Behind the Stems

Ash Wheelhouse
  • 5.0 (3)
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Business, burnout and blooms, let’s talk about it. A no-fluff, no-filter space where I share what’s really going on in the wedding floristry world. Sometimes it’s strategy, sometimes it’s a spicy rant and sometimes it’s just me rambling after a 2am market trip. You’ll hear the wins, the wobbles, the big ideas and the behind-the-scenes mess most people don't share behind their curated floral grids If you’re a wedding florist who’s building a business, figuring it out as you go, emptying out your disgusting van and craving honest conversation, you’re in the right place.

  1. 12 June

    Why Are Wedding Flowers So Expensive? (Things Your Florist Would Say If They Weren't Worried About Offending You) |Ep 43

    Welcome to the first episode of a new series, "Things Your Wedding Florist Would Say If They Weren't Worried About Offending You" Consider this the rant you've been biting your tongue on for years, finally said out loud to the only people who actually get it. First up, the big one. "Why are wedding flowers so expensive? Once you say wedding, the price just triples." If you've been in this industry more than five minutes you've heard it, and in this episode I'm giving you the response I actually want to give, plus the one you can use with a real client without burning the enquiry to the ground. We get into why a $15 bunch from Woolies is not the same product as a full wedding setup (spoiler, a robot probably made the Woolies one), what a loss leader actually is & why supermarket flowers are basically bait, and the chef metaphor that lands every time. Because nobody questions why a private chef costs more than a Macca's meal, yet flowers somehow get the suspicious eyebrow. I also break down where sticker shock really comes from. Most of the time it isn't a bad attitude, it's a wrong reference point. People are comparing apples to apples that aren't apples at all, and a lot of them walk in already braced to be scammed because someone on TikTok told them to be. We talk about how to gently educate instead of getting defensive, and when to just let the cynical ones walk. And the bit I really want you to take away: it's on us to remove the sticker shock before the quote ever lands. Your marketing, your stories, your website, all of it can be quietly doing this work so future enquiries never even have the thought. Pour something, settle in, & enjoy the spicy little vent. Talk soon.

    9 min

  2. 26 May

    Trad Wife Ranty Rant | Ep 42

    Okay I went on a bit of a rant this week & I'm not sorry about it. There's a sentence I hear florists say constantly that makes me want to shake you (with love). It came up on a call in the Academy last week & I haven't been able to let it go since. So now you're all getting the rant. We're getting into tradwives, the plumber who quoted me $16k without flinching, the word "spinster" & where it actually comes from, & why the 1950s housewife fantasy is the most expensive cosplay on the internet. If you've ever apologised in a quote, rounded a number down because you felt bad, or watched a Nara Smith video and felt confused about wether you're supposed to be making dough 🥖 or making DOUGH 💰 about it, this one's for you. Welcome to the Failed Tradwife Club. Membership is free. The dues are getting paid properly.

    16 min

  3. 29 Mar

    You're Not Too Creative to Niche, You're Too Scared | Ep 41

    If your website has 57 different inquiry pages, your calendar is full but your bank account isn't, and you've nearly started a retail shop, a wreath business, a ceramics side hustle and a workshop series all in the same year, this episode is going to make you a little bit uncomfortable. Good. Because here's what I actually think is going on. The multi-passionate, jack-of-all-trades, chaotic creative identity that you're holding onto so tightly? A lot of the time it's not a personality trait. It's a very convincing way to avoid the boring, uncomfortable, unglamorous work that would actually grow the business you already have. And I know this because I lived it for an embarrassingly long time. In this episode I'm getting into all of it, what my business looked like before I niched down (busy, chaotic, not profitable, website was a disaster), the moment I finally went all in on weddings and started saying no to literally everything else, and what happened when I did. I went from 80 weddings a year to 20 and made more money. I stopped working summers. I started showing up to my friends' birthday parties. I went to the US for a month. I started a flower market out of my warehouse just because I wanted to. I booked a $30–40K wedding with no quote, no call, no back and forth, just a deposit.   If your business feels stuck and you keep watching other florists fly ahead, it's not because they're more talented than you. It's because they sat down and did the unsexy work. This episode is your invitation to do the same.

    22 min

  4. 25 Mar

    She Books You Without a Quote and She's Not Sorry with Chloe from Your Day By Chloe | Ep 40

    Six years in, Chloe from Your Day By Chloe has planned and styled some of the most beautiful weddings in NSW and I interrogated her. About quotes (she doesn't believe in them), about petal tosses (she's over it), about florists who send a stranger on the day without a style brief (we don't talk about those people), and about eggs as a wedding trend (yes, eggs, stay with us). This episode is essentially a masterclass in what happens on the other side of your inbox. Chloe breaks down the actual difference between a planner, a stylist and a coordinator, walks through her entire process with florists from first booking to wedding day, and gets candid about commissions, referral fees and where her thinking has shifted over the years. We also get into how florists can actually get on a planner's radar, and spoiler, a cold DM isn't going to do it, but a bunch of flowers to the door just might. There's a conversation about whose job it is to source the vessels, what to do when the planner-florist dynamic is genuinely not working, and why Chloe would rather see one enormous impactful arrangement than flowers on every surface just for the sake of it. Plus trend chat, a passionate takedown of pearls on vegetables, and what Chloe thinks is quietly about to have a very big moment in wedding styling. Find Chloe's beautiful work on Instagram at @yourdaybychloe and thank her for her generous insight into the mind of a wedding planner.

