Written by Lizzie Macaulay
Take everything you think you know about floristry and set it aside.
The gorgeously bright sparks over at Hey Posy have taken everything we mere mortals know about flowers and turned it on its head.
Think texture.
Think bright, bold colours.
Think exciting arrangements that ooze confidence and charm.
A delicate balance of beautiful and strong.
Sounds enticing, right?!
Well, who could resist the creativity, originality and pizazz of two of the Fraser Coast’s most artistic minds?
Owners Roxanne Spies and Jess Gunn Started Hey Posy after a chance meeting at a wedding expo just four years ago.
Inspired by their innate creativity and years of artistry in their chosen professions – Jess, a photographer, Roxy a graphic designer, social media maven, teacher and photographer (among other fabulous things), Hey Posy was born.
“We were collaborating on a styled shoot. We got talking about how we were seeing little pop-up flower shops coming up on the Sunny Coast, and that nobody was really doing that around here,” recounts Roxanne.
“And the style of flowers that we were wanting for a particular shoot, we couldn’t source anywhere locally or even around Bundy, so we were like ‘Oh well, we’ll just order some in!’”
And thus, Hey Posy sprang to life…
As all good side hustles do, the floristry venture has taken on a life of its own.
For Roxanne in particular, this new direction has provided inspiration and motivation to double down the time spent in ‘Posyland’.
What was once a fun, pop-up ‘market-day’ experience has morphed over time into a fully fledged business complete with premises in both Maryborough and Hervey Bay, and a queue of excited brides, event holders and customers seeking bespoke creations.
The increasing demand for unique arrangements has the dual benefit of tickling the ladies’ creative funny bones whilst also lifting their heads from computer screens and giving them the opportunity to create in a more visceral way – with their hands.
With so many tools available digitally, it’s certainly a contrast to be able to reconnect with a traditional artform, commune with nature on a daily basis, and then turn the whole process on its head.
That’s not to say the journey has been without its challenges.
Four years is a long time in the business world.
Especially for a business that started with a distinctive creative aesthetic and no formal training.
While the lack of formal training has very specifically been Jess and Roxy’s superpower aesthetically, the learning curve has been steep in other areas.
Most notably, for reasons beyond their control over the last nearly two years where the supply chain has been compromised and the ability to physically be where the flowers are has not always been possible.
“It’s really hard that we can’t walk into markets to buy our product,” reflects Jess. “To rely on either photographs or the person on the other end of the phone takes a lot of trust.”
Add to that the expense and heartache of anticipating a certain flower type being delivered only to open the box and be met with wilting, or even mouldy, blooms that didn’t survive the journey northwards.
Luckily, those lessons learned are firmly in the rear-view mirror and the ladies have their sights squarely on the very rosy future.
What’s most endearing about Jess and Roxanne is their trailblazing entrepreneurial spirits.
They are actively redefining success as they follow (and monetise) their creative passions.
To these dynamos, success means flexibility, choosing your hours, your clients and even having the ability to prioritise family time whenever you choose.
While they both have more than one iron in the business fire, they come together multiple times a week to do the thing they love… together.
Working from a headspace of abundance, they regularly collaborate with fellow Fraser Coast creatives.
“There’s always enough work,” Jess considers. “Honestly it’s probably less what people think about your product at the end of the day. It’s more about who you are and who you connect with, and we love to refer out from there when the fit just isn’t quite right.”
The dream one day would to be to establish a hub, where the Fraser Coast creative set could descend, collaborate, inspire each other and learn.
“There is plenty of work to go around here on the Fraser Coast,” Roxy says. “What we’d really love to see is a huge co-working space to base ourselves from – maybe taking advantage of some of the beautiful Maryborough architecture – where anyone could come to work side-by-side on their projects.”
And what a glorious vision that would be.
These women dream big and pursue their ideas with fearless abandon.
The best bit?
The nature of their business means they create from the freeing space of passion rather than the constraining obligation of a specific brief.
Their clients come with ideas, but ultimately, Jess and Roxy have the ultimate creative control based on seasonality, availability and what experience has proven just works.
There’s a lot of trust in that.
“We’ve been very lucky,” Roxy says. “Obviously with my background in marketing and photography, we’ve been able to really niche and attract, I guess, what we would call ideal clients.”
“We’re pretty clear through everything we do that we work with what’s seasonal, and when we’re going to work with the colour palette, rather than a particular varietal, we have a brilliant outcome where the client gets what they want but are equally pleasantly surprised at the end result.”
Brilliant outcomes are certainly the aim of the game – for the ladies themselves, their clients and even the Fraser Coast creatives looking to emulate their trajectory.
How incredible it is to see such leadership from women simply following their creative instincts to the benefit of all involved.
Now, just to restore some of the iconic Maryborough architecture and the final piece of the vision will be within reach!