Sisterhood Series with Amelia Kovacs

Your Empowering Path: 

First off, we're keen to hear all about your journey to creating Element Preservation. What sparked the idea to transform flowers into lasting art pieces? And how does this intertwine with your dreams and goals?

Element preservation didn’t start out with the goal of becoming a business. It was just me in my backyard, planting seeds and growing flowers. I had grown so many and I didn’t know what to do with them all, so I started pressing them. This was the era of creating an Instagram account for everything, so naturally I made one for my pressed flower account. I placed a few flowers into some frames I picked up from various craft stores and sold them on Etsy.  

A few weeks into this hobby an old coworker reached out to me and asked if I preserved wedding bouquets. The rest was history. I started pressing one bouquet a month, then a couple of bouquets each weekend,  and then upwards of 10 a weekend. I had burnt myself out when I realized it was time to leave my full-time job and make floral preservation my career.

Just four weeks after leaving my job, I had opened my first bouquet preservation storefront in Easton, PA. This was definitely a risk, but I have always been a person who is not risk adverse. I find that stepping just outside of my comfort zone is what allows me to achieve my goals, and this decision was a prime example of just that. 

 

Resilience in Bloom: 

Flowers are a testament to growth and resilience. Is there a particular floral encounter that has been a game-changer in your entrepreneurial path?

I received a gift that was beyond sentimental to me at the age of 16. That year, I had a birthday party, my “Sweet 16”. At the party I had flowers on the tables with white roses.  I was lucky enough at the time to have my grandmother with me that day, and she ever so secretly picked one of the flowers out of the vases and brought it home.

A few months later I received a gift from her. It was a picture frame with a print out of some of the words my father read to me on that special day at birthday party. Inside the frame she had placed that white rose, pressed and preserved in the glass. From that day on, I understood the sentiment that pressed flowers could hold for so many different people. 

 

Inspired by Women Leaders

With International Women's Day being today, we would love for you to talk about a woman who's been a huge inspiration to you. What pearls of wisdom from her have powered your ambition?

I’ve been inspired by many women throughout my life, but there are two who stand out to me. First, my grandmother. My grandmother wasn’t the traditional grandma, she was a “cool grandma” - by that I mean, she did things like building a house in her 60s. She actually was one of the builders, she wanted to be hands-on.

Before that, she divorced my grandfather and restarted her life, met her soulmate and then published a book about her journey. She was the type of woman who wouldn’t let anything stop her, she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She had said always “be the purest light of yourself”, and that stuck with me. That phrase told me that even when things were hard, kindness mattered. This is why I strive to always lead with love.

Recently I read a book by a woman named Marie Forleo. This book is called “Everything is Figureoutable”. In as inspiring story of resilience from not only Marie, but it also contains multiple stories of other women have overcome difficult situations. Marie explains that everything truly is figureoutable. She paralled my grandmother in not taking no for an answer because if there is a will, there is a way.

 

Collab with Sorrelli:

Your partnership with Sorrelli beautifully merges style and entrepreneurship. How does their aesthetic vibe with your artistic vision? Also, I'm curious - what does your personal style reveal about you as a business leader?

Sorrelli and Element are so similar, we both use beautiful colors as our medium to make an elegant and artful piece. Clean, refined, yet organic are words that I would use to classify both brands.

My personal style reflects neutrals and earth tones, and allows me to always stay grounded as a leader. As an extroverted-introvert, this pallet allows me to step just outside of my comfort zone while staying true to my own self vision. 

Some of Amy's fave Sorrelli pieces: 

 

Celebrating Sisterhood: 

Sisterhood is indeed a formidable force. Who in your circle of amazing women deserves a shoutout for their incredible work and dedication to lifting others?

There are so many people who have impacted my life, even more so lately after I became an entrepreneur. I was never the type of person with a huge friend circle, but I have had the privilege of befriending so many people in my career life that I truly feel blessed to know.

The most impactful women have been those on my team. The Element team  is predominantly women and I can honestly say that each and every person on the team has inspired me by the genuine nature of their souls - they make it easy to lead with an intentional kindness. More directly the close circle of woman on our “core team” at Element have been astronomical in the growth of this company. Their dedication and commitment to this brand is what has allowed us to continue to create meaningful creative job opportunities while delivering sentimental preserved floral pieces to our clients. Nikole, Abby, Jenni, Caitlin… I’m talking about you!

Next, my best friend Kate- she is my rock on this journey and has been supportive of my wild mind since day one. She is a therapist and regularly works to guide women on through challenges in their lives.

Last, my mom- my mother is the sweetest soul anyone could ever know and she would drop anything for anyone at any given time. These women have not only directly impacted me, but have touched the lives of so many and I am honored to have them in my circle. 

 

Overcoming Challenges: 

Running a business is no small feat. Could you share a story about a hurdle you've hurdled over, and the leadership and resilience lessons it's taught you?

My business first started on Etsy, and in the early months, sales were rolling in. I was thrilled, grateful, it was all I could have hoped for and more. Right after we had opened shop, I felt like I was slapped in the face with a stop sign. In the wedding industry, clients are told to book in advance, sometimes months in advance. Vendors fill up their capacity early, so to secure a spot this was critical for most services.

While different in our industry, clients still preferred to place their order to have their checklist complete well before their wedding. I accepted orders for weddings as they came in, disregarding when the wedding was happening. This disrupted the Etsy system, and flagged my business as, in their eyes, it looked like we were past due on orders, when the client hadn’t even had their wedding yet. Etsy blocked our store from being found and sales came to a halt.

As a new business owner, with new expenses, I was terrified. But rather than quitting, I decided to open a Shopify store and promote our services on there until Etsy re-opened our store. Navigating this felt like nothing short of defeat at the time, but looking back at it I realized that it was one of the first lessons being an entrepreneur would teach me, and that is to never be reliant on another source for all of your sales. 

 

Dreaming Big for the Future: 

What's the big dream for Element Preservation? How do you see yourself inspiring and influencing the next wave of female entrepreneurs?

The dream for Element is to become not only a household name for bouquet preservation, but to open new divisions that branch just outside of traditional pressed florals. We have already begun our venture into commercial offerings and installations, but have plans to launch our Home and Living division this spring, and are launching a new division in the late summer that is entirely new to the preservation world. It will completely change the way the market views bouquet preservation, and it’s quite exciting.

Stay tuned! As the business grows, I have plan to also expand my personal brand and I aspire to become an educator for women-owned businesses in the product space through workshops, courses, and mastermind seminars. 

 

Wisdom for Future Leaders: 

To wrap up, I'd be thrilled to get your advice for young women stepping into their entrepreneurial or creative journeys.

I always say, if something feels just slightly out of reach, but you really want it, that’s when you know you should to take the leap. If a decision doesn’t make you uncomfortable and nervous, you should have done it already.

Stepping outside of your comfort zone is what will drive you to work harder than you ever have before. There is no such thing as waiting until you are “ready”, if you want something enough, you will find a way to make it happen. 

 

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