BUSINESS IS BLOOMING

I arrived in Vancouver in 2018 with my then boyfriend, Evan. We got married two years ago, so he’s now my husband. We’re both from Galway. He’s working as a plumber over here and wants to one day open his own plumbing business.

I’ve always loved flowers and gardening. I started taking a flower course in March last year and I’m getting my diploma in floristry. Last October, I decided to start a floral business as a side hustle. I did my degree in Criminal Justice in Waterford, so that’s my background and I currently work in the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia (TLABC). When I’m not in the office, I’m working on my floral business from home. I source everything from wholesalers, who source from local farms. I’d often go down there at 5:00am to get my orders in before heading into the office. A florist friend of mine nearby has a garage with large refrigerators and we’d often collaborate on bigger jobs. We have two big weddings we’re currently working on together. Collaborating is a great way to learn from other florists and that’s my goal – to collaborate with other small business owners. I’m making the most of every opportunity to build my network and make valuable connections.

I’ve held stalls at CelticFest Vancouver and the Scottish Cultural Centre market. Through word of mouth and networking, business is growing.

Life is pretty busy, juggling work and the business but my lifestyle in Vancouver is amazing. I play Gaelic football and go hiking, cycling or down to the beach, whereas I didn’t do much of that back home. So for me, it’s a lot more balanced here. My husband and I have discussed whether we’d go back to live in Ireland and we’ve agreed that Vancouver is home now. That said, we do love to go back for holidays and family celebrations. My sister’s getting married in August so we’re looking forward to that. It might get more difficult to visit after that trip. We’re both 30 now, so it’s a busy time in our lives, trying to get a house and build a business – and who knows what else will come down the road – but we’ll try and get back every few years.

What I love most about my job is the sense of peace that comes from working with flowers. It’s very relaxing and therapeutic. I also get a wonderful feeling watching my customers’ responses when they see

For Galway-born florist Faye Heaney, Vancouver has not only become home but has provided an opportunity for a whole new flourishing career.

In conversation with Meg Walker their arrangements. I love talking to customers and listening to their stories. If they’re getting married, I like to know things like how they met their partner. And funerals here are very different to those back in Ireland – they have a celebration of life here. It could be six or seven months or even a year down the line. There are a lot of different cultures here in Vancouver too and it’s fascinating learning about their various customs and traditions. For instance, in Chinese culture, the colour white symbolises death and mourning, so you wouldn’t have white flowers at a wedding, and the bride would wear red.

My advice for anyone thinking of moving to Vancouver would be to do your research. When we first arrived, the big challenge was finding a suitable place to live. Rentals here are usually unfurnished, so you have to buy everything. We stayed in an Airbnb for four weeks trying to find a place and ended up getting a “basement suite”, where you live in the basement of someone’s house. That’s all we could find at the time. We stayed there for about a year and then moved into a one-bedroom apartment on the other side of town, where we are now, saving for a mortgage. We’re right in the city, which is great but it’s pretty expensive to buy, so we’ll probably eventually move outside in the greater Vancouver area. Rent prices have risen a lot since we arrived too, so we’re lucky with our current apartment. I’d advise anyone to research what it’s like living here and come with a decent amount of money saved to get set up. I’ve also found it very difficult to wrap my head around the tax system here – you have to file at a certain time of year, then with PST and GST you have to charge that depending on if you’re in that category and pay those taxes. You have to be very particular with tracking and keeping receipts for every transaction. That’s probably the hardest thing for me right now.

We have a big Irish community here. Vancouver probably has one of the biggest Irish populations in Canada after Toronto. In the Gaelic club, you meet everybody playing the GAA and just having the craic. I love my Irish culture. Just because I’m not at home doesn’t mean I’m any less Irish. And, I want to keep that Irishness within the business. My logo is a shamrock because it represents who I am, where I came from and what I’m about. And I want to really connect with the Irish community here. Since I started the business, other Irish businesses have been in touch and it’s just been really great. We have Canadian and Australian friends as well as Irish, so it’s a big mix of people. And they’re all very welcoming people. heaneysflowers.com

I do miss home. You miss your family – you can’t bring your family with you. I have a big family back home. Evan is from a smaller family and they’re coming over in April, so we’ll probably take them to Vancouver Island, North Vancouver, maybe go to the smaller islands like Bowen Island, which is a 20-minute ferry ride away and is lovely, then down to a little town called Ladner, which is a very old, historical town. Then up the mountain to see the bears if they’re out of hibernation – all the tourists love to see a bear.