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Alex Peschell is the owner (alongside her husband and family) of Coram Deo Flower Farm. After serving 20 years in the military, her husband reached retirement and they decided to finally plant some roots, literally! She had been gardening at each of our houses as they moved. While her husband had always wanted to own his own business. They decided to combine the two skills and start a flower farm. The family grows specialty cut flowers for bouquets sold at their rural roadside stand. They also run a YouTube channel chronicling their efforts to be a profitable flower farm. In rural Oklahoma they are surrounded by cattle ranches and homesteads so they definitely stand out! Alex’s husband still works full time but helps with all the logistics on the farm while she is in charge of social media, marketing, and all growing/harvesting elements. While they sell hundreds of bouquets, social media is a huge part of their business and she spends almost as many hours working on that as she does growing flowers. 

 

Alex’s Family And Homeschooling 4 Kids

 

Alex has 4 kids, 3 of which are school aged and she is homeschooling all of her children. This has been a learning curve but exciting adventure for the whole family. They have had to navigate the challenges of different learning levels and paces amongst their kiddos and each child’s unique interests. Alex says as a believer she felt called to have her babies in the home and to be raised in their faith with their family values. Plus homeschooling has allowed their family so much freedom to do more things together during the week as well as include their kids in the business.

 

Starting a Flower Farm

 

Alex describes her mom as a green thumb and says that as a teenager she would observe what her mom was doing in the garden. As she stepped into adulthood, Alex wanted a garden of her own and luckily had a great resource to turn to for help! With lots of time and practice she improved her skills on her own. What once started off as a hobby eventually turned into a business that her whole family could work in together. Her husband is more of the creative and business mind of the operation while Alex is the executer. They had a successful first year of business but by year two, their sales quadrupled.

 

Finding Success As A Rural Business

 

The Peschell family essentially threw a dart at a map and landed in rural Oklahoma where they currently run their operation. Their farm does tend to stand out even in their rural community as they are surrounded by mostly cattle ranches. She says that even though she knows she stands out in her community, she is diving in deep to learnt he culture and wants to be fully known as an Oklahoma native in the future.

 

Creating An Experience

 

One of the things she owes to her success in business is creating a great experience for her customers. Her roadside stand sits right in front of their flower fields where you can see all the beautiful blooms. The family has worked tremendously hard to create a business that does not feel overly girly. So that the older ranching men can stop by and grab a bouquet without feeling weird about it. Not only is this impressive for the average business but the fact that her “storefront” is right outside their home on a country road impresses me that much more! If you want to learn how to be more intentional with every move of your business, you definitely should listen to this episode.

 

Intentional Marketing On A Perishable Product

 

Something Alex touched on in our conversation is what makes her product stand out. And I thought it was so good to mention! With a flower business you have a short window on when you can sell your product. And after that window closes, it’s over. There is so stocking up on inventory and being able to keep things long term. You have to be able to create a sense of urgency to get people to physically show up to your place of business and purchase at a very specific time. This is where very intentional and strategic marketing falls into place as a key role.

 

Alex’s View On Starting A Youtube Channel For Your Business

 

Alex decided to start a Youtube channel to bring a behind the scenes look at their farm and business. They have intentionally made their longer form content to view similarly to a show vs. a short form social media video. They bring people along the journey with them as their business grows instead of starting the channel when they have peaked in their success. It also builds more of a relationship and connection with customers so they can feel like they are a part of the story.

If you are thinking about starting a Youtube channel for your own business, definitely give this episode a listen for the full scoop. But some of the key points Alex makes in our conversation about Youtube are:

• Know who you are speaking to
• Have the discipline to show up consistently

 

Resources

 

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FOLLOW CORAM DEO FLOWER FARM ON INSTAGRAM

 

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