My story

Hi! My name is Ashling. I go by Ash for short. I was born and raised in Queens, NY. I moved to Ireland when I was 16 with my family, and then to Sydney, Australia when I was 25. I returned to NY in 2020, just in time for the pandemic. Through the years I have worked as a cocktail bartender, venue manager, event director, and even had a short (5 year) career in television production in Ireland. I am an eldest child (with 3 siblings), I am queer, I am addicted to using clothing to express my emotions, and I spend far too much time thinking about/ reading about astrology. Oh, and I love arranging flowers and riding my bike!

I took the free time during lockdown in NY to explore floral design by doing as many online classes as I could get my hands on. I was very lucky to be living in Brooklyn, with access to many corner flower shops and bodegas. Our apartment soon became my flower workshop, as I would arrange, and re-arrange flowers for the full extent of their life. I set my bike up with a decent basket, and filled that thing within an inch of its life each week. It was the beginning of me reconnecting with a piece of childhood.

My grandmothers were born and raised in Ireland. Nanny Mahon, or Nana Bike (Mary) lived in Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford. Nanny Barrett (Bridgie) lived in Belmullet, Co. Mayo. Each of them has inspired this project, as they pursued life in a way that a city kid like me could never have imagined having the time for. Mary never drove in her life, and instead rode a bicycle, and Bridgie planted the most beautiful wildflowers along her driveway wall. Childhood memories of riding Nanny Mahon’s bike, or picking buttercups in Nanny Barrett’s lawn have repeated through my head while dreaming up Pushin’ Posies.

This is a passion project with one goal. I just want to bring people a little moment of happiness with flowers. I love the idea of flowers finding people right when they need it.

Hopefully I can do that for someone along the way.