Ryan Price Photography

Introduction

Hello everyone, this is Botanical Brouhaha Teen Apprentice Carmella (pictured above far right). I’m excited about the opportunity to write for you guys and share my experiences of how I became first an intern and now an apprentice for Botanical Brouhaha. I will also tell you about the process I went through during the internship program.

To become an intern I first had to apply for the internship, and then I followed up with an interview to get the position in the middle of August 2022. We began the internship at the beginning of September 2022.

The internship was a 12 week program where we met up once a week for 2 hours, and every 2 weeks I was taught a new skill.

Here are the skills I learned over the 12 week program:

• Merchandising
• Blogging
• Social Media
• Floral Design
• Flower Growing
• Podcasting

Merchandising

In the course of learning about merchandise, I was able to be a part of a photoshoot for our No Rain No Flowers t- shirts. I also learned about sourcing merchandise, setting the price to make a profit, selling on the BB website, marketing a product (Instagram, Facebook, Linktree), designing marketing assets (Canva), order gathering, shipping, and organizing testimonials for resharing.

Philip Winham Photography

Blogging

Next, I learned all about blogging. An instructor from Texas A&M University actually came by and shared tips about blogging, such as picking topics, using your voice, choosing imagery, SEO, keywords, and meta descriptions.

For the social media aspect of the internship, I learned about reaching a target audience and how to make assets for our new launches of podcast episodes and merch. I even got to design assets for Instagram reels, stories, and the BB IG grid — which was more on the graphic design side of things!

Floral Design and Flower Growing

Next, I was trained on floral design and learned what it takes to grow flowers. During this period of time I got to visit Urban Rubbish and make my own floral design. Jaelynn Solomon, owner of Urban Rubbish, taught me the ropes about getting the flowers and supplies to organize designs and bouquets. We also visited Texas A&M’s horticulture garden, and got to see all of the different species of flowers.

Philip Winham Photography

Back at the Botanical Brouhaha office we also spent months working on our own garden. We planned the garden, bought the seeds, installed drip irrigation, planted seed, and then harvested it. And eventually, we delivered the flowers we grew to local florists so they could use them in their wedding and retail designs.

Podcasting

Finally, I was able to gain an understanding of podcasting. I learned how to set up for recording and record a voiceover. To wrap up my podcasting session I actually got to do a voice over for the Botanical Brouhaha Podcast. This was something very new to me and it definitely took me out of my comfort zone.

Beginning My Teen Apprenticeship

After completing the 12 week internship, I applied for an apprenticeship at BB. My apprenticeship began in January of 2023 and I got to focus on what I most enjoyed during my internship, which was merchandising, social media, and blogging.

In June I was able to design and launch my own No Rain No Flowers hat for Botanical Brouhaha.

Managing My First Merch Launch

I first had to start off with an idea of what type of merch I wanted to design. You all helped me by participating in the poll I made on Instagram asking which article of clothing or accessory y’all wanted. Once I found out the majority of people voted for hats, I then had to come up with designs and vote on which one I thought would be the most successful. After picking my design I was able to be the creative director for a promo shoot for the hats, which was shot by Ryan Price.  My beautiful friends Maggie and Ellen agreed to model for the shoot. Next, I had to make social media assets so you guys would know about the new launch and be able to purchase the hats.

Ryan Price Photography

We have another big project coming up soon, and I am so excited to let you guys know what it is. This apprenticeship has been an amazing opportunity for me and I’m so grateful that I get to learn what it takes to run my own business and all the new skills I’ve been taught throughout this process. I also appreciate all the love and support from the entire Botanical Brouhaha family!

If you’d like to purchase a No Rain No Flowers hat designed my Carmella, click here. Thank you for your support!