Christina Stembel, founder & CEO of Farmgirl Flowers, sits down with Carolyn to discuss growing up in a town with 3,600 people, why she started Farmgirl Flowers, bootstrapping her company, the Farmgirl Flowers bike couriers, the 104 no’s she received from VC firms when trying to raise capital but is now grateful for, and more from her founder’s journey.

1:10 Christina discusses why she started Farmgirl Flowers

4:09 Christina talks about growing up in a town with 3,600 people in Northern Indiana, not going to college, and working at Stanford

7:53 Why the e-commerce flower industry was declining in 2009

10:55 How Christina created a new design category of flower bouquets for Farmgirl Flowers 

15:06 The origins and end of the bike courier service at Farmgirl Flowers

21:34 Challenges with shipping and projecting sells for perishable products like flowers

25:07 The difficulty of getting peonies throughout the year and Christina’s thoughts on purchasing a peony farm

28:44 Christina discusses the 104 no’s she received from VC firms when trying to raise capital, and why she’s now grateful that she never raised funding

36:34 Why Farmgirl Flowers uses burlap bags and how it cuts down on plastic use