My Journey
Sometimes the road is long and winding...
My story actually beings many years ago with my great-grandmother, Doris Baldwin Mohs. I was told that while in college Doris expressed an aptitude and fondness for both mathematics and art, and she was torn between which field of study to pursue. One day her husband, Carl Elijah Mohs, Sr., a Contractor/Construction Engineer who was just starting out in his own career, handed Doris a sketch pad and told her to draw her dream house, which he promised to build for them. It was then that Doris decided to become an Architect, combining her love for art and math equally.
My great-grandmother and great-grandfather, both whom I never had the pleasure of meeting, were partners in their personal lives, as well as in their professionals lives. The “Mohs Team” designed and built several family homes in Madison, Wisconsin, as well as hotels, grocery stores, and even a bowling alley. They also designed the layout of Shorewood Hills, the neighborhood in Madison where I grew up. Doris was an anomaly for her time – she had a long and successful career while bringing up three beautiful children.
My Great-Grandmother was a professional Architect and my Great-Grandfather was a professional Contractor.
Left: Carl and Doris on their wedding day. Middle: Carl and Doris at a professional event. Right: Doris at her drafting table.
Left: Carl and Doris on their wedding day. Right: Carl and Doris at a professional event.
Doris at her drafting table.
Left: the dream home that Doris designed and Carl built. Middle: the playhouse behind the family home that Doris designed for their three children. That is my grandmother, Lucia, on the front porch with her older brother, Carl. Right: the house that Doris designed for my grandmother as an adult after getting married and starting her own family.
The dream home that Doris designed and Carl built.
Left: the playhouse behind the family home that Doris designed for their three children. That is my grandmother, Lucia, on the front porch with her older brother, Carl. Right: the house that Doris designed for my grandmother as an adult after getting married and starting her own family.
I come from a long line of Creative, Artistic, and Innovative Women.
Doris and Carl had three children and their middle child was my grandmother, Lucia Mohs. Although grandma Lucia chose to be a stay-at-home mom in her adult life, she followed closely along Doris’ footsteps and got a degree in Landscape Architecture.
My mom, Lisa Peterson, also ended up being very artistically inclined and design oriented. In art school she focused on drawing and painting. She is a life-long crafter and sewer, and she has an online business selling her beautiful handmade pieces.
Mom in her sewing room working on her specialty dolls.
I first started working with flowers in Hawaii, when I took a lei-making workshop at a local community center.
The pivotal period in my life that introduced me into the world of floral design took place on the Hawaiian island of Kauai where I lived for a few years in grade school. At the age of eleven I took a lei-making workshop at a local community center and fell in love with the act of using my hands to make art with flowers.
Years later I taught myself a bit about floral design by taking apart and studying the intricacies of a corsage that I had gotten for a high school dance. I then created the floral arrangements for my very first wedding in 1998 when my cousin got married and I offered to be the florist. I was smitten with floral design!
My start in working with flowers began with taking a lei-making workshop while living on the island of Kauai. That cute kid next to me is my fabulous little sister, Lucia.
The early days of Love Letters Floral Design
For a brief time in college I considered studying Architecture. My desire to stay in Madison near all of my friends and family was so strong, however, that I ended up going to the University of Madison-Wisconsin and majoring in English Literature (Madison, at that time, did not offer a degree in Architecture). After college I enrolled in the volunteer program AmeriCorps NCCC and served for two years doing community volunteer projects and disaster relief across the United States. In 2007 I moved to Denver, Colorado and worked in the non-profit sector managing volunteers and organizing fundraising events.
When wedding floral design reappeared into my life in 2010, I made the decision to create a legitimate floral business. In 2014 I decided to pursue my love of floral design full-time and put all of my energy into growing the small wedding floral business I had established, Love Letters Floral Design.
In 2018 my husband was presented with an incredible career opportunity and, as a result, we made the decision to move to the Seattle area. With the big move I decided to start fresh and re-brand my floral design business to my own name. I am so excited to start a new chapter in the Pacific Northwest as Holly Yee Floral Architecture, LLC. It feels like I have come full circle to my roots and to what I love most.
Behind the scenes and making magic happen. Being a Florist is a lot of hard work, but I can't imagine doing anything else. I love it so!
Are you interested in chatting about Flowers for your upcoming Event? I would love to see what beautiful things we can Create together!
Send Me a Note!Let's Collaborate!I will be in Touch!
OUR STUDIO IS OPEN BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
17708 134th Avenue NE, Suite 17708
Woodinville, WA 98027
CONTACT US
Email: holly@hollyyee.com
Phone: 425.877.9287