the-dizzy-daisy


Chapman students are always in the mix at The Dizzy Daisy floral shop. From left, owner Dana Rice, Chapman alumna Marie Agbayani ’15 and Elisa Dilabio, marketing and sales director.

The cozy workroom at the back of The Dizzy Daisy is chock-full of ribbons, vases, wire, florist tools, calendars and all the rest of the makings that go into the designing of floral arrangements.

But every semester owner Dana Rice makes room for one more special addition – an intern from Chapman University. Since opening her floral store and gift shop in 2012, Rice says she has counted on Chapman students to bring a little something extra to her operation.

“I love their enthusiasm for the business and their thirst for knowledge. Any task we give them, they always have something new that they’re learning at school that they bring to it,” says Rice, who has been a floral designer for 16 years.

Rice was delighted when one student helped her make the leap to Google spreadsheets, slashing the amount of time she previously spent pricing out extensive orders for weddings. Communications major Marie Agbayani ’15 created an ad for her promoting The Dizzy Daisy in the Miss City of Orange booklet. Rice says Agbayani also displayed a knack for design, a skill the Chapman alumna and City of Orange resident says helped her land a job working as an assistant coordinator with a local wedding planner.

“Dana taught me a lot of things about a small business. It’s a family-oriented atmosphere and I couldn’t get that anywhere else,” Agbayani says.

The Dizzy Daisy is at 292 S. Tustin St. and is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Contact the store at 714-289-1123 or email Elisa Dilabio, the marketing and sales director, at
elisa@thedizzydaisy.net
.