How a Paper Florist Creates for Valentino on 4 Hours Sleep with Jennifer Ruiz

Jen: I’m so excited to talk to you. Before we started, I made my husband come in and look at your work and he lost his mind. He was like, how is this possible? How does she do this? Oh my God, she must be making a million dollars. That’s so unique. She needs this.

Jennifer Ruiz: Be awesome.

Jen: We can franchise this, get this in Philly and like, this is, this is huge. This is amazing. Yeah. So that

Jennifer Ruiz: Aw, is sweet.

Jen: I don’t think, I don’t, I’ve never seen him freak out like that over any art form ever.

Jennifer Ruiz: That’s awesome.

Jen: How do you normally answer the question? What do you do?

Jennifer Ruiz: I did watch your podcast on YouTube. I’m so privileged to be on your podcast. I appreciate you reaching out. So I consider myself a paper florist. But the proper response to the question, what do you do, that I create floral installations that make people take pictures.

Jen: I love that you have an action included in that answer. Yeah, that feels like so tangible, and I could see how that would immediately lead to people being like, oh, I need to hire you if that’s the result I’m gonna get. Yeah, clever. Yeah. I saw either, I can’t remember if it was on your website or on your Instagram, you talking about how you used to say, oh, I make paper flowers, and people would just think like Etsy kids crafts.

Jennifer Ruiz: Yeah.

Jen: You realized you needed to level up that wording.

Jennifer Ruiz: Mm-hmm.

Jen: Yeah. How has the response been different since you changed how you answered that question?

Jennifer Ruiz: I actually came up with a language kit because I was personally confused with how people like, they really had no comprehension of what I did. And it was really challenging because when people hear paper flowers and I say, I am a paper florist, they’re like, oh, how cute. And then when they see it in person, they’re like, oh.

Jen: Oh

Jennifer Ruiz: And their eyes are like, oh wow, you’re an artist. Like, oh, thank you. They’ve told me like, I don’t see how that’s an actual profitable business. I don’t see how that’s a real business, but then like I’m subcontracted for people like Dolce and Gabana. And literally last week I got subcontracted for a L’Oreal party. All of these high-end brands. Valentino, another paper florist flew me out to New York for a week and I work for Valentino.

Jen: So, what’s your origin story? When did you first make a paper flower and how did it turn into all of this?

Jennifer Ruiz: I started in 2020 when a lot of other businesses started. I’ve always been crafty. It was like my third strike. Is either make it or break it. My husband and I were going through ups and downs at the time. We were going through challenges and I felt very by myself and the paper flowers were my escape. So I would stay up late and get up early. And it was my Garden of Eden, I guess you could say. Yeah.

Jen: Did you, had you seen this online, like how did you even begin to know that this was a thing that you could do?

Jennifer Ruiz: So my sister-in-law asked me to do some paper flowers for her mother. And so I did some creative ones. I was like, oh, this is fun. And me being me, I signed up for a wedding show, and I ended up doing a 12 by 12 foot wall. Yeah, it was just ludicrous, honestly. I had no idea what I was doing and I did a butcher paper flower wall. It wasn’t even card stock, it was butcher paper ’cause I could get it by the roll off of Amazon. And people were loving it and I had no idea what I was doing. How it all started was my sister-in-law asked me to do some paper flowers for her mother.

Jen: And can you give me some like, because I look at what you make and I’m like, I have. Yeah. Like most people, I have no idea how you go from a piece of paper to these breathtaking, beautiful, enormous blooms. Like, can you tell me a little bit about the actual, like how, how do you go from a piece of paper to that?

Jennifer Ruiz: I discovered Italian crepe paper in 2021, which is when I started my business. It was very popular in Russia and Korea and it wasn’t very popular here in the States, and I just stayed up late and got up early and watched YouTubes in Russian and Korean of how they make the giant paper flowers. And I winged it. I’ve been winging it for a long time. Because they would say stuff in millimeters and that’s not us. I would watch the videos and figure it out. I would try to recreate what I saw on Pinterest. My insurance lady came to the house, we were applying for life insurance at the time, so she was scheduling a nurse to take our blood and all that stuff. And she was like, did you make these, these are great. Like, they were big slides. And she was like, these are amazing. You need to be selling these. I ended up posting it on Facebook Marketplace. I sold a set of two. And I was like, oh, I made money. This is nice. I tried it again and I ended up getting a funeral. And my flowers were only probably like 18 inches at the time. My flowers have grown since then. And I went viral on TikTok. Like I said, I just did a subcontract for another paper florist for L’Oreal, and the biggest flower is four feet.

