if I'm going to do something to right now is going to be the right time, to take it on.

00;05;02;14 - 00;05;18;22
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
So I went to Costco, picked up some flowers and did some samples, posted it on Instagram, said I was taking Valentine's Day orders, and that's kind of like how it began and how it started off. Oh, cool. So. So how old are you? Were you a senior when this happened? Is this like towards the end of your senior year?

00;05;18;24 - 00;05;42;25
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
It was in the beginning of my senior year. Well, I guess real end of my junior year. So I still wasn't a senior yet and took my junior year. And it wasn't until my senior year where it all kind of just like took off and like so, so talking about that, what were some of your early, like, bouquets or projects that made you think, like, I could maybe make this a business?

00;05;42;27 - 00;06;03;03
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I think it wasn't until and I think I got my years messed up. I thought about this in 2021, and then it wasn't until 2022 where I, like, finally formalized it, because 2023 was my senior year, the year that I graduated. And like I said, that was the year that it took off. And where, like, I realized that I could that it had a potential and it wasn't just like, oh, you have to do weddings.

00;06;03;03 - 00;06;28;03
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And like all these different types of floral, it could be like an everyday, business that I could do. I was going to school and almost every day or every other day, I would have at least one order of either a birthday bouquet or just like just because flowers. So that is where like, I feel like I got the thought of like, okay, you know, like everybody has a birthday, there's a lot of people that love flowers.

00;06;28;03 - 00;06;48;28
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And this could potentially be like something that could grow into something bigger. If I like, took it further. Yeah. That's awesome. So when you're starting doing this, like, what's what's your learning? How are you learning how to do this? Are you are you self-taught? The teacher's helping you. I mean, kind of what what was that trial and error method you were going through?

00;06;49;01 - 00;07;08;23
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I think a really big, like, learning school was TikTok and YouTube. Those are like my two that, like, taught me a lot of what I know. And then following a lot of people that were kind of doing the same thing. For us that had experience and doing things. And my floral design teacher, I think we kind of like bumped heads throughout the road.

00;07;08;23 - 00;07;28;21
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
We like, liked each other, but didn't really like each other. So I learned a few basic things, from her. I'm not going to say I didn't learn anything because I did learn a few things here and there, but I think most of it was through, social media. Like I said, TikTok, whatever was kind of like trending, trying to learn what was, what people wanted to see and what they wanted.

00;07;28;23 - 00;07;51;15
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I think something that kind of made me different from other florists in town or people that works with flowers, was that I was kind of doing more of the stuff that was, trending around, like we tried we started this really big, money bouquet where we'd hold dollar bill flowers. So that's like something that you don't typically see, I guess at like Safeway or another flower shop, around town.

00;07;51;15 - 00;08;12;03
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
So it was definitely like knowing what was trending and learning and how to bring that to an edge. That's cool. And you started the bloom flower in your in your garage and your family's garage. Well, what was that experience like and and how did your parents respond? So we my dad owns this, a limo, he rents a limo and a party.

00;08;12;03 - 00;08;34;24
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
Right. So our garage was originally, like, super. It was extended to fit a limo, pretty much. And then there was, like, a little gap at the very back of the garage, and in, like, 2020, I was like, okay, I'm gonna make a home gym. And that lasted for like 2 or 3 years until I decided that I wanted, like a bigger place to work with flower flowers other than the kitchen.

00;08;34;27 - 00;08;52;24
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And that's where I took sold all the gym equipment and then just kind of had some foldable tables out there, a bunch of Lowes buckets that were there, and they were really welcoming, really open. I mean, it was like a it was kind of technically already my side of the house because it was like a gym before.

00;08;52;27 - 00;09;10;19
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
Right. So they're like, yeah, sure, do whatever you want with it. And kind of built kind of extended more as time went by. And right. I grew it pretty quick. So by the time, how did you realize, like, now I need to move into a storefront? I've outgrown the gym. Flower workshop. How how did that transpire?

00;09;10;19 - 00;09;32;10
David Mabee Host
And how did you I who helped you with that? With the contracting part and all that? I mean, it seems like a pretty big step for a young person. Yeah, that was a lot. So towards the end of, like, my senior year, I was set to go down to Grand Canyon University. I had gone before, during, like the spring time toward it.

