In this episode (Ep. 146), we sit down with Colleen Raney, founder of Songbird Seed Co and Diadem Flower Co. If you love a great story, this one's for you. Colleen's path into the flower world is anything but conventional. From studying aerospace engineering and training as a professional actor, to performing Irish music internationally, to building a flower farm in Maine, to moving the farm to Washington—and ultimately launching a specialty sweet pea seed company—Colleen's story is full of pivots, curiosity, and entrepreneurial strategy. And don't even get us started on her sense of humor!
Colleen shares how a season of burnout and big life shifts led her to the garden—and how a simple fascination with sweet peas slowly grew into a thoughtfully built seed company. Our conversation wanders through topics like creativity, business strategy, and the realities of building something in the floral world, all anchored by the sense of wonder that keeps pulling us back to flowers.
Join us as we chat with Colleen about:
Starting a flower farm in Maine and building a thriving local floral business
Moving back to the West Coast and adapting to a different flower market
Why sweet peas became the foundation of her seed business
The process of researching and launching a niche seed company
Branding, packaging, and storytelling as marketing tools
Growing seed stock and preserving rare varieties
Identifying your ideal customer and staying focused on a narrow market
Managing comparison, visibility, and self-doubt as a creative entrepreneur
Shifting away from "content creation" toward documenting real work on social media
Building authentic community around a niche product
This episode of the Botanical Brouhaha Podcast is brought to you by: Bloom Trust Co. Circle Retail 2026 Simple -- Soulful -- Connection. Click here to learn more.
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