    1hr 44min

  5. 15 Mar

    The Magic Book Everyone's Asking About | Ep 39

    So my comments have been absolutely wild lately and I owe you guys an answer. If you saw my recent carousel about my business journey, you'll know I mention a book that changed the way I thought about business. And now I have dozens of comments all asking the same thing: What's the book? I've been avoiding answering because I don't want you to think it's some magical solution that's going to make you suddenly good at business. It's not. So in this episode I'm finally answering the question properly, the book, the honest truth about it, and everything else that's actually made a difference in how I run Wildflower Academy. Because here's the thing. After that first book I read hundreds more, listened to hundreds of podcast hours, and spent thousands and thousands of dollars on coaching and courses. Every single one taught me something different. There is no one magic book. And if someone tells you there is, they're selling you something. I break down all the books that have actually stuck with me, what I took from each one, and, more importantly, the stuff that no single book will ever teach you but that will actually move the needle in your business.

    15 min

  6. 7 Mar

    My 3 lazy Instagram strategies (and why they work) | Ep 38

    Okay, confession: I started a third Instagram account. I'm not proud of it. But it forced me to get really ruthless about how I'm spending my time on social media, and the three strategies I landed on are working well enough that I wanted to share them. In this episode I'm sharing exactly what I'm doing on Instagram in 2026. Trial reels — Instagram's tool for getting your content in front of people who don't already follow you. No ads required. I'm batching simple 7-second clips, slapping on a trending sound and a hook, and letting Instagram do the heavy lifting. It's a numbers game and it's working. Welcome messages — When someone hits follow, I send them a warm automated DM via ManyChat. Not salesy, not spammy, just a genuine hi. The unexpected perk? It reminds me there are real humans behind every follow and some of the conversations that spark from it are genuinely lovely. Turning your Instagram into a TV show — This is the big one. The creators growing fastest right now aren't treating Instagram like a content dump or a portfolio. They're running it like a series. There's even research showing people need to consume around 75 minutes of your content before they buy and a series is the fastest way to get there. I'm picking five repeatable formats and rotating them. Less brain fry, more consistency. If Instagram has been feeling like it's eating you alive, this episode is for you. Leave a comment and tell me which one you're going to try first, I'd love to know!

    20 min

  7. 8 Feb

    The Content Series That Actually Books Weddings with Jade from Willow & Sage Botanics | Ep 37

    In this episode, I’m chatting with Jade from Willow & Sage Botanics, an Auckland-based wedding florist who stumbled into flowers during COVID, ditched retail (because… no), and built an incredibly intentional brand by doing one bold thing: she committed to a 52-week design challenge. We talk about what it really looks like to go from “I make pretty things” to "I run a business" and how Jade used consistency, series content, and more client-centred storytelling to attract higher-budget, better-aligned weddings (without needing to be “20 years in” to have authority). If you’ve ever felt like you’re posting for other florists instead of your dream couples, this one will land.

    50 min

  8. 2 Feb

    What's working for me on Instagram right now | Ep 36

    I accidentally started a third Instagram account. And no, this is not something I ever wanted to do. In this episode, I’m sharing a very honest, behind-the-scenes snapshot of how I’m using Instagram in 2026, why marketing feels so different to even a few years ago, and the exact systems I’m using to grow multiple accounts without letting social media take over my life. This year, I’m running: my wedding floristry business Wildflower Academy and a small, local flower market that supports microgrowers and florists in my region So I’ve had to get very intentional about boundaries, leverage, and low-effort strategies that actually work. In this episode, I walk you through the three main strategies I’m using right now, what they are, why they work, and how you can steal them for your own business. Feel free to steal as much or as little of this as you like. And if you want to go deeper into creating repeatable content series, there’s a full training inside Wildflower Academy called The One Where We Create an Iconic Series -  it’s one of my favourites to teach, and I’ve loved watching members apply it lately. If this episode was useful, I’d love to hear: which strategy you’re going to try or what you’d like me to dive deeper into next Leave a review, leave a comment, or come say hi over on Instagram @academywildflower I genuinely love hearing from you!

    20 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Business, burnout and blooms, let’s talk about it. A no-fluff, no-filter space where I share what’s really going on in the wedding floristry world. Sometimes it’s strategy, sometimes it’s a spicy rant and sometimes it’s just me rambling after a 2am market trip. You’ll hear the wins, the wobbles, the big ideas and the behind-the-scenes mess most people don't share behind their curated floral grids If you’re a wedding florist who’s building a business, figuring it out as you go, emptying out your disgusting van and craving honest conversation, you’re in the right place.

Information

  • Creator
    Ash Wheelhouse
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    43
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    Behind the Stems

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