Meet JACQUELINE MILIAN | BIRCH + ELM | Floral Design

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

Hi JACQUELINE, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The push behind me starting my business Is my parents, being the daughter to immigrant parents is to be blessed, Is to know and understand the hardships they dealt with and defeated to have their kids be born in the country of limitless opportunities and it is true to its core this was such an integral part in my growth and vision for this business I intended to use all those opportunities, I do everything with the mentality that “I WILL MAKE IT BIG FOR THEM” that is my mantra every day I’m blessed in every aspect of my life but I want more and intend to 100% work hard to make it happen. I came from the world of customer service working at my local whole foods market as a supervisor and florist for about 2 years, I knew that being in this field and having that skill would greatly benefit the relationships I built along the way. floristry & helping people are my passion, so I wanted to bring those worlds together. The ability to create something so special and intimate for every individual person you meet from just getting to know them feels so natural to me I would say that aside from creating the actual arrangements my favorite part is the conversations. The aspect of getting to know every human I cross paths with on a more personal level, especially in a city where everyone is moving so fast it’s nice to slow down and hold great conversations with humans you’ve never met and in such an amazing way.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
At Birch & Elm, my mission is to deliver a moment and a memory. We want to spark conversations through every floral piece we leave at your doorstep, the alter, and even the mountains. I worked at whole foods for 7 years, of those 7 two of them I worked as a florist and floral buyer this is where my love for flowers grew no step was easy it has been a full incline climb and it still isn’t easy there were many times in my career at whole foods where I was challenged where room for growth wasn’t there so that’s when I decided to step back and pursue a career as a behavioral analyst which I still do Monday through Friday and work on my flower business at night. no part of this is easy everyone makes starting a business seem like a quick get rich grab & it’s not that at all it takes a lot of money to build a business a lot of hard work and proving yourself to start seeing results, I was unemployed for 2 months starting in August of 2021 and that’s when I said okay no excuses now is my time to start, I used the last bit of money I had in my savings to get the ball rolling and I know that God will bless me & give me the opportunity to grow and make that back 10 fold.

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.
Oh man! this is actually extremely hard for me I consider myself a homebody I really do just stay in & I’m 100%, not a city girl… don’t cancel me Miami, BUT I love traveling so building an itinerary is right up my alley. for me, a good time is being outdoors and getting my day started early Miami is endless all kinds of characters in the streets so I would say grabbing bikes are riding around the city would be a great way of enjoying the allure of Miami get on resort pass and snag up a cheap day pass to a resort that gives you access to their spa, pools & drinks I’ve been to carillon Miami and I can’t say enough good thing about it.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ve been extremely blessed to be surrounded by people who have supported me and rooted for me since the beginning, as I mentioned before my parents are 100% my biggest supporters and inspirations they are the hardest workers I know, But I do undoubtedly have to show gratefulness to my partner Daniel he has always been my true north, I think that in the 8 years we have been together he has been the person who pushes me further than I even believe I can go and I have learned so much from his determination to want to learn, grow, and be the smartest in the room that it just naturally pushed me into that mentality too. I owe a great debt of gratitude to him and my family for their constant support and love.

Website: https://www.birchandelmfloraldesign.com/

Instagram: @birchandelmboutique

Image Credits
some of these images contain work done by me whilst freelancing for @samsblooms