In 2005 after losing my previous husband, I desperately needed help to make my small hobby grow into a business that would help to support me and my sons. I knew how to do hard work but I wasn't sure about starting a business that I hoped one day would prosper and support my family. I had heard about a group at Lake Sumter College called SCORE but I wasn’t sure what it was so I went to see if that was where I could get some much needed advice. I met with a few of the folks and after telling them what my future goals were, was given some very helpful suggestions on the directions that I needed to be taking with starting my future business. I was fortunate to have also been hired by the Lake County Clerk's office which helped to offset the initial cost factors of my business. My goal was to get into this hobby/business of raising flowers (Louisiana lrises) without having to borrow any money. I tried to always make the plants pay for themselves or obviously they weren't a business, just a hobby! In the beginning, I was very blessed to have a lot of people donate pots, supplies that were no longer of use to their businesses to help me start my own. I spoke at a lot of garden clubs and also had them come here to the house which was a great way for me to network my business and continue to grow. My sons were very helpful when I had started back to work selling flowers for me or dealing with people that came by the house – I couldn’t have done it without them!