May Business Spotlight: Always In Bloom Florist
Meet Lyndsey Allen Shaw! Lyndsey is the owner and Head Designer of Always in Bloom Florist in Jefferson, GA. She’s lived in Jefferson her whole life and recently got married in January to her husband, Dylan. They live in Jackson County in her great grandmother’s home that they are currently renovating. Lyndsey comes from a family of entrepreneurs. Her mother, Marcia Allen, is a hairstylist and has an established salon in Jefferson and her grandmother was also a hairstylist before she retired. Seeing her family own their own businesses inspired Lyndsey to one day own her very own business, too!
After Lyndsey graduated from high school, she attended UNG in Gainesville to pursue a degree in nursing. She realized that this was not the career for her and transferred to Athens Technical College where she received her associates degree in marketing with a specialty in entrepreneurship. While in college, Lyndsey worked at Publix in Hoschton. She started as a cashier but when a position became available in the floral department, she decided to go for it and got the position. This leap of faith would eventually stir in her, the love for florals and designing arrangements and lead her to having a full-time floral design job and then eventually opening a business of her own!
Q: Tell us a little about yourself, your background and family?
“I lived in Jefferson for 22 years before moving to where I am now. After my sister graduated from Jefferson High School, my parents sold our childhood home and built a house in Apple Valley, a small unincorporated community located between Jefferson and Commerce. I recently got married to my husband, Dylan Shaw, in January of this year and we now live in my great grandmother’s house. Which is also located in Apple Valley and we are slowly renovating it since it was built in the 40’s. We live directly across the street from my parents and grandparents so we are all very close!”
Q: What inspired you or led you to open a flower shop?
“After I graduated High School, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I went to college because that’s what you’re “supposed to do”. I started my college experience at UNG Gainesville. Where I thought I wanted to be a nurse and I quickly figured out it was not for me. I left UNG and transferred to Athens Technical College. I’ve always wanted to have my own business. Most of my family has been entrepreneurs their whole life. So, I got my associates degree in marketing with a specialty in entrepreneurship. While in college, I worked at Publix in Hoschton for 3 years, 2 of those years in the floral department. That’s where I figured out that I really liked working with flowers, I finally knew what I wanted to do with my life. I started off doing small things like, boutonnieres, corsages and small arrangements. I then turned 21, I finished school and I wanted to do more. I wanted to learn more about floral design. I looked online on a whim for floral jobs and there was an opening for a full-time floral designer at Joyce Merck Florist, which is a very well-known and established florist in Gainesville. I worked there for 2 years and learned a lot from them. All I had was my limited knowledge from my time at Publix. The women at Joyce Merck were all wonderful and very experienced and taught me everything I know. They were like family to me. After I got married in January, around the end of February, my husband, mom and I were talking about what was next for me and how we needed to get the ball rolling to start my next floral journey. My mom offered me a space within her salon that wasn’t being used at the time so my entire family and I started making changes here and there and started renovating it. After much thought, I turned in my notice at Joyce Merck and then immediately began working on my shop. It took about 6 weeks to complete the renovations and on April 4th, I opened Always in Bloom. It’s been crazy ever since, a good crazy! There hasn’t been a new florist in Jefferson in years and the Jefferson community has been so supportive and has cheered me on every step of the way.”
Q: What are your favorite flowers?
“Garden Roses, Larkspur, Ranunculus, the list goes on. I can’t name just one!”
Q: What are some of the things you offer at Always in Bloom?
“I do everyday arrangements, birthdays, and anniversaries. I also do weddings. I have a huge one coming up in June that I am very excited about! I also do school dances and parties. Really, I do anything!”
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
“Business wise, I would love to be hired for a destination wedding. And in life, to travel to Europe someday with my husband!”
Q: What is your favorite thing about Jefferson?
“The familiarity of everything. I grew up here, so I know where everything is. Although Jefferson is quickly growing and changing it still feels like home. I also love making connections with people and having “what a small world” moment with my customers! Another thing I love about Jefferson is getting to work with other businesses in our community. I was hired to make a big floral install for The Jefferson Church for Mother’s Day, and I did all of the centerpieces for the Jefferson High School Prom. This event was extra exciting since I am a JHS alumni”
Q: What are you currently watching/listening to/reading/enjoying?
“I’ve been so consumed with my business. But my husband and I love to do day trips when we have time and I love to listen to true crime podcasts!
Q: What is the greatest piece of advice that you’ve been given?
“To just do it. Follow your dreams and not care what people think. Starting a business at a young age has come with its challenges. People are sometimes shocked when they see how young I am but I assure them I (kinda) know what I’m doing. Haha. I take owning a business day by day, I am always learning!”
Q: What is something good happening in your life that we can celebrate with you?
“Something amazing was the number of orders I had for Mother’s Day, I probably only slept around 4 hours between Friday and Saturday! I also received over 50 orders for Jefferson prom. That happened to fall on the same weekend, so that was a little crazy. I also got to work with the Broadway Arts Center Dance Studio the week before. I sold bouquets the day of the recital and allowed parents to preorder! So, the parents were happy to support a small business instead of a large grocery store.”
As we were finishing up with our interview, I asked Lyndsey where she sourced her flowers from, and she shared that she gets them from several wholesalers including a local flower farm here in Jefferson called Mulberry Flower Farm. She also buys some of her flowers from a young girl, Elizabeth Ledford. She attends West Jackson Middle School and started her own flower farm as an FFA project. How awesome is that?! It was very evident how important it is to Lyndsey to have had so much support from the Jefferson community that she also sees the importance of giving that support back to local and small businesses. We are so excited to see Lyndsey’s flower shop bloom and we know that with her kindness and work ethic good things are ahead for her.
Always in Bloom is open and ready to make your floral vision and dreams come to life! You can order from Always in Bloom by going to her website alwaysinbloomjefferson.com and you can find Always in Bloom on Facebook and Instagram. Always in Bloom is located at 922 Washington St Jefferson, Ga. They are open 9:00am-5:00pm on Monday thru Friday and 9:00am-12:00pm on Saturday.