Jen: Wow.

Jennifer Ruiz: Yeah.

Jen: How are your clients usually split between like, brands, weddings, funerals?

Jennifer Ruiz: The majority of my clients are weddings. I’m trying to get more into brands honestly. But the majority of my clients are weddings. They have a vision and I make that vision come to life.

Jen: Does it feel any different for you making something for a wedding versus a brand? No, you’re just loving making flowers regardless of where they end up.

Jennifer Ruiz: Yeah. It is an expression for me because I can’t say I’m quite outgoing like that. I have a style, but I’m not outgoing. It’s crazy to say this out loud. I don’t care who you represent or what you want the flowers for. It’s like my flowers give an overall feel to whatever event they’re at. So I could care less about what this is actually for. These are my flowers. I put my heart and my soul into those flowers. If I need help to complete the task, I do that. But I train the people that help me and they put their heart and soul into it. And that’s what it is. Like, I don’t know.

Jen: You reflect often on like your job and how you spend your time is giving this amazing gift of beauty and giving this feeling to people. Like that, that’s what you do. How does that feel?

Jennifer Ruiz: Well the flowers were healing for me ’cause like I said, I was going through a rough patch at that time. So the flowers are healing and they’re a sense of being small and mattering in a big, big world. And it’s the Alice in Wonderland effect from the standpoint that what matters to me at the time, I may seem big, but when you put it in that atmosphere, it’s really small. I just want other people to heal like it. The flowers have helped me heal and it helps them bloom just like it’s helped me bloom. So I have a way bigger voice in the flowers than I do actually myself, so I don’t have to stand up and yell and all that stuff. The flowers can speak for me and I’m okay with that, you know? So.

Jen: That’s beautiful.

Jennifer Ruiz: Thank you.

Jen: Do you ever have to like protect your love of the craft from the business side, or is it

Jennifer Ruiz: Yeah, I have, I’ve had to learn to say no to different things and I’ve had to learn to protect it. I do care ’cause a lot of, forgive my language, a lot of people don’t care. I could say something else, but, um, I’m choosing that too. A lot of people don’t, I mean, they could care less and I do care. And that’s a, it’s been a challenge for me in all aspects of life, because I do care. I’m actually, I still work as a caregiver. I still work nights, I work from 10:30 PM to 6:30 AM and then I come home, we have breakfast, I take my son to school, and then I stay up from eight 30 to, he gets outta school at two 30 and I lay down around five. So I guarantee myself, I try to get four hours of sleep a day. Which has been a challenge. It’s not easy.

Jen: Wow. That’s wild. I can’t believe you’re maintaining a full-time career on top of running this business, my goodness.

Jennifer Ruiz: Yeah. That’s when I said I, I don’t know if you saw my post on Instagram. I was like my to-do list. I’m not that organized. I haven’t been diagnosed, but I know I’m lightweight dyslexic, so it’s a challenge for me to just, even just writing a to-do list is a challenge. Like I’ve been debating. I been calling, I’ve been talking to my mom about it for the last like two weeks. I’m like, how do you write all this? And she was like, no, you write this and then you can put it into, and I’m like, I don’t wanna write all that. This is just a lot. It’s just, yeah.

Jen: How do you keep track of stuff? Like when you have, you know, three different wedding clients and two brands and like all of these different flowers, how is that all just being stored in your head or how do you know what you’re doing?

Jennifer Ruiz: I would say 80% of it is in my head. I do write down like, okay, let’s just say Brandy Wedding, and I write down 10 peonies roses. And then for the other stuff I write down what is needed for that project. I do have helpers that help me. I’ll have the cutter cut those things and then the person that’s helping them glue. So whoever’s helping me glue and like I assign them that thing. But unfortunately it is pretty jumbled in my head. Just ’cause it’s a challenge.

