2010 NCET Governor’s Cup College Business Plan Competition Winner Perseveres Through Pandemic

by Rebecca A. Eckland

For over a decade, Katie Knapp, 2010 NCET Governor’s Cup College Business Plan Competition winner, has been the owner of Bumblebee Blooms Flower Boutique. Although many local businesses struggled through the pandemic, her online following enabled her to continue a profitable business given that birthdays, anniversaries, and funerals continue regardless of worldwide pandemics.  

Her journey to business owner and floral designer began at TMCC when she decided she wanted to change the trajectory of her professional life. She had moved to the Reno area in 1992 and was working in the design industry, but it was a career that was no longer fulfilling to her. 

“I got tired of the corporate world. I was always more artistic, and all through [college] I had designed wedding cakes on the side, and I took a floral arranging class to learn how to design my cakes better. I really liked it, and then I got an internship at a local flower shop,” she said. 

As Knapp continued to work for the florist shop, she decided to take business and Culinary Arts classes at TMCC with the idea that she would one day own a floral shop of her own. “TMCC was a great option because I didn’t want to go into debt for a career, especially one that doesn’t pay very much. TMCC enabled me to have the option to pay as I went,” she said.

Thanks to the business classes she took, she crafted a viable business plan for her own floral shop. She also took Culinary Arts classes “for fun” but ended up having enough credits to earn associate degrees in both disciplines.  

Read the entire article on the TMCC website: https://www.tmcc.edu/news/2021/08/alumni-spotlight-katie-knapp