Archive for Flowers

Floral Farm

Have you ever wanted to create your own flower bouquets? 

      Camden Kidwell is the leading example of a young entrepreneur. He is a recent homeschool high school graduate and instead of going to college this fall he took the entire spring and summer to create his own flower farm and bouquet business. He started Swallowdale Flowers in June of 2021, and named the business after swallows which nest in his family’s barn. Swallowdale Flowers is unlike any florist business due to the fact that the customers can walk around Camden’s garden and create their own bouquets using his flowers. He has provided his customers with the ability for them to customize their own bouquets, which is unlike any other flower farm or floral business since the vast majority offers only premade bouquet arrangements. He does make bouquets though, on a weekly basis which he sells at 6ixNorth, a local artisanal craft store in his hometown. Another unique feature is that he runs his business from home – outside – where customers can be in nature and experience what it is like to be on a farm.

      Additionally, Camden has recently been asked by a local event planning company to collaborate with them on a wedding. An acquaintance asked Camden to make a corsage for his homecoming date at the local high school. Camden continues to grow his business and network through his community. He is an example of why one does not need to earn a degree to become an entrepreneur. Swallowdale Flowers is the definition of a startup business, because he never received any help beyond that from his father. Camden Kidwell’s story shows us that all it takes to become an entrepreneur is a willingness to be disciplined, take risks and have an imagination. He is an inspiration and a role-model. 

Please find Swallowdale Flowers on Social Media:

@swallowdale.flowers

https://m.facebook.com/Swallowdale-Flowers-101528278889912/?refid=13&ref=page_internal&__tn__=%2Cg

Abby’s Flower Shack

Abby is not your average 16 year old. She has her own idea about how she’s going to live and she’s not afraid to pursue avenues that haven’t been explored before. While other teenagers were learning Tic-tok dances during quarantine in March, Abby was making plans to start her own business.

When she was 14, Abby started dreaming of opening a flower shack where she would sell arranged, fresh-cut wildflower bouquets. The idea was born when her dad got flowers for his bees, and she was struck by their beauty and by the idea that others might want a share of that beauty.

Nearly a year and a half later, Abby took matters into her own hands and bought a significant inventory of wildflower and sunflower seeds herself. After many days of planning, planting, weeding, and waiting, much to her parents surprise, she had a sizeable inventory of beautiful flowers.

Her original dream didn’t stop short at flowers–it also included a mint green shack with a painted sign and chic chalkboards to display her prices. However far fetched this seemed to her family, with some paint, a couple of incredibly talented friends, and impressive persistence, this vision too became a reality.

For tiny Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, Abby’s Flower shack offers an authentic alternative to grocery store flowers. When interviewed, she reported that many of her customers are husbands who tell her how much their wives are going to love these flowers. She also gets many delighted children to convince their parents to let them choose a stem from the eye level sunflower buckets.

Though she set out to make a cute dream into a reality, thinking she would make money by sharing something beautiful with her community, soon after her business became a success, she found another purpose to add fuel to her fire. With her flower shack profits, she was inspired to start sponsoring a young girl named Mukami through Compassion International. When asked about what drives her when she’s working on her business, Abby always come back to Mukami.

From happy customers, to the chic mint setup, to the profits that enable the sponsorship of a young girl, Abby’s Flower Shack has reached success that not even she predicted. She admits that she started out with doubts about her ability to achieve her goals, but has shown true entrepreneurial grit to get to where she is today.

In the future, Abby says she hopes to plant new varieties of flowers to help grow her business and provide more options for customers. She plans to meet with the school board this winter in hopes of starting her plants in the school greenhouse to kick off her selling season earlier. Her entrepreneurial fearlessness, creativity, and determination are not only inspirational, but a blessing to her community, in Stewartstown and beyond.