In The Words Of Juvenile: She Get It From Her Mama

In light of Mother’s Day week, I thought it only appropriate to pay tribute to my mom, so here goes….

I have the most vivid memories of being little and being forced outside to help my mom in her garden. I remember hating being covered in sunblock; I remember being eaten alive by bugs and begrudgingly hauling around buckets and tools of sorts. 

Despite the forced child labor aspect, I loved being outside among the flowers. At the ripe age of three, I knew about tilling beds and fertilizer and could name dozens of flowers. I loved shopping at the garden centers with my mom and knew my way around all of them. I also learned to keep pace with my mom - who, at the tiny stature of four-foot-something - moves at a sprint from the moment she wakes up to the moment she goes to sleep. 

Fast-forward thirty-something years (God, this really ages me), and the memories of gardening with my mom as a kid have shaped my entire adult life. I get asked the question of how I landed in the floral business, and the answer is simple: I got it from my mama. 

I bought Helen Olivia when I was very young - only 25 years old. When we stumbled upon the listing for the shop, it felt like some type of divine intervention. (If you know me, you know that I don’t believe in such things, except for maybe just this once.) When everyone thought I was nuts for taking a gamble on a flower shop, my mom was my biggest cheerleader. In the early days of Helen Olivia, my mom held every imaginable position in the studio - from bucket cleaner to flower processor to event setup crew. I know she’d tell you it was fun for her, but it was truly a godsend for us.  

A decade later, my mom is no longer filling odd jobs around the shop. Instead, she’s more likely found in her expansive garden at her Alexandria home. You may even see her two assistants, Jack (4) and Emma (2), in the yard. As a mom now myself, there is truly nothing better than seeing my own kids learning to love flowers the way I did as a kid. 

And although I am never outwardly emotional, I am for sure a little misty-eyed writing this post. Moms are the best, period. I am so grateful to have had one that led me to flowers, and I feel lucky every single day to do what I do. So, cheers to all the moms - and all the people who mother in all their forms. (And don’t forget to order flowers for your mom!)