COVINGTON, Ky. — Kara Acri’s new full-time job is making flower deliveries across the northern Kentucky area or popping up in front of businesses in her 1959 Chevy Apache to sell flowers off the truck. She said a physical building location was the original goal, but she couldn’t get a location set up and that’s where the truck idea came from.

Her business is called Scarlet Begonia's Flower Truck, and some may get the Grateful Dead reference.

“The truck is actually a tribute to the Grateful Dead. It’s my favorite band, and I used to follow them around when I was much younger and all the bouquets you see there are Grateful Dead songs,” Acri said.

Her business started as a side gig in 2020, as she was working in print journalism and in the corporate PR world for years. She hung that hat up in April 2021 to make her flower truck a full-time gig.

“It was a big leap of faith, you know. When you have the comfort of working in the corporate world when you’ve worked in it as long as I did… everything you know is that, because it’s what you’ve done for your whole career,” Acri said.

But she’s always loved flowers. She, and sometimes her husband, set out to make deliveries nearby. With two trucks, which include the Apache, she operates all around the community. She’ll pop up at local businesses, and she calls Wednesdays “Woman Crush Wednesdays.”

“She works with a lot of other female-owned businesses,” said Local 325 owner Chris Kidwell, who said she also supports Acri’s business herself.

Acri spends her Wednesdays popping up outside of a female-run business in the Covington area.

“I love that we have such a great network and such great opportunities because we didn’t have them before, so I think we’ve united to really support one another whenever we can in whatever way we can,” Kidwell said.

Acri said supporting each other is key. But she also has a lot of thanks to give to her customers, who’ve helped her business grow.

“This year I think we’ve seen a further increase in our growth,” she said.

There’s a fun trend in why people buy flowers, and Acri said it’s not always just for an event.

“We have far more business from people wanting to send bouquets to others just because or they come and pick them up just because they want flowers for their kitchen, they want flowers for their dining room and it’s just because.”

Acri has plans for what’s next for the business.

“We’ll always keep our eyes peeled for our true retail location- it could happen down the road. Obviously another truck is on the horizon,” Acri said.

For more information on Acri’s business, check out her website.