Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin McGarrity.
Hi Austin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m the owner of Electric Daisy Florist in Bel Air, Maryland. I have 6 years in the floral industry. Growing up, I’ve always had a true passion for art and being creative. Not only am I a florist but I am an artist as well. I enjoy drawing, painting, jewelry making, wreath making, preserving flowers, digital art, doing special fx / beauty make-up and sculpting. I am always learning new mediums in the “art world” and new trades in the floral industry. Back in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic I had such a bad day at work answering phones I decided to take a look online and see what my options were. I saw there was an opening for a floral designer position at a shop in Bel Air. I thought how perfect that would be for me seeing as I enjoy anything artistic, and I love getting to be creative. My Grandmother always told me to use my gift of being a natural born artist and apply my creative skills to as much as I can. So, I decided to apply to the position. I began reading, researching and learning all I could and I called the flower shop once a day to check on the status of my application, I must have called them over 20 times. Finally, after the longest 2 weeks of my life, I got called in for an interview. I went in and was given a test, the test included a vase, a pile of flowers and a picture of what the arrangement was supposed to look like, and I had to make an arrangement that looked just like the picture. I was nervous but took my time and ended up passing my test!
I ended up getting the job and I worked in that flower shop for 3 years. It was like I could see clearly for the first time ever. This wasn’t just my job this was my purpose. I soon found my love for sympathy flowers. Some of the most meaningful moments in my work happen during life’s hardest times. When people come in searching for sympathy flowers, they are often carrying heavy hearts. Being able to offer support, guide them, talk through flowers, help them choose something to honor their loved one and learn all about their loved ones who have passed on have been the most rewarding things I have ever experienced. Sadly my time at that local flower shop was cut short from being laid off along with a few other employees. I was absolutely heartbroken and completely discouraged. I thought “what now”? I have fallen in love with becoming a Florist. I could not imagine doing anything else.
My Grandmother popped into my head, how she would tell me to “use my artistic gift”. So, I thought long and hard, I finally decided it was time for me to take a chance and bloom on my own. I opened Electric Daisy Florist right in the heart of my hometown, Bel Air Maryland. I immediately got to work! I started looking for tools, supplies, ribbon, vases, decor and all kinds of things I would need for my flower shop! I would search at yard sales, flea markets, thrift shops and even Facebook marketplace. After losing my job and getting laid off my business was born in a season of uncertainty. But my love and passion for art, flowers and the need to help people through their hardest moments of losing their loved ones made my determination strong. The wise words of my Dad always pop into my head “failure is not an option”.
I decided I wanted my little flower shop to stand out and be different from the others in my hometown. I not only wanted to make unique arrangements for people like me who are artistic and eccentric, but I wanted to try to make a difference in my hometown…who could I help out or and who could I make smile? Then it hit me I used to work at a nursing home when I was fresh out of high school. I remembered how lonely some of the residents were and how so many of them longed for a visit from someone. I decided that instead of throwing away any flowers that were about to turn, that we would donate them instead! Sure, it was going to be extra work to create extra bouquets with left over flowers and drop them off around town after work, but I could make it work, and I did! I also decided to start a program called Flowers for Anne (named after my Grandmother) for my sympathy & bridal flower clients where I would pick-up their flowers after their event and create arrangements to hand out at the local nursing homes. That way we can make a senior citizens day a little bit brighter.
My clients and the seniors that we donate to are the reason why I absolutely love what I do! I will always go above and beyond to make my clients as happy as possible. If I can make someone’s day a little brighter then I know I have done my job right! As I said this profession is not just my job it’s my purpose.
Today, I am so proud of how far Electric Daisy Florist has grown. During my first year in business, I was honored to receive a Harford’s Best Honorable Mention, and in my second year, I was incredibly grateful to receive another Harford’s Best Honorable Mention. Now, as I enter my third year of owning Electric Daisy Florist, I have tripled my sales and continued to grow my little flower shop into something I once only dreamed it could become. What started as a leap of faith during a season of uncertainty has grown into a thriving floral business built on creativity, passion, community, and the desire to make a difference.
