Exploring Life & Business with Christina Matthews of The Flower Lady

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Matthews.

Hi Christina, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My story dates back to 2013. My husband was working as a kindergarten teacher in an inner city school and I was the Admissions Leader for Paul Mitchell The School Cincinnati cosmetology school. One of my responsibilities, as the Admissions Leader, was to lead the school’s “Green Team.” The “Green Team” is a student-run club focused on teaching ways to respect the earth as well as finding innovative ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. This led to my involvement with the Over-the-Rhine People’s Garden and with Grow Appalachia. Paul Mitchell’s CEO, John Paul DeJoria, is a philanthropist dedicated to funding gardening projects and many other causes, so I approached him with my ideas. My hope was to adopt the oldest community garden in the heart of Cincinnati—the Over-the-Rhine People’s Garden. My goals were simple—to revitalize this inner-city garden with fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers, to teach as many people as possible how to grow their own, to love and respect nature, and to eat nutritionally.

The meeting was a success! I began studying with The Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati and the Berea College Grow Appalachia Program—which was funded through a grant, from Mr. DeJoria. And I spent the next few years—after work and on weekends—growing and teaching myself and my soon-to-be neighbors how to grow food using organic growing methods.

Adding flowers was icing on the cake!  After a few years of doing this successfully, my dreams expanded—compelling me to want to devote myself full-time to pursuing what I had become passionate about—becoming a flower-farmer florist!

I am now investing all my time and energy into literally growing my business. Just this past June, through the Urban Agricultural Program of Greater Cincinnati, I was able to obtain a 1/3-acre plot of land, in a nearby urban community, on which to grow more flowers. I have since added a fence and started clearing. Moving the land mostly by myself and using simple hand tools has been a slow and steady process, but the potential is there and I am determined to have it full of beautiful flowers this coming spring 2022. Business is blooming!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Ninety-five percent of the time I am truly happy building this business. In fact, it makes me smile just thinking about how far I’ve already come. However, there have certainly been hiccups along the way. I would say one of my biggest challenges has been battling feelings of inadequacy—trying to be an expert in all areas of the business while still helping to pay our bills and being accessible to my family, friends and clients. Not allowing these feelings to stifle my spirit has been a hurdle from time to time, but thankfully, I have a strong support system of people who believe in what I am doing. My husband, family, friends and mentors are always there to boost me up, strengthen my confidence and help guide me in the right direction when I ask for help.

Another challenge is creating a defined work /life balance. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day and I tend to want to work non-stop. My goal is to be in a position to hire people to help me by next year. Until then, I have to learn to respect that I’m a one-woman show and I have to be content with doing the best that I can.

Finally, working in the inner-city presents unique challenges of its own—like dealing with societal conflicts such as crime and homelessness. As happy as I am greeting people passing by, it’s equally hard seeing so many of them struggling.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I specialize in growing flowers and creating beautiful and fragrant solutions for just about every floral need. My primary focus, however, is on serving bride and grooms, my neighbors, restaurants, and small businesses in the Over-the-Rhine (OTR) neighborhood in Cincinnati, OH where I live, work and garden.

I believe in the inner connectivity of all living things. So, not all of my flowers are cut. I dedicate portions of my flower garden to our precious pollinators and I use all organic growing practices including saving rain water and making my own compost. I love meeting people, teaching everyone how to garden, and showing off my growing business through social media!

What does success mean to you?
Success is most often described as achieving a desired outcome. Since the foundation of my business is built on my desire to give back—to emulate the phrase “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” I would definitely say I am on the road to success. And, in fact, have achieved it in many ways.

Success, to me, is also waking up every morning knowing I am doing all I can to honor the power and beauty of nature, and everything it has to offer. And by encouraging others to do the same.

On a purely emotional level, success is loving what you do, who you do it with and who you do it for. In that regard, I am also truly successful. On a more tangible level, what it would take to consider myself financially successful would be for my husband and I to be in business together—growing and selling enough flowers to support ourselves, while also revitalizing the inner-city where we live, work, teach, and volunteer.

Contact Info:

• Email: theflowerladyotr@gmail.com
• Website: www.theflowerladyotr.com
• Instagram: @theflowerladyotr
• Facebook: The Flower Lady OTR
• TikTok: @theflowerladyotr

Image Credits
Kortnee Kate Photography