Meet Hillary Thomas | Realtor, Exterior Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Hillary Thomas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hillary, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Starting my own business is something that I had wanted to do my whole life. I will honestly say, it is also one of the scariest things to take the leap of faith and do.

I’m going to start from the beginning…
My husband DJ and I have been together for over 21 years. We both met as college kids and have been inseparable since the day we met. We always wanted to have our own business, focused around what we both enjoy and compliment each other on, which is home renovations, and design.

After Covid, we knew it was a time for change. That is when we decided to take the leap of faith, and begin our design-to-build construction company, Blue Rose Landscaping & Design.

Let me give you a bit of family history… DJ‘s father owned a landscaping company that he began out of a hobby. After his father had unexpectedly passed in 2007, DJ couldn’t fathom to take over the business. Over the many passing years, however, DJ and I did talk about rebranding the business. So, that is exactly what we did, and we began Blue Rose.
The name was founded in honor of DJ‘s father. While I was driving home from work one day, I was brainstorming ideas for company names. DJ ‘s father‘s favorite color was blue, and his favorite flower was a rose. Then it hit me… Blue Rose! When I got home, we Googled what the meaning of a blue rose is. Since there is no such thing in nature as a true Blue Rose, the meaning is “to attain the impossible.” We instantly knew that was it! Then flourished the name, Blue Rose Landscaping & Design.
With the meaning of a Blue Rose being so accurate to how we feel, we incorporated that as our slogan, “attain the impossible.”

To further expand on our all-inclusive client services, I began Blue Rose Real Estate Group. This addition of expertise allows us to provide an even more exclusive experience to our clients.

I will say that I work harder now than I ever have in my life. But I am doing what I absolutely love and enjoy. I would not change it for anything. As I say, we are building our Blue Rose Empire.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are small family business, and we put pride and anything and everything that we touch. My passion for custom homes has been drilled into me since I was young. My dad was a contractor, and my mom a designer. We could never even go to a restaurant, for example, without the material choices and colors being pointed out (lol). Becoming a real estate agent has been a goal of mine since graduating high school. However, instead of going into real estate, I went to school for fine arts and graphic design. For many years, I was unable to use my skills and passion of creativity and design, for I always worked for someone else in a completely different industry. Taking the leap of faith to begin one’s own business is not easy. We have made many sacrifices and had to live very frugal during the downs. But like any business, there are also the amazing ups. With God‘s grace and perseverance we have always continue to have faith and know that we will continue to grow. Because unlike many others, this is our passion and it is what we live to do.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I have been in the north Houston area, my whole life. I’ve watched it grow tremendously.

Even with all the growth in Houston, I will say one of my favorite places is still to go to Galveston and visit the strand to go shopping and eat at Willie G.’s.
I also always enjoy Moody gardens and visiting the rainforest in aquarium pyramids.

Another staple for Houston is The Museum of Natural Science. They get some great traveling exhibits as well as just walking through the permanent exhibit is always fun for me and never gets old (I am a bit of a geek).

Being that we live in the north Houston area of the Woodlands, there are so many amazing restaurants nearby. Always enjoy trying different places on the Woodlands Waterway and Hughes Landing.

Additionally, going out to the Lake Conroe area is fun. There are several different restaurants that you can sit outside, view the lake and get the fresh air and sunshine. It’s still close to home but yet you feel like you’re on a mini vacation.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people that have been influential in my life, such as my parents and my grandmother, who all taught me to be self-sufficient. However my shoutout would be to my husband, DJ Gardner, with Blue Rose Landscaping & Design. He has been my rock through ups, downs and everything in between. Every time we have fallen, he and I have worked harder, stronger and pulled out of any rough scenario. My motto is, “the path of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you.”

Website: www.BlueRoseRealEstate.net www.BlueRoseLandscaping.com

Instagram: @BlueRoseRealEstate @BlueRoseLandscaping

Facebook: BlueRoseRealEstate BlueRoseLandscaping

Image Credits
https://www.instagram.com/lilycoxphotography_?igsh=czQ5azljbXBnMGc3