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Travis Mills is the passionate owner of Calyx Floral Design, a premier floral studio located in Red Deer, Alberta. She sat down with Florists Supply Marketing Manager Shane Kustra-Nelson to talk a little bit more about where she came from and what keeps her excited about the floral industry.
Interview with Travis Mills
Shane: Hi everyone! Shane here with Travis Mills, our 2024 Featured Florist. We’re hanging out at Education Week. Travis, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and share a little bit about who you are?
Travis: Absolutely. My name is Travis Mills, I am the owner of Calyx Floral Design. We’ve been operating for 17 years, which is insane to think how long it’s been. I’ve grown that little, tiny business from nothing all the way to what it is now, which is really neat to know that I kind of started it and have been able to grow to what it is now.
Prior to being a florist, I was a teacher. I actually used to be an art teacher! I worked at an outreach school, and it was wonderful. I even got to teach floral design once in a while, which was super fun!
I’ve got a background — actually, a Bachelors [Degree] — in Biology, Plant Biology specifically, so I have that education and a bit of a background in flowers.
Shane: Wow! That’s really cool. I saw some of your drawings, and you’re a very talented artist and talented florist as well. What sparked your passion for flowers?
Travis: I am that person who walks along the street and looks down at the ground. People hate going for walks with me because I’m staring at the ground all the time and looking for the flowers, little leaves and the pretty things. I’ve loved flowers since I was this big [gestures to the floor], and it’s just always been something that’s important to me.
My first job was in a flower shop when I was a kid, like, 14 years old. I worked as a clown that held those big billboards on the street to encourage people to come into the store.
[Shane and Travis laugh]
From there, it was just…flowers! I put myself through university working in a flower shop, thinking that I wanted to do something else, and it turned out that flowers were really what I wanted to do the whole time!
Shane: Well, obviously you made the right choice! Going off that, with your background in botany and education, what motivated you to take the bold step of opening your own floral shop?
Travis: It’s interesting, because it’s a very similar story to a lot of people, I think. I did my own wedding flowers and my friends saw, so they started asking me to do theirs and I just loved it. I was teaching at the time, and I really wanted to get back into flowers, so I started taking on a few weddings here and there.
I was working as a home-based florist and it was awesome, but then it got up to 40 weddings in a year, and then 60 weddings in a year, and it was really hard having a full-time teaching job on top of that.
That’s when I made the scariest decision ever to quit a full-time job with a guaranteed salary and follow my dreams!
I always wanted to have a shop and open my own retail space, so by taking that scary step I was able to grow Calyx even more.
Shane: Good for you, it must have been scary to take that step, but seems like it’s worked out so far!
Travis: [Laughing] So far, so good!
Shane: Sounds like the sky is the limit! What are some hurdles you encountered while establishing your studio as one of Alberta’s premier floral businesses?
Travis: One of the biggest ones was that when I started, there was quite a negative connotation about florists working from home, specifically wedding florists. Even though I had coolers and all the same stuff as a retail store, there were still some people thinking I wasn’t “legit”. For a while there, I couldn’t even buy from wholesalers because they wouldn’t sell to me. Which has changed, thank goodness! It’s amazing to see that kind of change happen.
The second hurdle would probably be when I opened my store and began learning the difference between wedding flowers and retail flowers, because those customers want such different stuff.
Shane: Oh yeah, I’m sure!
Travis: It’s unbelievable! The designs are different, the types of flowers, the condition of the flowers, and just so many other things. Learning that was a bit tough, but, now that we’re there, it’s amazing.
Shane: COVID seemed to help the home-based florist movement as well, made it a bit more acceptable.
Travis: Absolutely! We did have a retail store at that point and I had kind of already made that transition, but I think I’m one of five people in the world who will say COVID wasn’t that bad!
Shane: Yeah, everyone in the floral industry thought “hey, this is okay!”
[Shane and Travis laughing]
Your studio mainly focuses on weddings and events, what are some things that draw you to that particular niche in the floral industry?
Travis: I’ll be honest — I like big. Definitely a “go big or go home” kind of person, and with weddings you get to do big things! A big, beautiful archway, a big ceremony backdrop, a big arrangement. You get to do a little bit of that in the retail industry, but the wedding industry is my true love.
I love creating a stunning bridal bouquet and making the flowers pop, then surrounding it all with a 14-foot arch.
Shane: I guess summer is your busiest season then.
Travis: Oh yes, very busy; we do anywhere between two and 14 weddings every weekend. Depending on how big the weddings are, of course, we can only take on so much work. Basically, every weekend from May to October we go full-out, then our team gets to take a little break around the end of October before Christmas. There’s a little downtime in the spring as well before things really pick-up for summer, but other than that, the team usually goes pretty hard.
Shane: Even in this “downtime” you can see on your social media all these big installations you’ve done that look so amazing!
So, as our 2024 Featured Florist, can you offer some words of encouragement or inspiration to fellow members of the floral community for the coming year?
Travis: I know it sounds cliché and a little cheesy, but seriously, follow your dreams. If it’s what your heart wants, make it happen. That’s what I’ve done, you know, I gravitated to flowers and made it everything I did, and now I get to work with them every day and I’m so happy. Even on the worst days when all I do is sit in front of the computer, I look at flowers all day and it’s still wonderful! Just follow your dreams.
Shane: To end things off on a lighter note, do you have a favourite type of flower?
Travis: Actually, I think I do! [Laughing] I laugh because I have a favourite flower of the day, of the week, and of the hour. But I asked my staff, and they told me it’s Sweet Peas because every time they come in I go bananas. I have such great staff, they’re an amazing team.
Shane: That’s great to hear. Well, Travis, thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview with me and letting our audience get to know you a bit better! We’ve learned a lot, and I encourage all of you to stay tuned on Instagram, social media, and email for more upcoming events with Travis throughout the year.
After a couple of super fun days with Travis over Education Week, we’re that much more excited for our upcoming event, Free Webinar: Wedding Design Tips and Tricks with Travis Mills, on April 17th!
To learn more about Travis and keep up with the rest of our exciting collaborations this year, follow her on Instagram @calyxfloraldesign or visit her website at calyxfloraldesign.ca.