Hope blooms for Seon Walker-Williams

By NADINE WILSON All Woman writer wilsonn@jamaicaobserver.com

Monday, February 20, 2012

LIFE might have handed Seon Walker-Williams some tough blows, but like the beautiful potted plants at her nursery located in Mandeville, she continues to bloom.

Walker-Williams had been a teacher for over 15 years before starting her flower shop last year July in a busy section of Mandeville, however, after just three months, the place was torched.

Growing up, Williams said she had always loved flowers. After spending over a decade in the classroom — five years of which was spent teaching a secondary school in the Cayman islands — she decided to put all her efforts into starting her business, All That Blooms 'N' Things.

"I decided to do a one-stop shop where we could offer all the services," said Walker-Williams, who had hoped the business could provide her soon-to-be retired mom with something to do after leaving her nursing job.

Within the first few months, business was going well, but then one night she got a call informing her that the shop she had worked so hard to build was going up in flames. A homeless man had seen the fire and he ran to the nearby fire department to report it, but by the time they came, most of the building was gutted.

Determined not to give up on her dreams, Walker-Williams decided to start over, although the process of rebuilding has been a challenging one.

"It has been a struggle, so I am mainly trying to concentrate on trying to put back things together. The first place I tried to put back together was the green house," said the florist.

This time around, Walker-Williams plans to make her business even bigger than before. She intends to transform a section of the building into a deli and Internet cafe where people can come to unwind.

"Most of the restaurants around town tend to offer mostly food, but I'm looking at providing sandwiches, coffee and hosting small events planning because the space is here for a reception, a meeting and a garden is outside," she said.

Currently though, plants are very much in demand and so the florist plans to expand her green house as well to meet the demands.

"We do rentals of plants and that is in high demand and so I make sure I have a cadre of palms or plants available for rental. You'll have some landscapers come in to buy plants and such [as well as] housewives and passersby and you find both men and women," said Walker-Williams.

She pointed out that they got a lot of support this past Valentine's Day.

But despite her success as a businesswoman, the Glenmuir High School graduate hopes to go back into teaching someday. Even after receiving a diploma in teaching, a degree in education and a masters in business and human resource management, she believes that there should be no limitations placed on educating one's self.

"As a teacher, I believe that people should always try to learn a skill and I did a course in floral arrangements as well as a course in nail technology, so I tend to do things apart from educational things," she said.

Being the secretary for the Lions Club of Mandeville and a business owner, Walker-Williams is aware that going back into the classroom is going to be a challenge, but she said she intends to volunteer her services in the beginning.

Her mother Sonia Walker said that while she was not pleased initially with her daughter's decision to leave teaching, she is proud of her accomplishments as a business owner.

"I think she is a very strong girl, after all that has happened, she didn't just roll over or play dead and die," she said.

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Hope blooms for Seon Walker-Williams