Carrie Atkinson
/age: 38 | Florist/Owner | Persnickety Too
Persnickety Too started out as a dream Carrie Atkinson had in 1997, after her mother’s shop, Persnickety, closed. “My mother, Sonya Haltom, taught me everything I know and love about flowers and business. When the original Persnickety closed, I vowed to start my own business, which is also Persnickety (hence the name),” said Carrie.
After her mother passed away in a motorcycle accident in 2005, Carrie’s dream became a promise to her to carry on her legacy of grace, creativity, and beauty. Through God’s providence and her husband, Jason’s encouragement, Persnickety Too opened in April 2014.
Best advice you’ve ever received:
“YOU NEED THREE THINGS TO CHOOSE A CAREER OR FULFILL A CALLING: DESIRE, AFFIRMATION, AND OPPORTUNITY.” —SEAN MAHAFFEY, CARRIE’S FRIEND
For fun, Carrie enjoys reading fiction (horror and mysteries), dining at local restaurants, watching movies, working out, and traveling with Jason; son, Wesley Neaves; daughter, Emma Daniel; and two foster daughters.
Carrie enjoys giving back to those in need through her business. “I give back daily to the community by investing in our local children that, through no fault of their own, need a safe place: a place to hope and dream and realize their full potential,” she explained. “We are able to do this as therapeutic foster parents through Southwest Arkansas Counseling and Mental Health Center.”
Carrie’s greatest passion is helping touch and enrich the lives of children in need. She lives by the Bible verse found in James 1:27: “Pure and faultless religion is this: to visit the orphans and widows in their affliction and remain unstained by the world.” Carrie and Jason feel called to be foster parents. She concluded, “Nothing has been harder or more rewarding in my life than to give love and safety to a child that has known neither.”
Name something about you that very few people know:
“I have an acute sense of smell. If you had raw onions in the last 24 hours, I can smell it!”