Vietnamese migrant Cyana Duong mixes artificial silk flowers with dried and preserved flowers to make colourful bouquets for sale online. And her business is booming.
“The reason I started this business is because I have a love for flowers,” she says in her Sydney studio while arranging a bunch.
“All my suppliers are in Australia. The dried flowers come from different states, they are mostly real flowers that are dried and can be reused.”
What drives her business is a desire to reduce the waste of fresh flowers, many discarded after only hours at an event or wedding.
“Dried flowers can be kept for a lot longer, so it reduces waste in the floristry business.”
Australia is a big importer of fresh flower stems, with around $67 million worth arriving every year from international suppliers in countries like Ecuador, Kenya and Singapore.
Selling flowers is also big business in Australia. According to Industry research service IBISWorld, more than 2,500 flower retailers support an industry valued at $830 million.
Cyana started Camie Fleur 18 months ago and makes dozens of bouquets each week in her inner Sydney apartment.
“I never expected the business to be this busy, I am very surprised,” the 27-year-old says.
“I start around five o’clock each morning, because I need to process orders and also get flowers from the market. And because I love what I am doing, it makes me very happy to get up each morning and bring people flowers to brighten their day.”
Cyana Duong (left) with her twin sister Hien. Source: Supplied Cyana Duong
“The doctors did not know my mum was pregnant with twins, until she gave birth,” she says.
“I was born first but my sister suffered from oxygen [deprivation] and suffered brain damage.”
She says growing up they communicated using eye contact.
“My sister is still living in Hanoi with my family, and she needs a fulltime carer. I have not seen her for some years due to recent lockdowns.”
Cyana moved to Sydney as a teenager in 2011 to study commerce. But her new life came at a cost.
Cyana (left) with her sisters in Hanoi Source: Supplied Cyana Duong.
“Also, when I arrived in Sydney it was a bit frightening. I could not really speak with people, I didn’t understand what they were saying."
Even when Cyana graduated, she faced new challenges getting a job as an international student.
“I was really struggling with my life, I couldn't pay for my rent,” she says.
Starting her own business last year proved a turning point for Cyana. But within weeks, the first wave of COVID-19 hit, and she was forced to pivot.
“I had based my business around supplying flowers for events, and then the first lockdown happened, and all events were cancelled.”
It was the same story this year when Sydney struggled through four months of lockdown – pausing many weddings and events.
So Cyana joined social enterprise Global Sisters. 
CEO Mandy Richards describes the organisation as a “one-stop-shop to help women start up micro-businesses.”
Global Sisters founder Mandy Richards. Source: SBS Sandra Fulloon
“We help migrant women with startups, single mums, and many older women who've faced age-ism and lost their employment during COVID-19.
"Plus we help women in regional areas where there just simply aren't enough jobs,” Ms Richards says.
Joining the Global Sisters marketplace has helped Cyana grow her business online.
"After I started on the Global Sisters site, by selling direct to my customers revenue has increased by 50 per cent."
Now Cyana has big plans to train others, like her sister, living with a disability.
“It is my wish to be able to provide jobs for people in arts, handcrafts, or arranging flowers, so they can live the same dream as I do,” she says.