Electric Daisy Florist has also grown beyond being a full-service florist. I offer a Build Your Own Bouquet Bar, which can be set up for private parties, celebrations, and small businesses. It gives people the opportunity to step into the creative process themselves, choose their favorite flowers, and create something completely their own. Being able to combine my love of flowers, art, and bringing people together has been one of the most exciting parts of watching my business grow.
When I look back at that person who was nervously creating an arrangement from a pile of flowers during a job interview, I never could have imagined where that one opportunity would lead me. I am incredibly grateful for every client who has trusted me with their most important moments, every senior whose day we’ve been able to brighten, and everyone who has supported Electric Daisy Florist along the way. I am excited to continue learning, creating, growing, and finding new ways to bring a little more beauty into my hometown.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been easy starting a small business in this economic climate. The rising cost of imported goods, inflation, and the overall state of the economy have created challenges that I never could have anticipated when I first started my business.
When you start a small business, it can also feel incredibly isolating. Your nights and weekends are suddenly taken up with being involved with your business, and it truly becomes a 24-hour, seven days a week type of commitment. I’ve had my fair share of feeling isolated from my peers because of that and at times my social life is non existent. I think a lot of us know what it feels like to feel disconnected, left out, or alone sometimes. I know I’ve personally had my fair share of those feelings.
We truly are living in a loneliness epidemic right now. People stay home more, conversations feel shorter, and every day we seem to lose more public gathering spaces as small businesses and community spaces continue to close and shut down. For so many adults, especially those in their 20s and 30s, making genuine friendships and finding meaningful connection can feel harder than ever before.
That’s one of the biggest reasons my fiancé Mark and I started our Electric Daisy Bouquet Bar events. We set-up our Bouquet Bar at small businesses, not only does it bring people together but it also helps bring customers into small businesses. We wanted to create a welcoming space where people could gather, laugh, talk, meet new faces, and feel connected again. A place where strangers can become familiar faces. A place where community can grow naturally.
Since 2023, that’s exactly what has happened. We’ve met some of the most incredible people through these events and built such an inviting, supportive, and amazing little community that we are endlessly grateful for. It has been incredibly rewarding to watch friendships bloom right alongside the bouquets.
In a world where everything feels increasingly expensive and out of reach, we also wanted to create an affordable way for people to get out of the house, do something meaningful, get creative, meet new people, and make memories together. You don’t have to spend a fortune to have a good time, connect with others, or experience something special.
Building community matters. People deserve friendship, support, and spaces where they feel welcomed. If Electric Daisy Florist can create even a small space where someone feels less alone, makes a new friend, or leaves with a little more happiness than they arrived with, then I feel like we’re doing something meaningful.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
One of the things I am most passionate about as a florist is creating floral tributes that truly tell the story of someone’s life.
When a family comes to our shop for sympathy flowers, I take the time to listen. They often tell us about their loved one, their personality, their hobbies, their passions, the things they collected, the things they created, and the little details that made them who they were. Those conversations are some of the most meaningful moments of my career. I feel incredibly honored when a family trusts me with those stories during one of the hardest times in their lives.
I believe funeral flowers should be more than beautiful, they should feel personal. I carefully consider everything from the color palette and flower selection to the smallest meaningful details, creating a tribute that reflects the personality, passions, and spirit of the person being honored. I absolutely love incorporating meaningful pieces from a loved one’s life directly into their floral tribute. At my shop I have created arrangements for an artist where I incorporated their paint brushes, included baseball gloves, golf balls or sports merch for people who loved sports, and I even incorporated a woodworker’s handmade pieces so his personal artwork was the focal point of his funeral flowers. Families have brought us all kinds of personal items from their loved one’s home, and we find thoughtful and creative ways to weave those pieces into the flowers.
To me, that’s what makes this work so special. I am not just creating funeral flowers, I am creating a visual representation of someone’s life, filled with the things they loved and the memories their family will carry with them forever. My goal is to create something that couldn’t have been made for anyone else.
That same philosophy of personalization carries over into my wedding work. At Electric Daisy Florist, we specialize in weddings and “alternative weddings”celebrations that are anything but ordinary. I get to work with so many awesome, tattooed, alternative, and non-traditional couples, and honestly, those are some of my favorite weddings to design. I’m alternative myself, so I love working with couples who aren’t afraid to break away from tradition and embrace what makes them unique. I’ve always had a love for the spooky, unusual, eccentric, and unexpected, so being able to bring that side of my own creativity into my work is incredibly rewarding. Every wedding I create is completely personalized to reflect the couple, their relationship, and their individual style. No request is too odd or unusual for me, in fact, those are often my favorite designs to create!
