MEET our MEMBER
Blue Moon Florist By Betsy Brewer Brantner Contributing Writer lue Moon Florist has been a full-service florist in Downingtown for over 26 years with outstanding quality flowers and services. “I was going to be a lawyer, but when I started working for a florist at 15, plans changed,” explained Ami Trost, the owner of the business. “I eventually went to night school at Penn State majoring in business. But, as luck would have it, when I was 24, I had the opportunity to purchase Blue Moon Florist from two sisters. I stepped into a turn-key operation and here I am today, doing what I love.” Trost added, “I actually started at the Downingtown Farmers’ Market. My cousin worked there for a farmer and she thought it would be fun if we both worked there. She put my name in at a florist shop. They hired me and trained me.” Ironically, the part of her that would have made her a great lawyer has been a plus as she continued her journey into becoming an entrepreneur. “It’s funny,” she said. “I am a good debater, and that has been a good attribute as a business woman. To succeed, you have to have grit and determination and the ability to argue yyour p point. Being a female business owner is tough.”” She explained, “It was a challenge to get e a business loan. The bank wanted to give me $40,000. I knew I needed $60,000. I ultimately got that amount and paid it off in two years.” After eight years into business, her landlord told her she had eight months to find a new property. Originally, she had wanted her own property, so shee was on the right path. The property she bought was one-quarter of a mile from her original location. They tore down an old house on the property and, in 11 months, had built a new structure. “I did have a good business sense, but I had to convince lenders I knew what I was doing,” she explained. “One guy told me that my business plan was a field of dreams. I listened to my uncle, who told me banks are a dime a dozen and to keep knocking on doors.” She did and eventually got the loan she needed. She said there is no secret to her success. She simply tried
to create an environment where employees can bring out the best in themselves. “We encourage talent and creativity. We have fun and we have a positive attitude. We focus on the customer placing the order and the customer receiving the order. We have a lot of creative people who have worked here for a long time. We are here to create an arrangement that conveys our customers’ feelings to their friends and family,” Trost said. But Trost said she is most proud of the relationship they have with their customers. “They depend on us and we take that very seriously,” she said. “They are like family to us.” And speaking of family, both her husband and her son work with her. Her husband joined her eight years ago. eigh “I’m “I’ creative, he is talented in the technology and marketing fields,” she explained. Her son is a gifted crafter. “It’s been a fun and challenging journey even with the COVID,” she said. “It was a mixed blessing. When COVID hit, send sending flowers was one thing people could do do. They couldn’t visit or see each other, but tthey wanted to cheer up their loved ones ones. We actu actually saw a 25 percent increase in our business.” But there was a decline in weddings. “We are a wedding florist and many weddings were put on hold in 2020,” she said. “We were slated to do 250 weddings, but only did 125. The weddings were down, but another part of our business went up. 2021 was a great year for weddings. We had more weddings last year than we thought we would. We are still exhausted. It strained our business and our employees. In 2022 we are recov-
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2022 • Volume 10——
B
——Spring/Summer
