The Floral Coach-Amy Nicole Floral

Nature was always a refuge me for as a child. I have few memories of my childhood but I have distinct memories of the Shasta daisies that lined our front yard sidewalk, the sunflowers we planted every year and the blackberry bushes we planted for Mothers Day. I remember petals textures, leaf veins, grass smells, weeds and anything green around me. These moments were magnetic and healing then just as much as they are now. Working with flowers has been immensely healing for me, the artistry, the creativity and the nature of building something with my hands.

I started in the industry in 2001 bright eyed and bushy tailed with an art filled background but unclear of what medium best aligned with my gifting. After trying my hand and several types of mediums, I found my passion and calling (read obsession) in floral design. I was hungry and eager (still am actually) to learn. I devoured every book, class, lecture, trade show, magazine and opportunity I could find. I was blessed to have a formal education by way of a two year floral design and shop management certificate program. Shortly in to my program I began freelancing as a designer and eventually ended up in retail flower shops for a few years before finding my niche in special events and weddings.

It was intimidating to enter the industry, even with an education. Although I had wonderful mentors, teachers and friends in the industry, many floral environments felt harsh, unwelcoming and often outright abusive. Techniques and mechanics often felt mysterious and I was often met with incredibly unkind, often abusive situations in shops and studios. It took a long time to learn how to stand up for myself and not stay in toxic situations.

I was fortunate to receive formal training at the onset of my floral career and sound mentorship at a young age which helped me build on a strong foundation for years. After training many designers over the years in different settings, I have enjoyed passing on my knowledge and experience but wasn’t sure if there was a need for what I did in the teaching space.

Over many years, I have attended and invested in a lot of continuing floral education and although some of it was helpful, most of it I found lacking. The information was either not relevant or the techniques discussed in the workshop were difficult to come home and repeat. I was frustrated and at times a little hopeless that I could create the style of designs I wanted to make and had assumed that maybe I just didn’t have it in me.

After spending a lot of money and feeling more disappointment, I finally went back to my formal training and found the answers in the principles and elements of design and in foundational floral mechanics and techniques. The answers were there all along, I had just abandoned them in seeking out some new trend. I had my own “Eureka” moment of finally understanding how to replicate the process and gain some mastery in it.

While assisting at a floral conference a few years back, a colleague approached me and encouraged me to start teaching,.She gave me quite a talking to and said she knew I had something to offer the floral community and I should be presenting on stages, not just sweeping floors and assisting in the shadows. She told me it was time to “step into the light.”

I was taken aback by the conversation as I had spent many years very comfortably in the shadows making others look good as a professional freelancer and even as a business owner. I didn’t want fanfare over my work, I just wanted to do a good job and make beautiful things. Internally I wrestled with that conversation for months as I didn’t see myself wanting some kind of platform or fame but simply loved sharing my passion of floral design.

I continued to see designers struggling with where to find answers for how good design worked and witnessed their frustration with a lack of sound resources, eventually prompting me to offer help. I started teaching one-on-one and then offered smaller professional workshops and so on. I eventually was asked to speak more frequently and on larger stages leading me to many wonderful teaching opportunities.

After presenting more, I discovered a passion in teaching my specialty—loose and airy bouquets and centerpieces. I launched my signature offering, Bouquet BootcampTM, last year and have consistently sold out the in-person and virtual options, which provides me the opportunity to turn it into an online course helping more designers access quality information on how to build light, loose and airy bouquets efficiently and beautifully.

Since Covid, I have opened my home studio to private 1:1 design classes customized to meet a variety of students goals and training needs. Working with students hands on is truly my greatest passion. Seeing their “aha" moments and the impact of that on their process, efficiency, profitability and confidence has been deeply rewarding and a highlight of my career.

Having struggled with crippling insecurity, negative self talk, addiction, trauma and physical pain for years, I really try to see each student and hold space for their experience. I listen to their unique needs and tailor my approach to meet them where they are at in that moment. My hope and goal is to honor each student’s individual journey—their background, strengths, wounds, goals, etc.— as unique, important and valuable.

Creating beauty isn’t a trivial job. Art matters, flowers matter and our work designing flowers matters. My mission is to help lay a stronger foundation for students to build on by giving them the necessary tools and encouragement to achieve their unique goals in design and business.

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Amy Balsters is an award winning floral design educator with vast industry experience spanning two decades in retail floristry, weddings and special events. Amy specializes in teaching romantic inspired, loose and airy floral design using foundational techniques. With an honest, empathetic and holistic approach, she helps floral design students gain confidence, clarity and achieve their design goals. Amy now offers Bouquet Bootcamps, online courses and private 1:1 classes to students and will be launching her new brand, The Floral Coach soon!