Entrepreneur receives grant and resources to expand business

Talia Boone, owner of Postal Petals, is the recipient of the IFundWomen grant, which is a partnership between IFund- Women and BOTOX Cosmetics. PHOTO BY NANCY HERNANDEZ.
Talia Boone, owner of Postal Petals, is the recipient of the IFundWomen grant, which is a partnership between IFund- Women and BOTOX Cosmetics. PHOTO BY NANCY HERNANDEZ.

Entrepreneur receives grant and resources to expand business

BY TIA CAROL JONES

Talia Boone launched Postal Petals in 2020, during the pandemic. The Do-It-Yourself floral arrangement delivery service provides fresh flowers to people who want to create their own floral arrangements.

During its three years in existence, it has disrupted the floral industry by changing the way people engage with flowers.

Boone is one of 20 women entrepreneurs who have been chosen as recipients of the IFundWomen Grant program, which is a partnership between BOTOX Cosmetic and IFundWomen.

As part of the grant program, Boone will engage in a 10-week Crowdfunding Accelerator Program. She will receive coaching on public relations, network mapping, content marketing and social
media. The goal is for Boone and the rest of the business owners to refine and optimize their business strategies. Leaders from BOTOX will also be joining the coaches from IFundWomen.

“Black women founders are among the most underfunded founders out there. It costs money to build businesses and for the first five years of almost any small business or any startup, you’re in the red. Without outside funding it’s almost impossible to grow a successful
business,” Boone said.

Boone added, grants have made it possible for her to grow and build Postal Petals. Not only did the IFundWomen grant come with funds, there also is coaching and mentorship. Boone felt those could be
helpful to the growth trajectory of Postal Petals.

Boone will use the grant funding of $25,000 to build out a sales team, to start to secure B2B clients for Postal Petals, as well as hire a COO and to rebuild and refresh the website. Rebuilding and refreshing the website is important for Postal Petals as an e-commerce website.

“There’s been so much growth with the company and so many things we do on the consumer side and in the B2B sector that is not widely known, or the story isn’t being fully told on our website, so we’re excited to update our website to do that,” she said.

Along with brand awareness and getting their message out, Boone is trying to get the message out about why people should use Postal Petals. Because it is a Do- It-Yourself flower arranging delivery service, Postal Petals is trying to evolve people’s relationships
with flowers, and turn that relationship into one that is more of an interactive and creative experience. Boone believes it can
happen with more messaging and explaining on the website. It is something that can now happen as a result of Boone receiving the grant money.

Boone is really excited about the coaching and mentorship component of the grant program. BOTOX has significant resources
with teams who specialize in different aspects of running a cosmetics company, including marketing and advertising. It is impactful for Boone to learn how to strategize marketing from the BOTOX team. It has her thinking of ways she can implement those strategies for her own business.

There also is a crowdfunding mechanism that Boone has been learning from IFundWomen. It is another great resource for Postal Petals to create a crowdfunding program. There were 6,500 women owned businesses that applied to the grant. Boone is a solo founder doing something that hasn’t been done before.

“It just felt really good to be seen. It felt really good to have someone say, we see what you’re doing and we see value in what you’re doing and we want to give you resources for you to continue the work that you’re doing,” she said, adding it is something that is necessary on the founder journey, to have that recognition. “To have someone really just see you, acknowledge you and want to honor the work you’re doing and support the work you’re doing by writing a check of that size, it means a lot. It felt very good and much needed.”

For more information about Postal Petals, visit www.postalpetals.
com. For more information about the IFundWomen
Grant Program, visit www.ifundwomen.com.

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

STARR Community Services International, Inc.