Profile: Floral Frontier
One petal at a time, Floral Frontier is transforming the way we look at arrangements.
Photos courtesy of Floral Frontier
You may have seen their work blooming around town– Floral Frontier is taking the city by storm, one petal at a time. From striking arrangements to full-blown installations, founder Jami Bloch lets color theory, bold visions and kindness guide her work.
Who is Floral Frontier?
We are a creative floral club. We use a unique artistic approach to expand the real estate of beauty in peoples lives and communities through flowers. We’re passionate about utilizing the healing of color therapy in our bloom choices and sharing the life elevating powers of interacting with blooms. All of our designs are built to speak individually to your story, heart and occasion!
You've always had a strong creative side-- before flowers, you had a background in fashion-- tell us a bit about the evolution of your career!
From a young age fashion has been one of my favorite creative outlets and ways to express myself. That passion evolved from hobby to my first opportunity in the industry at 19 when I interned at the Standard Style corporate offices/warehouse. From there, to the working with clients on the retail floor and at 21 I was off to Los Angeles to further quench my creative curiosity.
Here I was introduced to the many facets of fashion. My experience started with interning for a fashion designer where I fell in love with styling. I then went to a fashion PR showroom to get myself in front of the stylists I wanted to work for. Next, stylist assisting to then wardrobe styling on my own. It wasn’t until years later during a period I was feeling burnt out, when my floral passion was re-born. I became inspired by the forward thinking floral shops in WeHo and trending floral installs in fashion campaigns. I began going to the LA flower mart and playing with petals to fill the hole in my creative cup. You couldn’t tell that fashion burnt out, flowery eyed girl that one day she would create her own floral studio….
When I became confident enough to make the leap, I left fashion and applied to work underneath some of the wildly talented women doing cutting edge florals for brands I loved. My father always said to me growing up (and still says to this day) “If you wanna learn something, dedicate yourself to learning from the best at it!”
Once my mentor Carly Cylinder opened the floral door for me, I was committed to learning all I could and putting in the work to be the best that I could be. Through Carly I was introduced to a powerhouse collective of female designers who specialized in different facets of the craft. For the next 3 years I freelanced between each of them. I truly didn’t think about starting my own business for a long time as I more creatively fulfilled then ever.
When did you decide you were going to make the leap and found your floral business?
Que a pandemic and COVIcious19. Life abruptly changed as we knew it, including all floral event work. Not knowing what the future held, I followed my gut and after 13 years decided to move home and close to my family, here in KC. I continued to follow my heart, trust my work ethic and with support from my family and friends, Floral Frontier was born. The creative clubhouse of my dreams is now a running reality and my cup overflows to be able to share that with you!! I miss my LA flower family, but I’m grateful for the rad KC floral community who I’ve grown to love with my heart!
You've done some amazing installations around town, both for clients and as art projects for the public to enjoy. Can you walk us through your creative process for this sort of work?
Thank you so much! That’s astronomically meaningful to me:) My clients are like family to me and I take storytelling with them seriously. I’ll give you a peep into my process below:
1. Email Inquiry-This is really important and helps to better keep track of all the initial requests for information.
2.DETERMINE IF WE’RE A GOOD FIT-I'll carefully review client inquiry it to determine whether or not we would be a good fit. Why? There are many reasons, a few being: maybe what they are asking for is not our style of work and I know a better suited floral artist, a date conflict or a mismatch between expectations and budget.
2. Meet- Meet with client discuss and clarify floral wishlist.
3. Proposals- Custom mood boards developed and quotes are submitted.
4. Floral Ordering/Wholesaler- Create floral recipes, pick up florals and any materials needed.
5. Process petals- Process all floral product, strip leaves, thorns, get them properly hydrated and popped in cooler so they feel confident!.
6. CREATE- My favorite step! Light a candle, turn on tunes that are giving me clients vibes, and get lost in the beauty of the stems.
8. Delivery & Installation
9. Soak it up- Take a minute to give thanks. To soak in the bond of creating together brings. To appreciate the transformation that flowers took us from clients to friends
What inspires you to select color schemes, vessels, and beyond?
I find inspiration literally everywhere. From the streets, to fashion trends, to the pigment of a petal or architecture of a vase. I’m the one that sees a hole in a tree at a park and makes the tree my vessel lol! (If you saw our loose park install you know!) I gravitate towards fantasy. Life can be stressful, so I love things that emotionally, mentally and visually take you to a beautiful place! Once I get a feel for a client, inspiration usually rushes in like the creative tide. I’m also a big believer in listening to my goosebumps.
What events have you been proudest of pulling off?
I am a tiny local business. It’s just me and few of the loveliest ladies who freelance for me when they aren’t at their full time jobs. So every single job that we pull off wether its large scale or small I’m first grateful then proud AF. I can’t choose just one as each creation holds such a special place in my heart!
You recently celebrated a year of Floral Frontier! What was the biggest challenge of the past year, and what do you look forward to most this year?
I did!! Can you believe it?! Surreal. Wow, that’s a loaded question for a first year business owner! I know it sounds cliche, but probably my perfectionism and ability to be gentle with myself. I wanted to open FF as a well oiled machine, understanding every business element and every aesthetic aspect looking flawless. I’m learning to practice patience as I navigate any squeaky wheels, and its been the best growing experience ever. Learning to become comfortable in the uncomfortable can feel crippling in moments, but it's always in all ways rewarding. This year I look forward to continuing to bloom with you as we cultivate connections through creations!
