A note from Sue,
For those who are interested here is a little more information about myself. I was born and raised here in the Cheney, Four Lakes, WA area on a little farm that had been in my father’s family for three generations. Now that farm is on it’s fifth generation in the family. So proud to have deep roots in this area. My mother was and continues to be my greatest source of inspiration, a mentor in gardening, food preservation, creative crafting and the most generous and loving soul I know. I love the roots I have in farming, country living and neighborhood community.
I married young at the age of 18 to my high school sweetheart and we celebrated our 41st anniversary last August. We have five children and six grandchildren with another to arrive in May. For the past 25+ years we’ve lived on the same little ten acres of wooded paradise in the Deep Creek area.
Before floristry I did Feng Shui consulting and a form of reflexology. before that I homeschooled my children for 14 years, worked various jobs as we traveled around in our younger years from a document control clerk at Hanford, a secretary, food service positions, youth director, craft shop employee, and a couple different home based businesses. So when my husband said I think you should start your own floral business from home I was thrilled to have his support. He built my first small walk in cooler. I took some designing courses through the Floral Design Institute in Portland OR, jumped through the hoops for my state and got my license and have been enjoying the journey of floristry ever since.
I wanted a home based studio for several reasons. One lower start up costs, no overhead expenses, total control over my time and schedule. It allowed me to continue being involved in other things I enjoyed like my garden, family and friends and of course more time with the grandkids. As my business has grown, Tim built me a cooler three x’s the size as the first one and I’m still enjoying having my studio business at home. I like being able to take time off to do fun things with him and travel to see our other children who are not in this area. Spend even more time in the garden with the grandkids and teach classes. I really enjoy sharing and teaching others how to believe in their own creative process while working with flowers.
Some of the things I especially enjoy are creating wearables for kids and pets. I like to dry flowers all summer long so I can enjoy creating things from them in the winter, during those slower months of the year. My natural style is one that has a relaxed country, picked from the garden look and feel to it.
I’m a big supporter to our local flower farmers and I’ve been working my way into building a more sustainable business. Continuing to take educational classes that stretch my outlook on the industry and help me be more mindful to finding ways to cut down on waste and repurpose, reuse and recycle more. For me it’s not just about reducing my use of plastics, floral foam and paints. It’s also reducing the carbon footprint of the flowers I use. Which means using local flowers as much as possible when available and educating my community on the value of changing the way they order. I haven’t gotten to using only local flowers year round yet, but I’m working my way there. Continuing to look for ways I, as a florist, can do better. Not only for my own well-being, but for yours and our worlds.
