Presenting

12 August | 2021 FR : Did it take time to become successful, or were you a hit right away? AIV: e business has grown, and continues to grow, from that initial client. When we had to leave Venezuela, all of our careers pretty much ended—my teaching, my husband's work and my daughter's jobs singing. No one had anything stable. But with our floral company, we were happy again. For the first two years, we didn't take salaries; we put everything we made back into the company to grow it. Anais really helped grow the business with her social media skills. From her music career, she had a lot of contacts, and she used to be a brand ambassador and influencer as a singer for companies. We used that as a way for my designs to be seen by more people. FR : Did you know what you were doing initially? AIV: I thought I knew, but I began to follow other established floral artists to learn their tricks of the trade, and then I won a scholarship to a workshop with Sarah Campbell. Everyone involved was very open, it surprised me. I thought everyone would want to keep their tricks a secret, but no; the people in this industry are very generous. At the first course I took, I asked many dumb questions, but the community helped us—even though they had nothing to gain. We felt like such outsiders at first because they all seemed to know each other, they all had their own businesses for years and they were American. We were coming from somewhere else, but it didn't matter to them. ey welcomed us with open arms, gave us their phone numbers, said they would provide whatever help they could and told us what things to buy. I wrote down everything, and just one month later, I did my first installation at a wedding. e contacts I have made at the courses and by following others on social media have been great. Aside from the advice, others in the industry began throwing business our way because we had inroads to the Latin community, and we can reach people who don't speak English and who they couldn't reach. FR : What makes Aniska Creations stand out? AIV: Although our business is in America, we discovered that even though we made social postings in both English and Spanish, almost all of the comments we received were in Spanish. So we made the decision to start posting only in Spanish. It was a risk, but it worked. While doing flowers for weddings and events is great, we also really love the education aspect. We like to teach, and we do it—in Spanish. ere are huge Hispanic communities across America, and after we began educating in Miami, we immediately began getting requests asking when we would be coming to New York or Boston. e only items we sell via retail are our floral crowns, which are also something that differentiates us from others in the industry. I designed an alternative shape for floral crowns. It's something that makes us unique. Being unique also makes it easier for Anais to market and reach influencers. We're in the Latin community, and we focus on a higher-end clientele. Our education, however, we keep more affordable so we can better help train people in our community who want to learn and grow in this business. Florist Spotlight

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