We had the good fortune of connecting with Debbie Latham Magee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Debbie, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
It really wasn’t an option. I had created items for friends and family (free) for over 20 years. I was a newlywed I 2007 and my husband said you should start a business or stop creating. He said “you won’t continue to love what you do if you are not getting your worth.” And three years later my business was born. I took the three years to figure out what would work best for me considering I loved my corporate job and had to figure out how to get everything done.

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.
My art is my passion and the hardest thing to do was to have a focus designed to fill a specific need and still make a profit. That was my biggest struggle as I created things so many years because of the love of faux flowers. I am most proud of the next project. I never loose excitement over knowing you reached out to me over thousands of other entrepreneurs in the state of Texas. It wasn’t easy but I am stubborn and I refuse to loose. I challenge myself to be better than expectations. To overcome challenges I had to learn that people will pay for what they want and do not reduce your skill set to stay within their budget. Now I propose to give them what their budget allows, what they really need and what would blow their mind. Ever conversation with the client is a perfect opportunity to be observant, to listen and to provide several options to make their dream a vision. The other lesson I learned is to have a standard of custom service that is second to none. I also learned to trust myself and my creativity is what they wanted or they would have chosen someone else. If I could go back to 2010, I would “do it afraid”. As I have let several opportunities go by because I was afraid to fail or I asked someone else what they thought I should do. Since then my mantra is “prices range from the reasonable to the ridiculous.” I want people to know that you’re never to old to do anything you love to do. And again do it afraid. Because right now social media is changing so quickly but I refuse to be left behind. YouTube university is a great learning experience to stay relevant and in view of the world.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There are so many things to do in DFW. I would take her to the Dallas Zoo, the Ft Worth Zoo, Bishop Arts District, Six Flags and Dallas arboretum a tour of Texas stadium if it were not football season, and shopping. We would do Texas Thrift stores (at least 4) North Park Mall, the Parks mall in Arlington and the Tanger outlet mall and Allen Premium outlets. We would visit local spots for treats: to Cake Daddy’s for a cake bowl and to Keesler baking studio for cookies. We would go to Absolutely Edible Cakes and catering for a sweet potato thang and to the Cake bar. For food we would go to Papadeaux’s restaurant, After shopping we could hit the Cheesecake Factory for the obvious. Perry’s steakhouse, Razoos Cajun restaurant in Arlington. I fratelli’s Pizza in Las colinas Texas. And on Sunday we would attend Concord church Dallas and have a meal at Chubby’s restaurant.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would first like to recognize my husband that inspired me to go forward. Then I really would like to say myself, as strange as that sounds. I had learned so many positive and negative things along the way and I make sure I share any information I can provide to make sure any other small business can thrive. I also share information on the things required to be a business and that the SBA website is a great resource.

Website: www.fauxnomenalflowersandgifts.com

Instagram: @fauxnomenalflowers

Facebook: @fauxnomenalflowers

Other: https://www.linktr.ee.com/fauxnomenal1

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.