Meet Melissa Thomas of Pepper Rose in RiNo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Thomas.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Melissa. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Growing up in LA, one of my fondest memories as a child was when my grandmother would show me her roses, violets, hydrangeas and other botanicals growing in her garden and encourage me to take in their lovely scents. Roses have always reminded me of her, hence the “Rose” of Pepper Rose. In high school, I worked at a flower shop where I fell in love with ranunculus. Ever since then, I had a secret crush on flowers – they make me feel excited & giddy! After exploring unsatisfying career paths in other industries, I finally got real with myself and decided to pursue floral design, and I’ve never been happier.

Flowers have such healing qualities and bring so much brightness into life. In the late Spring of this year, I launched my company Pepper Rose, which brings together my love for art, beauty, and design through different mediums. One of my favorite mediums has been filming floral design classes and tutorials on platforms like Skillshare and YouTube. With my bachelor’s degree in Design and my freelance design career for the last six years, I’ve been having so much fun building the Pepper Rose business and brand from a visual standpoint. Beauty, styling, painting, cooking, and anything creative are the things I’m deeply passionate about. My goal is to infuse all my creative interests into the Pepper Rose brand through celebrating art and beauty in my floral designs.

Has it been a smooth road?
Entrepreneurship has definitely had its challenges. Before figuring out that floral design was the path I wanted to take, I was at one of the lowest points of my life. When I finally obtained my “dream job” in a merchandising career, I quickly realized I was unsatisfied and the furthest away I had ever been from expressing myself as a creative artist. Looking back, that low point of my life was such a blessing because it wouldn’t have pushed me to follow my intuition and try out floral design. Once I did, it was like this new world of healing and magic unfolded before my eyes.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
Pepper Rose is a brand and business that brings together my love for flowers, art, and beauty through different mediums like video and in-person floral design classes, floral installations, and high-end events. As an artist, my mission is to inspire flower lovers or aspiring florists with my designs a unique style that is feminine, elegant, timeless, and celebrates the natural beauty of the materials I am working with. You can find my floral design classes on Skillshare at skillshare.com/pepperrose and on my YouTube channel, I was recently chosen as the Grand Prize Winner of Skillshare’s June VIP Teacher Challenge for her online video class called “Design an Elegant Floral Centerpiece”. I was chosen as the Grand Prize Winner out of 6,500+ applicants, 360 class projects, and many published classes, which I am so proud of!

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love that Denver is growing so much and there’s always an adventure to be had. Being able to escape the city life to enjoy the beauty of the mountains is so special.

Contact Info:

• Website: pepperrose.co
• Email: pepperroseco@gmail.com

Image Credit:
Derek Johnson

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