Meet Kig Punchanit (@kigpcn), a 30-year-old florist and founder of Heartmade , Heart of Siri and Heartmade Studio.
What’s better than something handmade? Heartmade, of course. Kig waters her floral creations with love and care … that’s how she went from running market research to growing a flower empire! Surely, you must’ve noticed the colourful burst of blossoms at Heart of Siri at SIRI HOUSE!
🌻 || How It All Began || 🌻
• Did you study a creative subject?
Not really, I studied Economics at Chulalongkorn University.
• First job?
I was a market research analyst for 2 years … it was my first and only job. It involved a lot of statistics and numbers, in general. I was focused on uncovering consumer insights for fast-moving consumer goods, for example:
What do customers think of this product?
What are Thai customers’ personal preferences?
• Was it difficult to leave your office job?
Yes, I thought hard about it. It was difficult because I genuinely enjoyed my job, the path to success seemed straight-forward, and quite frankly, it provided a stable source of income.
In fact, I was still so stressed after resigning, I spent 2 months travelling around Europe to escape my new reality. [laughs] Of course, that didn’t help at all! While travelling, my mind still replayed all the thoughts about my new business.
In the end, you have to trust your own decisions, accept the consequences, and move forward with it.
• Which moment made you decide to go for it?
I was a 25-year-old working a full-time job and running my own flower shop. Trying to balance both of these demanding jobs was exhausting – I knew I couldn’t keep going like this.
Doing both jobs in parallel made it easier to compare the pros and cons of each. Despite a less stable income, my flower shop’s customer base was growing and time management was much easier, as an entrepreneur. That’s when I decided to fully focus on flowers.
💐 || Made with Love || 💐
• What inspired you to start a flower shop?
I’ve always liked flowers, so I’d play around with them and gift them to my friends.
The real business kicked off when I created personalized graduation flower bouquets for my friends. I wanted to give them something handmade, something special.
After seeing my flowers, more and more people showed interest in buying them.
• So, where did you learn floral design?
I watched YouTube videos and just use my own judgment – there’s no particular theory I stick to because I’ve never had any formal training. [laughs] It’s really personal because it’s more like a gut feeling, I just create what I like.
• Why did you choose the name “Heartmade”?
At first, I couldn’t come up with a name!
However, for all my creations, I’d share a photo with the hashtag #heartmadebykigpcn. It was a message to my friends that although this may not be the prettiest bouquet, rest assured, I made it with love and care.
I wanted to carry this ‘made with love’ philosophy into my business … so, that’s how Heartmade came about.
• What’s the story behind each logo?
For Heartmade, I chose wax flowers because I love its scent and shape. More importantly, they represent persistence, progress and long-lasting love, which makes it even more meaningful to me.
Heartmade Studio is where we transform our customers’ dreams into reality. When working on significant events like weddings, we closely collaborate with our customers to understand their ideas and likings, so our logo of a hand represents this special relationship. Our slogan “Where your imagination blooms” stems from our passion for creatively bringing your vision to life.
A flamingo flower represents Heart of Siri because of its heart shape. We embody the heart of SIRI HOUSE as fresh flowers add life and vibrancy to any home. Also, people often associate this flower with grief because it’s frequently found at funerals.
However, with its unique shape and vivid colours, flamingo flowers can be adapted to create spectacular things for many other occasions. This resonates with our philosophy of turning something ordinary into something extraordinarily beautiful.
🌹 || Up Close & Personal || 🌹
• How do you measure your self-growth now?
As a marketing research analyst, whenever I presented my work to top clients, I’d feel proud of myself. It felt like I was achieving big things and the stepping stones to success were crystal clear – I just had to climb the corporate ladder.
With my own business, the definition of success is more hazy. I always have to ask myself:
Am I happy with this? Am I satisfied? Is this enough?
Essentially, I have more time for myself and more time to do the things I want. So I’d say I’m happy with what I have, right now. The next step for me is to grow the events side of my business.
• Do you ever get bored of what you do?
Stressed, yes, but never bored. There’s increasingly more competitors so it’s a challenge to differentiate our brand. I have to stay curious and imaginative.
• In your own words, what is love?
Love is magic! [laughs] Love can create happiness, success, peace – love can create anything. It’s not something you can touch or see, but you can definitely feel it. [smiles]