Behind every business there’s a story for the name. And here’s my story.
My Dad went into hospital after having a fall and was quickly diagnosed with terminal cancer after being in remission for prostate cancer for years.
I remember walking into see him sitting on the hospital bed, he was always so happy and bubbly, a real ray of sunshine to be around and he was trying so hard to stay positive in front of all of us and succeeded for the whole of our visit until we left. I suddenly remembered I’d left my glasses on his trolley by his bed and had to run back and get them. There I saw my Dad hunched over with his head in his hands. I gently helped him to get back into bed and gave him the biggest hug I’d ever given him, tears welling up between both of us, and I knew I’d do whatever I could to keep his spirits up.
Over the course of the weeks I spent every hour I could with him. I’d sleep in a hospital chair beside his bed, listening to the epic snoring of some of the patients on his ward and giggling with him at how he could possibly sleep through it, but he was always able to.
I slowly began to introduce him to Reiki, something he thought was a bit mumbo jumbo at first, which later began to be something he really looked forward to. He loved to listen to the gentle music and the calming feeling Reiki gave to him, and he actively asked for it when he moved from the hospital to a hospice.
When he moved to the hospice, I’d had a conversation with a friend about heaven and we talked about my Nan who had passed away many years ago. I had said to him that I was asking for a sign that my Nan was still around, he said that I had to ask for a specific sign.
After thinking about it for a little while I decided that sunflowers were a thing that reminded me of her. I had a print of Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers in my bedroom growing up, and this was going to be my sign for Nan. I put a big bunch of them in Dads room as a sign that she was there with us all, and you know what, they appeared everywhere, in supermarkets, on clothes they seemed to be everywhere all of a sudden and it made me feel that my Nan was definitely letting me know she was around.
A few weeks later in the early hours of the morning, I was standing behind Dad giving him his calming Reiki and I gave him permission to leave us; something I will always be eternally grateful for a beautiful carer for telling me to do, and he made his way to heaven.
On the day of his funeral as we pulled into the carpark, an old man we didn’t know walked by the car and in his arms he was holding a beautiful bunch of sunflowers. I was absolutely gobsmacked, my heart smiled knowing that Dad and Nan had been reunited.
Over the weeks to come I really wanted to build a business name around the theme of a sunflower. Every day when I walked my dog we walked passed a house with sunflowers in the garden, and I saw a quote that said ‘sunflowers, follow the sun’, but when it is cloudy and grey they face each other and share their energy. I knew that my business was going to be about was connecting with people and supporting them to be a happier version of themselves, something my Dad had always had the knack of being able to do naturally with all that met him.
My business has grown from the connection I had with sunflowers and the sunshine and happiness my Dad radiated while he was here, and that’s my story of how my brand name was created.