Jen: Do you want to continue being a full-time caregiver? Or if the business was making enough money, you would like to go full-time with that? Like full, like as in not doing another thing full-time as well.

Jennifer Ruiz: Totally. I’m actually right here with it, so technically I am bringing in as much as I’m making, but I wanna be here. You know what I’m saying? Like, I wanna be above that, but technically right now I’m right here. So I am having a hard time breaking that. The world works in seasons and waves, so I’m believing that right now in this season, I’m right here and in another season I’ll be here so I can let go of the other job.

Jen: Well I hope that season comes quickly. I want you to get more sleep too. I saw that you also teach classes. How often are you doing that? And do you worry at all about creating competitors or are you happy to bring more flower people into the world?

Jennifer Ruiz: Yeah. There’s enough in the world for everybody. That’s my belief.

Jen: Nice.

Jennifer Ruiz: Yeah. So I do classes once a month now that I have a studio, which I’m very grateful for. I believe there’s enough in the world for everybody. ‘Cause what you would teach is different than what I would teach. And who’s for you is different than who’s for me. So.

Jen: Yeah.

Jennifer Ruiz: That’s my belief.

Jen: So obviously paper flowers last a lot longer than fresh flowers. How much does like longevity and sustainability factor into what you do and how you think about what you do?

Jennifer Ruiz: The paper flowers last really long, so I use 180 gram crepe paper, Italian crepe paper. It’s not the crepe paper from the streamers you get from the Dollar Tree. I’ve actually had a set of white peonies that have lasted me about three years, so my rentals bring in the most money because I don’t have to make new flowers for those.

Jen: You create whatever set of flowers and then you rent them out to weddings.

Jennifer Ruiz: I reuse them.

Jen: That’s brilliant.

Jennifer Ruiz: Yeah, I reuse a lot of my flowers, my rentals are my big money maker. I’ve had a set of flowers last up to three years.

Jen: Wow. That’s so cool. And either with weddings or brands, do you find that the clients you’re getting, that sustainability is something that they’re looking for?

Jennifer Ruiz: Yeah. I do. That’s a major thing that they’re looking for.

Jen: Yeah. Three years. That’s amazing. Okay. Yeah. I wanna get into the lists you sent me. So you sent me a wedding fair setup checklist. So this is like you’re going to a fair, is this for you to be a way that you’re advertising that you exist. Is that mostly what a fair is for?

Jennifer Ruiz: Yes.

Jen: Walk me through this list a bit. The setup checklist.

Jennifer Ruiz: The majority of the brides, they like an entrance way. So I have a setup for the entrance way, and then they like a setup around the sweetheart table. And usually I just move whatever’s around the entrance way to the sweetheart table. And then sometimes they like the same setup around the altar. So I’m just moving, I’m just basically moving the flowers, the same flowers one location to the next.

Jen: Does that mean you need to be present at every wedding that you’re supplying flowers for? Oh, wow.

Jennifer Ruiz: Yeah, for the, I’d say 80% of the time, yeah, that I’m present and I’m moving the flowers for those, yeah.

Jen: And then your other list. I see it says Las Vegas. I don’t really know what it, what it, uh, what this list is. Can you tell me about this list?

Jennifer Ruiz: That was the most recent one. We sent three different size flowers to them. So there’s three different templates that you’re seeing on the checklist. Then that’s what I gave to my assistants. There was a four foot flower, a three foot flower, and a two foot flower. So we did nine two foot flowers, three foot flowers, and five four foot flowers.

Jen: Wow.

Jennifer Ruiz: And that’s the one that we were subcontracted for, for the L’Oreal party. So I come up with a design and my assistants replicate it. And it’s not always spot on, but it’s done, you know? And we cut and we wire them. I try to wire them because wiring, having wire in the petals helps the flower last longer. You can close it and open it like you would do an umbrella.

Jen: What does a typical week for you look like in the Petal Loft business in terms of actually creating flowers, going in person to events, and then like general admin and marketing stuff like how are those three things distributed in at any given week?

Jennifer Ruiz: My marketing is purely social media.

Jen: Also going to some fairs and stuff, right? Like that counts as marketing.

