Today we’d like to introduce you to Aniyah Cymone Donner.
Hi Aniyah Cymone, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Originally, I wanted to be an interior designer. I would watch HGTV shows with my mom and we’d furniture shop with my grandma on the weekends. We’d stop by yard sales, estate sales, goodwills, and just about anywhere we could find some hidden treasures. I hated measuring so I figured I could have a career in a different field, and yes, these are my childhood thoughts at 8 years old in case you were wondering (ridiculous, I know).
Overtime I fell in love with fashion. I figured hey, maybe I could be a model. Those dreams came and went. Loved clothes and the history of designing. I figured hey, maybe I could be a clothing designer. I took sewing classes in high school and the harsh reality hit me like a wrecking ball. I hated everything about sewing. Threading the needle in the sewing machine was such a tedious and overwhelming task for me. I enjoyed sewing by hand but realistically, I knew being a clothing designer wasn’t in my cards. Besides, I ran into my enemy again, measurements.
As a former graduate of MATC, receiving an associates degree in Fashion & Retail Marketing and a certificate as a Fashion Marketing Specialist, the option for my future felt limitless but I still was in limbo with what I wanted to do. I started my self titled blog AniyahCymone.Com in 2014. Then it hit me! I should be a writer while dabbling into marketing. I took gigs as a marketing specialist for start ups in Milwaukee. By this time I received paid sponsorships to promote ads for brands such as Chipotle, Tostitos, and Clinique to name a few. In the midst of it all, when I graduated from MATC, I was working part time in Oak Creek, Wisconsin while traveling back and forth to Chicago for school. I attended Roosevelt University where I was working towards my BA in journalism. The goal was to land a career in being a fashion editor at a magazine publication. Unfortunately, a temporary break from school took much longer than I intended. Life took an odd turn, my focus at the time was my health and safety. After moving to Illinois to stay with family, I came to the realization that my mother desperately needed assistance with my grandmother- who is now in the severe stages of Alzheimer’s. The pandemic started shortly after my move and I just needed something new. Worked in a floral shop to make ends meet and fell in love with it. I was promoted to being a floral designer. I started my own business, Donner des FLEURS, after resigning from the local floral shop.
This is a full circle moment for me, seeing that I grew up playing in dirt and arranging flowers with my late grandfather, James Donner.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been the very opposite of a smooth road. Think of it like a road with old gravel. Big random chunks of cement that was once a smooth pavement. A few flowers and weeds growing in between the cracks. I love it though. I’m always up for a challenge and willing to take risks! If I’m uncertain about the path ahead, it makes it even more fun and daring. I’ve never been afraid of an adventure or afraid to fail forward.
There’s been financial struggles, even now there’s so many ideas I have but financially, it’ll be a process. A little longer than I’d like, but I just have to keep my faith, be patient and strategic.
Being a caretaker full time has definitely put an emotional toll on me during this entrepreneurial transition.
Now, time is something I’m constantly racing against. I’m trying to find a healthy work/life balance. There’s some things I know I’ll have to let go for me to pull this all off. I have yet to jump off the cliff with that goal. I feel like it’s tapping me on the shoulder saying it’s time… but… only time will tell.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a multidisciplinary artist and designer, rooted in the Black diaspora and led by intuition. My primary medium is florals, but my practice expands into home goods, jewelry, and creative consulting—everything I touch is connected by a throughline of care, intention, and ancestral memory.
Styling is where I first learned to speak without words. From interior decoration, clothing, and now florals. For me, arranging isn’t about aesthetics alone—it’s about storytelling, about preserving softness in a world that often tries to harden us. I create pieces that feel like offerings: bouquets that hold memory, tablescapes that feel harmonious, jewelry that’s both adornment and protection.
My work draws from the women and men who raised me, from the textures of my upbringing, and from the richness of global Black expression—from the gardens and kitchens to the street corners and temples. I blend ritual with style, structure with spirit. Whether I’m building a floral altar, curating a space, or helping a brand find its visual language, I approach it all with the same reverence.
Nothing I do is purely decorative. It’s cultural. It’s emotional. It’s spiritual.
From hand poured candles to preserved floral jewelry, I treat everything as a vessel for feeling. I even have a podcast in honor of my grandmother’s illness, Audrey’s Gurls (@audreysgurlspodcast), where discourse about health, advocacy and storytelling is shared. My goal is always the same: to make beauty feel sacred again, and to remind us—especially Black women—that we deserve softness, luxury, and intention in our everyday lives.
I’m most proud of my ability to tell stories with various mediums, intentionally. This is more than design and creativity for me. It’s devotion. It’s lineage work. And I’m just getting started.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Freedom. The freedom to pivot, the freedom to express. The freedom to explore. The freedom to choose solitude and peace. The freedom to devote to creating and empowering communities.
Free will is something I feel we all forget that we have. I make it my mission to indulge in it. It’s liberating to say the least.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://donnerdesfleurs.com
- Instagram: donnerdesfleurs_
