Today we’d like to introduce you to Harue Christy.
Hi Harue, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. My parents always had colorful seasonal flowers decorating the house. Even as a child, I was fascinated by the delicate and beautiful jewel-like flowers, each with a different expression, and my dream was to become a florist.
I started learning ikebana, koto (Japanese harp), and calligraphy when I was seven years old. During my summer vacation when I was a high school student at the age of 15, I saw an advertisement for a florist position applied for it, and started working as a florist.
Japan was in the midst of a wedding boom in the late 1980s, and there were 10-15 weddings every week. After graduating from high school, I went on to junior college and continued my training in flower arrangement while working for a florist.
In my late 20s, I decided to go to the United States to test myself, where I knew no one. However, I found out that in the U.S. it was difficult to get a visa for the floral work I wanted and that it was easier to get a visa if I managed a Japanese restaurant, so the owner of a box lunch shop in Gardena gave me the business.
I took over the restaurant and woke up at 2:00 a.m. every day to make 300 boxed lunches. I worked almost without a break for five years, distributing them to Japanese supermarkets and selling bentos to Japanese companies, schools, and kindergartens.
Running a business for the first time in the U.S. was so much fun that I forgot about the hardships because every day was fresh and new, but I also experienced many failures because I could not communicate in English. So, I used my breaks from work to study English pronunciation and conversation at adult schools and improved my English while using it in practice.
From an early age, my mother told me, “When you start something, work hard for at least five years. If you do that, you will be able to see where you are going.” I think this teaching had a great influence on me then and now.
Even while I was running a box lunch shop, the desire to work with flowers never left my mind. Still, I was so busy that I didn’t have time to water them or have the time of my mind, and the flowers I displayed in my home always withered.
It was in 2007 that I sold my lunch box business, which was doing well. Finally, I took action to make a full-fledged transition into the flower business that had always been in my mind.
The first thing I did was volunteer at MY FLOWER BY KAEHEE, which is a flower shop. I was so drawn in by the wonderful taste of the flowers that were given to me as a gift one day that I visited the florist and asked him directly to teach me about the floral business and to let me volunteer. I was willing to pay tuition to work there. At that store, starting with cleanup, I spent three years learning about management and general knowledge about working with flowers.
My efforts paid off, and I was approached by YINGKA OWNER OF MASTOR PLANTS AND EVENTS, an event company and I was able to work in Hollywood Beverly Hills, and I have worked on large-scale weddings and parties at famous hotels in Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Downtown.
We have been involved in many large-scale weddings and parties at famous hotels in Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and downtown, charity events for famous celebrities, weddings at golf courses, beaches, and gardens, and many other events.
It wasn’t until about five years after I became independent that I was able to make a business out of flowers. Most of the work I receive from clients comes from my social networking sites, such as when a local florist contacts me after seeing my work on social media and asks for my help for events or when they need help with a wedding and are short on staff.
I regularly receive floral jobs not only from California but also from clients in Colorado, Hawaii, and other out-of-state locations. I will go wherever I am called upon. The most rewarding part of my job is listening to each client’s requests, customizing them to fit their schedule, and fulfilling their ambitions through flowers.
My hobby is gardening. I take great care in growing a variety of flowers in my garden. Because California has a great climate, flowers that would not grow in other places grow vigorously and bloom every year. Flowers are like my own children, and I am filled with emotion when I incorporate them into my work.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When I came to the U.S, I started working as a lunch box vendor because it was easier to get a visa, but also my parents’ job was also in the restaurant business, and it was the job I least wanted to do. I think the reason was that my parents were busy with work and I did not have time to spend with them. I did not have a good impression of the restaurant business.
But I believed that this was a necessary test for me and that if I could overcome this mountain, new opportunities would come my way. Every day early in the morning, I looked at my face in the mirror, put on a smile and a happy expression, and went to work. I thought, “Fortune comes in by a merry gate”.
In terms of my personal life, I had a lot of difficulties with my first marriage. There were times when my business partner withdrew money from our account without our knowledge, we ran out of money in our account, and our checks went burst, burn.
Anyway, one thing I learned from my first marriage is that you can’t count on a man who doesn’t work…! It is important to try everything by yourself.
There were so many other hardships that I can’t even begin to count, but I also met many people through the difficulties.
I used to have a dog named Rusty, and going to the dog park with her was a fleeting pleasure. It was hard work, but it was important to keep going and not give up, and the California sky and air cheered me up.
For me, Los Angeles is a place that gives me that sense of hope.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Born in Aichi Prefecture in Japan. After working at a flower store for ten years and at a cosmetics company for six years, she moved to the U.S. in 1999. After taking over the management of MocMoc, a box lunch store in Gardena, a suburb of Los Angeles, in 2000, she transferred the business to CH Floral in 2007 and became an independent floral designer. She is involved in a wide range of activities including weddings, parties, gift floral arrangements, gardening, and garden design.
How do you think about happiness?
The moments when I can share happiness with customers and friends through flowers and when customers are happy with the floral creations I have created.
Being independent in the flower business allows me to distinguish between my personal and professional life and work at my own pace. Thanks to this, I was able to return home every year to visit my parents and relatives in Japan.
It is a great blessing to be able to live and take care of my family while doing the work I love.
I also look forward to taking the whole family on a road trip in the camper every year.
Above all, this city is full of energetic people who want to test their abilities. My name, Harue, means Sunshine, and it is my greatest honor and pleasure to work with such wonderful artists in sunny Southern California.
Pricing:
- Wedding Package Starting ー$3000
- Gift Flower arrangement Small $75, Midiam $150, Large $250
- Orchid arrangement Small $75, Midiam $150, Large $250
- Flower scissor $48
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.haruechristy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floral_harue_christy
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ch-floral-seal-beach
