Meet Diana Diaz

We were lucky to catch up with Diana Diaz recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Diana, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

My mom! I grew up in a single-parent household and seeing my mom struggle is what continues to motivates me. I still remember my mom leaving to work super early in the mornings and would come home in the late afternoons to cook and do it all over again the next day. At the moment, I didn’t see that my mom sacrificed her wants so much for my sister and I. My mom always made sure we had food and clothes. I also didn’t understand why my mom wasn’t really around for my school events, and as I got older, I realized because she had to provide for us. A memory I will never forget is that she gave my aunt money to take me to Disneyland with her while my mom stayed back to work. In my early adult years, I got to take my mom to Disneyland for the first time and that’s a memory I will never forget.
I love working, and I love making money. I consider myself a hardworking person, and I thank my mom for that. As soon as I turned 16 and half, I started working and haven’t stopped ever since. As an adult now, I believe that we are all capable of having the lifestyle we want, we just have to work hard at it. We live in a country that gives us a lot of opportunities, we just have to get out there and take advantage of them.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m Diana Diaz the founder of Deelux Florista & Events. After so many years of floral designing for friends and family, I decided to take a leap into starting my own business. My goal has always been to create unique bespoke designs and bring happiness to people through my floral arrangements. I started at a young age in the floral industry, working a part time job where I quickly discovered a passion for florals. I took couple of designing courses and then stopped to pursue my mom’s dream of going to college and graduating with a career. Well, I did graduate from CSUF, but no job was lined up for me. I then decided to pursue a corporate career in the wireless industry. As years went by, not fully happy with what I was doing, I continued to make arrangements for friends and family, a passion that never left my side. I have always had a creative side and loved everything and anything crafty. I’ve always been the person to host events and create beautiful floral arrangements, and hearing people around me tell me I’m so good at it, allowed me to believe in myself. It was during the pandemic that gave me the extra push I needed to pursue this as a business.
Deelux Florista & Events is a floral and event design company. Our biggest focus is creating bespoke designs, focusing on weddings and events. We take pride in bringing our customers vision to life. We just recently started doing events outside of Southern California as well as sharing our passion for florals by offering floral workshop classes. A thing that separates us from other floral companies is that we love giving back and helping our community by sponsoring florals for non-profit organizations and other events within the community.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Being first generation and having no experience in starting a business is a huge challenge itself. My family and friends have been supportive as much as they can, but everything in terms of how to run or start a business has been learning as I go. There’s a lot of resources out there that have helped me continue to grow my business. My biggest advice is get involved with other organizations that help you grow such as your local business chamber, or networking groups in your community. Networking has been a blessing for me because it has allowed me to make some amazing connections with other entrepreneurs. I lost fear in going to places by myself and talking about my business. Now I feel confident in walking into a room and owning it and introducing myself and my brand. Another advice would be, pay attention to who you surround yourself with. If you want to be the next successful business owner, surround yourself with people that have the same mindset as you. It’s so important to be in the right circle because those people will uplift you when you are doubting yourself. Running a business isn’t easy, so keep going. As far as my floral skills, I constantly take courses and workshops from other amazing florist that I look up to. Like any skill, there’s always room for improvement. Never stop learning, trends are always changing and the sooner you can adapt to change you’ll be successful, and that applies for anything. Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself or your business. Sometimes things may seem expensive upfront but in the long term they pay off. Lastly, a behavior I focus on is reading. Reading is knowledge and knowledge is power. There are so many entrepreneurship books out there and I have found some to pick me up right when I wanted to throw in the towel.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I ask for help. I have always been an independent person and asking for help was not easy for me. For the longest time I thought asking for help was a sign of weakness. Boy was I wrong, the sooner you learn how to delegate, things become easier when running a business. Also, whenever I feel overwhelmed or stressed, I take a mental break by meditating. I believe that it’s important to have a work and life balance. I don’t like to feel burned out, because then I feel like I don’t perform well. I also try to work out daily whether it’s by playing golf, going to the gym, hiking, or boxing. Not only does it make me feel good, but it also makes me energetic to carry on my day. Taking care of yourself is important. No one knows how you feel physically and emotionally, but YOU. There is only one of you, and you have to take care of yourself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.deeluxfloristaevents.com
• Instagram: deeluxflorista.events
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/deelux-florista-and-events-santa-ana

Image Credits

Centeno Portraits
bykarissamraya
D. Park Studios
Spark Studios OC