Today we’d like to introduce you to Beverly Grant.
Hi Beverly, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started taking pictures as a teenager, but I didn’t fall in love with it until about twenty years ago or so. I probably started arranging flowers around twenty five years ago – creativity has always been important to me. When I became an aunt, I started trying to catch emotional moments during birthdays and events like Easter egg hunts. I have especially enjoyed photographing my nieces’ and nephews’ sporting events and have come to realize how much I enjoy capturing photos of them playing or in the middle of some kind of movement. As I have been taking more photographs, I have also been doing more flower arranging. I have provided flowers for family events and also done several weddings, memorial services, and many homecomings and proms. My sister has been telling me nonstop for years I needed to incorporate into a business, and I finally took that leap August of 2024. My nephew Walker, who was 8 at the time, gave me the name “B Street” as my birthday present that year. That’s how I chose the name of my business!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Since actually starting B Street Florals and Photography, LLC, actually getting business has been difficult. I worked full time as a mobile crisis counselor until early March of this year at which time I went out on disability due to problems with a hip. I have done four months of physical therapy, and my hip is not much better. I also try to take care of my dad who has dementia and is in a skilled nursing facility and see him as often as possible and live with my mom who is 92. I was unable to return to my mobile crisis job due to using a cane to walk, so I have started a new job at a local private nonprofit, which is only twenty hours a week. It is fairly far outside my comfort zone as it is part fund-raising, which I have never done before. All of this has contributed to what is probably just not enough energy on my part to research how to advertise better and how to market myself to a wider audience. I handed out a lot of business cards at the beginning of football season and volleyball season and was hopeful. That did not pan out, and I got discouraged. Last soccer season and this fall sports season I have photographed several games based on parents telling me they wanted pictures, spent several hours editing, only to have the parents not buy them or have only one parent buy one picture. It is hard for me to not to feel discouraged during times like these.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
When it comes to photography, I do not want to take posed pictures. I will, don’t get me wrong, but I like taking pictures of people and pets on the move. Some of my most favorite pictures of my nephew Walker were when he was only about 6 weeks old, and my sister and her husband put him on their bed and just made goofy noises at him. I brought my camera and got some of the best pictures I have ever taken in my life. My niece Cheyenne graduated kindergarten last school year, and that photo shoot was also one of my favorites. She has so much energy and is constantly jumping and running. All I had to do was follow her. I got some priceless pictures of her in her little pink cap and gown. I feel like the joy in both sets of those pictures leaps off the page. As far as flowers I love hand-tied bouquets, roses, delphiniums, and relatively simple. That said, I did arrangements for JOYfest 2024 for Divas Who Win Freedom Center (the place I am working now), and I would say those were the most creative floral arrangements I have ever made. The theme was The Woman King, and the arrangements were probably 4 feet tall including the container, maybe 5 feet. Half of them had calla lilies that were supposed to be reminiscent of spears. They were amazing.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I actually have not been able to find a mentor! When I started to capitulate to the pressure from my sister, I went to UGA to a program I heard about there that will assign a mentor. I filled out all the paperwork and asked for someone to mentor me on the business side of things. I never got one, which is a shame. I would still love to work with a mentor. I feel like I need someone to work with me in the areas of advertising, running a business, setting prices, and similar areas.
Pricing:
- Totally need help in this area LOL
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bstreetfloralsandphotographyllc.com/current-projectsrecent-projects/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/b.street.photos.and.flowers/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564938839901
Image Credits
The photograph of the girl in the purple dress was taken by her family, but I did the flowers.
