Hello there! By way of introduction, I'm Amy, the founder and head florist of amytfleur.
There are a lot of people behind this brand, but I'd like to specially mention the two most important, strong women who inspired me and my branding today.
AH-MA (Mdm Chua Lai Kim, my late paternal grandma)
At the tender age of 7 (LOL), I was being dragged to Sunday Buddhist classes by my late paternal grandma whom I fondly called 'ah-ma'. I remembered dreading the classes but only liked it because of activities like floral arrangement, arts and crafts and other interesting hands-on stuff.
I stopped attending these classes when school was getting to me and I'd prefer to spend my weekends having solid fun like playing barbie dolls and having stayovers at my cousins'. I've completely forgotten about the world of flowers
Until 2010 when I got bored of working part-time at fashion retail stores and decided I wanted a change of environment. Folding clothes really wasn't my forte as it seems.
I googled for part-time jobs that I can work whilst studying my diploma full-time, filtered out so many jobs and this two piqued my interest: 'Ice-cream scooper' and 'Florist'. The former was offering $8/hour and the latter was only $4.50/hour but I chose to accept the latter because I was being paid while learning a skill and I didn't mind that at all. Moreover, my ah-ma loved fresh flowers and not a day that our house wasn't filled with the lovely aroma from Chrysanthemums and Oriental Lilies that she got from the wet market.
Shortly after I worked as a Florist, my ah-ma fell sick. She was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer and her condition deteriorated quickly. The only arrangement that I've ever done for her was one filled with all her favourites as pictured above.
I attributed the beginning of amytfleur to my ah-ma, and the successes to my late mum.
MUMMY TAN (Mdm Chua Guek Eng Helen)
Mummy Tan, 2018 Mother's Day; 2 years before she fell ill
When I first launched amytfleur to public for orders back in 2018, my parents are my biggest supporters. Working out of a small space in my parents' living room, to the first shared studio in Pearl's Hill Terrace and then Prosper Industrial Building, they would always help me whenever I asked. They conditioned flowers, cut papers, tried to help me arrange some bouquets, delivering them islandwide for me, rushing to multiple suppliers to help get the materials I needed urgently. They did all these without complaints nor asking for any money/returns.
My mum would stay up with me to churn orders, helping me to clean up, pouring water for me to make sure I don't fall sick from the late nights. On the other hand, my dad cooked my favourite foods for me 'cuz knowing me I wouldn't eat if I'm too busy.
Mummy Tan was diagnosed with Stage 3 Cervical Cancer in the last quarter of 2019. She fought strong and hard but the Cancer cells were too aggressive. She passed on in Nov 2020 and my world crashed bcuz my strongest pillar & supporter was gone.
I'll blog more about both my grandma and mum properly in the next few posts. TLDR; my grandma introduced me to the world of flowers and my mum supported me through the hardships.
I/amytfleur wouldn't be where we are today without them, my past and present team of flower gals, and most importantly, amazing understanding clients who appreciate us and what we do. ❤️