Today we’d like to introduce you to Trish Boyle.
Hi Trish, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
The inspiration for Sophia Crowns Flower Shop was inspired by my daughter, Sophia, who has had challenges with food allergies and severe eczema since she was six months old. Her condition impacted her mood, ability to sleep, and her overall outer appearance. She was oftentimes sad after becoming irritable from scratching her inflamed skin. At the age of three, I can recall taking Sophia on a walk through Tower Grove Park in Saint Louis, MO.
I figured the cool breeze and nature encounter would bring up her spirits, my intuition right. On our walk, we spotted rose bushes, lavender, and chamomile bunches. Sophia smelled them all, she bubbled with bliss, and it appeared that the inflammation that caused her discomfort that day was residing. I wanted to keep this up, so I contacted a local flower shop to order an arrangement, the price was over $80.00, that price didn’t include delivery. That was expensive for me being a single mom in college.
At that same moment, Sophia said, “mommy we should open our own flower shop, so people can be happy like me but not pay as much”. I smiled and told her that that was a great idea. In 2018, Sophia’s Crowns was founded. In my professional development as a florist, I learned that flowers were scientifically proven to reduce stress, improve your mood, sleep, healing capabilities, and even productivity. Talk about flower power.
With every customer order made, I kept this in mind. Our sales grew over the years from our commitment to freshness, creativity, and affordability. Let’s not forget the little ones, the grow and learn boxes which include empowering, kid-friendly material to allow them to have a nature encounter at home by planting, watering, and nurturing their own flower seeds was a bestseller.
Fast forward to our ribbon cutting on Juneteenth of this year. The flower shop transitioned from my two-bedroom apartment to a storefront in The Southampton neighborhood of Saint Louis. We now have employees, company contacts, and grow and learn classes for kids.
As a first-generation business owner, the vision is that Sophia’s Crowns Flower Shop will continuously be a family business to provide everything from stunning decor centerpieces for events, grab-and-go bouquets, wedding day necessities, as well as funeral essentials.
We also aim to bring awareness to barriers preventing nature encounters for kids and to promote community healing through one floral arrangement at a time. That is why every portion of the purchase is given to the National Eczema Association to contribute to funding research for those with chronic skin conditions resulting in the need for ongoing treatment.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road to being a flower shop owner has not been challenging. It has been a very refreshing, eye-opening experience to take a vision from my child to an actual business plan which is not only generating wealth for my family but is benefiting my community as well.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Sophia’s Crowns Flower Shop specializes in flower arrangements. We are most known for our custom-made flower crowns which are sure to be a showstopper for any event. Furthermore, our arrangements as well as our kid’s grow and learn bags are very popular.
I am most proud of seeing our creative arrangements bring a smile to our customer’s and clients’ faces once they pick up their order from our flower shop or have it delivered directly to their home, business, or event location.
Our commitment to fresh, beautiful flower arrangements is what sets us apart from others.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Qualities:
1. Time management
2. Financial literacy
3. Professionalism
4. Respectful to all customers
Characteristic
1. Honest
2. Trustworthy
3. On-time for booked events
4, Self-accountability
Contact Info:
- Email: sophiascrowns@gmail.com
- Website: www.sophiascrowns.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophiascrownsflowers/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SophiasCrowns
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiascrowns
Image Credits
Trish Boyle, Christian Johnson, Richard Washington and Stacey Switzer
