I
like how unique flowers are. These look like little like peeps to me. They're very
just fuzzy. There's just so many different varieties. They're all just so special in
their own way. I'm Aikal McGee and I am the founder and lead florist of 401 Floral.
So we've got in some antherium. This is one of my absolute favorite flowers. I
love the different textures. I love the different aromas.
So we've got Sweet Game and we love this because of how whimsical it is. When I am
arranging, I really like to take note of that, how each flower plays its role
in making the overall arrangement beautiful.
Now I'm gonna go in with some linear flowers to give it some height. Just the
way that I feel when I'm in the shop and here in general, I feel like this space
has a lot of really good energy and that's something that I want to share
with the community.
So when this space opened up, it kind of seemed like an obrainer to try to get
in here, especially with it being so close to the old shop. I knew I really
wanted to stay in Brownsville on King Drive.
Just the history of Brownsville, where we are history of King Drive or Third
Street, it was known for being a hub for black entrepreneurship and that's
something that's so special that I get to be a part of a new generation of that.
We have a lot of different events and opportunities for people to come in and
work with flowers. We have a flower club, our build your own bouquet bar, a monthly
design workshop, we're on a mission to just see our community flourish.
We've never had an all-male workshop. We really didn't know kind of what to expect
if the fellows would even be feeling it if they would want to be there.
You can tell that everyone was just really present and everyone wanted to be
there and that was just so inspiring. So Heal Black Man is founded by Harry Evans.
He started the organization as a way to show black men alternative ways to
heal and his intention for creating this event was to show men that you
deserve flowers too. Okay which one do you want? We're on two different varieties.
There you go. I think it was pretty evident to everyone who was at the
workshop just how present everyone seemed. It's more than just a flower shop. It's a
space where people can come to connect and bring a little bit of joy into their
lives with flowers.
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