Postal Petals is an immersive wellness brand that promotes creative expression as a form of mindfulness and self-care through fresh-cut flowers and do-it-yourself (DIY) flower arranging. The company partners with domestic flower farms to ship bundles of fresh-cut flowers to customers nationwide so they can design their arrangements. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Postal Petals founder and CEO Talia Boone to learn more about the company.
Talia Boone’s Background
Boone’s background is in PR, marketing, brand strategies, and partnerships within the sports, entertainment, and social impact sectors. And Boone said:
“My journey with flowers all started when I was first introduced to arranging flowers a few years ago. It began with an adventure with a friend who wanted to try something new and suggested we take a flower arranging workshop. Almost immediately, I fell in love with it. It was so calming and relaxing that I casually started to incorporate fresh flower arranging into my regular routine and would look forward to the hour or two that I would get to arrange flowers and just decompress and quiet my mind. It became my go-to form of self-care and a way to relieve stress.”
“Just over a month into quarantine in 2020, I was super stressed and anxious about the uncertainty of the moment. It was my therapist who actually reminded me of the calming effects flower arranging had on me and suggested that I turn to it once again to help ease my nerves as the walls in my home began to close in on me. I was immediately excited to get my hands into some fresh flowers but the LA Flower Market was closed due to the lockdowns. After looking around online for other ways to get access to some flowers, I came across a flower wholesaler who shipped large volumes of flowers to clients like florists, event & wedding planners, etc., all around the world. I just cold-called him hoping to convince him to reduce his minimums and ship me a small order of flowers that I could arrange at home.”
“Through that conversation, I learned about the obstacles that prevented him from accommodating my request, but by the end of our more than 2-hour call, my mind was spinning. I realized that what I wanted didn’t exist but that could be an opportunity for me to possibly fill a hole in the marketplace. I immediately went to work putting together a wireframe for what the business could look like. That was in May of 2020 and by late July, we launched in beta with nearly 20 domestic farm partners signed up to ship for us. Today, we’re shipping flowers all across the country.”
“Postal Petals provides direct access to farm-fresh, high-quality flowers to those who enjoy the mood-enhancing beauty of bold blooms and appreciate the mind-calming experience of arranging them. I’ve built a growing community of domestic farms to curate and ship only the freshest, highest-quality flowers available. Each box arrives with bundles of blooms that clients can then break apart and design in a way that best suits their creative musings.”
“I’m a native of a Los Angeles suburb and a graduate of San Diego State University, where I earned a degree in communications with an emphasis in public relations. I’m also an advocate of civic engagement and collective social change as well as a lover of facts, experiences, art, culture, and of course, flowers.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Boone reflected:
“In 2022, once people started to get more comfortable being outside and among others, we began hosting free community wellness events as a way to introduce people to flower arranging as an attainable form of self-care, mindfulness, and emotional wellness.”
“Those have become one of our most popular offerings and typically fill up within an hour or two of posting them. I’m very proud of our community wellness events, introducing people to flower arranging as a form of self-care and mindfulness. Seeing people experience that joy for the first time and recognize the healing power of flowers firsthand has easily become one of my favorite things.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Boone explained:
“We deliver farm-fresh cut flowers to homes and businesses across the continental United States at a competitive price point when compared to traditional floral retailers. Think of us as a farm-to-table produce box, but for fresh flowers! We also offer online and in-person flower arranging workshops to both consumers and corporate clients. We’re currently in the process of developing an interactive content library of live and on-demand floral design tutorials as a way to support our customers through the design process. The goal is to eventually turn that into an app similar to Peloton’s membership app where we’d be able to further curate user’s design experience with audio enhancements like music and mediations.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges has Boone faced in her work sector? Boone acknowledged:
“When I started Postal Petals, I struggled (and still do struggle) with a number of different things getting it off the ground. One of my main struggles was storytelling. The customers I’m going after have a very long-standing relationship with flowers. That relationship is a more traditional one that has them experiencing flowers only as a ready-to-use product.”