00;09;32;12 - 00;09;49;18
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I had a scholarship down there. I had my schedule. I had my dorm, I had my roommate. I had a plane ticket to fly down there with all my stuff, like everything was set. And then last minute I decided to have, like, a really tough conversation with my parents and be like, you know what? Like, I don't think school is something that I want to do.

00;09;49;18 - 00;10;06;28
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I think I want to stay and take this further. My dad is the type of guy to never get my mom flowers. So he was like, who is going to buy flowers? And you like, come on. And I mom was like, well, you know, do whatever makes you happy. Like, if that makes you happy, then we'll support you, and be here for you.

00;10;07;00 - 00;10;31;15
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
Right. So I knew if I was going to stay, I could function from the garage, but if I was going to stay, I needed to make, like, a bigger step in transitioning, into, like, at least a place that I could rent out. And that was one of their conditions that they kind of said was like, okay, so we're going to stay and you want to continue this, you have to like actually take it the next step, which required like getting a business license, getting permits, leasing a spa and all that.

00;10;31;15 - 00;10;50;20
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And that was a lot because I had no experience. I mean, I was just out of high school. I yeah, YouTube, TikTok were my friends again. So YouTube University is amazing. Yeah it is. You can learn a lot there for sure. So then, I kept in contact with this teacher that I had in seventh grade. She's kind of.

00;10;50;20 - 00;11;11;13
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
She has? Oh, I saw a really good social life. So she knows a lot of people. And she connected me with, this one person that she knew that they were looking for people to to sublease, the building that they were leasing and this location was down on Columbia Street. It was like a warehouse style, but it was divided into a few rooms.

00;11;11;15 - 00;11;33;18
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And the room that we, were offered in, I guess, looked at was a 600 square foot room, which was a little bigger than the garage that, in my parent's garage that I was in, but it allowed me to at least have like a physical location where I could go versus just having people show up to my house and having it, I guess, be more real, more, proper.

00;11;33;18 - 00;11;59;21
David Mabee Host
So kind of professional or. Yeah. Yeah, I understand what you're saying. You're not coming over my garage. You've actually invested in the storefront. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because, yeah. Now there's real money on the line that you have to pay every month. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It got I think one of the things also that made me like wanted in that I kept going back to was for Mother's Day that year, my senior year, we, I took orders and I did pre, orders and stuff.

00;11;59;23 - 00;12;19;02
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
But that day I had said that I was going to have like extra bouquets for the people that didn't get to order before the cutoff date, and I was going to open my back fence with all my extra arrangements at 8 a.m., and I had a line already at like seven 5755 and dad must in like 30 minutes.

00;12;19;04 - 00;12;43;09
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
Oh yeah, 30 minutes. Everything was gone. It seemed like we were having a yard sale in front of our house because our neighborhood was like, with all the cars just lined up, everybody walking out with their flowers. So I think I was like, okay, like, if I'm going to be selling flowers, I don't want a whole line of cars to show up at my house and, you know, intimidate the neighbors or have some issues going on.

00;12;43;12 - 00;13;03;24
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
So that's where I was like, okay, I think it's time to, like, take the step further. Seems a little safer to, I mean, you know, want a bunch of randos knowing where you live? I mean, just the world's a little crazy. So good on that. That's a good call. So this all sounds incredibly stressful as you're young, what were some of the biggest challenges leading up to your to your grand opening at your new spot?

00;13;03;26 - 00;13;22;08
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
So our first spot that we were in, like I said, I was just straight out of high school. I didn't really know how to do half of the things that I did. I needed to make sure that I was applying for the right business license, doing like, all these little things. I had connections with some people that had and owned businesses, so I reached out to them.

00;13;22;11 - 00;13;45;13
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I kind of got their insight on, like, what to do or how to do the steps, how to apply, who to call, what to do, and all this. And it was really stressful. But I think the part that was the most stressful of it all was making sure that with like this big step in like committing and to subleasing this location that I was going to be able to pay rent every month to month and stuff.

00;13;45;16 - 00;14;04;00
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
At this time, I had already quit my part time job that I had, in high school, and it was the only job that I worked before, like owning my business and doing this. And I think with that, I did a lot of like simply knowing how to count still and how to do like the basic steps that you would, in a work environment.

