Meet Stacey Slupik | Flower Farmer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stacey Slupik and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Stacey, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Starting my own business stemmed from a need to create something, to be creative, to challenge myself. After 14 years of staying at home, raising our family and caring for our home, there was a part of me that needed to do something different, something for myself, to challenge myself. There was this creative side of me that was begging to be connected with. There was also a part of me wanting to connect with people, to bring people joy, to make people feel something. We live in world where people spend so much time in front of screens and have “conversations” on their phones without ever actually talking to the other person. It’s completely emotionless. Flowers have an amazing power of evoking emotions and really moving people, of making them feel something deep down, of healing them. As a gift, my husband bought me a book about flower farming and I felt an instant connection. I enrolled in the Floret Online Workshop, an online course that teaches you everything you need to know about starting a cut flower farm, and I knew immediately that was what I was meant to do. My late grandfather loved to grow dahlias, and I truly believe he guided me right where I needed to be exactly when I needed it. I have felt so connected to him through my flowers. Flower farming connects perfectly with my deep love for the outdoors, my desire to work with my hands, my longing to express creativity, and my passion for photography. It’s something I can do with my family and still be present for them. Not only that, they’ve been involved, helping me, and encouraging me every step of the way! We had purchased a home on two acres of land a few years ago, and building it into a special place for our family has been our passion. We have a huge garden, raise chickens, and built a huge treehouse and a greenhouse all from reclaimed materials. We spend all our free time working and playing outdoors. Adding a flower farm seemed like the perfect next step!
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m one of those people who feels things deeply. I notice the tiny details in the world around me. I feel deeply connected to the natural world. I feel that it’s my gift to help others to see and appreciate those details and to foster a deeper appreciation for the beauty in our world. Growing cut flowers is the perfection connection. It allows me to share that beauty while keeping my hands in the dirt. It keeps me connected to the natural world. Keeps me grounded. It allows me to express my creativity. It also allows me to use my passion for photography. My photos have been a great way to share the beauty of flowers and to connect people with my flowers through social media and my website. This flower farm thing actually fell into my lap when I needed it most in my life. It turns out, it happened when everyone else needed it most as well – right in the middle of a pandemic. I was getting my flower farm started right when the pandemic hit and the world shut down. Selling flowers became tricky of course, so I set up a stand at the edge of our property with a sign my daughter hand-painted. I put flowers out there on the honor system, and the people came. I started out not knowing what I would do with all these flowers, and by the end of the season, I was selling out! People thanked me over and over for sharing this beauty during such an ugly time in the world. They talked about how healing the flowers were for them. And they kept coming back for more. Being able to make that kind of an impact, to move people that way, to make them feel something, to heal them, that was my goal in starting a flower farm. To be able to achieve that in the first year is an absolute gift. I also met and connected with some new and really amazing people along the way. People who see and appreciate those beautiful little details in life, like me. Finding and connecting with those people has been the biggest and most unexpected reward for me in selling cut flowers. The biggest challenge for me was just getting started, putting myself out there, convincing myself I could do it. You just have to get out of your own head and do it! Take the leap. Start somewhere. Once you get your first customer, that first sale, that first positive review, it just gets easier. And it’s so rewarding to take that chance and follow your heart. I truly believe that you attract whatever you put out into the world. If you’re unhappy, angry, hurtful, intolerant, guess how people are going to respond to you. If you put beauty and happiness out into the world, I believe that life will give you the same things in return. It’s my mission to bring as much beauty and joy to the world as I can. Starting my flower farm has been the perfect first step in doing just that.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Showing someone around Colorado for me always involves a lot of time in the beautiful outdoors. For me, that’s the best part about Colorado! Hiking on nearby trails, a couple days in Rocky Mountain National Park, catching a beautiful sunset at Coot Lake. We’d spend a day in Estes Park checking out some of the shops filled with local art. Evenings we’d be on Pearl Street in Boulder, drinks and dinner at The Kitchen or Jax Fishhouse, walking and people-watching on the pedestrian mall. Out-of-town visitors always find the people on Pearl Street quirky and highly entertaining!
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to dedicate two shoutouts, if that’s okay. The first is to Floret Flower Farm and their Floret Online Workshop. They are a cut flower farm in Washington, and the work they do is absolutely beautiful and awe-inspiring. Their ‘Cut Flower Garden’ book and video tutorials were what first got me hooked on the idea of flower farming. I immediately connected with their love for the natural world, their passion for sharing beauty with the world, and their commitment to family. Everything they do is with sincerity and intention, and they’re just very “real”. Their online workshop is a game-changer when it comes to starting a flower farm. The wealth of information and real-world connections gave me the tools and confidence to do something I might have never done otherwise. And it probably saved me years of trying to figure things out on my own! I would also like to dedicate a shoutout to my husband, Dan. He is the strongest, hardest-working, most selfless person I know. He would do anything for anyone, no questions asked. He has supported me, encouraged me, and has never once doubted me. He has a fearlessness and confidence that I envy because he’s not afraid to tackle something new. Where I can talk myself out of doing something, he guides me to give it a try anyway. Where I’m indecisive, he makes decisions easily and confidently and has taught me to worry less and take more risks. Not only has he supported my idea of starting a flower farm, he’s been by my side the entire time, helping me through it. He doesn’t bat an eye when I tell him I want to till up a big section of our yard to plant a flower field! He willingly takes on the hard things, the heavy lifting, the working late at night. He shovels the truckloads of compost, tills the field, goes out in the dark and cold to knock snow off my flower tunnels. He even built me an amazing little greenhouse out of reclaimed materials from other projects on our property! I couldn’t imagine doing any of this without him, and I am incredibly blessed and grateful for his love and support.
Website: www.slupikminifarm.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slupikminifarm/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/slupikminifarm
Image Credits
Molly Slupik, Stacey Slupik