What these

success stories

have in common

is passion and

persistence and

a vision for what

their wealth can

achieve.

BY SANDRA BLOCK, EILEEN AMBROSE and PATRICIA MERTZ ESSWEIN

HOW TO MAKE A

MILLION

(O R M O R E!)

MONEY COVER STORY

C

hristina Stembel didn’t just bend the traditional business model for

flower companies; she snipped it in half. // Stembel grew up on a farm

in Bremen, Ind. (population 4,500), so it’s tempting to say that she

founded Farmgirl Flowers to get back to her roots. But the real inspiration for

her business came while she was working as an event planner near San Fran-

cisco in the mid 2000s. Tasked with cutting expenses, Stembel, now 41, looked

for ways to reduce the costs of floral arrangements, which she thought were

overpriced and underwhelming. She started ordering directly from local grow-

ers, which led her down a rabbit hole of research into the business of flowers.

22 KIPLINGER’S PERSONAL FINANCE^ 05/2019 PHOTOGRAPH BY THAYER GOWDY