When I tell you my jaw dropped when I saw this announcement in the shop's memory feed... I mean holy goodness!! The nostalgia conjured makes me happy. It is what happens when you mix a first class world wide wholesale company, glamour and amazing stuff with small town dreams, hardworking, loving-to-learn-and-share vibes. The company, with a the help of a contest and the creative genius within their company that's the marketing department from Mayesh, pulled off the nationwide workshop series of a lifetime. I am forever grateful and humbled they took a chance on me for the year long opportunity to represent the company as the design star. I hope I served them well as the winner. This was no average contest, friends -- this is the stuff of fairytales! An excerpt it below. Meanwhile check out the full announcement, all written by Katie Hendrick Vincent!
Truly,
CGH
Meet Christy Hulsey, Mayesh’s 2017 Design Star
Last week, Mayesh Wholesale Florist, Inc., announced Christy Hulsey, of Colonial House of Flowers in Statesboro, Ga., as winner of its sixth annual Design Star contest. As Design Star, Hulsey will lead several workshops at Mayesh branches this year and create design videos throughout 2017.
Yvonne Ashton, Mayesh’s director of marketing, said judges were impressed with Hulsey’s “personality, extensive business insights with events as well as retail, and experience teaching.” Her application included a story about rebranding and reviving her family business, “which will resonate with our community,” Ashton said. “To top it all off, her design style is beautiful!”
Judges also admired Hulsey’s detailed workshop itinerary. “Christy has a very clear direction for what and how she’s going to teach and it’s clear she wants to provide great value to all who attend her workshop,” Ashton added.
Hulsey told Florist 2.0 she was honored and ecstatic to be named the 2017 Design Star, but said the title was a bit of a misnomer —”honestly, we entered as a team,” she said. “We talked about it in the studio, with my sister, and at home. We all decided we had to join Mayesh in the quest to teach the world.”
The Colonial House of Flowers team members agreed they had a good story to tell. “Our shop is a traditional florist’s shop,” Hulsey said. “We have five-star corporate clients and huge destination weddings, but we do casket sprays, prom corsages, and bud vases, too! There’s no place like our place; every day is a workshop with constant learning, listening, and growing. I love the pace and the flurry.”
A mother of two, Hulsey said she’s excited to get back out into the world, traveling to various Mayesh locations. She’s excited to be “an advocate for seasonal, less pretentious designs” and to emphasize to her pupils that a design “doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.”
Her influences include her grandmother, Margie Tygart (who has a statue in her honor in her hometown celebrating her years of floral design), her sister, Amanda, and her aunt, Kathy. “I hope I can bring them along to some of the workshops,” she said.
For more information, click here to read Ashton’s interview with Hulsey.
