Meet Alana N Kolyadchik Ana Maliuga

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alana N Kolyadchik Ana Maliuga. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alana N Kolyadchik below.

Hi Alana N Kolyadchik, so happy to have you on and really appreciate your openness to discussing a topic so many shy away from. Let’s jump right in – can you talk to us about overcoming bankruptcy?

On September 29th, 2022, our beautiful flower boutique was completely destroyed.
Overnight, we lost everything we’d been building for four years.
That unfortunate event taught us three invaluable lessons about perseverance.
We remember that night vividly because watching on surveillance cameras as all your hard work is destroyed by tons of water is, frankly, unforgettable. Seeing floating flower coolers, chairs, tables, flowers, computers, and even our delivery van—basically everything—in real-time, and understanding the absolute helplessness was unbearable and devastating. At one point, the water level in our building reached about four feet.
Hurricane Ian had a heavy impact on Florida. Many people lost their homes, businesses, and even their lives. Looking back, we understand that we were blessed our loss was only material, but at that moment, it felt like we had lost everything.
So, Lesson #1: Someone might have it worse.
Sometimes our problems make us feel like our personal world is ending, but when you compare them to other people’s situations, tragedies, and pain, you might realize you’re one of the lucky ones. The timing was particularly awful for us: we were preparing for the holiday season and had invested a lot in supplies, pre-ordered flowers, marketing, and even repairs to make everything look perfect. And then, it was all gone. What should we do next? Where should we work the next day if the whole building was destroyed? What about the orders scheduled for tomorrow? How could we replace our custom inventory in a short time? What about our employees? Where could they come back to work? We were left with countless questions and no clear answers.
The only answer we had was to dust ourselves off and move on. We couldn’t give up on something we’d sacrificed so much for. Our business has always been our passion, our team is our family, and our community is like the village it takes to raise a child. Fortunately, we were surrounded by great people willing to help, and we are extremely grateful to everyone who encouraged us not to give up.
This brings us to the Lesson #2: Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
We all like to be independent, strong, and proud, but it can be hard to ask for support. What if others see us as weak or less successful? In reality, it’s okay to seek help when you’re vulnerable. Most people around you are kind and empathetic.
We restarted everything from scratch—or almost. We lost physical assets, but we still had our experiences, knowledge, a loyal customer base, and dear friends. Aren’t these the essential ingredients any entrepreneur needs to start again? Little did we know that Le Bouquet would reopen in a prime location four times the size of the original boutique, leading to a major business expansion. We managed not only to keep all our employees but also hired more talented professionals. We’ve started a new chapter, and we look forward to seeing where it leads.
Ultimately, Lesson #3: Don’t be afraid to start again.
Challenges make you stronger, smarter, and push you out of your comfort zone.
We’re grateful for every thorny path we’ve faced.

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

Our journey began 10 years ago, when two Ukrainian girls moved to the United States and have met each other in Florida two years later. We had a lot in common and quickly became close friends, but the main thing we shared was a dream to build a successful business that would make us passionate and independent. Neither of us were florist or knew much about flowers, but we noticed that floral niche in our area was undeveloped and somewhat “old-fashioned”. We, on the other hand, wanted to be different, and we sought to change the way people give flowers. Today, Le Bouquet is the First Luxury florist in Central Florida!

Inspired by the European concept of bouquets in elegant hat boxes, we created the brand that combines modern flower design trends and the latest styles with classic Parisian charm. Each bouquet brings a unique combination of inspiring design and unparalleled quality along with exceptional White Glove bouquet delivery service.

https://www.lebouquetfleurs.com/our-story/

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Don’t be afraid to take risks, but take smart risks.
Study the market, weight all the pros and cons, go deep into your chosen niche, take some time to observe similar businesses’ ways to success.
Even though we learned the most about the floral industry while building and developing our business, we still did a deep research of it prior to start.
It’s great to have a dream, but it’s dangerous to be just a dreamer. Nobody wants to become another business that had a great potential, but couldn’t make it because of an unjustified risk.

2. Passion is key. You can have an idea and resources for it to come to life, but nothing will boost your business better than being passionate about what you do. Our passion was not only to create arrangements that are representing luxury and elegance, but also to inspire others. And we still carry that sparkle in the eyes when we talk about Le Bouquet.

3. Balance is essential. Starting a new business is always a big investment of all of your resources. Time, money, and energy are the basic minimums you will need to devote on your way to success.
Being passionate about new challenge is great, but balancing between all aspects of your life can be difficult. And, let’s be honest, it’s even more challenging for women like us: with kids to raise, a house to take care of, all the chores to do, and plans to carry on.
So be ready for a tough journey, because life is like a complex mechanism, where all the gears must run smoothly in certain directions. And, once you focus too much on one thing, the others can get stuck or even break. Ultimately, it will be up to you to fix it or to let it go.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

Both of us can confidently say that the best decision we made in our business was to start a partnership.
Starting a new business was intimidating and risky for both of us, but we combined our knowledge, resources, and energy to overcome that fear. Despite hearing many stories about how partnerships can fail, cause problems, or end badly, we trusted each other as partners. Embarking on a new journey is certainly easier when you have someone to rely on, trust, and share both the highs and lows with.
We balance each other well, and no matter how critical or intense the situation may be for one partner, the other can step in to resolve the issue. For instance, any holiday season in our business is extremely stressful, and the pressure is incredibly high. When one of us feels overwhelmed, the other takes over and manages the situation. Then, we simply take turns on who’s handling the next breakdown, so to speak.
We’re not just business partners—we’re a family.
The greatest advantage we have is that we always look in the same direction but have two approaches to getting there.
There’s a saying in Ukraine: “One head is good, but two are better.” We couldn’t agree more.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Alyssa Miller, Lika Romanko, Meche Ausina, Irina Zephiryna,
Shannon Wright

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