About The Blue Daisy Floral Designs

“Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, thereby a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.”- St. Thérèse of Lisieux

I always knew I would own a business. Both sides of my family are entrepreneurs and growing up, I spent what seems like my entire childhood at work at the family business. I saw first hand how difficult it can be, but also, the satisfaction of knowing you can make a difference in someone’s day by how they are treated. 

Flowers were always a part of my life. I was always at garden centers with my mom and when I turned 16, I began working at one. Helping customers select the right plants and flowers brought me joy. The garden center also had a small flower shop in the back and it was thrilling to make a bouquet for someone to take to a loved one. 

Going into college, I was sure I was meant for social work. I wanted to change the world. Make a difference. After a semester at The Catholic University of America, I realized that, while I still wanted to make a difference, social work was not the way for me. After much thinking and praying, it became apparent that horticulture was my path. I applied to Penn State University and was accepted for the Spring semester. Before leaving CUA, my suite-mate (who is in the social work field today), told me that if I was going to study horticulture, I would have to make her a blue daisy; her favorite color is blue and her favorite flowers are daisies and blue daisies do not exist in nature. 

Upon graduation from Penn State with a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture and a business minor, I went to work at a high-end retail garden center outside of Philadelphia.

As I worked through that job, it became more and more clear that I missed floral design. In my spare time I drew up plans to start my own flower shop. Eventually, my position there was eliminated (my prayers were answered!) and I knew right away I would be moving back to Pittsburgh to start my business. Before I left, a co-worker who knew about my dream asked me to be the florist for his wedding the following summer. I hadn’t even settled on a name yet, but I already had my first customer!

Once back in Pittsburgh, I quickly set up the legal side of the business. That was 2011. HQ was in my parent’s basement and I was moonlighting as a florist while holding a full time job in horticultural sales. In January of 2014 I was able to quit my sales job and pursue The Blue Daisy Floral Designs full time. In March of that year my husband and I were married!

Over the next 6 years, I rented a design space, grew my team, and bought our van, Sally. During that time, my husband and I also adopted a dog and had two beautiful daughters!

In 2020, I signed the lease on our much larger space at 1105 Rochester Road. We now have several employees and freelancers who love flowers as much as I do and who help keep us running and growing. We’ve survived a pandemic, opened an online retail shop, and have curated two unique service options (Full Service and Little Flower) within the company to fit the needs of multiple markets.

As a team our goal is to create not only beautiful flowers but beautiful experiences for our clients. That could be for a couple getting married, a family planning a celebration, or someone sending a birthday bouquet to their best friend. Our job is to make flowers easy and enjoyable so that their natural beauty can make a positive impact.

We are called The Blue Daisy Floral Designs as a reminder of that dream to change the world. To make a difference. Flowers have the power to do that. And so do we, in our own little way.