Today on The Mag we have Carolyn Brown, the extremely talented floral designer and founder of The Crown Collective. Read more about Carolyn and her company, how she got her start with florals and organic art, her tips for parenting while running a successful business and much more!

Introduce yourself, your family and your brand.

Hello, my name is Carolyn Brown and I am the founder of THE CROWN COLLECTIVE, a Los-Angeles based floral designer specializing in flower crowns for events and parties. I am the mother of two loving girls, Willow and Sedona, ages 2.5 years old and 4 months old. My business was intended to celebrate milestone moments; the essence of what life is all about. From various celebrations, such as baby showers, birthdays to summer festivals and corporate events, TCC has always been rooted in enhancing these moments to feel personable, interactive and engaging.

What made you fall in love with flowers and organic art?

My relationship with flowers was an evolution. Growing up I wasn't exposed to enjoying flowers and upon reflection, found that my mother always associated flowers with funerals, thus the lack of exposure to appreciating flora and fauna. As I started playing with flowers, I first was just grateful to have a space to have flowers, but as I started to evolve with my exposure to the various types of varietals and learning more about texture, design and color theory, that was when I truly connected and understood the dynamics of working with flowers. I also gained much more appreciation and care for flowers by seeing other florists and clients that we had at events create their designs with flowers. It is truly amazing to see what people can create with flowers and plants as their medium for art.

How did you decide to make your passion into your full time career?

It was a natural progression that started in 2013. I was working full time as a life coach/play therapist and was working with flowers on the side. Over time, the shift to working more with flowers started to take up more and more of my attention and passion and in 2015 was when I decided to take a leap of faith and nurture my business full-time.

What are some tips you have for parents looking to become founders?

There are 3 things that I found highly helpful for me as a parent to have a successful business. Clarity. Resources. Time Management. It is important to have clarity in the direction, vision and overall intention of being an entrepreneur. Understanding the goals, both short and long-term, will help guide decisions with more ease and grace. From there, it is utilizing the resources around you...mostly in the form of help from others. I could not have been successful without the help and guidance from colleagues, friends and family. I had a hard time asking for help, which led to long nights, burnout and feeling overwhelmed. When I started to ask for help or accept help, not only did I feel like my time was better managed, I also found myself more successful because other people were able to better support the vision that I had. Lastly, time management is the biggest thing to be mindful of. Having children takes up a lot of time and attention that can not be compromised. A business is like another child, which also takes up a lot of time and attention that can not be compromised. It is all about understanding that there are multiple priorities and delegating time to both individually so that both can thrive. It is not about doing the most, going the fastest or making the biggest strides. It is all about the little steps each day to attend to your business and your children. Separating time for both is important and will allow a person to be able to thrive in both priorities.

How did you get your work into major films like Palm Springs?

Most of my biggest clients are through referrals or through search engines like google. I find that whenever you are creating work, when you do it with intention and clarity, clients who are drawn to it will find you. My biggest recommendation is to let yourself flow into your art and give fully of what you know and care for. The clients will be drawn to you and share your work with others if they are taken care of through your work and through the process of working with you. However, specifically for Palms Springs, I was reached out to by a costume designer by the name of Colin Wilkes who had a specific vision for the wedding scene and we worked on custom pieces for the film through our collaboration together.

Name up to three small businesses that you admire.

I admire Lucia Tran, she runs a creative studio in Los Angeles, but her social and political work that she does inspires me to become more aware about local and national issues relating to race, class and human rights issues. I also admire Hailey Kwon of DOTS Cafe in Pasadena. She is the most generous human being I have met that is also the more hard-working woman I have met. She creates food and nourishes people with her business and I absolutely appreciate that about her. It is hard to just pick three businesses that I admire because I've met many creative entrepreneurs that inspire me in various ways - from photographers, vendors to design studios and other florists, I have become who I am because of what each inspires me to be because of them.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I am just grateful for the community of friends and clients I have built during the past 7 years and to have experienced what I have because of my business has been the biggest blessing and opportunity I have ever experience to date. I owe my life to my business because it helped me become a more actualized, conscious human through all the opportunities I have had to go through as a business owner. From literally placing a value of what I was worth on my services to coordinating teams of people for various events nationwide, the experiences I have had through TCC has forever changed my life and I encourage anyone who is interested in starting a business to explore that with an open heart and mind.

And finally, where can we find you?