Founder Spotlight: Cameron Hardesty (Poppy)
Company name: Poppy
Company blurb: Online flower ordering platform for weddings and events with high-touch local networks of floral designers.
Company website: https://www.poppyflowers.com/
Company headquarters: Poppy’s workforce is distributed, but Cameron is based in Washington, D.C.
Founder’s hometown: Dallas, TX
Founder fun fact: I write poetry!
Why did you decide to start your company? I always knew that I wanted to start my own company, but for years, I had no idea what it would be. Floral design has been a hobby of mine for about ten years, and as soon as I entered the floral industry professionally five years ago, I fell in love with it. While a lot of capital and innovation has gone into disrupting old-school industry incumbents like 1–800-Flowers to create new ways to deliver bouquets as gifts, effectively no capital and very little innovation has gone into the weddings segment of the floral industry — which comprises almost half of the $15B market. While planning my own wedding in 2017 (and doing wedding flowers for friends), I saw how much was left to be desired — both for the consumer and for the floral designer — in the process of buying and delivering wedding flowers. While I knew it would be a thorny problem to tackle, I saw an enormous opportunity to modernize the experience for both sides of this multi-billion dollar market. The unit economics are an order of magnitude better than in floral gifting, even during Covid, so structurally I knew I could sidestep the margin issues that have plagued other start-ups in this space.
What is one thing that you want people to know about your company? From day one, we’ve worked to empower women at every level of the floral supply chain. Most people never think twice about where their flowers are grown — but 80% of the flowers we buy in the U.S. are grown in Colombia or Ecuador, and those farms have a majority-female workforce. Many of those workers are head of household and the primary wage earner for their families. For every Poppy at Home sale, we donate anywhere from $1-$5 to a worker-owned fund at our partner farm to give these women increased access to basics that improve their quality of life and give them back their leisure time, like electric washing machines (a rarity in the rural areas where our flowers are grown). To date, we’ve funded the purchase of washing machines for 16 homes, and we have about 50 more to go!
When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur? I didn’t know what entrepreneurship was when I was little, even though I was definitely an entrepreneur from a young age! I thought I would be a creative writer, or actress (both things, I think, that a CEO is required to be, among others). My first memory of entrepreneurship was when in 1st grade. My assignment was to write a book with illustrations that our library would laminate and bind. I was a good writer, so I took the lead on that and outsourced the illustrations to my friend Meredith, a talented artist. I thought it turned out great but didn’t realize I wasn’t allowed to outsource! I thought I was just maximizing my strengths.
What is one piece of advice you’d like to pass on to new founders? I never understood the power of “trusting your gut” until I started this business. Don’t wait for the world to hit you over the head with red flags — pay attention to them early. Speak your mind. The more you say what you really believe, the more the right people will find you (and the wrong ones will fall away).