00;14;04;00 - 00;14;25;22
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
So just reaching out to people that I knew and then, knowing the rights and wrongs of how to properly do things right, I was just wondering, what did it feel like when you finally unlocked the door for the first time and you're like, this is your business now, and holy crap, I'm open. It was really Cyril. It didn't feel real in the moment.

00;14;25;24 - 00;14;49;14
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
Our grand opening was, or, I guess, our soft opening that we did, the day before we were still in there kind of painting and getting things together and doing the whole room, remaking it, to our to, you know, fit our whole vibe. But the day that I actually like this was on a Friday. So I went back on a Saturday, opened it up, and it just I know it didn't feel real.

00;14;49;14 - 00;15;06;11
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
It felt like a dream. And I was like, okay, like, this is real. And it's like, I think I was more scared than like, I mean, obviously because, you know, there's so much unknown. But I mean, it's got to be like exhilarating, partially scary. I've started a few side hustles, but nothing like that, where I had like a door, I deejays and things like that.

00;15;06;11 - 00;15;27;14
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
So it's like there was never a door, but it was like, got my first client is like, oh my God, I'm actually doing this. I have a business license, blah blah blah. So yeah, yeah, I want to get into this. You talked about your decision. You were you were going to pursue business instead of you. I mean, you chose to pursue business and selling heading off to Grand Canyon University and your parents accepted it.

00;15;27;17 - 00;15;47;21
David Mabee Host
What what made you think? I mean, you said it was kind of last minute, but, like, you must have been stewing on this. And what made you finally decide to bring it up to your parents and be like, hey, I'm giving a give this go. I think it was like talking to people that were around me and before, like actually going to my parents and just being like, you know, like, hey, what do you think about this?

00;15;47;21 - 00;16;05;21
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And like, what do you think if I stay and I do this? And it wasn't like people my age, it was people, older people and getting advice from like, like I said, older people. And most I think I want to say like most, like 95% of them were like, I think you should just stay and do it.

00;16;05;21 - 00;16;26;00
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I think they gave me that reassurance that I was needing before actually bringing this conversation up. Yeah. And I was going to go to school for business entrepreneurship, which was kind of silly because I was already kind of doing that. So I was like, okay, I'm like signed up for that. And I already kind of, I mean, I don't have like the whole format of how to properly do things, but I learned along the way.

00;16;26;07 - 00;16;49;16
David Mabee Host
Yeah. And I think, I think what's different is you started doing it and you knew what you wanted to do, whereas most people go to college kind of with a thought of what they want to do, and then they try to use college to figure that out. So kudos to you because I'll tell you this. Like, the one thing you don't get more of his time and the easiest time to make big decisions is when you're young, because you don't have as much at stake and you can always go back to college.

00;16;49;19 - 00;17;07;29
David Mabee Host
You can take classes online now. So, I mean, good on you. This is awesome. It's. I'm excited for you. You talked about some of the support that some of the local businesses have given you. Is there any couple people in particular that you lean on now or leaned on more? In the beginning, while this was all starting to transpire?

00;17;08;01 - 00;17;32;04
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
Yes yes, yes, yes 100%. I so we when we moved in to our first location, it was the location on Columbia Street. We were there for approximately like nine, ten months. And then we got the news that we kind of had to move out from that first initial, 600 square foot room and, and it was like day to night.

00;17;32;04 - 00;17;51;08
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
It was a last minute thing I basically had. I mean, I had some time to find a new spot, but finding a place to lease, in what actually can be a little difficult sometimes, especially to fit the needs of what I was looking for with like having space for like a cooler and, you know, the little things.

00;17;51;10 - 00;18;12;02
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And so basically, long story short, we found this spot that was directly on one avenue. And that time it was getting remodeled. It was getting new floors. It was getting painted like it was going to be a whole new place, but it was going to overlap. By the time that I had to be out of the location on Columbia Street.

00;18;12;04 - 00;18;43;29
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
So I had to come back home for a little bit for a few weeks and I guess work from home again until the the new place was open. But during that time, a few beers, we started off with reaching out to one business, Xolo Wellness, which is like a medical, spa. Ivy bar. Yeah, and asking if we could take one of our cards and leave our bouquets there, and then just have people having a location where they could go and purchase versus coming to my house and picking up, you know.

