Meet Parker Everson

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

Parker, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

As a working florist, I always think about if creating with flowers was something that was always part of me or if it came later; informed by my love of photography. Photography to me was all about color, juxtaposition, framing, and balance – these are useful tools for arranging I have learned. It was not until COVID-19 that I was forced to sit still with myself and I realized that I did not have anything to fulfill me. Sure I was living on my own, going to college classes and figuring out my freshman year- but I would finish my assigned work and still feel like this itch still had not been scratched. I needed something more. I am not sure exactly how it began, but I know one week I picked up some flowers with my groceries, got them home and arranged, and posted what I had done. My love and my basically infatuation with flowers was kickstarted in that moment and Parker’s Petals was informally born. It was not about any feedback, reassurance, or external force of any kind. It was an internally driven need to create something with my hands that was a personal and unique interpretation. This finally began to satisfy my need for creative fulfillment. With that context in place, it is fascinating to think now that the same feeling I was initially chasing is what keeps me coming back to the flowers time and again. Each order and event is a different approach to the same question and I sometimes have to go back to my childhood fascinations to solve what would be an interesting take for each brief I do for Parker’s Petals. My love for the work, the industry, and the people I meet continues to grow and become something I could have never imagined. It feels like I have always been doing it even though it is a fairly new endeavor. Perhaps this is because there has always been an interest in flowers in my life. I am excited each day for what it could hold and I am learning that even the “slow” days allow you to return back to creating even more informed by what inspires you and how to apply this to your work. I am eager to see what the future holds for the flowers and I.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I think what makes Parker’s Petals exciting is the foraged, made to order take on each arrangement. I never make duplicates and each event is its very own story line with individual influence and inspiration taken from color, client personality, season, location and textures.

My brand is growing, but still currently just me, my “studio”, and some great friends in the industry who help me put on events much larger than just I could do.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Creating for the sake of creating – Do not let any noise dilute why you are inspired to work with your medium of choice.

2. Budget does not have to determine the level of ingenuity or uniqueness of your product – some of my most creatively elevated work was derived from a constraint of some sort – many times budget…

3. Remember why you love what you do and find things that remind you of this – staying inspired and motivated is a much more hands on process than I think I realized.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

My parents fostered my creative development from as early as I can remember. One birthday in particular, I recall my Mom bringing me to Lowe’s to buy pulleys and ropes to create and play with. Whatever the scenario, my parents always made sure I had the materials and the space to create. I am so grateful for this.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @parkerspetalsatlanta