Dianne Malabanan shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Dianne, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
When I’m in my creative zone—arranging flowers, writing from the heart, or painting just for the sake of it—I lose all sense of time. It’s where I feel most like myself. The quiet focus, the hands-on beauty, the emotion behind each detail—it’s grounding, freeing, and deeply personal. That space of creating is where Sage & Autumn was born, and where I return to again and again to feel connected and whole.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Dianne—founder of Sage & Autumn, a San Diego-based floral design studio specializing in intentional, story-driven florals for weddings, elopements, and gatherings that matter.
With a background in healthcare and interior design, I found floral design as a creative outlet that brought together my love for meaningful details, emotional connection, and aesthetic harmony. I didn’t leave interior design—I simply found a new way to use those skills through flowers. Now, I bring that same thoughtful eye and calm, client-centered approach into every arrangement I create.
At Sage & Autumn, we focus on florals that feel like you—refined yet personal, emotionally expressive, and thoughtfully designed. In addition to weddings and events, I also host a pop-up flower bar throughout Southern California: a hands-on, seasonal floral experience where guests can create their own bouquets, celebrate small moments, or simply enjoy the beauty of flowers in an approachable, joyful way.
Right now, I’m focused on serving intimate weddings, elopements, and creative gatherings, while continuing to grow our pop-up floral experiences and seasonal collections—always with the goal of bringing heartfelt beauty to everyday life.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I was a quiet, curious kid who was always creating—drawing, painting, rearranging things just to make them feel beautiful. My imagination felt like a world of its own, and I could spend hours lost in it.
But when my family immigrated to the U.S., reality shifted. Like many children of immigrants, I felt the weight of financial pressure and the unspoken expectation to choose a “stable” path—something practical and safe. Becoming an artist started to feel unrealistic, even selfish. So I set my creativity aside for a while and focused on what I thought I should do.
It took years—and a lot of soul-searching—to return to that little girl who loved making things with her hands. Sage & Autumn is, in many ways, a return to her. A quiet rebellion against the belief that beauty isn’t enough. It’s a reminder that creativity can be both meaningful and sustainable—and that building something with heart is one of the most grounded things we can do.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
One of the most defining—and difficult—chapters of my life was the period I spent working in healthcare. I experienced dark, heavy depression during that time, compounded by the emotional toll of caregiving and, at one point, being physically assaulted by a patient. It was a breaking point—not just physically, but emotionally. I felt disconnected from myself, from joy, and from anything that once felt creative or life-giving.
Healing didn’t happen all at once. It started slowly, with quiet moments of doing something just for me—arranging flowers, writing, painting. These small acts of beauty became a lifeline. They helped me reconnect with the version of myself I had buried under pressure, pain, and survival mode.
That journey became the foundation of Sage & Autumn. A business rooted not just in florals, but in emotional connection and care. My work now is a reflection of that healing—creating calm, meaningful beauty for others while honoring the resilience it took to return to my own.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
I believe the universe will always lead you to where you’re meant to be—even if it doesn’t make sense in the moment. Sometimes that path looks like heartbreak, burnout, or deep discomfort. But I truly believe those hard seasons hold lessons that shape us, soften us, and redirect us.
Looking back, every time I felt lost or broken, something meaningful was quietly being built underneath. I couldn’t see it then—but now I know those detours were never random. They were rerouting me to something more aligned, more honest, and more me.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
People-pleasing. I’d stop saying yes out of guilt, watering myself down to make others comfortable, or chasing validation that never really fills you. Life is too short to live on someone else’s terms. I’d rather spend those 10 years creating, connecting, and showing up fully as myself—unapologetically and with heart.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sageandautumn.com
- Instagram: @sageandautumn
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sageandautumn
