The pandemic has made it more difficult for local college students to break into the industry they want to work in. A student at Point Loma Nazarene University is overcoming that by starting her own business and she’s hoping to get a big boost on Valentine’s Day.
“Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, so I have a few orders,” said Fiona Huerta.
Huerta is a junior at PLNU who is dedicated to her studies, but lately, she’s also been occupied with her new passion: designing floral arrangements.
“I always bring flowers for my friends. I always bring arrangements for my friends’ birthdays and stuff and then recently I kinda put the word out to more people and have started getting orders,” said Huerta.
Huerta has been having trouble getting internships because of the pandemic. She’s not alone. Many young people are entering a job market that has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. The unemployment rate is nearly 10% for people between the ages of 20-24 according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Instead of interning, Huerta is using her spare time to work on arrangements. Huerta admits she was nervous to start charging money for her work, but so far it seems like customers are satisfied.
“Usually, I always have positive feedback and it’s a really good feeling to have somebody so happy with something you make them and it makes it so much more worth it,” said Huerta.
Huerta is planning to do her first wedding this spring and hopes to do even more events after she graduates next year with a degree in Communications. Huerta would like to pursue a career in the communications field as well.
“I would ultimately like to do both but this is definitely a dream to be a florist,” said Huerta.
Huerta takes orders through her Instagram page.