Who She Is
Valerie Crisostomo studied hospitality at Florida State University and moved to Atlanta, where she worked in hotel event planning, including as an event director. Her path into floral design began when a client asked her to provide flowers for a wedding. She later launched her own business, One Soul Events + Flowers. In 2020, she founded Black Girl Florists, which started as a simple list of Black florists and grew into a network where Black women florists share resources and experiences.
Why She Matters
Crisostomo saw that Black women florists needed a place to connect, learn, and find new customers, so she built one. Black Girl Florists has since hosted its own florist conferences. In 2023, it became the first all-Black women's team to install an exhibit at the Philadelphia Flower Show, and its design won a silver medal and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's Gardening for the Greater Good Award. In 2023, Crisostomo also co-led a floral design lecture and demonstration at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. Her work has helped open doors for a new generation of florists who want to see themselves in the profession.
