Meet Gaby Ancell and Jordan Davis | Small Business Owner & Florist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gaby Ancell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gaby, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
When I was a child and people would ask me, “What do you want to be or do when you grow up?” I would
say something relating to an artist, teacher, or something to do with sports. I wasn’t
dreaming up at a young age how to start my own business. That wasn’t something I
even considered. Not for the fact that I didn’t think I could do it, but rather because I
didn’t know that was an option. I did always know that I need to fuel my creative side
somehow.
As life unfolding, I found myself working for In-n-out. I grew a career of 15 years, I
learned so much along the way about how to run a business and was mentored by a
handful of great leaders to show me I could run my own business.
I began to dream of the possibilities of what life would be like if I created my own
business with passions and my own touch. I’ve always loved flowers. My husband loves
working on cars and trucks and has collected quite a few along the way. I thought of
how I could combine our two passions. Jules Flower Shop was born.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The word that keeps coming to mind and out of my mouth is KINDNESS. I have walked through so many experiences in my life so far, and would I want to handle some things I did differently from the
past—absolutely. I was too cocky at times, too selfish at times, and not empathetic
enough. Through my career at In-n-out I grew so much personally and professionally;
and honestly, I was holding onto so much pain from personal experiences that I needed
to work through at the time but didn’t until I couldn’t ignore them any longer. I want to
exhibit kindness and compassion for people. It doesn’t matter what industry you work
in; we work in the people business. I want to promote people, value people, engage
with kind people, and spread joy. Whether that’s from a beautiful bouquet, or just our
conversation and my actions.

Since I left the food industry, I have made it a priority to designate time to
both my work and to my family. I love that I get to cook and bake for and with my
family. I love to throw parties and decorate. Get to go see my daughter receive an
award for her character, and help the teachers decorate the school; or be a part of her
school events is huge for me. Justin and I take the time to spend quality time together
too, whether it’s gardening, housework, watching a football game, going to the gym
together, or going out for a date. Our classic line to each other is “We can do anything
together!” And I think it surprises some people how many things we do together and
how many similar interests we have; but it doesn’t matter what we do or where we go
because we love our time together and walking through life together. Every passion
project and career we have built, we help each other with and share ideas about.

I took some time to think about this question, and I think I could best answer it
by saying that I want to change the narrative about how we treat people and how we
impact our own community. I want to bring beauty, joy, and kindness to my community.
I love the history and rich culture in my community, but how do we pour into our
community? How do we help that community keep its historical integrity while sharing
it or adding curb appeal? It’s a question that has been asked religiously throughout
history. It starts with a conversation and a listening ear. We tend to communicate more
with our mouths than with our ears. People want to be heard, so let’s listen and develop
a relationship before we make assumptions of what they need or who they are. That’s
what I would like to impact throughout my career, and there may be something else
that comes into my life during that path as well…so I want to be open minded to
possibilities too.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Great question! I love to support small businesses, and unfortunately I can’t name them all, but here are some of my favorites or go too. Patterns and Pops, Cinderella Ranch, Petite Parker, Babe’s Tea House, West Main, Black Haus, Poulette, The Barn, Fika, Little Man Ice Cream, Ginger and Baker, Boondocks, and so many more.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My “why” of why I get up in the morning, why I do what I do is because of my family. I was
so blessed to have such an involved and loving family.
I attribute my work ethic to my mom. I know no other person who works as hard as she
does and puts more effort and creativity into her work. She always had amazing style
and taste, which influenced so many things in my life. How I pick the flowers I do to put
on the truck, my attire, how I want my house to look, and where I get my creativity
from. My mom taught herself how to do French manicures by watching someone and
then practicing. She amazes me!
And I would say that I get my competitive, out of the box thinking from my dad. He is an
amazing wood worker and can build anything. I played sports all of my life, and my dad
never missed a game ever. If I didn’t see him or hear his voice, I knew he was there by
his whistle (wish I could whistle that loud and distinctive). I probably wasn’t as grateful
in the moment when he was teaching me about tools, sports, cars, mowing the grass,
washing the cars, changing my oil, etc., but I love the fact that I know how to do all
those things or could carry on a conversation about any one of those subjects. Honestly,
it shocks people when I know how to do or talk about those things.
My husband and I are raising our two children the same way. We share our passions and
do so many things with our kids. We are very involved in our children’s lives and take
every moment we can to teach them. I like to say I teach them the why behind things
because if I just tell them how to do something, I’m just throwing something on the wall
and hoping to goodness it sticks, but by teaching them the why behind something will
trigger their brain to think and store that knowledge so that when they are older or not
with us, they will have the tools to make an educated decision. My family and the
support of my family is what the key factor is behind my success.

Website: https://jules-flower-truck.myshopify.com/

Instagram: @julesflowertruck

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaby-ancell-4b3a21245/