Today we’d like to introduce you to Katy Molnar.
Hi Katy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Sip and Stems began on the long walk home from the seven train, from my job as a middle school science teacher in Harlem, New York, to my apartment in Long Island City. After a long and stressful day of unruly kids, I’d pass by bodega after bodega of flower stands, all calling my name. Just looking at them gave me relief from the day and a sense of peace. I’d buy a couple of varieties of flowers, finish the walk home and unwind with a glass of wine, my Ella Fitzgerald Pandora station and make something beautiful. That’s where our name comes from. I always do a little sippin’ while I’m stemin’. It was therapeutic and to this day, still is. If you check out my Instagram journey, you can see my humble beginnings and how I used to show my flowers sippin’ in all kinds of drink vessels.
My husband is an excellent cook and we would always throw parties for our friends, which gave me an excuse to flex my floral creativity and create another arrangement. My career in education continued to grow until I became a Dean of Students at a prestigious boarding school in lower Manhattan. However, what I wanted most was to become a mom. When we finally got our daughter, we decided to leave Manhattan. Three people in a tiny cramped NYC apartment wasn’t ideal, so we opted for a place we’d visited on our 7th-anniversary trip, Austin TX. The food kept up with our New York palates and it was a great place to raise our daughter. When we moved to Austin, I wanted to focus on family life, as I knew my daughter would be our only child and I’d never have these moments again. So, I looked for ways to give me a sense of self and bring in a little money for the family. My love for flowers continued in gardening, making flower stands with my daughter to sell to our neighbors and making arrangements for our church gatherings. I had no idea flowers would turn into my future career.
I had started to create arrangements for neighbors and friends and even did a few weddings for friends and family. I was devouring YouTube clips and flower design books. It was a season of education and exploration. It wasn’t until a girl in a local mommy group told me she knew a florist who I should talk to! I jumped at the idea to talk to a professional. The dream of getting to be a floral designer started to bloom, haha like what I did there! She later hired me to freelance for her for a few weddings she’d booked. She then passed on my name to another florist who hired me to freelance for her. Both of these women changed my life by starting to refer clients to me and my business began to blossom! Sorry I can’t help myself with these flower puns. The pandemic also kept so many couples from getting married so the wedding industry had a boom in 2021. I literally sent my daughter to school and I started getting more clients. It felt as if it meant to be. So, in a way, the pandemic catapulted my business to success. I now get to work with huge flower budgets where before I was working with nothing and cutting into my own profits to make the arrangement what I wanted it to be. I could buy out the entire bodega stands I used to walk by with the budgets I get now! To me that’s more than meant to be, it’s a blessing.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
There have been many struggles along the way. Just all the late nights, paperwork and taxes and alone are enough to make you question if this is something that’s worth it. Not to mention the inflation cost of florals and the amount of substituting we have to do when the florals we ordered don’t come in. It’s art creation on the fly at the floral market. The greatest struggle however, has been balance. I’ve always wanted to give my family my best and when creating a new business that’s growing, they can get what’s left of me instead. The mommy guilt gets really intense as I try to give attention to my two babies, my daughter and my business. So, I’m learning to only take clients that really speak to me and to take only a couple of weddings a month. This makes room for me to still be the dugout mom at my kids’ softball games on my open weekends.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Sip and Stems?
I started my business Sip and Stems two years ago and we are growing quickly! We love creating modern romantic florals that make our clients and their guests stop and smile. We create anything for weddings from bouquets to huge flower installments and love a good party theme to make unique arrangements for. We are always up for a challenge and are continually looking for new ways to make the flowers shine at a venue while staying in our client’s budget. The feedback we get the most however, isn’t just about how great the flowers look but the energy and joy we bring to the event space. We are all best friends and we love what we do, even when it’s pouring rain or there are hurricane wind speeds at the venue that send our plans out the window! We are still going to smile, dance to our 90’s alternative rock, talk in a funny accent to relieve the stress and still make our client’s vision come to life in the best way we can.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
When it comes to luck, I’ve been fortunate enough to see both sides of it, the good and the bad. Many wedding florist cut overhead cost by working from their homes these days. I was no different. This was all roses until my husband started sleeping upstairs because he couldn’t stand the pollen. That’s right, my husband, the most important person in my life became allergic to my business. Ahh, allergies, am I right! Working in the house was no longer an option. I took as much profit as I could and started saving towards building a proper studio. Now, our garage has been transformed into my studio and I don’t have to worry about my husband coughing up a lung every time I book a wedding.
I’ve also made it a mission to hire other moms who have the same values. These ladies, who I call the Sip and Stem Gals, are my best friends. Time in the studio or at venues is filled with laughter and dancing as a bunch of crazy moms create our clients’ perfect floral dreams. This gives us that “alone time” that all moms crave while simultaneously supporting our families. It’s a win win! I’m so lucky to get to work with my besties. This wouldn’t be the dream it is without them. Work doesn’t always feel like work as we have a lot of fun (see our silly photo below) and that joy transfers to the events and, hopefully, our clients on such a special yet stressful day. We were all once in the brides’ shoes and it’s so great to see these couples start their lives together. We feel we are lucky, to get to be a part of it.
Pricing:
- Set up/delivery minimum $3500
- Pickup – a la cart minimum $1000
- Elopement bouquet minimum $350
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sipandstems.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sipandstems/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sipandstems
Image Credits
Photo 1 and 2. Jessie Schultz Photography photo 3. Gillian Menzie Photography photo 4. Joslyn Holtfort Photography photo 5. Echoes Photos photo 6. Ashlee Huff Weddings Photos 7: Me- Sip and Stems Photo 8: Jessie Schultz Photography
