Among the various student-run businesses at AHS is Miliflorals, a pipe flower bouquet business run by Mina Vo and her younger sister, Lina. Vo founded the business in May of 2025, taking charge of most of the business’s tasks such as wrapping the flowers, managing their social media page, and more.
Miliflorals initially started as a way for Vo and her sister to support their mother who hopes to open her own nail salon sometime around next year. Already having a passion for handmade gifts, Vo decided to help her mother raise money by selling pipe cleaner flowers.
“I wanted to help her fund her upcoming nail salon and have something to put on my college applications,” Vo said.
Establishing her business was a somewhat difficult process for Vo. She first began by learning how to create and display her products, later starting up the Instagram account for the business, @miliflorals, and designing its layout as well as the logo. Having a social media presence allowed her business to reach more people, and, with the help of her friends as well as the Green Atoms club, advertising her business to the school was not much of a problem.
“My business wouldn’t have been successful without them and I am forever so thankful for everyone’s support,” Vo said.
Along with learning the ropes of running a business, Vo also had to figure out how to make her products as well as develop the required skills. Some of these skills include hand dexterity, time management, creativity, and communication, all of which allow for her business to run smoothly while guaranteeing high customer satisfaction.
“Learning how to arrange and wrap bouquets was the most difficult part,” Vo said. “I still struggle with it now.”
Balancing her business affairs with her school work as well as her personal life has also posed a great challenge to Vo. Through her experience, she has learned the importance of giving yourself breaks in order to avoid loss of motivation in addition to becoming burnt out.
“I was quite hard on myself during the middle [stages] of my business,” Vo said. “I kept taking on orders with no stop even if it meant having missing assignments, staying up late and hurting my back just to have happy customers and to support my mom.”
However, Vo was also able to recognize several benefits of having her business, such as getting to meet many new people and working towards a meaningful experience for her college applications. These valuable advantages have outweighed the setbacks for Vo, making every ounce of support mean the world to her.
“With every new order, I’m still surprised and excited as much as I was getting my first order ever,” Vo said.
Right now, Miliflorals currently sells small flower pots and bouquets, offering a variety of flowers and colors for customers to choose from. The prices are dependent on the materials and time used for each order as well as other factors such as the size and amount of flowers, amount of notice given for the order, etc.
She wishes to continue her work in college, hoping to pursue it as a side job in which she can create even bigger products and further expand her business.
“I never expected this growth or anyone purchasing in the first place, so I’m really happy with how things turned out,” Vo said. “I feel really proud of myself for stepping outside of my comfort zone and being able to achieve something new.”
