The dahlia is San Francisco’s official flower and it’s also a favorite for the Excelsior raised floral designer, Jessica Alicia Cotrim. Her love for San Francisco and her neighborhood is on full display when you walk into her cozy shop, Beija Flor Flower Gallery. Between the hanging dried roses, there’s Muni inspired artwork and pieces flaunting the 415 area code. The register table is adorned with hella stickers promoting local businesses and creatives. 

Besides repping her San Francisco pride, Cotrim’s store honors her Brazilian and Salvadoran roots. When the words “beija” and “flor” are paired together in Brazilian Portuguese, it translates to hummingbird. Cotrim says the symbolism of the hummingbird in Salvadoran and other Latino cultures represents the spirits of loved ones that have passed on. In this way, her business Beija Flor honors her family’s lineage that shaped her craftsmanship and work ethic. When creating custom bouquets Cotrim seeks to match customers' energy and desires with flowers and she does that by tapping into her ancestral intuition to bring forth healing floral experiences. 

On this episode of Rightnowish, Jessica Alicia Cotrim talks to me about the ways flowers can promote wellness and how we can cultivate our intuition with the help of our flower friends. 

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