Let’s be real, working as a florist sounds like a total dream job. Designing arrangements, working with plants all day, and meeting with clients to make their floral dreams come true? Yes please, sign us up! But it’s not all peonies and roses; floral design can be hard work. Which is why we’re in awe of Madeleine Shelton, the sole mastermind behind the floral design company Botanica Muse. We were delighted to meet with the 23-year-old University of San Francisco grad to pick her brain about all things Madeleine and all things floral.

We skyped in to her newly-acquired Botanica Muse floral studio, which as she describes it, is “like a little Spanish bungalow.” It’s covered in climbing vines with big red blooms, which Madeleine tells us is Bougainvillea, a plant that grows all over the San Diego area. It’s only Madeleine’s second day in the new studio space, which prompted us to chat her up about how she got started.

“I earned a unique degree, a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship and Innovation,” she explains, “I’ve always wanted to create my own business, but I didn’t know what I wanted it to be. Flowers just kind of hit me in the face! I have always loved them, and often read books about floral design, but did not necessarily foresee making a career out of it. Once I graduated from USF, I found out about a floral design program offered at a small, local San Diego college, so I signed up, took it, and now I’m here!”

However, Botanica Muse is not Madeleine’s first foray into creative entrepreneurship. With a background as an avid watercolorist with a focus in hand-lettering, Madeleine founded the Etsy shop Properly Penned while she was still an undergraduate.

“In college, I worked several different jobs which influenced my desire to create a business for myself,” she tells us, “[with] my interest in watercolors and lettering, I made a lot of wedding invitations and placecards. I really love working with paper. I’m a fan of texture. I was able to give people cool, personalized designs for cheap, which was awesome.”

From there, Madeleine knew she wanted to continue working in the creative field. She first started into floral design by shadowing local florists who worked in a variety of capacities.

“Networking is everything, and I’m very social! They were all excellent mentors. I’m so grateful for that experience, even from florists whose type of work I don’t necessarily want to do myself,” Madeleine says. 

By watching the way different florists crafted their work and ran their business, Madeleine gained much needed insight into running a floral design company.

“I loved learning about different business models and the differences in personality that affect how people run their businesses. I got to learn from their mistakes and develop a framework before diving right into my own operation, which was great,” she says.

Now with Botanica Muse, Madeleine is the sole employee of the company, and everything comes from her vision. While she hopes to build her team in the future, Madeleine is still able to find inspiration and support from the world around her.

“I loved going on walks in San Francisco in college and noticing plants I loved and looking them up later. I also love noticing eye-catching designs that aren’t flowers and try to replicate the vibe,” she explains.  “And like I said before, I’m big into texture, so I love anemones! A lot of people hate on carnations, also, but I think they’re awesome. I was also really inspired by Amy Stewart’s book Flower Confidential.”

While Madeleine does have regular customers, she does a lot of one-time business and work for weddings.

“Weddings are the best. There’s very little wasted product since they order exactly what they need, and I get to work individually with clients,” she tells us.

Madeleine conducts in-person consultations with brides and grooms to make sure she is providing exactly what they are envisioning for their wedding. Sometimes this means scouring through samples with clients, or relying solely on the verbal explanation of their vision. 

“I want to be someone who understands their vision, [so they can] receive a product that’s uniquely theirs. Brides are particular, detail-oriented customers, and I love the face-to-face interaction I get to have with them,” she says.

Working for weddings can be long and hard work, especially because Madeleine holds herself to a very high standard when producing work for any of her clients.

“The floral and wedding industries seem really sexy, and they are, but it’s a lot of emailing and really, really early mornings. Not exactly glam! I’ve gotten pretty good at putting my makeup on while driving,” Madeleine admits.

Despite the hard work, Madeleine absolutely adores what she does. In the future, she hopes to expand her breadth of work and try as many new things as possible.

“I fantasize about doing the wedding for Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast and Nathan Williams of Wavves. I also dream about doing the flowers for music videos, or doing a huge installation or something!” she shares.

No matter where the future takes Botanica Muse, Madeleine’s sharp eye for design and love for the craft ensures she’s in exactly the place she flourishes.

“I put together an arrangement the way a chef might approach a dish: brainstorming what I’ll need, gathering supplies, and putting them together according to a recipe or concept, while putting [my] own personal spin on it,” she explains.