One Week Later: FlowersFlowers
This Evanston shop is in bloom with bright bouquets, brilliant buds and other floral creations.
Who is are the brains behind FlowersFlowers?
While I [Joanne Leiman] may be the brains behind my organization, I rely heavily on my team members. I wouldn’t be able to run my business without my talented designers, who create beautiful arrangements, take gorgeous photos and interact with our customers.
Where are you located?
Downtown Evanston, the first suburb north of Chicago.
What’s your mission?
To design floral arrangements with the highest quality and most unique flowers, and provide the best customer service to our customers. This is our niche.
Tell us your origin story.
This is my second career! I was in the corporate world for 20 years, working in systems project management. I wanted to leave an environment that had become very bureaucratic and to own my own business. FlowersFlowers was for sale (!), and I became its third owner. I’ve now been the owner for 22 years, and I love the creativity, the customer interaction — and even the challenges.
Three words to describe your team?
Creative, team-oriented and the best!
Workplace/workspace/office essentials?
Good shoes, LOL! And lots of organization.
Best source of creative inspiration?
Everything! Everything we see, hear or touch can be an inspiration.
What would people be surprised to know about FlowersFlowers?
Most people think weddings are our main business. But actually, our day-to-day business — think deliveries for birthdays, anniversaries, thank yous, and more — is our core.
What are your favorite features of your WOTW site?
I love how it shows off the photos of our flowers.
What was your favorite part of working with the WOTW team?
Gathering the photos was my favorite part of building the website because it gave me the opportunity to look at some of the work we've created over the years. We take stems of flowers and make them into beautiful designs, and that end product is so beautiful, even to me, even after all these years.
Where can people find you?
We are a brick-and-mortar studio, and people can order our flowers via our new website or by calling us.
Any home office assistants?
My cats, Violet and Ash. They've been known to 'help' when I'm working from home, planning and ordering flowers for weddings, holidays, etc. They were adopted last year and they helped me through the pandemic!
What are your hopes for the second half of the year?
I’d like to be able to feel comfortable modifying our new website and e-commerce section. And I’d like to see a 2021 that is our best year ever!
