Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Zeddies
Hi Andrea, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have worked as a psychologist in the Austin area for over 20 years, primarily providing autism assessments for children and parent support. Over the years, I realized my need for a creative outlet to offset the stress of dealing with others’ trauma and mental health challenges, and I turned towards flower arranging. I was inspired by my father, who was a botanist, and I grew up watching him breed African violets and roses. In 2018, I began taking floral education classes through the Texas State Florists Association, as well as from florists in the community. I opened my own floral design company, Wildflower Rx, in 2019, and began providing florals for weddings, nonprofit dinners, as well as teaching floral arranging classes in the community. In March, 2024, I published my first book, “Flower Therapy Journal: A Prescription and Guide for Self-Care & Living Your Life in Full Bloom.” This book provides in-depth flower history and draws on the mindfulness and self-compassion movements to encourage self-growth and taking actionable steps towards one’s goals. Currently, I see clients in private practice on a part-time basis, and I continue to provide floral design services, as well as engaging in book talks and conducting workshops. I am also writing a children’s book.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The main struggle I faced was having the time to do two things I love: psychology and floral design. For a while I felt like I could not do both things at 100 percent, and I felt I was not at my best at either job. I tried at one point to provide a daily flower delivery service and I would be at the practice seeing clients – and then all of a sudden, here comes a flower delivery order. I would get off work, race to the flower market, do a quick arrangement, and hope the delivery company could fulfill the order. If they were unable to do so, I would be driving all over Austin (stuck in traffic!) doing deliveries myself. I would get home just in time to put a late dinner together with my husband and help kids with homework. Then I realized I wasn’t going to be able to offer daily flower deliveries and decided to just focus on events. Within a few years, I decided to cut back on some aspects of my psychology work in order to bring my best self to both fields, as well as to be fully present as a Mom to my three daughters.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My current floral design work combines both psychology and flowers. I believe in being mindful when creating floral arrangements, being fully immersed in the present moment, and using all of my senses in my work. Whenever I go to the flower market or approach a design, I immediately feel the anxiety and/or stress release from my mind and body. I also teach mindfulness in my flower arranging classes. My creations are generally more botanical and free-flowing than the average floral designer; although there are certain techniques in floral design, I believe the process should be more organic and subjective. I have always been someone to think outside the box, and I do not see myself as a rule-follower or a conformist. I love seeing floral arrangements that are unique, different, quirky, and even weird, bringing in outside elements such as fruit or foraged items, and I’ve seen some more recent ones using vegetables, which I love.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
During Covid-19, all of my events were cancelled. This was devastating, and I worried the same would happen with clients at my psychology practice (thinking all of my income would dry up). The opposite happened at the practice – we got inundated with referrals of clients needing support to deal with working at home, feeling isolated, dealing with kids at home while working, worrying about kids’ school performance and lack of social interaction, etc. We were quickly completely full and conducted Zoom sessions all day, much like everyone. Slowly, people started having smaller events or elopements and began to ask for florals again. I learned that I had to be patient with the process, that new opportunities would come along in due time. I had the luxury of having another job to fall back on, which I know is not the case for everyone. I feel very grateful.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.flower-rx.com
- Instagram: @wildflowerrx
- Other: @wildflower-rx
Image Credits
Julia Zeddies, Photographer (Personal Photo)
Additional Photo – personal collection
