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

Makia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents had me when they were teenagers, which is unbelievable every time I talk about it. They both dropped out of high school around that same time as well. They did not go to college or earn anything more than a GED. My parents worked extremely hard to provide a roof for me and my siblings. They sacrificed everything that they could to provide a life for us. Their perseverance and love made me the woman I am today. They taught me that I could be anything that I wanted to be even when their dreams and hopes were put on hold. They showed me that I can break barriers and generational curses.

When I was a little girl, I would watch my mom go to work at Blimpie every day where she would only make ten dollars an hour while also cleaning homes on the side to make extra money. I would watch her scrap together any dollar that she would receive to go towards trips for us or yearbooks. I would even want to help her and eventually get my first job at a grocery store where I would assist in paying the bills for the family. I wanted to do anything that I could to make her sacrifices worth it so that is what I hope I have done and will continue to do.

Makia, 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?

I am Makia Jenkins and I am addicted to reading. I have always loved reading. I once read that reading provides an opportunity to travel, escape reality, and experience all different types of emotions in the same book. When I was a little girl, I wanted to read anything and everything including encyclopedias. All of the books led me to become a lawyer. I practice in the misdemeanor criminal defense area. After years of practicing, I have learned that flowers and recreational reading is the best ways to decompress from a day in court. I believe that others will also benefit from the aroma of flowers and I believe others also share my passion for reading. That is how Petals & Pages came to fruition. Being a lawyer is my passion, but also there is room for another,

I am most proud of the dedication that Petals & Pages has to my late grandmother. She was an extraordinary woman who only saw the best in everyone that came in view of her. There is a dedicated area of reading for children in Petals & Pages and it is named “Ever’s Reading Corner” for her.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The goal that drives me every day when creating Petals & Pages is to provide a comfortable and elegant atmosphere for customers and all those who come across this store. Growing up, I did not see nor hear of any minority, female-led businesses which was hard to not have any role models to look up to. To have any blueprint to follow.

However, even in becoming a lawyer, I did not have any role models in my life that were attorneys. I did not have anyone to tell me the best major to get or the best school to attend. I researched and studied it. I conquered that dream. The same will be said for Petals and Pages. The most important goal of Petals and Pages is to encourage more woman who are minorities to continue to follow their dreams.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think that while society has become the most connected as it has ever been, it has been the most disconnected as ever. I think that society has encouraged more people to only communicate and connect via the internet and not face-to-face interactions. I think that to promote a thriving creative ecosystem, you must merge face-to-face interactions with the brilliance of social media. Social media should be used as a tool that feeds face-to-face interactions and that is what society needs to lean more towards. That’s what business owners should lean towards.