Meet Kaitlyn Chapman | Founder & Lead Floral Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kaitlyn Chapman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kaitlyn, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Kalos Eidos Wild Blooms began in April of 2020. It started as a creative outlet from my full time job during the height of COVID-19. At the time, I was the store manager for a local shop called Favor the Kind. We unfortunately had to furlough our entire staff aside from myself, and it was a difficult time as I know it was for many others. I was able to turn a long time passion of mine into a business while bringing other people moments of joy through dried and preserved flowers.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
At Kalos Eidos Wild Blooms, we give flowers everlasting life through a dried and preserved state. Embracing florals most natural form, you will often find hand foraged elements in our work.

I grew up in Northern California among the foothills and golden fields. I was surrounded by a dry, yet beautiful landscape which has inspired me from a young age. During my time in college, I lived in Southern California at the base of a canyon and just a short drive from the High Desert. I found myself wandering through the canyon roads, stopping to forage wildflowers and slipping off to the desert whenever I could.

My work today is very much a nod to the terrain and experiences which have shaped me. I moved to Texas the day after I graduated college to be closer to my family who had moved here a year prior. At first, the transition was challenging and bittersweet. I needed an outlet to feel more at “home”. I began collecting and creating dried floral bouquets and arrangements in the summer of 2019. When starting my own Houston based business, I really wanted to make sure it felt authentic and drew from my own life and upbringing in California.

I have always been fascinated with the word “Kaleidoscope”, which is made of several greek roots. Ken Makovsky, a PR professional, once wrote “It represents the initiative we all must take to sustain beauty in our lives and land in the right place, as life continues to change and we are continuously challenged. Things fall apart sometime, but they can always be put back together again, achieving ultimate beauty with a new look, but only if we hold it up to the light and look inside”

Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenmakovsky/2013/06/06/what-kaleidoscopes-communicate/?sh=23996e3736c9

Two of the roots found in the word Kaleidoscope are ‘Kalos’ and ‘Eidos’, meaning to observe a beautiful shape or form. As florists, we are constantly observing different shapes and forms. Through these different discoveries and research, I landed upon Kalos Eidos Wild Blooms: dried florals bound together in beautiful form.

What I love most about working with dried and preserved flowers is that I have the ability to brighten someone’s day by creating a bouquet or arrangement that will last forever. The floral industry really allows me to explore creative areas of myself and experiment with new ideas every time I sit down to work with a new group of wildflowers or foraged elements. To pass this joy and passion along to others means so much to me!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Houston is such a vast city with so much rich culture, good food and people! Fostering community and supporting fellow small businesses is a true passion of mine. I tend to stick to the Heights area because it is where I work and live, though I’m always up for branching out and exploring new spots. My favorite parts of the Heights are 19th street, 11th street, White Oak Drive and Studewood. Each of these streets has an array of shopping, dining, bars and fun places to stop!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d love to give a special thank you to Brittany Donovan, founder of Behold and Flourish! She was the very first person to invite us to do a pop up shop at her Summer Soiree event in August of 2020. We were still very much working out the kinks and growing as a business during this time. Brittany opened up her heart and community to us which was truly amazing to experience when first starting out. We are eternally grateful for her continued support over the past two years. Things really do come full circle. In just a few weeks, Brittany will be hosting a Behold and Flourish event in our very own brick & mortar shop in the Heights!

Website: https://kaloseidoswildblooms.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaloseidoswildblooms/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kalos-eidos-wild-blooms

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaloseidoswildblooms/

Image Credits
Cicily Ashcraft Photography (photo of bride + girls in rust dresses) Jayde Mikenzie Photography (neutral bridal party photo) Alyssa Marie Photography (up close photo of couple with bouquet) Julia Gutierrez Photography (photo of our shop)