Jennifer Ruiz: Technically yes, I’ve done wedding MBA in Las Vegas. Yeah, you’re right. I’ve done some big wedding fairs here in California. But it’s majority social media, so I’ve gone viral a few times on social media, so that’s where the majority of where I get my clients from. And then there’s a really big paper florist community. And we’re not competitive. We really encourage each other, we wanna see each other succeed. So when somebody needs help, they’ll ask. Or if somebody is like approached by the same person, they’ll like, Hey, were you approached by this guy? Like, he asked me for this amount. Like, is he asking you for that amount? That type of thing. It is a really solid community. I really appreciate the Paper Flower community. And we’re all across the US. Like I’m in California and there’s people in New York, there’s people in Texas, there’s people in Wisconsin. I just have a lot of gratitude and thankfulness for what I have. I’m just grateful for everything. It’s not easy. Being an artist in general is not easy. It’s a challenge.

Jen: Especially when you’re an artist and a business owner of your art form, like having to do all of that admin in order to be creative. It’s like those two things don’t easily go together, but you gotta do it.

Jennifer Ruiz: It’s reality. You don’t become a business overnight. On the average it takes, what, three years. And then when you’re creative, they look at you sideways, it might take three years to get the profit and then the extra too, just to prove that I make paper flowers and I make money at it. Like, it’s a concept that a lot of people are challenged with. They’re like, that’s not a real business. Like, tell Dolce and Cabana that.

Jen: Yeah, tell ’em.

Jen: All right. Final question. If you could see anybody’s to-do list, whether that be a specific person or a job title, whose to-do list would you most like to see?

Jennifer Ruiz: Oh, good question. I used to do hair and makeup, so I would love to see Pat McGrath’s to-do list. I don’t know if you know who that is.

Jen: Makeup artist?

Jennifer Ruiz: Yeah. Pat McGrath. Google her. She’s awesome. Yeah.

Jen: All right. Nice. Good answer. Wonderful. Well, is there anything else that you would like to share or promote or talk about?

Jennifer Ruiz: I would like to share, I have a language kit and that’s a challenge I really have had over the years. I’ve been in business since 2021 and so I’m five years deep in now. Language is a thing, especially for creatives, because the big brands, they wanna hear corporate language being a unquote crafter. We don’t speak corporate language. And it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is a huge deal. It’s a huge deal. So I have a language kit.

Jen: The kit helps creatives to speak the corporate language about their services.

Jennifer Ruiz: Yeah.

Jen: Nice. That’s awesome. That’s such an amazing thing to offer to the creative community.

Jennifer Ruiz: Yeah. I used it for myself and I’m still memorizing some of the stuff that I need to memorize. I have a little alert on my phone to help me with that. I haven’t had a quote corporate job, like my sister, she has a Kaiser job, so she knows how to talk that language. I just don’t know that language and to learn that language, it’s a challenge. It’s a challenge, but I feel like in order to be taken seriously, they wanna see that language. It’s important. So that, I would say that’s my ending message is that it does matter.

Jen: Well, I will link to your language kit in the description.

Jennifer Ruiz: Awesome. Thank you.

Jen: Really great. Well, thank you so much for talking to me. It was great to get to learn the ins and outs of Giant Florals. I’ll put your Instagram in the description. You guys have to see these flowers. They’re insane. They’re so cool.

Jennifer Ruiz: Yeah. Usually when I say I make paper flowers or I’m a paper florist, they’re like, oh, how cute. And then when they see it, they’re like, oh.

Jen: Wow.

Jennifer Ruiz: So, yeah.

Jen: They definitely have wow factor.

Jennifer Ruiz: I appreciate that. Thank you very much. I appreciate you doing this and featuring people that do different things. That’s very noble of you.

Jen: Absolutely. Well, I’m just very curious about people, especially when I see them doing something that I’m like, how do you do that? Like, I just wanna, yeah, it’s great to have an excuse to get to connect with random strangers on the internet and get to ask you all of my questions and feature your work and share you with more people hopefully. I hope you’re a millionaire by the end of 2026. For sure.

Jennifer Ruiz: Oh, thank you. I received that.

Jen: I hope you have a wonderful evening. It was so lovely to chat with you.