This story is part of a series about aptly named people. To read more, go to www.heraldnet.com/aptonyms.
Q: How did your name direct your career path?
A: It didn’t. I grew up here, and I just love the forests and everything about the Pacific Northwest and the environment here, but I originally wanted to be a veterinarian and started out in a career working with dogs and animals. It was too much for me emotionally, so I went back to school to study environmental horticulture and everything took off from there.
So when I figured out what I wanted to do, I e-mailed all my friends and family asking them to help me pick a name for my business. I originally wasn’t going to use Bloom at all and they were all, ‘Why wouldn’t you? Oh, come on.’ I wasn’t even thinking about it.
Q: Would you change your name if you could and why or why not?
A: I don’t see a point to it. I got married, and I use a hyphenated name that is Bloom-Kenney for legal reasons. It’s not that exciting.
Q: If you could choose another career, what would it be?
A: I would love to be a teacher. I go back and forth thinking I could do this forever or do a combination of things. The funny thing is, my sister was actually doing floral design for a long time, but when she married she didn’t keep her last name and she didn’t own her own business.
Q: How do you know when someone has picked up on the fact that your name is an aptonym?
A: When people ask me, it’s kind of awkward, but they just want to know so they have to ask. They are pretty direct, and then I answer them, and we all kind of get a chuckle out of it.
Q: How do people react to the combination of your name and job? Do they get it? Any funny stories as a result?
A: I wouldn’t say they argue with me, but some people, they just don’t believe it. They say, ‘Is that really your last name?’ I get asked about five times a week. I don’t know if people change their last names to fit their careers. That would be pretty bizarre.
But for some people, they just can’t believe it, but I mean, why would I make that up?
The other thing that is always cool is when I can tell Snohomish County residents who remember Bloom’s Department Store that that was my grandpa’s store.
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