CROWLEY, Texas — Shannon Hart-Gonzalez’s favorite season is football season even though this fall, she won’t watch a single game.
“No, I watch no football,” Hart-Gonzalez laughed.
Her passion for pigskin was crafted nine years ago when she crafted a homecoming mum for her son. By the time she finished, the most eye-popping detail was the price.
“That was 90 bucks for a couple of ribbons and a flower,” Hart-Gonzalez said. “I thought if I have this problem then other moms do too, so let me see if I can kind of fill that niche.”
Her business, Mums and Kisses, started on the kitchen counter with a handful of orders. Now, nearly a decade later, it has blossomed into a full-fledged mum-pire.
The Glue Gun Guru, as she’s now known, makes thousands of mums every fall. She even opened a retail store in Crowley with more than a dozen employees who help create and ship mums all over the world.
Gonzalez never imagined mums would become such a blessing. They may have helped save her life. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 and making mums gave her hope.
“It was part of the fight,” Hart-Gonzalez said. “They say you have to get angry before you can fight and I was angry.”
Today, the cancer is gone but her gratitude is everlasting.
“When I see a mum on the table I’m like, ‘Wow, they wear those things? They wear my stuff,’” she said. “It’s kind of still mind-blowing.”
How does someone describe something that brings so much joy? A blessing? A gift? A miracle? For Shannon Hart-Gonzalez, mum’s the word.