Artistic minds bring big, beautiful dreams to life. In this edition of our Doers and Dreamers series, Mount Soledad resident Laura Demoreno discusses how she turned her life-long love affair with flowers into a blooming social enterprise.
Like an artfully-curated bouquet, The Daily Stem and its charity branch, The Giving Stem, are the creative culmination of the formative experiences charting the course of her life’s journey: social worker, mother, caregiver and a partner in her family business. With fresh flowers as her North Star, Laura’s new endeavor is brightening the lives of caregivers to San Diegans living with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Answers have been edited for length and clarity.
LJVN: Describe what inspires your company’s philanthropic branch, The Giving Stem.
The Giving Stem came to me because, alongside my desire to start doing work that I love, I wanted to do something that fulfills me. As I mentioned, I was a social worker, and though I loved that career, I left it and I think deep down I’ve always had a desire to get back to it in some form.
On the other side of that, I lost my mother to Alzheimer’s a few years ago. It was a long and terrible disease that affected our entire family. My father, who has since passed from pancreatic cancer, was her main caregiver. It was really striking to me that my father, who I’d only ever known as the one being taken care of, became the caregiver. Not only did he provide loving, meticulous care for my mother, he did it happily and with so much love. I saw how difficult that was for him both physically and emotionally.
One night, while thinking about this new project I was developing, and after some conversations with the director of ActivCare Mission Bay memory care, I came up with the idea to honor caregivers.
It started small, with weekly arrangements for ActivCare Mission Bay. From there I added Alzheimer’s San Diego, delivering bouquets to caregivers at their support group meetings. Now, I’m working on growing this into something bigger: reaching home caregivers directly, the people quietly caring for a spouse or a parent at home, often with no organization behind them and no one checking in. Those are the caregivers I think about the most, because that was my father. If your readers know a home caregiver, or are one, I’d love to hear from them, this is exactly the kind of story and connection that helps The Giving Stem.
LJVN: When and how did you discover your gift for floral design?
It’s been a long time coming. Over the years, one of my favorite parts of going to a grocery store, particularly Trader Joe’s, was seeing what flowers they had available. I loved being able to pull a few different bunches and see what I could put together. This grew into a challenge for me: every week I’d pick up stems and arrange them. I love choosing color palettes and mixing textures. Whenever we entertained or hosted parties, I’d make sure to create arrangements for each table that matched the theme. I did this so often that my husband would tease me and say I should at least make it a business. So, I did — sort of.
With the launch of this business I have found wholesale flower marts and providers that not only have the most amazing blooms but they are always happy to help and lend some guidance. Recently I’ve been working with a local wholesaler, Peak Blooms, and the owner, Izzy has been instrumental in guiding me through this journey as a new floral designer. I am happy to say I have found a community in this industry as well; it is so collaborative and inclusive.
LJVN: What inspires your signature floral designs?
I take my inspiration from all kinds of things: a sunrise, a sunset, a stroll along the cove. It also comes from following other floral artists and studying their work. Sometimes it’s one amazing flower that calls to me and I build the whole arrangement around it. I’ve been introduced to the butterfly dahlia, the mandarin x-pression rose and the pom-pom dahlia, to name a few.
LJVN: What are your hopes and aspirations for The Daily Stem and The Giving Stem?
I think of The Daily Stem as a social enterprise, it’s a for-profit business, but the profit has a purpose. The Giving Stem exists because of The Daily Stem. Every time I sell a bouquet, it allows me to purchase extra flowers to gift to a caregiver. My hope is that I can grow this into a meaningful project. I’ve made some great collaborations and connections, all at a grassroots community level. This is a self-funded program; I’m not a nonprofit; it’s just me trying to make it happen.
For instance, I sold an Easter arrangement to someone who found me on Nextdoor. The day I delivered her flowers, she came out of her house and, with the kindest disposition, told me how proud she was of me. I felt like it was my mother speaking through her, and when I got in my car, I was in tears, tears of joy and gratitude. A few weeks later, that same person connected me with a mutual Nextdoor neighbor who grows flowers in her yard. She had posted that she had some to give away; I went to pick them up and let her know I’d be using them to make bouquets for Alzheimer’s San Diego and ActivCare Mission Bay. Once she heard how her flowers would be used, she started donating her exquisite flowers to me weekly and I couldn’t be more grateful — it’s really helped me expand my reach.
I’m also excited about an upcoming collaboration with Bloomink, a Canyon Crest Academy student initiative that makes handmade cards using recycled paper and flowers. They’ll be donating cards with messages of thanks for me to pair with the bouquets.
LJVN: Would you describe yourself as a Doer or a Dreamer? Why?
I’d say I’m more of a dreamer. I’m a bit risk-averse, so before I take action on anything, I tend to think it through and overthink it. Sometimes, I spend so much time thinking about the pros and cons that I never get to the “doing” part. I am proud of myself that I took this leap and made The Daily Stem/The Giving Stem a reality. Honestly, there have been a few times these past months where I’ve thought about giving this dream up. It isn’t easy to stay positive on a week when the flowers don’t sell or when I spend more on them than I make. That’s when the self-doubt starts to creep in. Being a dreamer sometimes means having grand expectations that reality doesn’t live up to. But being a dreamer also means allowing yourself to keep reaching for bigger things and that’s the road I’m choosing every day.
LJVN: If you could make a wish for La Jolla, what would it be?
For me, La Jolla has always had a bit of a small-town feel, the kind of place where everybody knows your name. As an example: When my youngest son was born, the pediatrician who came to check on him in the hospital turned out to be the same mom who’d been sitting next to me in our kids’ religious education class! Or the fact that whenever I’m out running errands, I will inevitably run into someone I know. My wish is that this kind of community never fades away.