00;18;44;06 - 00;19;02;01
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
Yeah. And it it started off, with them and then a few, several other businesses reached out and they're like, you know, like if you need a place to bring your flowers, like, we're more than happy. These are ours. Like, we'd love to help you out, in the meantime that you get your new spot. So it was really nice.

00;19;02;01 - 00;19;20;06
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
It was helpful. It was to the point where, like, it lasted for, like, a whole entire month. But at week four, we had a whole, like, list of just businesses that had offered their help to us. And I think that was just it's like a welcoming hug from, you know, like the community and businesses that want to support you and see you grow.

00;19;20;06 - 00;19;36;26
David Mabee Host
And it's amazing because you're actually I don't know if you realize this, you're building your brand through another brand that's already a brand, like out there, right? So, like, people are going to a place they trust or need to go to, and then all of a sudden they see your brand there. And because they have the trust of that brand, I think it builds that trust with them.

00;19;36;28 - 00;19;54;02
David Mabee Host
Just as someone who's been around for a while, but there's layers on top of all that stuff. So that's awesome. You've talked about like kind of living your dream. What does it now mean? I mean, do you realize now you're kind of the main character in your in your story, in your dream, and what does that mean to you?

00;19;54;04 - 00;20;15;09
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I kind of forget that I am the main character sometimes until I realize, okay, like I started like when I walk through the store and I realize that it all kind of started as a joke. And now we're here and like, it's like my life and my day to day life. Like, I wake up and I get to go to the shop and work with flowers and make people happy.

00;20;15;12 - 00;20;35;05
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
It just wasn't the dream that I originally had planned. I think my original dream was being in college, coming back home and working so I could go back to college and all this stuff, you know, the typical stuff. But I definitely think that I'm, like, living the dream that I didn't know it was my dream. Right.

00;20;35;05 - 00;20;52;08
David Mabee Host
That's. I mean, it's crazy, right? Like, I'll tell you this, like life, life will take you in all sorts of different directions no matter what. Like, I didn't think I'd be living in Wenatchee and doing a podcast, but, you know, here I am so it's pretty awesome. Okay, so you were talking about like in an article I read about, a plan B of yours would be like real estate.

00;20;52;10 - 00;21;08;11
David Mabee Host
Or maybe something around there. But are you to the point now where this dream is rolling along well enough to you where like, no, this is it. Now, this is this is the plan. But is there anything that excites you about the future, about the next, the next plan you want to do? Or maybe a five year goal that you have?

00;21;08;13 - 00;21;36;29
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
Yes, definitely. I've always been into coffee, and I love coffee, and I think I consider myself a coffee addict, but I would definitely love to do have, like, a flower shop and a coffee shop, combined in one. The location that we're in right now is a building divided in half. So if our neighbors next door happened to move out or whatever the case is, I think it would be a nice experience and opportunity to take on a coffee shop next door and have the flower shop on the other end.

00;21;36;29 - 00;21;55;11
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
So I think that is the goal that I'm aiming for. I would definitely still like to pursue real estate, but I think that would be like a step down the road when I feel like the business doesn't need as much as me. Okay. Right now I've done real estate, I can tell you it's pretty much a 24 seven job.

00;21;55;11 - 00;22;13;04
David Mabee Host
I mean, unless unless you get into, like, a niche and you're you're helping just clients. But it it's a lot. Yeah, yeah, I'm just gonna I'll give you that warning because I've done real estate, so I think that's definitely something that I wouldn't want to happen is like, have all my attention be like, let's say in real estate.

00;22;13;04 - 00;22;34;08
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And then kind of like, forget that I have a flower shop. But that is something that I would want to do down the road. And I think definitely opening up maybe 1 or 2 more locations, in like a touristy place, whether it be like land or Leavenworth. I think if we reach out to different audience that are, you know, visiting, I think that would be great.

00;22;34;08 - 00;22;51;08
David Mabee Host
And and expanding and, and learning my story to inspire others out there. That's awesome. Well, we'll have to do a follow up with you here and in a year or so and see where you're at, because your story is amazing. I can't wait to see what you're doing. How important has been? Has your family been, with supporting you through this process to your success?

