ST. LOUIS — Meet Trish Boyle, the founder and CEO of Sophia’s Crowns Flower Shop! The St. Louis-based flower shop specializes in custom made flower arrangements and design.
The inspiration for Sophia’s Crowns is Trish’s daughter, Sophia.
"She (Sophia) was born with a plethora of different types of allergies and eczema. This was when she was around six months old. When she turned three years old, I tried to get creative. I tried to figure out different ways that I could get her out the house and get her to do things, especially when her skin was irritated," Boyle said.
One day they took a walk through Tower Grove Park and Trish noticed Sophia’s mood and condition improved when she spent time in nature, specifically with flowers.
"I saw how it was bringing her solace making her very happy. And I said, you know, I'm going to keep this up. I'm gonna get to a floral arrangement. I contacted my local florist at the time. It was way overpriced. I was a single mother at the time. And I was working on my master's degree. I was like, this is not something that I can afford at the moment," she said.
But Sophia had an idea!
"She said, 'Mom, we should just open our own flower shop so people can be happy like me, but not have to pay as much,'" Boyle said.
In 2018, Trish opened Sophia’s Crowns Flower Shop in a two-bedroom apartment as a single mother. On Juneteenth of this year, she celebrates her 3rd anniversary of the brick-and-mortar location on Kingshighway.
From custom arrangements for any celebration to a full virtual store to order from, Sophia’s Crowns Flower Shop does it all.
The flower shop celebrates Black History with its Black Lives Matter floral arrangement.
"For Juneteenth all year round, even if it's way past when people think you should be celebrating...ee definitely want to continue to have our Black Lives Matter floral arrangement that we offer all year round and you can order that directly on our website," she said.
Beyond the beautiful arrangements, Trish hosts build your own bouquet Wednesdays, flower crown & sip nights for adults, as well as grow and learn classes for children.
As for Sophia and her allergies? Trish says her daughter has made a full recovery. All thanks to her inspiring mother.
"It's literally like night and day. I feel really grateful. My family is very grateful to see her progress. And we're also very grateful to see how me being a first-generation business owner, how it has positively impacted our community to have access to fresh flowers," she said.
The flower shop is running a buy one get one free special throughout the month of June to celebrate Juneteenth and the store front's third anniversary.
You can shop online at sophiascrowns.com. For further information and a list of upcoming workshops, follow along on social media.
Sophia's Crowns Flower Shop is located at 4500 S Kingshighway Blvd. Unit 20 St. Louis, MO 63109.
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