Meet Moriah Nelson: Vice President of Operations

We had the good fortune of connecting with Moriah Nelson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Moriah, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
The wedding industry is, in my opinion, one of the coolest industries because almost all your marketing can be done without paying for it. I’ve worked in the restaurant industry where I worked with owners to find the best advertisements that would fit in our budget. You had to make sure you were the first, or most memorable Italian or Mexican restaurant out there because the public is oversaturated with restaurant options! When a couple begins their wedding planning they don’t really know where to begin, you don’t see tv commercials or bus benches with wedding florists or DJs on them. However, once they find a vendor they love, it becomes so easy for them to move on to the others! Social Media is one of the best marketing tools for wedding vendors because planning is so visual these days. Say a couple books a wedding planner and begins scrolling their instagram and finds a picture with a really beautiful bouquet. They can tap the photo and immediately know who built that bouquet. Then it is just another simple tap and they’re at that florists page. As they scroll through the florist’s pictures of beautiful arrangements they spot a wedding venue that’s exactly what they’re looking for, they tap the picture and boom! They have all the venue’s information right in front of them. There is also a ton of wonderful word of mouth marketing in this industry. In 2020 alone we had around 70 leads come in from other vendors recommending us to their clients. We all know who to recommend based on style or budget preferences, no one is playing favorites. There is no nasty competition, everyone is just here to make sure every couple in Colorado has the wedding of their dreams! 

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Above anything else, I believe the most important key to professional success is to be transparently honest and kind. I phrase it like that because you have to do more than just be transparent, honest, and kind, you have to blend them together. I have really found my place and my people at Compass Rose because even before I started here they were very open about their process and pricing. Some wedding vendors you have to go through multiple consultations and questionnaires in order to get a quote for their services, but we send it to every potential lead when they reach out. These are big decisions our clients are making, I want them to feel comfortable from the get go. I also like to be transparent with people when they are deciding what floral arrangements they need. If I see that they can reuse an arrangement from their ceremony at their reception, I make sure they know so they aren’t paying extra for something they don’t need! Up-selling might be important in other professions, but I believe it is more important for our clients to have an amazing experience with us. Hopefully they will be so comfortable and impressed that they tell any newly engaged friends about their experience!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
When I have a visitor the first place we go is always downtown Louisville. I love Main Street and all the small businesses there are to enjoy. Before COVID we would get coffee at Bittersweet, browse records at Little Horse, then have a margarita and some tacos at Verde. The rest of the week would be spent outside. Not only because I love the beautiful outdoors of this state, but all of my out of state relatives and friends do too. I think half of their visits are to see people, and half are to just breathe in the Colorado air and walk through the mountains. If they’re up for a little day trip, I would take them white water rafting on one of my family’s rafts that we own. Brown’s Canyon on the Arkansas river is a safe and fun trip with beautiful scenery and some fun splashes.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I wholeheartedly believe that I would still be working 50-60 hour miserable weeks in the restaurant industry if it weren’t for my friend Erin. I worked with her at a coffee shop in 2018 and then brought her on board at a restaurant I helped open in 2019. She is my go to consultant on any project I’m working on but is also a great life consultant as well. Erin is strong and mighty for her short frame and always gets right down to the point. When I was considering leaving the restaurant industry I was trying to be logical and practical and told myself “I need to put a few more years in, I’m not a quitter” but Erin immediately came back and reminded me how much I was crying over how things were going and how my entire life was being affected by my job in a negative way. She assured me that no matter what happened I would land on my feet and encouraged me to look for another job. If it weren’t for her I would have never found Compass Rose, and I would have never been as happy and fulfilled as I am now!

Website: www.compassrosefloral.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/compassrosefloral/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/compassrosefloral2017
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hAeY9Qz7JI

Image Credits
Sarah Hill Photography Sugar Hill Studio My professional photo and the fall themed bouquet are Sarah Hill Photography, the bouquet next to the bottle of bubbly was taken by April O’Hare Photography.