As a child Sharon Wilcox remembers being entranced by the smell of flowers coming from a local florist in Launceston.
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She didn't know it at the time, but it would ignite a love of flowers that has turned into a four-decade career in providing flowers for the community.
This Friday, Ms Wilcox will celebrate 44 years as a florist in Launceston, something she said has allowed her to provide flowers for multiple generations of families.
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"I've got a lot of regular customers I've had for years and years. I've done their weddings, and then I've done their kids weddings, and I've done their kids weddings," Ms Wilcox said.
"I've had so many customers for so many years that I know them all by now".
Beginning with a store on Wellington Street, Launceston, in 1978, Ms Wilcox would spend 10 years there before moving to the newly built Novotel after entrepreneur Robert Hoskins asked about putting a florist in the foyer.
She said it was only after persistent phone calls from well-known developer and businessman Mort Douglas that she finally made the move to Morty's.
"He kept ringing me all the time, and I kept saying no, because I was quite happy in Yorktown square. But finally he won because Mort was a very persistent man," she laughed.
Ms Wilcox said the best part of her job was the connections she had made to the community, and the generations of people she could provide for.
But, after four decades, raising four children, and now with grandchildren of her own, she said it wasn't certain how long she would continue to run the store for.
And without anyone to take over the store if she retired, Ms Wilcox said she would think about putting the store up for sale in the future.
Her advice for future florists: learn as much as you can about seasonal flowers, look after your customers, and if you say you'll do something, follow through with it.
"You've got to cater for everybody, the young, the old, everybody, and that's what I do," she said.
"Business isn't easy these days, but if you know what you're doing, it's a great job".
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