Behind the wheel of her trusty flower van, Alyssa Pyle spreads her unique floral cheer throughout the southern Riverina. CARLY MARRIOTT went along for the ride.

Some days the creator of Studio Alyssum, Alyssa Pyle, has her 18-month-old daughter Edie onboard as she delivers her floral creations around southern NSW and northern Victoria. Other days it’s her Jack Russell, Doug, riding shotgun.

Either way, she’s busily growing a family and business from her home town of Savernake and is happy to share what a ‘rock show’ of a life she’s creating with husband Dom Nixon.

“Mixing kids with business isn’t easy, it’s a mess,” Alyssa said.

When Small Farms spoke to Alyssa she was six months pregnant with her second child and delivering flowers to Berrigan, Yarrawonga and Cobram.

Alyssa relies on a combination of day care and grandmothers Libby Pyle and Jac Nixon to care for her daughter while she creates and delivers floral arrangements to businesses, homes and events.

“We’re so lucky that we are surrounded by family out here, I couldn’t do this without them,” she said.

“When I do flowers for weddings, it’s usually weekend work so it’s a lucky dip of babysitters.”

As Alyssa’s life evolves so too does her approach to her craft.

“I started out in Perth doing daily bunches, the business was called ‘The Flower Run’ and it grew quite quickly,” she said.

“I sold it in 2020 and when I moved home, I opened Studio Alyssum. I think of this as my grown-up business model.”

Alyssa has been working with a business coach to help set boundaries, find balance and work on her mindset.

“In Perth I was a ‘yes girl’ but now I’ve learnt that my time is precious and as a mother, I need to protect that time,” she said.

“I know what I want to do so I do that, I like the ‘luxier’ things and people are happy to pay good money for flowers so I’m in a good place.”

In the early days, Alyssa nearly quit before she started when her instinct for decoration was questioned by her teachers.

“At floristry school everything was so traditional and everything I did was apparently ‘not good enough’ so I’d go home, rip it apart, put my spin on it and make up my own arrangements.”

After creating an Instagram page profiling her bunches, a childhood friend called her and insisted she start her own business.

“I’ll never forget it, she flew over to Perth and gave me the confidence to take that step and I’ve never looked back,” Alyssa said.