MEET CHRISTY GRINER HULSEY
MEET CHRISTY GRINER HULSEY
Entrepreneur. Independent. Thoughtful. Authentic. #1 Florist in the South.
Get ready to be delighted! Christy Griner Hulsey's mom, friends or teachers would've never guessed she'd be where she is today (or marry shy, red headed boy she met in kindergarten). She often struggled to perform at what others saw as her potential. She pushed boundaries and had a tendency to get into mischief. These challenges are created by learning differences like dyslexia and the challenges that arise when you don't know you have a learning difference.
She's got a fantastic humbleness, natural fascination, curiosity and sense of humor that attracts her to all sorts of folk from different backgrounds, nationalities, religions, ages, races and genders. She's wildly successful and loves people.
When someone is different than everyone else, it's hard to stay inside the fences the world puts up. But the same energy that helps you break down barriers makes you relatable, empathetic, hard working and compassionate.
It's no secret that Christy has a gift for making people feel good. She's naturally competitive, a non-conformist and has never met a stranger. She's been able to create a life that brings she and those around her joy by celebrating what makes us different.
When you walk in her shoes you'll see that good is usually not good enough. You'll see an inescapable element of surprise, a love of winning and a special kind of magic that everyone adores. Everything's important to Christy and at the same time it's not. She and her grandmother had a wonderful friendship. In the days before her grandma died she told Christy, "I want you know I have had a good life. It wasn't always perfect... but, it was very good. Life is what you make of it."
"BE GRATEFUL AND HAPPY. BE FOCUSED. BE YOURSELF. AND KNOW, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE PERFECT TO BE BEAUTIFUL."
There's never a dull moment to stop working on projects when you're in her presence. Her To-Do lists, old school pencil and paper are on-going - whether you're starting, finishing or in the middle of making one better. Innovation with creativity and enthusiasm with friendliness and honesty with authenticity along with an understanding that obstacles are inevitable but not insurmountable are the keys to making the world a brighter place.
All this translates into making the best of everything you have and not letting the small things stop you from moving forward with seeds, flowers, business and life.
One last detail about Christy is her ability to realize her weaknesses and attract hardworking, talented teams to balance the deficits and get things done... beautifully & cheerfully. She has interests that'll surprise you like speaking to professional groups, anything south Georgia, everything about dyslexia or UGA to watching documentaries, reading historical fiction and listening to true crime podcasts. It seems Christy is curios about everything and open minded enough to pursue it with extreme focus. She has a deep desire to push to the next projects ahead.
This is the way she is and this is what makes her Christy.
MEET CHRISTY GRINER HULSEY
INDEPENDENT
Independence takes free-wheeling, self reliance and contentment.
It means confidence, autonomy, optimism, hopefulness, relying on yourself and making decisions. Independent leaders develop great companies, brands, movements and ideas, and they lift up & inspire others to do the same, naturally.
DEMONSTRATER
Honesty and authentic stories teady are a signature of Christy's style.
Christy is sought after in the United States and has been to Asia and South America to demonstrate floral and plant design while speaking about her surprising journey to success in the industry and in life. Her workshops sell out and people line up to meet her. People like to see Christy demonstrate using flowers and plants because of her effortless ability to make it look easy -- and to hear her stories.
ENTREPRENEUR
Quiet leadership and slow steady calculations are signatures of Christy's style.
When she took over Colonial House of Flowers, it was just she and one other person to design, deliver and run a full service store in small south Georgia town, now it's a company that can employ over 100 people on a day like Valentine's Day and travel across the Globe to China, Ecuador and Europe.
Multiple awards from the Mayesh Design Star, UGA Alumni 40 Under 40, UGA 100 Fastest Growing Businesses and more give credibility to the fledgling little flower shop that everyone talked about before it shocked the masses by growing wildly when no one else was, and did it independently, breaking down old ways of thinking and bringing new life into an rusty business model and inspiring others to do the same.
CREATER
Quiet leadership and slow steady are signatures of Christy's style.
With an advertising degree from the esteemed University of Georgia Grady School of Journalism, Christy approaches the world with an ability to communicate ideas visually and verbally in way that is unique. Plants, flowers and a story are her medium. Christy says, "I am grateful for childhood days being sent to the garden by my grandma, where I learned a language that gracefully translates into the magical world of floristry. I’d say my style is old-world, painterly, elegant yet rebellious... individualistic. It's always the same, yet always different."
When you combine a hands-on, technical skill with educational knowledge and the inability to sit still it's powerful. She's able to create in ways that convey brand ideas with imagery and words. Her work is sought after by brands. She's been featured time and again in publications like Pottery Barn blog, Style Me Pretty, Rosaprima, Martha Stewart Weddings, Wedding Sparrow, Florist Review Magazine, Certified American Grown Flowers, among many other national and international platforms. She has gone on nationwide in-store tours to bring the stories to life. Her work is also in national and International magazines.
FAMILY & FRIENDS & FUN & FLOWERS
