This is the first in a portrait series I am working on about small business owners. Fellow entrepreneurs are a great inspiration for me on how to better run my own small business. Meet Lynn Fosbender, owner and lead designer of Pollen, a floral design studio specializing in green weddings and eco-conscious events.
What did she study in college and where?
LF: I spent my first two years of college at the University of Wisconsin at Madison studying landscape architecture and horticulture. My junior year, I transferred to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where I took floral design classes while studying ornamental horticulture. I worked as a floral designer for a few years during and after college, then returned to school to study ecological restoration. After spending some time working in the field of environmental conservation, I returned to floral design, eventually starting up Pollen.
What did she do before opening up her own studio?
LF: I started Pollen in July 2009, after spending over ten years in various positions in the floral industry. Before starting Pollen, I worked as a floral designer for a flower shop in Champaign, managed a downtown flower shop, and freelanced as a floral designer for event design companies in Chicago.
What is her favorite thing about being her own boss?
LF: I like being able to follow things through from start to finish.
And her least favorite?
LF: Uncertainty. Making business decisions for a new idea is tricky when you first start out, since you have no real data to base them on. Let's face it, business projections are pretty much wild guesses! But you have to go with your gut and make your guesses as educated as possible.