We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Morgan Charles a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Morgan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
Growing up I had a lot of freedom, this freedom led to a lot of mistakes and lessons but also showed me my strengths. My dad knows how to do everything, but mount a tv, yes seriously. I remember watching him, and not in a creepy way, I was eager to learn. I wanted to be able to fix things when they broke, change the way my room looked if I felt like it, and make the comfort food I grew up on when I needed it. As I got older, and learned how to use power tools, I became his worst nightmare. I was always asking how I could get things done and never took no for an answer. I have now claimed the title as “Little Problem Solver”, my dad being the “Big Problem Solver” of course.
My mom has always been one of the hardest woking people I know, watching the sacrifices she always made was the push that I believe has lead me on this journey. Growing up you plan your life, to go to school, get married, have kids and then??? As a child I always saw the long hours, the stress, the confinement and as I got older I knew that wasn’t what I wanted for her or myself. When I had to opportunity to start a business I knew exactly who I wanted by my side, and we went from there.
I would never say that this journey has been stress-less or hasn’t required long hours but the satisfaction knowing that the sky is the limit makes the sacrifices worth it.
Morgan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Hi I’m Morgan Charles, Co-Ower of Elizabeth And Leigh!
We are an Atlanta, GA based wedding design and creative floral studio by mother-daughter team, Paula & Morgan.
In 2020, Paula started making flowers, selling them at pop-ups, and freelancing for wedding florists. On a whim, Morgan came along to help at one of the weddings and something clicked! We went all in on our wedding floral business (previously known as P for Petunia), and it took off almost immediately.
Since then we have been able to create arrangements for dream weddings, work alongside gorgeous couples, and hone our signature style. We draw our inspiration from fine art and European gardens, which you can expect to see woven into all of our custom creations.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
Always ask! Starting out in a field I knew nothing about was beyond frightening, especially when I was always surrounded by seasoned veterans. I would spend hours trying to find answers to my questions online instead of asking someone I had worked with or even followed on social media. Creatives are the nicest group of professionals I have ever met. There are so many people in my circle now that I can go to for everything and anything and even if they don’t have the answer they’re always willing to assist in finding it.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My goal would be to break the cycle of wedding designs feeling overused and mundane. I know there is only so many word combinations to search on Pinterest, and a lot of things have still yet to be done and photographed.
I always encourage my couples to think outside of the box and ask them to use a little bit of imagination and create their dream and not recreate Pinterest’s most popular and circulated images.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://elizabethandleigh.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethandleigh_/
Image Credits
Kim Hames Emily Battles Kelsey Young Shauna Veasey