Flowers From Fatima takes love of gardening to hair accessories

Growing up, Fatima Spencer spent a lot of time gardening with her father.   “My dad started a community beautification program in the low-income neighborhood I grew up in,” she says.   His goal was to revitalize the neighborhood through flowers and gardening, and change how it looked and how people felt about it. While helping her father garden, Spencer would wear real flowers in her hair, and eventually, she started making hair accessories with artificial flowers.   She started her online Etsy business, Flowers From Fatima, after her father passed away in December 2009. Her goal is to bring beauty and light to the world, along with new trends.   “I don’t see many women accessorizing with hair flowers,” she says.   Flowers From Fatima is mainly online, but Spencer sells her hair flowers in a few salons—one in North Carolina, one in Florida and one downtown Cincinnati—and at Mizti on Ludlow Avenue.   Spencer hopes to broaden her client base and sell her flowers in other local boutiques before possibly starting one of her own.   By Caitlin Koenig Follow Caitlin on Twitter