Meet Stacy Wiatrak

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacy Wiatrak.

Hi Stacy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Although I have had a love for flowers all of my life, my first career took me into the medical field. I was a practicing Physical Therapist for over 30 years, right up until the day I opened my shop, almost six years ago. Although my formal training was in the sciences, I have always had a creative side that I expressed through various art forms from fabric arts to sewing to decorating. I was excited to take a course in floral design about 12 years ago and I was immediately hooked. Following the course, I spent several months working with the instructor on his events in order to gain more experience. After a while, I launched my business out of my home, mostly providing florals for small events in my neighborhood. Since I lived in a subdivision called Laurelbrooke, I wanted a nod to the neighborhood, hence the name Laurel & Leaf. I still love the name, although many people think my name must be Laurel. The concept for my storefront began to take shape after a trip to Paris and Champagne. My son, who is in the wine industry, took me along on a work trip that involved traveling the area and tasting Champagne (not a bad gig). The many quaint floral shops in Paris and in the countryside inspired me to model my storefront and design style after those charming boutiques. In November of 2015, I opened the doors of my first location off of Highway 100 in Bellevue. After five years in that location, I recently moved to my present location in downtown Franklin. Since opening, we have taken orders from people calling us from every state in the union as well as dozens of countries around the world. Laurel & Leaf is honored to have been recognized and awarded by many organizations such as Southern Living’s Top 20 Florists in the South; Nextdoor Reader’s Favorite; Nashville House & Home & Garden Reader’s favorite; and Yelp Nashville best florist.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Starting a small business comes with the challenge of having to wear many hats. Wanting to create beautiful floral designs is such a small part of what it takes to run a successful flower shop. The first and probably biggest hurdle I needed to overcome was figuring out how much and what product to order and the optimal way to store it. Not only am I dealing with perishable goods, but each type of flower and stem has its own unique profile for processing and storage. Anticipating how much to order and when was and remains the biggest challenge because ordering too much leads to excess waste and not enough will lose us business. Other challenges include the ability to communicate with clients to get a clear understanding of their vision. It’s this communication that led us to eliminating online orders. I just didn’t feel like I could get a good enough grasp via online forms. It may be considered old-fashioned but having an actual conversation with our customers has worked best for us.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I would describe our design style as elegant European garden. We are known for unique and elegant arrangements using upscale premium florals. We hand choose our flowers and get them in fresh several times during the week. Because we only procure the best of what is available, we have different products in all the time. Everything we do is custom and is designed after a conversation with our clients specifically suited for their occasion. I like to say that we work like a farm to table restaurant, working with only the best of what is available at any given time. This allows us that maximum latitude to create unique and fresh designs every day. In addition to the flowers, we use only decor quality vases and containers that are meant to be kept and reused by the recipient. After the flowers die, they will have a keepsake to use again and display in their home.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I love to sew and create fabric art! Although I have had little time to spend on this passion, prior to opening my shop I created fabric collages that have been displayed and sold in art galleries in several areas of the country. Maybe not so surprising to anyone that even knows me a little, but maybe to some, is that I am a huge animal lover. I love animals of all kinds but have a special fondness for dogs. My dog Olive comes to work with me most days and serves as meeter greater to the public.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: laurelandleaf.com
• Instagram: @laurelandleaf
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurelandleaf
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/laurel-and-leaf-franklin