Today we’d like to introduce you to Tori Prokup.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
The “seed” for Full Circle Floral was planted after I married my college sweetheart, Austin, in July 2019. We brought many beautiful flowers home after our wedding, but they only lasted past our honeymoon. I wished that someone could have enjoyed the flowers while we were gone, so I started dreaming up a way to solve the single-use flower issue, as I knew I wasn’t the only one who felt this way.
At the time, I was working for the Ohio Environmental Council (OEC), and after their annual Green Gala, I re-sold the dried flower centerpieces as a mini-fundraiser. We raised over $200 for the OEC to preserve air, land, and water for all who call Ohio home.
The following summer (2020), as we all know, COVID stopped the world in its tracks. As a staff member at The Columbus Foundation, I saw firsthand how local philanthropy shifted (for good reason) to public health and keeping our community safe during the pandemic. I helped manage central Ohio’s only garden grant program at the time and saw how community gardens were suffering financially due to resources shifting to pandemic-related necessities. It’s no secret that community gardens are essential to the fabric of a neighborhood. During the pandemic, as people sought ways to gather safely, it became even more apparent how vital our local community gardens are to accessing natural beauty and strengthening social ties. In the summer of 2020, I decided to post on my social media, letting central Ohioans know that if they are having an event with flowers, they can re-sell them (through Full Circle Floral) to raise money for community gardens.
The response was overwhelmingly positive and supporting (classic Ohio!). My first flower donation was from a high school friend who had lost her dad and wanted the flowers from his funeral to do some extra good. The flowers were rearranged and re-sold on social media to raise money for Highland Youth Garden and Cultivate CDC. From there, the word spread, and as people began to have weddings again, they were excited about donating their flowers to Full Circle Floral to raise money for their favorite Columbus community garden. So here we are! Re-selling event flowers to raise funds for gardens. We’ve raised over $4,000 across 18 gardens over the past 4 years. Along this journey, I have also discovered the lost art of preserving and pressing flowers, so I offer couples and families the option to protect their special flowers for a lifetime. It’s been a dream come true to keep Full Circle Floral going as I’ve become a mom over these past years. I am constantly humbled by the support of central Ohio, without which none of this would be possible!
Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I am balancing being a social enterprise with paying myself a fair wage and ensuring that I can grow the business so we can continue to have a positive impact in central Ohio!
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My educational background is in environmental sustainability and nonprofit studies. I am interested in creating as little waste as possible while creating opportunities to squeeze as much good out of inherently beautiful things (like flowers!) as possible. I have spent the past 4.5 years as a staff member at The Columbus Foundation, but in the past month, I have stepped into a new chapter of being a stay-at-home mom to my 2-year-old son Wesley (who also loves flowers and the worms underneath them!). Most of my days are spent trying to keep up with Wesley and gardening in our little Milo-Grogan garden. However, when Wesley naps or after he sleeps, I work on pressing flowers for couples who have entrusted me with their wedding bouquets or families, trying to preserve the memory of a lost loved one by keeping their funeral flowers. Sometimes, couples or families will donate their event flowers to be resold to benefit a community garden of their choice. Still, there is never any pressure from me to do so, as I often encourage couples/families to keep as many flowers as they will enjoy and donate the rest to Full Circle Floral if they feel so inclined. Most of the flower donations that I get are from Saturday evening weddings, so the couple getting married will assign someone to drop them off at my house (thankfully very central to many wedding venues) the day after the wedding, and then I will sort through the flowers (often centerpieces) and rearrange them into smaller arrangements (ensuring that the flowers that are past their prime are composted) to be resold. Sometimes, I’ll do a Build Your Own Bouquet bar on my porch and encourage my followers to swing by and make their bouquet for any donation amount that will go straight to the community garden beneficiary.
I am most proud that Full Circle Floral exists to minimize waste, maximize beauty and community good, and provide flowers at a low cost to people who may not be able to afford them otherwise. I also get creative with how we can repurpose flowers in addition to a fundraiser. I have hosted flower arranging classes at our local community center and donated flowers to shelters. One of my favorite things about Full Circle Floral is how many times people buy flowers from me just for themselves to enjoy. Many customers will also buy flowers for friends and family to lift their spirits, which is always so sweet! My art forms are both flower arranging and flower preserving. I preserve bouquets in beautiful wooden frames made by a local female woodworker (shoutout Soy and Sull)!
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Though I work with flowers consistently, I could improve at remembering the names of flowers!
Pricing:
- Fresh flower arrangements (vase included) range from $5-$20
- Preserved flower frames range from $ 100 to $350, depending on the number of preserved flowers and the frame size.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fullcirclefloral.com
- Instagram: @fullcirclefloral
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fullcirclefloral/
