Today we’d like to introduce you to Teresa Bayer.
Hi Teresa, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started arranging flowers as a Covid hobby… but my passion for creating unconventional art with my hands evolved long before 2020. Prior to moving to Austin for business school, I built a career in theater as a “Jane of All Trades”- writing, producing, directing, and designing for Off and Off Off Broadway theater. For a while, I thought costume design was going to be my path, not surprising considering the fact that three out of my four grand parents, and one great grand parent worked in the garment industry (tailor, seamstress, hat maker, and leather worker). It was in my blood, but I’m a bloody impatient stitcher. But that’s neither here, nor there. In 2016, frustrated with how the theaters I was working for were run, I hopped on a one way flight to Austin, TX to get my MBA at University of Texas (best decision in the history of decisions), and have called sunny central Texas home since. Since graduation, I’ve built a career in tech marketing, staying involved with theater by serving on the board of the Rude Mechs, a brilliant, world renowned experimental theater ensemble based in in Austin… but still my hands were feeling idle. Come COVID, I had way more time at home than ever before. I signed up for a virtual workshop with the Flower Social, something I had been wanting to do for a long time, and become obsessed with floral design: the artistry, craftsmanship, and meditative nature of the work. I designed the dried table arrangements for my wedding, and kept making arrangements at home, until my entrepreneurial spirit was sparked once again, and I knew I had to turn my passion into a business. Raving Flamingo Flowers launched in Spring 2020 to bring my love of creating something completely unexpected to life. What I build out of (mostly) dried and silk flowers is meant to be truly unique and original. Inspired by fine art, wild textures, and the natural world, each arrangement is designed to celebrate the love and joy in your heart.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The floral industry in general right now is still struggling with limited supplies and heavy inflation. Luckily, as someone who generally avoids live flowers, I haven’t been quite as privy to it. But still, Raving Flamingo Flowers is still in its nascent stages, so I foresee plenty of challenges ahead.
Personal challenges:
Any creator can attest to this- when we build something, we want it to be perfect. And that doesn’t always happen. My vision for what something should look like… it barely ever meets my own expectations. Luckily, flowers are forgiving, and surprise you with the story they want to tell when you bring them together.
We’ve been impressed with Raving Flamingo Flowers, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Raving Flamingo Flowers crafts eclectic & original forever florals deep in the heart of Texas (and shipped everywhere).
Our wholly original bouquets are designed to last (close to) forever. Inspired by fine art, wild textures, and the natural world, each arrangement is designed to celebrate the love and joy in your heart, no matter who you are and where you live. While we do serve larger events occasionally, our passion is making something super special for adventure elopements, micro-weddings, and intimate affairs.
Our favorite activity is collaborating with dreamers to design and craft custom personal flowers for boho brides and groovy grooms. And because we know tiny events sometimes just “happen”, we offer some beautiful, bespoke, ready-made bouquets on our Etsy shop, and have a reputation for quick collaboration for something custom delivered in time for your special day.
You are not going to find something like it anywhere else.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
While in undergrad, I spent a semester studying at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neil Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut. The program’s slogan was “Risk. Fail. Risk Again.” Why? Because to create great art, you can’t be afraid to step out on a limb and risk failure. And when you do fail, you get back up and try something new.
This ethos has carried me through each step of my personal and professional journey. I moved to New York to make it as an artist, to create work with no resources, to find collaborators who weren’t afraid to get rough and tumble with their storytelling, to live in a 200 sq. ft room in a Chinatown apartment I shared with two men I didn’t know (at first), with tiny roaches creeping all over our sink, living the “dream”. Working dozens of unpaid jobs for the art, and piecing together tutoring gigs and graphic design projects to pay my rent. I was fearless, and loved each moment of it until I didn’t…
But the decision that felt even riskier, was the decision to leave. So many creators in New York are in the same boat, exhausted, working 5 survival jobs and 4 gigs simultaneously. There is competition to be more burned out than your friends. Every time you meet up with someone, you must compare how much you are doing and where. And it was only getting worse as I got older. But it’s “living the dream.” “Wow I’m so lucky…”
But my truth, I discovered, was that living that “that dream” meant not just struggling to pay rent, but dealing with verbally abusive artistic leadership and companies that could not afford to pay you, despite promised wages. Was I giving up by choosing to leave? Was I was RISKING losing my identity as an artist? I did not know what would happen to me and my own sense of self when I wasn’t working in theater.
I was terrified of starting business school. I was horrified that I would be completely alone, absolutely incapable of managing what was on my plate, and would be left (if I survived my core finance course) with no job upon graduation. But I did it anyway. I found a brighter, sunnier home, a new family of friends (including ones with creative and non-profit backgrounds) from my class, my husband, a new career, and time and energy to finally pursue my creative practice on my own terms.
There are lots of different types of risk. And we all gauge risk differently. No- I don’t like jumping off cliffs into the ocean. But yes, I will move by myself across the country to do something completely out of my wheelhouse. Don’t compare how you “risk” to others, but remember, you are my resilient than you can possibly imagine. Sometimes you just need to remind yourself of that.
Contact Info:
- Email: ravingflamingoflowers@gmail.com
- Website: www.ravingflamingoflowers.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/ravingflamingo_flowers
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ravingflamingoflowers
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RavingFlamingo
Image Credits
White ethereal shoot photos + personal photo (w/cake): Ingrid Barnhart Photography Cactus bouquet photos: Hello Darlin’ Photography Round rock elopement photo (Woman in flower crown and man w/ camera): Hunter Edgerly Children photo: Claire Mulkey, Rising Oak Images Table arrangement: Image and Grace Photography Pink arrangement: Auburn Rae Photography
