Meet Carlin Hayes | Flower Truck Owner & Yoga Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carlin Hayes and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Carlin, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My first thought when starting my business was “ I can easily do that” My second thought was “ Holy crap I’m crazy I don’t know if I can do this” My third thought was “ I’m not giving up” No amount of schooling teaches you how to start a business and everything that goes on behind the scenes. I remember specifically asking my dad who runs his own business if I had to pay this fee to get a Tax ID number and he said no and I told him about all the letters I was getting once I got my LLC about payments and owing this and that. They really try to take advantage of you!
The backstory behind the flower trucks is: My husband sells christmas trees and bought a “vintage christmas truck” to mobile market his trees. I came up with the idea last summer and told him this is what i’m going to do and he said no….I clearly didn’t listen because here we are two flower trucks later ha! Once my husband saw how determined I was to make this work and started to make money he didn’t get as mad when I basically stole the truck from him! Plus every time people asked about the truck which is A LOT I gave my Husbands company a plug! Shout out Hayes Farms Christmas Trees!
My one piece of advice for anyone else trying to start a business is just to do it! You can talk yourself out of it a hundred times but just going for it teaches you so much about yourself and makes you ask yourself important questions that impact business and personal life! We are all capable of so much more than we think we are! You never know until you try!
What should our readers know about your business?
The Local Bloom is a multipurpose event business. I own two 1953 Chevy 3100 trucks one is a butter yellow and one is candy apple red. I started out with the red truck renting it out to photographers and then I had an idea of making it a flower truck. It has literally blossomed to be so much more! You can rent the truck for photoshoots or weddings alone or with flowers cascading from it. I have had someone rent the truck and make it a dessert table display using my wooden flower holders. You can use the bed of the truck as a giant grazing table or drink display honestly the options are endless! Mostly I get hired by corporations, companies, or private parties who use the truck as a build your own bouquet experience and their employees, customers, or party guests get to take home a custom made bouquet from the truck!
The truck works great for bridal showers, baby showers, & birthday parties because it doubles as photo back drop, an experience, and you get a take home party favor!
My favorite thing to do is decorate the truck in flowers! I really get to let my creative juices flow and create beautiful immersive photo experiences! I spend hours on Pinterest or social media searching for inspiration pictures and usually I can’t find exactly what I have pictured in my head! Once I start decorating it almost always comes together and i’m still shocked sometimes how I pulled it off!
My biggest challenge is selling flowers i. the South Florida heat amongst other things! I’m dying of heat, the flowers are dying of heat, we all are dying of the heat ha! I think sometimes people forget or don’t realize how expensive flowers can be even at a wholesale price plus running two 70 year vehicles that take premium gas and are always broken it adds up! My prices reflect my time and my overhead costs! I wish I could just give away flowers and a cool experience but it’s costly! I’m learning to say no to things and understand my worth! I get this often “can you do this for free in exchange for exposure” Sometimes that something for “free” costs me thousands of dollars! Working with perishable goods is challenging because you can’t reuse them!
Truthfully I had no clue how much work this would be! A lot of learning curves but I truly do enjoy it and I make people way happier doing this than in my previous career as Speech therapist in a rehab hospital.
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?
I get this question a lot mostly because I teach yoga to bachelorettes and offer cool places to go! I’m born and raised in Fort Lauderdale which makes me a unicorn because we don’t really exist anymore! I’m a really active person and much prefer daytime or happy hour vs night time! My bed time is pathetically early for someone young with no kids yet!
I love to boat and the ocean but highly dislike the beach! Cruising the water ways , looking at all the mansions on the water and picking a place on the water to eat is always a good time! Le tub is a fun cruise from Lauderdale with an eclectic environment and awesome burgers!
Elboroom is a beach bar that is a ton of fun and great people watching ha! A more family friendly option is Park & Ocean!
I always recommend Sol Yoga if you’re into working out on vacation! Every time my sister in law comes to visit or a friend that is where we go for a hot yoga class or a sculpt class! The aesthetics and ambiance is on point and love all the instructors there.
Weekday lunch recommendations would be Mayapapa or Pura Vida!
I haven’t been yet but hear great things about Yamas brunch!
I used to be a lot more fun and cool in my early 20’s ha!
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Although my husband originally told me not start it because technically the red truck was bought for his business * marketing for christmas trees! He has been super helpful and encouraging through out this process. He has started multiple successful business and he always reminds me saying this “ People before me started businesses with fewer resources than we currently have so if they can do it so can I.”
Website: www.thelocalbloomsofla.com
Instagram: thelocalblooms_oldass_truck
Image Credits
Paola Hayes – photo of little girl and me in front of the yellow truck Madeline Camp- red truck American flag photo