We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful April Gill-Davis . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with April below.

April, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, what do you think about family businesses? Would you want your children or other family members to one day join your business?

My thoughts on Family Businesses are that they are a pathway to generational wealth. I think that the foundation supports our family unit and teaches our children numerous lessons on overcoming obstacles, meeting deadlines, planning, strategic movement, diversification, budgeting, and teaming.

Family Businesses also teach the graces of life, such as kindness, self-control, trustworthiness and patience to name a few.

Family Businesses support our communities by meeting needs, celebrating the successes of our community members, serving as role models, and they also exemplify reliability and leadership.
My father and my uncles always had another business besides their main occupation.

Most of them had either a painting or carpentry business. They were taught by my grandfather that you needed multiple streams of income to support your family.

My grandparents on my father’s side were sharecroppers starting out, and then my grandfather became a part of the industrial revolution working in manufacturing. My grandmother took care of children and cleaned homes to support the family financially.

Always working to support the family unit, and to make sure that the needs of the family were met first, then their church family, and then the community at large.

Having a family business allowed them the ability to support others and extend their generosity.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi,
My name is April Gill-Davis, I am the owner of April Showers Gift Baskets & Flowers.
My love for flowers had been cultivated by my mother Eva E. Banks. She allowed me to work in the flower beds, and to groom her roses, which was fun for me, and a great honor.
I had always worked with crafts and some sort of art medium in my early years, it just seemed natural, but I had never dreamed of becoming a Florist or a Designer.
It wasn’t until after marriage and having my baby, that the journey really started. I was sitting in a meeting for our new church, and a request came across the room from my Pastor, Apostle Delores Kendrick, to make arrangements for the first service.
I just knew it didn’t have anything to do with me, so I did not pay attention, until my name was called out, and she made a formal request for me to make arrangements for the first Sunday.
I think I was in shock! I had never made formal arrangements before. I had tinkered around with making arrangements that were silk, but not for such an Important occasion.
Well, to say the least, my first arrangement was a colorful array of bamboo sticks. Thankfully, they didn’t give up on me, I then began to pursue classes to learn more about the trade.
I was laid off from my job at one point, which gave me the opportunity to go to school and obtain my Floral Marketing and Management Degree. That opportunity hooked me for life.
I began making arrangements for friends, family and different events. Eventually I designed arrangements for weddings, which led to my first corporate customer contract.
You ask what sets our business apart? First we create unique, exquisite displays of beauty and art.
We are customer focused; we love our customers! We have well-established relationships with them.
I am most proud that we continue to grow and excel, to position this business to be a part of the generations to come! That my daughter is now a part of the team!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In this trade you cannot stop because of your problems or circumstances, you still have to show up for your customer. 

When my mother passed away, I was the one that was responsible to make her floral arrangements. It didn’t matter the grief that I felt, this was the one way to  shower my mother with love at her Celebration of Life Service, for all that she had  given to us, her family.  

In preparation for her service, I found out that my neighbor, who I was greatly  fond of, had passed away as well. So, I made a floral arrangement for her. 

The morning of my mother’s service, I dropped off flowers first to my neighbor’s  service, and then went to my own mother’s celebration.  

That day was hard to get through, but in my heart, I knew my mother and my  neighbor were pleased, which gave me great peace.  

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

This business was started with just $100.00. That was the amount of funds needed to purchase the product and satisfy the customer request. 

My business started with the extra funds from my family budget. I had to work  another job to pay for everyday life. 

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: aprilshowersseattle
• Facebook: aprilshowersseattle

Image Credits
Orange wedding ( sunrisemediaco)