EMILY THOMPSON FLOWERS EMILY THOMPSON FLOWERS

FORBES 50 OVER 50 2021


As we began to emerge from lockdown, one of our first projects was to design portraits for some extraordinary subjects: Kati Karikó, Nancy Pelosi, Shonda Rhimes, Mika Brzezinski, Kim Ng and more. We built a cleansing meadow in the Capitol building to recall Nancy Pelosi’s beloved California landscapes, a cascading epiphytic swamp bouquet in a baseball glove for then-Marlins manger Kim Ng, and masses of white Thalia daffodils for the scientist who brought us MRNA technology, Kati Karikó. Her favorite, Narcissus Poeticus or “Pheasant’s Eye” was scarce, so we cajoled friends and growers to search for other special beauties.

Photography: Rebecca Miller, Celeste Sloman and Jamel Toppin
Editor: Maggie McGrath; Writers: Elana Lyn Gross, Lisette Voytko