Small Business Origins is Seeking a Title Sponsor. Contact Us for Details.
Dec. 1, 2022

Side Hustle to Full-Time Flowers feat. Maggie & Mick Bailey with Bramble & Bee

Creativity may surface in unexpected ways and even turn into an incredibly unique small business. Today’s guests, Mick and Maggie Bailey, are a wholesome married couple and co-owners of their floral business, Bramble & Bee. Maggie discovered her talent for arranging flowers when trying to make friends at church and, in order to have more time for herself, she eventually left her job in retail to pursue this passion full-time. In this episode, you’ll hear all about how Maggie and Mick met, how they started Bramble & Bee, and how the company has evolved and expanded from being a wedding business to being a niche wedding service that also offers retail options. We discuss how their business is unique, before we delve into the logistics of what they offer, including their prices. From wedding flowers to subscription deliveries, this more-than-a-florist may not be for everyone, but it is a phenomenal flower shop for those they do cater to! 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Introducing today’s guests from Bramble & Bee, Mick and Maggie Bailey.
  • As children, what we all wanted to be when we grew up. 
  • What Beefy Marketing can print for your business. 
  • An overview of Maggie and Mick’s backgrounds and what led them to start their business.
  • How the couple met and their journeys in the church.
  • Bramble & Bee’s origin story. 
  • Why Bramble & Bee started as an online wedding business. 
  • Bramble & Bee’s first working space and how they ended up where they are now.
  • How they became a retail flower shop as well. 
  • The importance of having a personal relationship with your customers. 
  • Why Bramble & Bee is the ‘anti-flower shop flower shop.’
  • What goes into arranging wedding flowers for a full-scale/à la carte wedding, and the costs. 
  • The challenges and variables they face when catering flowers for a wedding. 
  • The retail styles they offer and their prices. 
  • How Mick joined Bramble & Bee full-time. 
  • How to become a customer and contact Bramble & Bee. 
  • Why Bramble & Bee’s arrangements are always unique. 
  • The subscription service Bramble & Bee offers. 

 

Tweetables:

 

“I have always referred to the business collectively because I never wanted it to just be me.” — Maggie Bailey [0:14:50]

 

“It’s actually zero dollars to start a wedding [flower] business.” — Maggie Bailey [0:17:45]

 

“We never intended to be a retail shop because it is a lot of work to make money in retail flowers. It is more work in smaller amounts of time to make money in wedding and event floral.” — Maggie Bailey [0:23:13]

 

“We don’t do the more traditional things that old school flower shops [do.] Our shop specializes in specialty flowers and designing them in a more garden style and more organic arrangements.” — Maggie Bailey [0:25:35]

 

“We’re trying to do the bigger events so we don’t have to take on as much work so we can concentrate on doing what we’re doing really well and execute it excellently.” — Mick Bailey [0:28:44]

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

 

Bramble & Bee

Maggie Bailey/Bramble & Bee on Instagram

Bramble & Bee on Facebook

Maggie Bailey on LinkedIn

Mick Bailey on LinkedIn

Connect With Host & Guests

Beefy Marketing

John Kelley Email Address

Please don't forget to leave us a review, subscribe to the show to get notified of new episodes, and share each episode with a friend! Thank you for your support.

Maggie Bailey Profile Photo

Maggie Bailey

Owner/Creative Director