Interpreting Sentiments Through Floral with Heather Wright of Tulips & Truffles
Collider is passionate about sharing the stories of local entrepreneurs and small business owners! We recently chatted with Heather Wright, who runs Tulips & Truffles, which recently changed locations and had a grand reopening!
Photo contributed by Heather Wright.
Local florist and co-owner of Tulips and Truffles, Heather Wright, is a longtime artist with a strong floral background. However, Heather did not become a business owner until later in life.
Born and raised in northern Minnesota, Heather acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth with an emphasis in studio art. Now involved in the Rochester art scene, Heather spent many years working in the arts, creating her own work and curating shows, as well as being on the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council and the president of the Range Fiber Arts Guild for a time.
Heather began working in the floral industry not long after graduating college and worked at two different floral shops before she married and started a family. Twenty years later, in 2014, Heather was ready for a life change and decided to move to southeast Minnesota where she had some friends and connections.
“When I moved to the Rochester area, floral design was my most marketable skill, so I pursued a job in that.”
Heather went on to work for Hy Vee Floral for a year, followed by another shop in Hastings, Minnesota. Not long after, Heather was offered the opportunity to open a floral shop of her own in Pine Island.
“I kept my options open and followed opportunities as they came my way,” Heather explained.
Heather ran the shop in Pine Island for three years, at which point she had decided to move the business to a new location. Initially, she considered moving to the nearby town of Eyota, due to the promising conversations she had with the economic development office there. However, following some challenges and the arrival of the pandemic, Heather took a different opportunity presented to her by the owner of Scrub Your Butt Soap Company, who had proposed sharing their space in downtown Rochester. Deciding this was the best course of action, Heather switched gears and decided to move the business to Rochester in 2020, where she operated until recently.
Photo by Corrie Strommen.
When the owner of Scrub Your Butt Soap Company decided to retire, Heather was on the lookout for a new location and a business partner.
“I was very fortunate to have made several connections in Rochester, one of which was Jes Peterson. She had introduced me to Cindy from Scrub Your Butt and sparked that collaboration. She also helped connect me to my current business partner, John Devlin, as well as encouraging us to take over this space after she bought it. It really has been a serendipitous relationship.”
Jes Peterson, who purchased the longtime local consignment store, Kismet, in 2022, was excited for the chance to collaborate with other local businesses to make some changes to the block near downtown where Kismet is located. Tulips & Truffles relocated there and had their grand re-opening celebration on Friday, January 27th of this year.
Photo by Corrie Strommen.
Heather, an artist and designer by nature, has found that the most challenging parts of business ownership center around paperwork, as she finds her personal strengths to be more focused on the production side of the business.
Tulips & Truffles is a full service florist business that takes online orders, delivers locally, sends orders out to other parts of the country and world, and designs floral arrangements for events. In their storefront, they provide pre-arranged bouquets, bath products, home goods, gifts, and a selection of truffles. Crown Incentives also operates out of the space to provide a laser engraving service for trophies and personalized gifts.
Heather prides herself on their selection of delicious truffles, as well as bean to bar chocolate from Squash Blossom Farm.
“We’re excited about the variety of truffle makers that we’ve found, so we’ll be rotating through several different companies and flavors. It’s a fun little passport into the truffle world.”
Photo by Corrie Strommen.
As a piece of advice to aspiring business owners, Heather strongly advises getting an accountant to manage the finances for the business, taking advantage of assistance available to small businesses, as well as being conscious of networking and making local connections.
For those considering starting a floral business in particular, Heather said, “It isn’t just a cute way to pass the time, which I think can be a common misconception about the floral industry. There are a lot of things you need to learn beyond just being creative with a floral medium. You need to familiarize yourself with horticulture, sales, and connecting with customers.”
For Heather, the most rewarding part of her work is hearing the stories of customers and individuals she has come in contact with through Tulips & Truffles.
“I could absolutely write a book on all of the incredibly poignant stories that I hear from clients and recipients. I think that's unique to Rochester and it being a community the whole world comes to visit for healthcare. There are so many different cultures and diversity present through the people here and endless stories to be had. I could just go on for hours with stories I’ve heard.”
Photo by Corrie Strommen. (Arrangement by Jay Wassner, designer at Tulips & Truffles.)
She concluded, “Floral is a really emotional product. I like to say that I am an interpreter, and people who can't be with their loved one or they don't know what to say ask me to interpret their sentiments to others through flowers. It’s a beautiful and heavy thing at times. I’m here to communicate on behalf of others, and floral is my avenue for that.”
Thank you for taking the time to read Heather’s story! If you find value in this content, please consider donating to help Collider continue amplifying the voices of Rochester entrepreneurs. You can also find out more about Tulips & Truffles by clicking the link below!
Article by Corrie Strommen, Director of Community at Collider.
