Life & Work with Dana Maize

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Maize.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
The summer before third grade, my parents moved our family from our small town to a wide-open, 40-acre property in the country. The Kansas prairie made the best playground – an eternal backdrop of wildflowers and grasses. I think my love of flowers and all things wild began there. When I was in high school, I took a part-time job at our local flower shop, wrapping poinsettias with ribbon for the holidays. My boss was kind and let me tinker with floral design, and I found I had a natural knack for it. After a year of college pursuing art and photography and not really seeing a career path I loved, I thought back to floral design and enrolled for a summer in the Kansas School of Floral Design. It was a perfect fit, and I spent several years gaining experience in traditional flower shops until marriage and motherhood came along and I spent my days changing diapers and homeschooling instead. About 15 years and four kids later, we had just moved to Spring Hill, TN, and after driving by this cute little flower shop day after day, I finally stopped in on a whim and learned that, yay!, they could use some part-time help. It felt great to get my hands into flowers again and re-ignited my passion for design. I soon realized the industry had changed – it wasn’t just structured, traditional flower arranging as I’d known. I saw florists creating freely-formed, organic styles, and made my heart sing! I started designing in my free time, foraging, doing a couple of small weddings for friends, all the while learning there was an entire wedding industry, and flowers were a really exciting part of it. Friends started encouraging me to pursue it as a business venture, and I jumped in. I announced One Wild Flower Designs at a wedding vendor fair, so nervous that my friend had to talk for me when people came to my booth. But I booked my first couple, and then a second, and four years later, I am getting ready to celebrate our 100th wedding!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I am a slow and steady person, so although the road hasn’t been smooth per se, I’d say it’s been consistent. I knew design, but I didn’t know entrepreneurship, so joining a women’s business group was one of the best decisions I made. In the beginning, impostor syndrome was fierce. I remember attending one of the networking meetings, sitting just outside the room with my anxiety through the roof, thinking that every woman in there knew what SHE was doing – I was a fraud. My own mindset has been a beast of an obstacle, and I’m grateful for the role models in my life who continue to encourage me and set me straight. The reality of being a single parent has also been a challenge. My kids were in elementary school when I started my business, and although they were – and are – independent, capable kids, I had time and scheduling logistics to overcome. Even now as teenagers, it is a challenge to balance/juggle/manage my time and energy so that I can stay true to my priorities. I’ve also been running a second business this whole time, a housecleaning business that is steadily growing, so that’s been a challenge as well! Perhaps my biggest obstacle is getting enough sleep. 🙂

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I get to design flowers for a living! Not in a traditional flower shop, but for custom weddings and events. I meet with engaged couples after they’ve chosen their wedding venue, and help them plan centerpieces, bouquets, their ceremony and reception designs, corsages, and all the special floral touches. On the day of the wedding, my team shows up with the designs we’ve made, along with buckets of flowers to build floral installations on-site, like arbors, hanging designs, etc. We help transform the venue into the wedding day they’ve envisioned. Most of the couples that choose One Wild Flower, choose us because of the natural, organic way we design our florals. I spend a lot of time outdoors, hiking, kayaking, etc., and my designs are often inspired by what nature does and how it all plays together. I also forage often, which means I’m pulling off onto the side of the road, cutting this and that, looking for interesting textures and little surprises. Doing that gives the designs a seasonal appearance, and my hope is that for each anniversary, the bride will see something in nature that reminds of her wedding day.
Something that I am really proud of is the relationships I’ve been able to build with other florists. We encourage and support one another, share strategies, ask questions, and lift each other up instead of fearing each other as competitors. It’s been such a sweet community where it could otherwise feel lonely.

What does success mean to you?
It might sound shallow, but I sometimes define success by the money in the bank. I started this leg of my journey divorced, on food stamps, my kids sleeping on the floor of someone else’s house, so I feel successful looking back at where I’ve been because I know the grit it took to climb up. But the big picture answer – the “heart” answer – may be that I feel most successful when I can bring joy and beauty to the world. I grew up in a small farming town where (at least as I perceived it) beautiful things like art, dance, poetry, got pushed aside for things more practical. More utilitarian. As an artist, I wondered if my contributions weren’t as valuable, and I think this belief affected my worth. I was well into adulthood before I was able to turn this thought around. So whether it’s an act of kindness, a painting, or flowers on a wedding day, I think I will always feel successful if something I create brings joy to someone.

I’ve had to really think about what success means to me at a heart level.  I guess reflecting back on that time in my life – financially scrapping to provide for my kids and get on our feet – success is overcoming.  Overcoming challenges, mindset, mistakes, setbacks, deficiencies…..everything life throws our way.  Making the decision to overcome that thing one step at a time, and never giving up.  I look at my life today – it’s not rock star fancy or anything, but I have a house with a yard and a garage, where I once had an apartment, where we were once without a home at all.  Last summer, we had patio chairs in our backyard – this summer, we have a patio set, a garden, and a fire pit, and friends to share it with.  It’s the little wins that lead to improvements in the lives of me and my kids that have made me feel most successful.

Pricing:

• Weddings starting at $3000

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.onewildflowerdesigns.com
• Instagram: @onewildflowerdesigns

Image Credits
Kelsey Leigh Photo

Kate Cauthen

Hunter Berry Photography

Jamie Pratt Photos

Lauren Taylor

Watt Kelsey

Hawkins Photography

Mandy Liz Photography