I love incorporating meaningful elements into wedding designs, including family heirlooms, jewelry, photographs, and mementos of loved ones or pets who have passed. I am also inspired by nature and it’s raw beauty, I work with elements like crystals, seashells, preserved butterflies and insects, deer antlers, animal skulls and bones, pinecones, feathers and even fossils.
While I love creating traditional wedding flowers getting to design for couples who look at traditional wedding flowers and think, “That’s not really our style.” Is a special treat for me. I want them to know that their wedding can be completely their own. If you want something dark, whimsical, gothic, colorful, weird, romantic, spooky, or completely unconventional, I’m your florist!
Whether I am designing flowers for someone’s wedding or creating a tribute for someone who has passed away, I want every arrangement to feel deeply personal and completely unique.
I think what truly sets my work at Electric Daisy Florist apart is that we don’t believe flowers should ever be “one size fits all.” It’s okay to be unique, eccentric and different. Flowers can preserve a memory, honor a life, send a message and tell a story. That is what I love most about what I do.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Taking risks is something I’m very familiar with. When I was laid off from my floral job, I was devastated. I had finally found something that felt like my purpose, and suddenly I was left wondering, “What am I going to do now?” Starting my own business wasn’t initially something I felt brave or confident enough to do. I was scared, uncertain, and honestly, there was a part of me that just wanted to give up.
But eventually, I decided to take the biggest risk of my life. I started Electric Daisy Florist with literally $300 left to my name. I had no idea if it was going to work, but I knew how badly I wanted to continue doing what I loved.
I absolutely could not have done it without the help of my friends and family. So many people believed in me and helped me get started in whatever ways they could. Friends and family donated things like vases, ribbon, supplies, and other items they had around their homes. I got everyone I could to share my small business all over social media. I spent countless hours searching Facebook Marketplace, estate sales, yard sales, flea markets and thrift stores for affordable tools, supplies, and anything else I could use to build my small business. I worked around the clock and saved every dollar I could until I was finally able to purchase my own floral cooler.
I started Electric Daisy Florist in my kitchen, and slowly but surely, I built it into something bigger. Eventually, I saved enough to move my business into a shop right here in Bel Air. Looking back at where I started, it is pretty incredible to see how much this little business has grown.
When I first lost my job, I wasn’t sure I was willing to take the risk. I felt discouraged, un confident and just wanted to give up, but I had an incredible support system reminding me that I could do this. My fiancé, Mark, my parents, Mike and Tracey, my Pop Pop Bill, my Grandma Mahla, my Aunt Debbie, my friends Taylor-Mae, Jenna and Sandra have all supported me throughout this journey. I truly don’t know where I would be without the people who believed in me during those early days when Electric Daisy Florist was nothing more than an idea, a dream, and $300.
I feel especially lucky to have my fiancé Mark by my side. He is not only my amazing life partner, but also my business partner and my muse. He inspires me every single day and makes me feel like I can do anything. Having someone beside me who believes in my dreams as much as I do has given me the courage to keep taking chances, even when things feel uncertain.
Taking that first risk was terrifying, but looking at where I am today, I would take that risk all over again. I am so forever grateful for the amazing Electric Daisy Florist community we have built.
Pricing:
- Bouquet Bar: A fun, creative, and affordable activity for all ages! Guests can create their own bouquets ranging from $20–$40, with a complimentary accessories table where they can add as much as they’d like, including floral picks, glitter ribbon, decorative bouquet wrap, and more all at no additional cost.
- Sympathy Flowers: We work with your budget to help create a stress free environment for an already difficult time.
- Weddings: We believe everyone should have an amazing wedding day and we work with your budget. From spontaneous courthouse & elopement bouquets to full service wedding flowers we love to bring your floral vision to life!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.electricdaisyflorist.com/
- Instagram: ElectricDaisyFlorist
- Facebook: Electric Daisy Florist
