Hey Virginia, Welcome to the TLC Journal! Tell us a little bit about Kind Regards and the amazing work you are doing with Unicef Australia and Preemptive Love.

Kind Regards is a floral business that specialises in boutique floral art. It aims to be strikingly unique while being stunning and beautiful! 

The heart of Kind Regards was to give kindness through flowers while helping others. My heart when creating Kind Regards was to bless locals with flowers and hopefully create a vehicle to encourage and bring beauty to people’s everyday life. 

For the rest of the month of Aug & September all profits from any orders will be donated to UNICEF & Preemptive Love to aid in the relief of the current tragedies happening in Afghanistan. I trust these organisations and know that they've been and still are on the ground helping children and families. 

My heart has always been to help others through my small business. In this season my heart aches for the people of Afghanistan.. it literally breaks. 

In Sydney, COVID lockdowns have literally stopped all momentum for my small business. I believe that every single florist, the whole event and wedding industry has felt it!

However, even in the heartbreak of my small business not flourishing.. and yes it sucks... in the midst of the current world events, I am still very blessed!

I have a tool in my hand to help and that tool is flowers. So, if we get the chance to donate a few hundred bucks or maybe MORE, every effort counts. Every effort to help others in NEED counts...

I was lucky enough to be born in a privileged environment where as a woman my rights have already been fought for me. If I was born where that wasn't my reality, I know I'd be praying desperately for someone to help me...

Your flower arrangements are just STUNNING, when/how did you find your passion?

I have always loved flowers. I grew up in the USA and moved to Australia when I was 18 years old. I think experiencing such different landscapes from a young age inspired my passion for art within nature. My uncle is a set designer, and my brother is a creative photographer, florist and designer. These things all fed into my love of design, fashion, aesthetics and art. I think coupled with this love of nature, flowers became the vehicle to share beauty with the world around me. 

I remember telling a friend of mine when I first moved to Australia that, one day, I would like to become a florist, so I think floristry has always inspired me. However, learning the beauty of how flowers could be arranged through installations, the different textures, design and colour pallets – all came while I was on the job styling film shoots for my place of work. I would contract floral designers to come into the studio to create props for shoots and I was fascinated by what they accomplished. I would study what they did and ask a million questions! 

It was from there, that I really dedicated myself to all things floristry. It became my escape, I would head out to the flower markets early in the morning before work with a hot cup of coffee. I would often stay up all night exploring YouTube for videos of floral artistry, fiddling and many hours practicing!

I spent a lot of time volunteering to do weddings and events for my friends at cost just to jump into any situation to expand my skills and experience.

The past 5 years have been a wild and wonderful ride exploring floristry as art, coupled with an outlet and escape for my soul and it has really redefined who I am as a person. It feels as if it has always been something a part of me, back to my roots so to speak, and that I am able to steward, take care of and watch that all come to life through flowers. 

We absolutely adored having you at our Flora Event creating all of our beautiful florals! What has been your fave creation so far?

Oh thank you!!! Being a part of your Flora Event has been the highlight of my year so far. It was so much fun, flying to Brisbane, pulling it together and adding those fun floral installations for your beautiful event. My favourite creation thus far, was being a part of a pop-up shop in Sydney CBD!

We hired out the space and I had 48 hours to turn an empty room into a work of art. We painted the floors and walls baby pink to match the merchandise and theming. It was the middle of winter and it was in a dark alleyway but the florals we brought in were bright, fun, attention-grabbing & stirred people’s souls to warmer days. I love the affect that flowers can have to add beauty and magic to a room and that’s what I felt this event did.  

QUICK FIRE QUESTIONS

Fave Flower: Anthuriums! But honestly, I'd take them all! 

Fave Food: Is coffee a food? 

Fave song right now: Dancing in the Kitchen by LANY 

Three things you can’t live without: Eyebrow pencil, The Moonflower Monologues book by Tess Guinery, Tabasco sauce 

Fave TLC outfit: I LOVE my Lounge Set in Dusty. I am always on the move & it's nice to feel fabulous while sweating!