“We struggled with proper storytelling that was compelling enough to help them understand why they should change their relationship with flowers in favor of DIY arranging. Then, once we convinced them to try arranging flowers, the next step was to help them understand the self-care and wellness benefits of the exercise. We are truly defining a new category of not just flowers but also wellness and self-care using flowers so there’s a lot of educating that has to take place. This remains our biggest challenge.”
“I was new to the e-commerce space, so building a platform from scratch was a challenge. We tried numerous platforms before landing on Shopify but are still working to hire developers for customizations to keep up with our unique needs. And luckily, I have been able to hire an amazing support team in all departments who help this business run more smoothly. But finding good people isn’t always easy. I learned through the interviewing and hiring process about what red flags to potentially look out for and whose work ethic matches mine.”
Evolution Of Postal Petals’ Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Boone noted:
“We’re an e-commerce platform so technology is at the core of our business. Additionally, when thinking about how to better support customers through the design experience, we’re in the process of developing an interactive content library of live and on-demand floral design tutorials. Our goal is to eventually turn that into an app (similar to Peloton’s membership app), where we’d be able to curate further the user’s design experience with audio enhancements like music and mediation.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Boone cited:
“I can think of three milestones that I’m especially proud of.”
1.) Establishing product market fit. That may seem small but we’re offering a traditional product in a completely different way, and I wasn’t sure that people would want the same experience with flowers that I’d come to love. When the orders started coming and the feedback was so promising, it was so incredibly satisfying to know that I wasn’t the only one who could love and appreciate flowers in this experiential way.
2.) Securing minority business certifications. Once it became clear that there was a much larger opportunity for us in the B2B space, one of the first things we did was secure our minority-owned business certification (NMSDC), our women-owned business certification (WBENC), and our women-owned small business certification (WOSB). It’s been incredibly beneficial in helping us to establish new business relationships and contracts.
3.) Being named one of the Top 70 Small Businesses in America by the US Chamber of Commerce. In just three years of business for us to be recognized in this way! I mean…WOW!”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Boone about customer success stories, she highlighted:
“This is a great question because for us, by nature of the product and service that we provide, success for us is when our customers truly ‘get it’ and become not just subscribers of our service but evangelists of the self-care and wellness benefits of DIY flower arranging! We hear those stories over and over again from both our consumer and B2B clients and it’s what lets us know that we’re making a difference and to keep building!”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Boone assessed:
“Total TAM value assuming 100% penetration of the TAM target audience in the US = $27.52 billion (B2C) + $13.64 billion (B2B) + $5.70 billion (MCOs) = $46.86 billion”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Boone affirmed:
“Postal Petals is reshaping the floral industry by repositioning flowers from occasional gifts to immersive components of lifestyle and wellness routines, thanks to our DIY flower arranging experiences. This immersive approach sets us apart from traditional flower retailers, who typically offer ready-to-use flower arrangements. Our subscription model aims to boost purchase frequency tenfold, driving significant industry growth while also seamlessly connecting the floral, wellness, self-care, corporate wellness, and corporate gifting sectors.”
“In healthcare, our main competitors are standalone therapy providers lacking the tools for scalable, virtual, and community-building services—areas where our interactive DIY experiences excel.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Boone concluded:
“We touched on some of this earlier, but our goal is to fully disrupt the floral industry as consumers embrace flowers for their personal enjoyment and integrate them into their regular self-care rituals. We expect our subscription model will boost purchase frequency tenfold, leading to significant industry growth.”
“After 3 years pioneering this category, the flower industry has taken notice and launched its own “THAT FLOWER FEELING” initiative—a ‘Got Milk?’ style marketing campaign evangelizing the self-care benefits of flower arranging. Postal Petals products and services are tailor-made to dominate this space.”
“Add to that our soon-to-come technology integrations and we’ll see our offerings completely change the way people think about and experience flowers for creative exercise and therapeutic practice.”
