Claude Monet once famously said, “I must have flowers, always and always.” Flowers for Dreams, a B Corporation founded by Steven Dyme and Joseph Dickstein, understands the beauty and impact floral arrangements have and is dedicated to changing the way that the world buys and sends flowers online. Every bouquet is made to order and crafted locally, with a quarter of their profits donated to local nonprofits in the community. It’s flower power at its finest — read on to find out more about this Chicago, IL-based B Corp as told in Steven’s words.
The mission behind Flowers For Dreams: “We offer locally crafted flowers for fair and honest prices. Every bouquet benefits an amazing local charity. We use beautiful blooms to advance causes of justice and charity in our community.”
The power and good that comes with being a B Corp: “It’s a growing and empowering community of like-minded business owners. We’ve always believed business should be used as a force for good, and with the B Corp logo, it’s a signal to the broader world that we putting our money where our mouth is. ”
How weddings have contributed to our success: “Our greatest success stories, on a product and service level, are weddings. We thought we had no idea what we were doing when we started every day flower delivery straight out of college, but we were really truly fish out of water when we got into wedding design. After making dozens of mistakes, we’ve now designed over 1,000 weddings and are really proud of our reputation in that space.”
We’re able to “B The Change” by… reusing cardboard boxes? “We reuse all of our cardboard boxes. It’s a small, but emphasized thing across our company. We try our best to compost flowers, recycle vases, and repurpose boxes to maintain a very small footprint on the environment.”
If you want to become a B Corp… “ It’s good business to do good. Take it seriously, prioritize it authentically, and your customer will reward you for it.”
What makes B Corps an entity to watch: “Very few consumers know of the B certification now. In a decade, I think most businesses will have to figure a way to fundamentally integrate giving into their business model: to compete, succeed, and build a devoted following. Also, I’m really encouraged by civic entrepreneurs, once relegated entirely to the public or nonprofit sectors, seeing that they can use B Corps and for-profit models to do things for humanity that government can’t.”
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Photo credit: Rea Mae
About Steven Dyme and Joseph Dickstein, Co-Founders, Flowers for Dreams
Steven Dyme and Joseph Dickstein started Flowers for Dreams as a college project in 2012. Their mission, sell bouquets to guests of their high school graduation to help buy backpacks & school supplies for students in need. Since then, Flowers for Dreams has blossomed into one of the foremost social enterprises in the Midwest and a leader in an emerging local flower movement. Every bouquet they sell, now over 200,000, benefits a local charity. They give 1/4 of their profits away to local causes. The two social entrepreneurs been featured as one of 20 Most Inspiring Companies in America by Business Insider and for their use of social media, one of Instagram’s Top Brands to Follow on Instagram.