How Alex Vaughan Built a Beloved Flower Shop

Alex Vaughan of FLWR Shop in Nashville built her shop with her partner Quinn from nothing — no family money, no connections, just a rented house, a second mortgage, and a vision for what a flower shop in Nashville could be. In Episode 150, she traces the wild, winding path that took her from a hippie commune in the forest to a flower shop in Boston to celebrity orchid maintenance in LA, and eventually to the city she now calls home. We talk about what it actually took to open a shop, survive a tornado in March 2020, and come out the other side with a business — and a life — she's genuinely proud of.

Join us as we chat with Alex about:

• Growing up in Miami with zero exposure to flowers
• Falling in love with flowers at a tiny flower shop
• Seeing a peony for the first time
• Working her way through flower shops in Boston, LA, and New York
• Meeting her partner Quinn through a shared courtyard
• Why they chose Nashville
• Moving to Nashville with $3,000 in a shoebox
• Opening their first shop: a Victorian four-square in East Nashville
• Renovating a shop while living upstairs
• Building a brand, not just a flower shop, in a city that didn't yet have one like it
• Losing visibility after losing their retail location to a tornado
• Why physical presence matters for a flower business more than most people think
• Letting go of weddings and why that was the right call
• Why running events and retail simultaneously is really running two different businesses

Connect with FLWR Shop:

• Website
• Instagram

This episode of the Botanical Brouhaha Podcast is brought to you by: Madrid Flower School

You can find show notes and more episodes of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast at botanicalbrouhaha.com, and you can find Amy on IG at either @botanicalbrouhaha or @bloomtrustco and Natalie at @hey.nataliegill or @native_poppy

This episode of The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast was produced by Joel McGee. Original music by Landon McGee.