CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s International Women’s Day, and one way to support women is by supporting women-owned businesses.
What You Need To Know
- March 8 is International Women’s Day
- Giovy Buyers owns Southern Blossom Florist
- She sells a lot of products made by other women-owned businesses
According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, women own more than 11 million businesses in the U.S.
One Charlotte entrepreneur not only wants to see her business blossom, but also other women-owned businesses too.
Giovy Buyers owns Southern Blossom Florist in South End.
Since opening in 2008, she’s navigated a lot.
"We survived a recession, COVID, survived many things, and here we are, 12 years later we still have Southern Blossom,” she said.
Buyers and her business were even featured in the New York Times.
Now, as her business thrives, and she’s confident in her success, she’s sharing what she’s learned with other female entrepreneurs.
"It’s not about competing against each other, it’s about helping each other,” she said.
Buyers' interest in flowers started in high school. She grew up in Ecuador and interned for a flower exporter.
“I got introduced to that and see what the logistics, what it takes to send flowers,” she said. “That’s how I learned Ecuador is the number one exporter of cut flowers.”
She then interned for the Ecuadorian Embassy while living in Washington, D.C., where she also attended American University. There, she majored in business, hoping one day to open a place of her own.
“But I was thinking to be in the distribution part of it, not owning a flower shop because I had no experience arranging flowers,” she said.
But she ended up doing a lot of things she never thought she would.
She didn’t think she’d leave D.C. either, but a friend kept telling her about Charlotte.
She applied for a job with the city, got the position and decided it was time for a change.
“Instead of being a small fish in a big pond, maybe it’s time for us to move to a growing city,” she said.
In this role, she worked with a lot of small businesses, which prepared her to open her own.
As a business owner now, she tries to support other women-owned businesses.
She carries a lot of products from women-owned businesses to show how they can work together.
“We could become a powerhouse together,” she said.
For women looking at where to go for resources on opening a business, you can head the Women’s Business Center of Charlotte.