Dylan Capshaw, founder of Stemistry quickly caught on to an advantageous pairing: coffee and flowers. With three locations throughout the Valley, Capshaw’s vision of a cafe offering high-quality coffee beverages and take-home fresh-picked floral arrangements is flourishing.
Need more? Read more: Time to get festive: The BOSW guide to fall events in Phoenix
From animal rescuer to budding entrepreneur
Capshaw’s entrepreneurial spirit shined through at an early age. By fifth grade he launched Capstone Wildlife Rescue, helping shelter animals displaced by Hurricane Harvey — 75 animals later (including what was supposed to be a gecko that turned out to be a six-foot Savannah monitor lizard), Capshaw raised $2,000.
Amidst his care of rescued animals, another entrepreneurial endeavor presented itself to Capshaw. He realized that many of the flowering plants he was feeding various exotic creatures were going to waste.
“They would eat the leaves, but the flowers were a toxic byproduct for most of them,” Capshaw explains. “So I was throwing away all these pretty flowers and I thought ‘Maybe someone wants them.’”
From there, a new venture began. “I started at an Etsy shop and listed the flowers,” Capshaw continues. “I took pictures, labeled the flowers as aromatherapy and marketed them in a fun way, and they started selling.”
From there, all leftover flower fodder sold out and Capshaw partnered with a local floral wholesaler starting an online floral business with 70 different arrangement options.
Incidentally, all this was accomplished by Capshaw by the age of 15.
From vision to reality: Capshaw’s expansion of Stemistry across Arizona
By his freshman year, Capshaw amassed enough income to launch his first brick-and-mortar location — an idea for which he quickly pitched to his (very) patient parents.
“Absolutely not!” was their first response.
It took quite a bit of convincing and proving himself before his parents agreed to help Capshaw secure his first Stemistry location. But they did. And now, his enterprise includes three brick-and-mortar stores throughout Arizona.
- Scottsdale
9015 E Via Linda, unit 106
Scottsdale, Arizona 85258
(Flagship store)
- Phoenix
618 E Adams St, Teeter-Carriage House
Phoenix, Arizona 85004
- RoadRunner
6601 E McDowell Rd
Scottsdale, AZ 85257
“Coffee’s always been a passion of mine and that’s how Stemistry evolved into 50/50 coffee and flowers,” Capshaw says. “Each store has a Latte Lab where unique drinks are formulated. We try to incorporate flowers into our coffee.”
Crafting coffee and creativity: Stemistry successfully blends lattes, flowers and workshops
Guests of Stemistry can delight in several creative coffee and espresso options and craft a beautiful seasonal bouquet. While visiting the flagship Scottsdale location (9015 E Via Linda, unit 106) we enjoyed a palette-pleasing lavender latte and assembled our fun floral arrangement.
Those looking for expert guidance in putting together a flower creation can do so with the help of employees like Daley, who gave us the royal treatment of floral arranging. Capshaw has carefully and enthusiastically formed a collective workforce of creative, dedicated people. Plus, each Stemistry location hosts ongoing floral workshops for individuals, groups and special occasions.
Capshaw will rely on his team even more now in his first year of college.
Bright future ahead
As for what’s next for this 18-year-old entrepreneur — our BOSW team is not alone in being eager to see what’s on the horizon.
“I love food service, which is extremely difficult,” Capshaw says. “Our third store has a full kitchen, which is going to be my introduction to it. I’m going to see how easy or how hard it is and try and master that. And if I can, I’d love to create some cool health food concepts in the valley. I think there’s a lot of potential.”
To learn more, visit stemistry.com.