Where I Began - Where I Am Now by Gidget Giardino

The people viewing my page that already know me might say I've been lucky. Lucky because my first business was a family-owned full service florist, and, so, I lucked out on not having to choose a career path. It was expected that I would take over the family business when the time came. The good news is they were right. The bad news is, well, there really is no bad news.

My friends would tell you I am a hard worker, very friendly and caring, quite dependable yet silly at times; I like to have fun and make people laugh. They would also tell you I love children. In fact, I love children so much I decided to start a family early. Very early. I was a Teenage Mom.

Pregnant at 15; I delivered my first son at age 16. Richard was my reason for everything I did in life. I was young enough that the thought never occurred to me there were things I could not do. While pregnant I worked two jobs; I was a file clerk for a group of four Jewish doctors in Hollywood, FL, Mon.-Fri. and I worked at my florist located in Fort Lauderdale, FL in the evenings and on Saturdays. (We were closed Sundays, thank God.)

I quickly proved I had what it took to manage our florist and after Richard was born I worked six days a week with him right by my side. It was perfect for me. I never liked school (I am dyslexic, if you see any typos - just laugh and move on so going to college was NOT going to happen.

My second son, Anthony, came two weeks after my 20th birthday. (Yikes! Another Taurus!) I still had the Superwoman mentality. It was typical for me to attend conventions regularly having to visit the ladies room to breast feed or change diapers. I was good at juggling my family’s needs with my own desires. Growing my florist business was important to me. You could honestly say, I am stubborn through and through. No one really ever told me no. Probably because they knew I wouldn't listen.

Two years later I was divorced with three sons aged 5 years, 2 years and my youngest was three months old. Everyone thought I was bonkers for calling my marriage quits, but I knew I could not have been saner. You see, my youngest son Shawn is a special needs child. My rationale was with three little kids I could not afford to waste time on a relationship that was not able to be fixed. It was tough to do it alone yet at the same time a huge weight was lifted. You see, I was still in control of my future.

Over the years I really enjoyed working with children. For 14 years I held leadership positions in my sons' Cub Scout Packs and Boy Scout Troops, as well as volunteered in their schools. Giving time volunteering at our local wildlife center, our local American Cancer Society fundraisers, local Entrepreneurs Clubs and Kiwanis Club gave me great pride.

Now, let's skip ahead to the present day. My two oldest sons are making their own lives and have been doing a really great job; I am so proud of them. Recently I sold my florist which I owned and operated in Fort Lauderdale, FL for over 25 years. And, for the fist time in my life, I moved. (Deep breath.) Today I live in central Florida with my fiancé', Mark, my 17 year old Autistic son, Shawn, and my 4 Dachshunds, 4 kitty cats and a bunny rabbit. However, I am not retired. Not yet. I still have a lot to give of myself to others and contribute to society.

Several years ago I started a second business primarily working with stay-at-home moms. What I do is teach them how to work from home and be successful. While I do work with lots of different kinds of people, not just mothers who work from home, my passion is children, so, I chose to focus this page on helping moms take care of their families by working on a part time or full time basis. I teach them that they can have it all. They design the life they want to have; I help them to achieve it.

This makes me very happy. .   .