We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mak Richardson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mak, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I was driven and inspired to start my own floral business with the help of my two-year-old daughter, Athena. She doesn’t even know the impact she has made on me in her short lifetime. It is amazing to think about how she couldn’t even communicate and yet she pushed me to become a woman and mother that I never imagined I could be.

I started Athena Blooms LLC in January of 2022. It felt like it was exactly what I was meant to do. And then a speed bump in my personal life shifted the way I saw my business heading. I made the decision to get sober and stop drinking alcohol. Alcohol had been one of my most difficult battles with myself in my short 27 years of life. I was on and off sober but never ready to admit that I was incapable of partaking in the recreational activity responsibly and innocently. An event took place in February 2022 that showed me the danger alcohol will bring to the life of my daughter and myself if I kept drinking. Three times before this I tried to eliminate alcohol from my life and failed. This time, I knew that I was never going to drink again.

Three months into my sober living, I felt empty in the work I was doing for my business. It didn’t feel like I was truly doing what my heart’s purpose was. So, I spent time brainstorming how I could incorporate my floral business into my future psychology degree and life experiences regarding recovery as a young woman and mother.

Part of the reason that I couldn’t stay sober the first few times was because I never found a community that felt like it could benefit my life for the rest of my recovery journey. AA, CA, NA, it’s all full of really depressing war stories and people who were much older and hard to relate to. I never could wrap my head around why people went. One thing I did learn about myself in those meetings, that I didn’t realize until five years later, was that I was chosen to build a community of women and mothers who felt safe and heard and advocated for in their recovery and attempts at recovery, but in a different and effective way for the long-term goals of sobriety.

I spent many sleepless nights coming up with ideas on how to intertwine my calling to build a community and my creative calling of floristry.
I started with the idea of a “Build Your Own Bouquet” workshop for women and mothers in recovery. Then I felt so uneasy charging for this when I know how difficult it can be to afford the basic intellectual need of creativity and community and connection. I said those three C words over and over in my head for two days. And then it finally blossomed. I decided I would open a Non-Profit Organization, named ‘Room to Bloom’, to give women and mothers the access to explore their creativity through natures gift of flowers, as well as build a community with healthy and strong connections. Ultimately, giving them the Room they need to Bloom in their recovery.
I told myself my entire life that I just wasn’t artistic or creative and that I was reclusive introvert who preferred to be alone. As I dug deeper into understanding myself, I discovered those two lies were possibly the most catastrophic inner dialogue I told to myself. When I stumbled upon floristry, it felt like a void inside my soul was filled. When I became committed to sobriety, I realized how impossible it would be if I didn’t have a community of individuals; people who understood the fears I held on to when I was vulnerable about this very shameful, yet very huge part of who I am. Pair this with creative and healthy ways to cope and I think I may have cracked the code to living a sober life full of meaning and purpose.
Along with workshops, I intend to hold creative writing classes, experiences with wildflowers and foraging on group hiking trips. I want to also have a flower garden that can be tended to by anyone in the community and the option to pick flowers and nurture them and create with it whether it’s bouquets, preservation, herbal recipes, bouquet building, the list goes on and on and will continue to do so as I light this fire in me.

I believe I was meant to do this. I am scared. I am scared my voice wont matter. I am scared that my vulnerability will bring with it negative backlash as a mother.
But what I am scared of even more, is other women and mothers going through this feeling alone and trapped in surviving life the only ways they know how. If I can help others by being authentic in my struggles, then I can educate and advocate for the community of mothers who feel this heavy burden as I do.
I hope to change the world in monumental ways where substance abuse and mental health are concerned. And I can’t think of a better, more “ME” way to do so than building something that empowers women to connect, create, and show compassion to themselves and to others.

As 2023 came to a close, I spent the last two months putting my all into Room to Bloom Non-Profit Organization. I currently have a board with four members who are helping me get registered as a 501(c)3 so we can be official as late as spring. We hope to make as many connections as possible within the recovery community. We are developing partnerships with treatment centers, women’s shelters, recovery centers to begin teaching workshops and getting our purpose and mission out to as many women who need this.

Room to Bloom Non-Profit Organization Mission Statement:
We aim to provide a safe space for women and mothers to nurture their recovery and wellbeing through the many art forms of Mother Nature. Our program is designed to offer several creative options to explore in the form of flowers. This includes bouquet designing, dried floral art, gardening, foraging. Combining nature with creativity, and making it accessible for those that could benefit from the need, is our greatest priority.
We want to teach women how to cope in a way that empowers, enlightens, and provides with wonder.

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

In the dreaded year of 2020, where Covid took over many of our lives, I was unemployed with experience only as a bartender and server. I applied for an internship with a local flower shop here in Denver that year, and started in the Spring. I worked for three months as an intern, and was then hired on as a part time employee. This opportunity during this time in life, was a piece of myself that put my soul’s purpose into motion. I loved working with the flower shop, but I realized I had ideas that I believe were one of a kind and true to who I was, and I wasn’t willing to share them with anyone. So with the knowledge I gained from the flower shop, and the blessing to start off on my own, I started my own LLC called “Athena Blooms.”
I started out selling dried flower designs, soon started adding fresh flower designs, and a year of this, I decided I wanted to focus my business on weddings and events rather than just single custom orders, so I could do larger scale projects with more of my creative flare.
While I love my business and clients, I know my hearts true calling lies within the Non-Profit aspect of my entrepreneur self. The idea of this non-profit was planted into my mind shortly after beginning my floral
business and beginning my own recovery journey. After doing the work required of me to better
my well-being, I realized that my creativity was an important aspect to my overall health in all areas, including,
physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
During the early stages of recovery, boredom can be a substantial trigger back to use
because the brain’s reward/response system is altered by active use. During my own process, I
learned to transform my way of thinking when those moments of boredom came. I leaned into
my creativity, I leaned into my time spent in nature, and I leaned into feeling that boredom rather
than trying to escape from it. This is where I realized creativity and empowerment is born.
The idea of Room to Bloom is intended to help women and mothers in recovery from
substance abuse, domestic abuse, and trauma. Flowers are considered a luxury expense, and this
non-profit will allow them to be an accessible part of the recovery journey to those it benefits.
Room to Bloom offers a safe space to explore and nurture the well-beings of women and mothers
through the many art forms of flowers.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Empowerment. I have come to find that each of us has a beautiful, one-of-a-kind craft that allows us to share our most vulnerable selves in tangible ways. It is beautiful and I hope this non-profit is able to do this for many women, as it did for me.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I do not believe you can succeed as a creative business owner without having resilience. I reached a point where I was constantly creatively blocked and felt unable to put out work I was truly proud of. I spent time thinking about what success meant for me. And I came to the realization that success for me, means living a life with purpose. Connecting with others through the beauty of nature and artistic expression. Making life more beautiful and full of magic for everyone I meet. When I feel my fear of failure start to creep up, I remember this personal definition of success, and I am always reborn with a new, hopeful perspective. If I focus my success on my reason why rather than anything else, I am always capable of becoming a better woman, mother, business owner, advocate, community leader, role model.

Contact Info:

• Website: athena-blooms.com
• Instagram: athena_blooms & roomtobloom_np
• Facebook: athenabloomsllc
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mak-richardson-936063229

Image Credits
Taylor Davenport & Tiffany Maksimowicz