A change in careers to flowers has not only brought beauty and satisfaction to a woman in View Park, it has significantly impacted her community in the wake of the social justice protests of the past year.
Mallory Brown and her flowers have become quite well known in View Park and surrounding communities. She got even more famous after appearing on the HBO show "Insecure." All because, she says, she wanted to stay true to who she is, and where she lives.
"When you see a florist that looks like you and represents you I think that representation is so important," Brown said.
After working in digital marketing, Brown decided it wasn’t for her. She wanted to get out of the office. She wanted to do something with her hands. Then came the idea of flowers.
Her popularity grew as she posted with her flowers at familiar local spots. Soon, she was doing pop ups at places like Hilltop Coffee.
Last summer, she took it a step further. Realizing that the killing of George Floyd and the protests that erupted had particular resonance for one group of people. So she started “flowers for Black men,” encouraging friends and followers to send bouquets to many who weren’t expecting them.
"And they automatically assumed I got the wrong address or it was for their wife or something like that and I said, 'Oh no this is for you." And they’re like, 'me? What?'" she said.
"Guys really do like flowers and they even blush when they get them which is kind of cool," Brown said.
"'Flowers for Black men' were a way to show that, hey I love you, I see you, I understand this is a traumatic experience you’re going through, so here’s flowers to show you that," she said.
Mallory With The Flowers has more than 11,000 followers on Instagram.
And if there’s proof that her approach works, it’s now on her finger. Her boyfriend proposed on new year’s day. But she says for her wedding, someone else will handle the flowers. Ted chen nbc 4 news view park.
