Surround Yourself With People Who Believe In You
When I reflect on how Ameila’s came to be, I am quickly reminded of all the people who chose to unconditionally support this journey from the beginning. From my close family to my dearest friends, all the way to kind strangers, I have always been surrounded by people who not only believed in me, but also believed in Amelia’s. When it came time to build a team, I knew I wanted to continue being surrounded by passionate people. I had a desire to build a team of people who enjoyed helping others. I was looking for people who believed in empowerment and fearlessly chasing goals. I was looking for the doers and the dreamers. I wanted people who would not only bring flowers to the streets, but would also bring more light to a sometimes rather dark place. Sounds lofty, right? Well, I am here to tell you that I can honestly say I have been fortunate enough to find those people!
Ginger Parker
For my very first highlight, I want to (virtually) introduce you to someone who has been there from the beginning. Long before Amelia's was even an idea, she's been with me through it all. With my sincerest appreciation, here is the highlight on Ginger Parker, the one and only.
Ginger and I have been friends for 26 years. I always tell people that I was sitting in my mom’s lap when her mom announced she was pregnant with Ging – fate at its finest, if you ask me. Our families followed each other from Florida to North Carolina and back for years. Our parents are best friends, our brothers are best friends, so naturally we are best friends. Pretty wild and amazing! Our lives are so interconnected that I am pretty sure we are in it for the long-haul, no matter what. I am stuck with her and she is stuck with me! So when we were on the phone, states apart, chatting about our dreams and upcoming plans, we were both so excited that our desire to move to Nashville lined up almost perfectly. Only a few months later, we were moving into an apartments and living life together in Nashville.
As everything was picking up pace within the first year, I was quickly processing my goals and dreams out loud, all the time. Ginger was my sound board, my shoulder, my support, my friend. Opening day came before we knew it and Ginger was right by my side! For opening weekend, our parents came into town and our dads were working on the truck to get it all ready to go. At first Ginger came on part-time to help on the busy days. Within a few months, though, Ginger took a huge chance on me and came on Full Time. We were living together, working together and just being the best of friends (together). A lot of people would look at this as a recipe for disaster, but it worked...really well. I honestly don't think I could have done it with anyone else. She is patient, kind and humble. She is a true asset to this company! As it stands today, she is our Truck Operations Manager and helps make sure all three trucks are running smoothly. She's managing our now 11 employees and gives me peace of mind that the business is running well.
No matter where life takes us, Ginger will always, always be a huge part of why Amelia's has been able to grow to where it is today. I have asked Ginger some fun questions for y'all to get to know her a little better!
Q & A
1.Did you have any floral experience before working for Amelia's? I wouldn't say I had "experience", but growing up my mom always had hydrangea bushes at our house and I would often cut some stems and arrange them. I had an art minor and almost went to SCAD, so I felt like that creative aspect kind of translated into floral arranging.
- What's your favorite flower and why? My favorite flower constantly changes since I'm exposed to so many different kinds, but consistently I would say my favorite would be a thistle. I just love the deep indigo color of it!
- What do you enjoy most about working with flowers? It honestly is extremely therapeutic for me! There’s nothing like turning on some music and creating. At one point, I got really into taking the old flowers and trying to make something beautiful out of it...if only for a few days.
- What do you hope to be doing in 5 years? In 5 years I hope that I can somehow be using my passion for flowers and love of a music in a cohesive way!
- What's your Passion? This job has shown me a passion that my 12 year old self would've never thought possible. I'm pretty introverted, but I really love connecting and talking with the people of this city! It's so fun to hear their stories (and we've heard some pretty wild ones).
- What do you love to do in your spare time? I don't do it often, but I do love to cook/bake. I got a book called "The Sweet Life In Paris" by David Lebovitz and feel in love with the idea of cooking simply with a chic twist. Who knew you could make a classic chocolate cake with only 4 ingredients.
- What were you doing before you worked at Amelia's? I had a slew of different jobs before Amelia's...college booking agent, "graphic designer" (haha this was a fluke, but something I learned a lot from), baker at a doughnut shop, shaved ice wizard at a food truck,and a nanny.
- Any flower tips or tricks you've learned and want to share? We so often have people come up and say "I'm terrible at arranging!" and to that I say "Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!"-Ms. Frizzle. You'd be surprised what you can make when you start grabbing stuff and putting it together.
- Last thing you watched on Netflix. Queer Eye
- If you could go to any city in the world tomorrow, where would you go? Amsterdam :)
Ginger, thank you for loving us so well! We are beyond grateful to know you and work with you! Love, the Amelia’s Team!