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Palo Alto Online

Riding high on low tech

by Daryl Savage

The diving Dow and subsequent layoffs are just blips on the radar for three Palo Alto women.

The reason? Like so many in the valley, each runs a business out of her home. But unlike the cyber-entrepreneurs, these women - a florist, a seamstress, and a textile designer - are examples of low-tech enterprise plying their trades in the high-tech world.

Nasrin Assadi's floral business, La Lavande, has not been influenced by the valley's layoffs. She runs her floral business mostly single-handedly, with some help on her busiest days and for special events.

Assadi's work week begins long before the sun rises. At 2 a.m. on Monday morning, Assadi is in her van, driving to San Francisco to buy fresh flowers. "You get used to it. There's not a lot of traffic this time of day," she said.

She brings the flowers back to the garage of her small bungalow near downtown Palo Alto, where she arranges bouquets. Two large floral refrigerators line the inside of her garage and a large trash can overflows with floral stems and cut branches.

Assadi estimates she creates about 40-45 arrangements per week, excluding those she makes for events. Clients include restaurants, hotels and private homes in Palo Alto. Frequently she both arranges and delivers the bouquets. Some days, like Mondays, she works 16 or more hours. "And then I collapse," she said.

It was just a few years ago that Assadi was living in Paris, working for Apple Computer and making a lucrative salary. For 14 years, she managed two computer shops while raising her daughters and living the good life.

"Then I decided to change everything about me," Assadi said. High-tech to low-tech, Paris to Palo Alto, job security to the unknown.

"I've always loved flowers," she said. "I took a few courses to learn about flower arranging and here I am." Assadi characterizes her arrangements as "fresh, garden-y and minimized." Her flower vases range from glass cubes to apples. Assadi will carve out a large apple in which she places floral form to hold the flowers.

Although she's making less money than in the high-tech industry, she's convinced that "this was definitely the right thing to do."

The only drawback Assadi sees with her home-based business is the lack of co-workers. "The only problem is you feel like talking to someone. This kind of work, sometimes you want to consult someone, ask them about the colors, get a second opinion," she said. "Otherwise, it's wonderful."

Dressmaker and fashion consultant Elaine Goldman is also unfazed by the latest stock market shenanigans. Her business, designing dresses for CEOs and other high-powered women, has been minimally affected.

"I'm only booked three months in advance instead of six months in advance," said Goldman, who works out of a sky lit second-floor office in her Midtown Eichler.

Economic slowdown or not, she reasons, "women have to wear clothes." While admitting that people cut back on buying fancy dresses when times are tough, Goldman says she still has a following of clients. Goldman makes between four to 10 dresses per month, each ranging in cost from about $300 to $3,000.

Recent creations include an elegant black gown that rested on a mannequin in her studio. "This dress is going to the Academy Awards," she said. Another of her dresses was worn to a dinner at the White House, and even Princess Diana wore a dress Goldman created when the princess was pregnant with Prince William.

Goldman's two small dogs and cat stay close to her as she moves around in her airy room. "I could do this anywhere, but I love it here in Palo Alto," said the business owner.

While not part of the high-tech industry, textile designer Judith Content has found a way to blend her low-tech artwork with high technology. The main emphasis of her business is on art quilts, mostly for residential customers. She uses an adaptation of the ancient Japanese art of "shirbori" to dye silk fabrics, then sells them using high-tech methods.

"I use my left brain for my creative side and my right brain for the business side," Content said. Her Barron Park art studio is filled with state-of-the-art communication equipment. A computer, printer, fax machine and copy machine line the wall. Content is a self-taught business woman.

"I probably get 25 e-mails a day," she said. The correspondence is from other artists, collectors and galleries. In addition to quilts, she earns an income teaching and giving lectures. Her wall hangings, some as tall as two stories high, can cost up to $40,000 and take six months to complete.

"I look at my art as an escape from the frantic pace of Silicon Valley," Content said. "I love to come back to my studio because it feels like my oasis. There's a big part of me that needs that serenity. My art is meditative," she said.

Content's art is also considerably physical. In addition to paint, paper and fabric, her studio has a woodshop, complete with handsaws, drills, drill bits and screwdrivers.

But despite the labor-intensive work, the hard look of some of the tools and the high-tech equipment, Content finds respite from the outside world in her studio, with her art work as a tranquil alternative to the daily stress of high-tech living.

All three business women began their business out of a love of their craft. Assadi, the florist, encourages others to do the same.

"It takes a lot of courage," said Assadi. "You have to put all your cards together. But if you like to do something yourself, you have to do it. I love what I do, and I get paid for it. It's wonderful." <@$p>

E-mail Daryl Savage at dsavage@paweekly.com