00;22;51;10 - 00;23;14;23
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And or is there any customers that you have, like you felt like have supported you to your success right now? Oh, yes. So, so many. And it just feels so nice when I get to see them. Some of them will go visit me weekly, I'll see some monthly or whatever the case is for like special occasions. But I think just creating that like second family experience or feeling with them is, is amazing.

00;23;14;23 - 00;23;42;29
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And I have a long list of, customers that I feel the genuine support of. And that feel like family to me. But as far as my family, they've been so supportive. My dad, my mom, it wasn't until, this last a year ago, actually, that my dad, like, finally realized that flowers had potential. And it was on Mother's Day last year where since we we do two Mother's Day, we do Mexicans Mother's Day and then American Mother's Day.

00;23;42;29 - 00;24;00;23
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
And the first day was Mexican Mother's Day on May 10th. Again, we opened at 8 a.m. we had a long line of people waiting, and we had a camera where I was like, checking people out, and we put it in like fast speed and saw all the people lined up and like how everything was quickly wiped out.

00;24;00;26 - 00;24;17;23
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
This or this. Last year, we beat the record and we're sold out in 15 minutes and we had over like 200 arrangements, made. And they all just kind of flew out in 15 minutes. And he was standing right by the door. And towards the end he's like, okay, you know what? I take that back. I think people do like flowers.

00;24;17;23 - 00;24;36;11
David Mabee Host
And this is have potential 200 bouquets out in 15 minutes. That's pretty crazy. So does does your dad buy your mom flowers now? She does. Yes. Here and there. And I have to kind of, like, be like, hey, you to buy this? Her mom, and then he will. But I have to give a little gentle reminder. That's awesome.

00;24;36;16 - 00;24;55;03
David Mabee Host
Way to support dad. So has anything changed in the way you do your bouquets now, or is it still like, a pretty labor intensive process? Like, have you learned anything? Any tips or tricks along the way to make it faster or what's the process like? Oh yes, definitely. And I feel like I'm going to keep learning as time keeps going by.

00;24;55;10 - 00;25;17;03
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
When I first started off, it was just kind of like rose bouquets, and now I kind of hate roses because I worked with them for so long. But I learned that I have to create a recipe to make a bouquet and make sure that everything that I'm putting in the bouquet is an exceeding. Or is it more I'm not putting more than what I'm charging for the arrangement.

00;25;17;03 - 00;25;39;16
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
So I am now at a point where, like, if you show me a stem of something, I'll be like, okay, that is $1.65, and this is this, and this. So creating the recipe, matching up with the numbers, knowing how many fillers I need, how many focal flowers, greens and all that. And I can have a cart of like 12 bouquets right in like 20, 25 minutes.

00;25;39;16 - 00;25;56;21
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
So I've gotten a lot faster than when I first started. That's awesome. I mean, it's crazy like now, you know, like in your head. I mean, I don't at first. You're probably put together some amazing bouquets. Oh yeah. Like, oh, that'll be 20 bucks. And you're like, oh crap, I got to 45. Yeah, that happened a few times.

00;25;56;23 - 00;26;19;09
David Mabee Host
Well okay. So so now we're going to get into our signature part of this show where we just ask some questions and some reflection here. The first one, so we do invite we we inspire, we invest and we empower. And then I got a couple fun ones. So honor, inspire. What's one piece of advice you'd give to another young person thinking about starting a business during or right after high school?

00;26;19;12 - 00;26;43;07
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I think if you're like thinking about it and you're kind of hesitant, my best advice would just be just do it. I think the worst thing that could happen is I don't really know what the worst thing I could. There could be a lot of things that can go bad, but you are going to learn something, whether it be if you really like it, you maybe discover that you hate running a business and something you never want to do.

00;26;43;09 - 00;26;59;08
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
But I think you're always going to learn something out of going into it. And it can be a good it can be a bad thing, but you're going to always have that, you know. Right. And the only thing I don't know, that is the way you started is like, start small, like start. Don't try to go rent a business space right away.

00;26;59;08 - 00;27;22;25
David Mabee Host
Start small and work out of the garage or wherever you can and do that. Amazing quote I've heard in my lifetime is it's amazing what you can accomplish when you just put your head down, stop thinking and go and do it. So that's awesome. So on the on the invest side, what's one skill you're working on as a young entrepreneur?

