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NAME: COURTNEY SPEAR

AGE: 38 

RESIDENCE: WASHINGTON 

Courtney Spear is the founder and owner of Sun Moon and Bloom on Market Street in downtown Washington. The Eastern North Carolina native and East Carolina University alumna opened the floral shop in October after moving to the area from Wilmington where she was a Certified Surgical Technologist at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center. 

1. Why did you choose your current profession? I felt like I saw a need, and started it as a sole proprietorship. I felt like I saw a need in town, because there is a population of people who want something different.
2. If someone visited Beaufort County for the first time, where would you take them? I would probably take them for coffee, because I feel like I can’t do anything without doing that first…Probably Goose Creek State Park. I really like to go there…I really have a love for the Estuarium. I think it’s neat. I would definitely take them along the riverfront, because there is a lot of beauty in that.
3. Why should people consider living, working, playing in Beaufort County? I think it is growing and has a lot of potential. It has room to grow without becoming Greenville. I think that the good part is that there is a downtown that is solid and concrete and established and has history. As a business owner, I try to think of things that people are looking for so they don’t have to drive out of town. 
4. What are unique challenges that younger generations face that older generations have not or did not? As a business owner, appropriately managing social media alone is like a part-time job. I’ve gotten myself into a habit of posting in the morning so it’s done regardless of what it is. Usually, if I don’t have something to make first thing in the morning I will have saved a picture of something from the day before and use that for first thing in the morning. Social media is tough, you have to be really careful about what you’re putting out there and just staying on top of it so you keep people engaged and how you engage them is different for different age groups. In this area, you’re trying to reach two totally different audiences…Social media is definitely a thing that it never was before, and now it’s turned into straight up marketing. 
5. What was your initial impression of Beaufort County and has it changed? It hasn’t changed. I feel like the county is split down the middle. You have people that are wealthy and then you have people who are nearly poverty stricken…I’m sure there is middle ground in there. There’s people that fall in between, but they probably even look super wealthy compared to some of the poverty that is here…I think because Washington is a water community it’s going to draw in people from other places to move here especially for retirement, but again it’s that money that keeps it going as well. I’m not trying to paint it in a negative or evil light, because that is revenue for the town and growth and encouragement. 

BONUS: Why are people so obsessed with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce? I don’t know! I think people want the love story. I think it’s hard in Hollywood – people never stay together so I think they see them as this couple that could actually make that happen.