One Bad Valentine’s Day Led to Seema Bansal Chadha’s Viral Floral Company

In ELLE.com’s monthly series Office Hours, we ask people in powerful positions to take us through their first jobs, worst jobs, and everything in between. This month, we spoke with Seema Bansal Chadha, co-founder of Venus et Fleur—the innovative floral company behind the Kardashian-approved Eternity Roses. Below, Chadha shares how her brand first stemmed from a bad Valentine’s Day date and the moment she stumbled upon the product that would become the cornerstone of her company. She also discusses manifesting her entrepreneurial dreams, working (and living) with her partner—plus her thoughts on taking Venus et Fleur global.

My first job

My first job was working for my family. They have a plumbing and lighting business in Vancouver—it’s a very immigrant-family business story. On the weekends, my sisters and I would have to go and help out. On some days, I would answer the phone, take care of orders, and call customers to let them know their toilets were ready for pickup—things of that nature. And then I would clean the showroom, so the products wouldn’t get dusty.

My worst job

I was rebelling a lot in high school and just didn’t want to work for my parents, so I decided to work at the mall for a Canadian women’s clothing store. I just didn’t love doing that. I didn’t love folding all of the clothes; I didn’t love cleaning out the changing rooms or cleaning stained clothes. I quickly realized that I had a great opportunity working for my family and that I was learning a lot, so I decided to go back. It was a great lesson.

What led me to start Venus et Fleur

My then-boyfriend, now-husband—who was a very new boyfriend at the time—sent me flowers for Valentine’s Day. I was living in Vancouver, and he was living in New York, and what I received wasn’t what he ordered. He was disappointed with the experience, of course, and his gesture couldn’t get across. We realized there was not a lot of transparency in the floral industry and that you didn’t know where things were coming from, so we decided to do it ourselves. We wanted to create a brand—not just be a florist.

How we stumbled upon our Eternity Roses

It’s kind of a funny story. We were buying flowers from the New York flower market through a broker and were trying to figure out ways to have our classic, long-stem roses last longer, so they could ship to the customer in great quality. That was out of the broker’s wheelhouse, so he said, “Let me connect you with the farm and see what they can do for you,” and the farm was working on a new sector where they were preserving roses. We had never heard about that, so we went down to meet with them in Ecuador and convinced them that we should take over the rights and the exclusivity to bring them to the market. It was all very serendipitous and fell into our lap. That’s how the Eternity Roses were born.

On running a business with my husband

We have completely different strengths and weaknesses, and we complement each other really well. In the beginning, we made an agreement that we wouldn’t cross each other—we would collaborate without taking over the other’s decision-making process, and that still works for us today. Another reason this is such a great partnership is that it’s really lonely being an entrepreneur. Having someone next to you who also believes in the same vision and dream just makes it that much more exciting and fun. I’m really grateful that I get to do what I love and do it alongside him.

What it’s like to come from a family of entrepreneurs

It’s been super inspiring to watch my parents build their business. They started with little retail stores, and now, they manufacture their own bathtubs, sinks, and more. They didn’t know anything about their industry and paved the way. That instilled a level of courage in us; if there’s something we want, we have to go out there and get it. That’s been a guiding light for me.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned since launching my company

There are many things we want to do as entrepreneurs, and you never want to take “no” for an answer. That said, I think it’s better to do less and do it really, really well than to do a lot in a mediocre way.

When the Kardashians first posted about us

It was such an insane experience, but at the time, we did not plan properly. We didn’t have the right amount of units in stock, and when they posted about our brand, our site was not shoppable. We had nothing to sell, so we weren’t able to capitalize on it. It did, however, build the legitimacy of the business. At that moment, we realized we had a true company on our hands, and we needed to bring on talented people to help us scale it.

Where I see Venus et Fleur going next

I see our company as a luxury lifestyle brand, and there’s a lot more we’re going to do now that we’ve launched our home category. I think we’re also going to go global soon—we’re taking our time with it, but it’s definitely in the works.

On manifesting Forbes’ “30 Under 30”

I’m a big manifester. I love to journal and watch things come to fruition. One of the things I used to write in my journal was that I wanted to be listed on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list. So when it happened, it was really emotional for both me and my husband. For my parents, they couldn’t even grasp how incredible it was. It made me feel like I was doing something really well.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.