00;27;22;28 - 00;27;42;13
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I think is learning to set boundaries and knowing when to say no and when to say yes. I'm a people pleaser, so I always want people to be super happy and give them all they want, even if I'm not happy. And that's put me into some really hard spots in owning a business in difficult situation.

00;27;42;13 - 00;28;03;03
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
So I think learning to set boundaries, knowing what to say yes. Knowing what to say no. And I think boundaries. I think that's, a lifelong thing. I am kind of a people pleaser, too. I'm less so now that I've gotten older, but that's it's a hard thing to do, like learning boundaries and especially when you're trying to get your business going.

00;28;03;06 - 00;28;26;03
David Mabee Host
So, as we get to empower here, what do you think your superpower is? When it comes to business or creativity? I think it's that I create these, like, little random things that just end up working out in my favor. Like I said, this was like a joke, and I ended up working out in my favor down the road and stuff.

00;28;26;03 - 00;28;48;00
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
But I think I do really well with marketing, doing little videos. I have some friends from college that are coming back into town, and they came back for like winter break and stuff. So, bring them and be like, you can take one thing from the shop if you help me and film this funny little video that we'll post and we'll get people engaged, we'll get people to come and, you know, just kind of get us out there and reach different audiences.

00;28;48;02 - 00;29;07;22
David Mabee Host
So I think, social media and knowing who to pick, who not to pick and kind of building, you know. So are you doing all that, are you doing all the social media yourself, all the marketing? Like, are you still doing all that by yourself? Yeah. I think it would be really hard to trust someone else with it.

00;29;07;22 - 00;29;28;14
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I like things done a really specific way, and I think I'd spend more time like fixing up and cleaning up than just doing it myself. So yeah, yeah, I'd give you some advice just as you grow. That's, you know, you're gonna have to let go of some stuff and. Yeah, off you go. But I mean, good on you that you're learning everything, so I think it's good to learn everything also.

00;29;28;14 - 00;29;49;08
David Mabee Host
Then you can bring on somebody and kind of give them your vision and have them bring it to life. Okay, here's a fun question. I don't know if you saw this one, and hopefully you can come up with something here. If your flower shop was a reality TV show, what would it be called? That was hard. And I thought about it and thought about it.

00;29;49;10 - 00;30;08;24
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
I think it definitely have to have the name bloom. And if you know me and you know our short, I love pink and I used to hate pink when I was little. So I had like, say like blooming and pink. And I think the pink would kind of like connect back to me and bloom would be the flower part of it, blooming and pink.

00;30;08;27 - 00;30;28;17
David Mabee Host
I love it, I love it. And last question here. Do you have a favorite, local spot to relax or find inspiration? Yes. Zebra. I don't know how to pronounce the second part of the thing, but it's, like a cafe. And now they're a bar, too. But it's a little cute cafe. And they have some really good pastries.

00;30;28;24 - 00;30;53;15
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
Yeah, and some lunch options. Pretty new, right? Been around about a years. Yeah. A zebra bazaar or bazaar or. Yeah, something like that. Yeah. I've seen on the place is super, super cozy. Super nice. That's awesome. Well, Cindy, the crowd loving it. I loved you to thank you for being on today. You know, your story is a reminder that age just doesn't limit you.

00;30;53;15 - 00;31;14;07
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
Give courage, creativity, and community support. Can launch dreams, basically at any stage. So how would somebody check out the bloom flowery. And, we can put some links in the show notes as well. But give us where somebody could find you on social, or your website, or the best way to get Ahold of you. You can locate us if you want to go to our physical store.

00;31;14;08 - 00;31;39;04
Cindy Gonzalez Guest
14 South Wenatchee. And, we're located on Wenatchee Avenue. It's a pink building, so it's really hard to miss. And if you want to follow us on social media, we're under, at the bloom flowery. And that's the bloom flowery. If you search us up on Google, will be WW dot bloom flowery.com. And that's our website. Awesome. I want to thank you, Cindy again for taking the time here to join us today.

00;31;39;07 - 00;32;03;08
David Mabee Host
I want to thank everybody for tuning in. Make sure, for this episode of network, be sure to watch, subscribe, and catch every episode as it drops on Thursdays. If you prefer to listen on the go, you can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite show. We'll see you next time for real talk to inspire, invest and empower right here in NCW.

00;32;03;11 - 00;32;05;11
David Mabee Host
Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next time.