The Fresh Pressed Entrepreneur
Fresh Pressed is the new creation of entrepreneur Miss Amanda, a graphic designer with considerable experience. Understanding that “everyone is a graphic designer” these days, she realized she needed to set herself apart from “everyone” in order to succeed. With this in mind, my friend Amanda has channeled her talents into a unique niche business called Miss Amanda’s Fresh Pressed.
While people have been pressing flowers forever, Miss Amanda has put a totally new spin on pressing flowers….
All the components of her designs are fresh, as in freshly picked/cut, and inserted with precision into one of her six presses immediately after being picked. Then after the pressing, she creates “one-of-a-kind” floral designs, which consist of real components from nature, but most often are a delightful fantasy composite of “real”. Every piece is meticulously designed and assembled on bamboo paper, very high end in appearance, yet still affordable, in an economy when people don’t have much disposable income.
She understands her target market, and has priced to it accordingly.
Over the July 4th weekend I visited Miss Amanda’s latest show at the Islandscape gallery in the San Juan Islands (below) Some of you may have been to her gallery opening in Virginia recently.
It was a very successful 3 day gallery event; she told me she had sold numerous pieces and scheduled a new client garden visit.
The private garden visits are an extension of her focus, and this part of her business is growing rapidly. Her clients want to take a garden memory with them, but something beyond just a memory they want something tangible. An example might be this larger format piece: 24” x 36” below, where multiple components from a single garden are designed together into a single piece; or they might be a series of smaller ‘memories’.
The Fresh Pressed clients might be retirees downsizing from a home to a condo or retirement community. Maybe city dwellers eager for a reminder of country living. Landscape designers who capture their garden design as a gift & reminder for their client; or an interior designer who wants to bring some of the landscaping design inside…..creating a harmonious connection and balance between the two 🙂
Next up, Fresh Pressed will start expanding their marketing to the wedding community. That bridal wreath becomes art to be enjoyed everyday, rather than a dried relic in the attic, or a box under the bed. Think ‘memento gift’ for the bridesmaids? An yes, Amanda will travel to your event….. along with your videographer, hairdresser and make up artist! Or if her schedule gets too packed, she will have to design a special overnight shipping box for the fresh bouquets to catch up with her presses. Fresh is key!
Many of the pieces in the Islandscape gallery show were framed in recycled cardboard frames; cardboard that was collected on the streets of NYC and LA. These are no ordinary frames! Amanda came up with the idea, knowing they could create something unique and affordable and her husband Thom (a successful LA DP in real life) puts them together and they look fab! Maybe the black frame would be suitable for doing funeral flowers….. does anyone save funeral bouquets as a memento of a departed loved one?
A detail of the cardboard frame. Ingenious.
One of the most eye-catching pieces in the exhibit was a Fresh Pressed poster (that’s me in my red hat in the reflection), and I asked Miss Amanda if she was going to reproduce and sell them? Maybe have them printed in Taiwan where I have a great connection? Her response was refreshing…. She said she had researched the poster market and it was saturated, she’s going to stick with One-Of-A-Kind! She’s not going to dilute her focus, but stay with what she does best!
And she does it extremely well! That’s why I wrote this post….. Amanda has found a niche where she can excel, she has planned and defined the scope of her business…… she knows where she is going and how to get there. We can all learn from her.
Please tell us about your very special business niche? What separates you and makes your business special?
There were so many interesting and varied pieces that it was nearly impossible for me to select just a few for this post. You can see more of Pressed Fresh here, or contact Miss Amanda to find out what is currently available. Her inventory moves fast and remember it is one-of-a-kind.
I should note that the Islandscape Gallery (formerly Islandscape Nursery) is an inviting venue for an art show or event, and could even become your residence if you are so inclined! Live in an art gallery, that’s what I’ve always wanted!
STAY TUNED for the Labor Day weekend STUDIO TOUR……..
Special thanks to Thom for interior gallery image, Amanda working + a couple of others.
