Selling flowers helped former Hollister resident bloom

This article was written by BenitoLink intern Juliana Luna

During a sunny or a windy day, or perhaps during a blazing hot day, many Hollister residents became familiar with a young man selling roses downtown in the early 2000s. He stepped into offices and restaurants and walked the Hollister downtown streets with a bucket full of flowers.

From 1997-2007, Mohammad Huweih sold flowers to support himself. From middle school through high school, when classes ended, he was on the street making sales. Not only was it a job, but it was a way he could socialize and create long-lasting relationships. The last time Hollister residents read about Huweih was in a story in the Hollister Free Lance in 2007. 

Huweih’s father, Jaber, is an immigrant from Palestine. His dad lived in Puerto Rico for a decade and moved to the United States in 1982. 

“He didn’t have an education, so he had to hustle,” Huweih said. “He worked at a flower shop and sold electronics on the side.”

When Huweih was 12, his father felt it was a good idea for his son to sell flowers. 

“I didn’t do anything after school; didn’t hang out with people. My mom would drop me off and I’d start walking around asking people to buy flowers,” he said.

Huweih graduated from San Jose State University in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He went to Georgia State University for five years for a master’s degree in political science. After short stints in Utah and Chicago, he returned to Georgia to raise his 10-year-old daughter. Now, 37, he works as a manager for online home store Wayfair.

Thoughts of attending law school are still on Huweih’s mind.

“I wasn’t able to pursue it, but I still have my law books,” he said. “One of my friends asked what happened to law school. Life happens.” 

Before the pandemic, Huweih visited Hollister to see family members and give quick hello to businesses that allowed him to sell flowers. 

The last time Brian Barrett, president of Mckinnon Lumber, spoke to Huweih was six years ago.

“He was a good kid, we used to call him ‘Cassette,’” Barrett said, because Huweih’s dad sold cassettes from the back of their trunk.

Huweih said he was an introverted person at school and always had his head down.

“The only friends I made were from [selling flowers]. There are people that I’m still friends with 20 years later. That was my social life.”

One friendship has been going for 25 years. Huweih said he was getting bullied at 14 years old by kids while selling flowers in front of a coffee shop on Fifth Street. Nathaniel Lierly saw the scene and stepped up to help him. They then became friends. 

Huweih said they still communicate frequently, describing him as “the kind of friend who would travel to Georgia just by a phone call.”

Selling roses has taught Huweih that hard work is required in every position in the workforce. He said he now goes beyond what is expected on the job and takes pride in his work. When he couldn’t make a sale on flowers, it reminded him to continue to grind and hustle. 

“Sometimes my flowers weren’t the best,” he said. At times there were other vendors with beautiful flowers, yet most businesses didn’t allow them inside their facility. Huweih was allowed in because of the relationships he formed downtown. 

“They weren’t buying flowers. They were buying from me,” Huweih said. “They liked me and my personality. They were investing in me rather than buying the product.” 

Fifteen years later, it’s clear the flower guy left a lasting impression. 

One resident who asked not to be named contacted BenitoLink, wondering about Huweih’s whereabouts. On the way to San Juan Bautista, she and her husband noticed someone on the corner of the road. 

“He had a bucket with flowers, standing by himself, no car or anything” she said. 

She said she was concerned for his welfare. “I told my husband, it’s so cold, someone just dropped him off.”

Seeing the young man selling flowers made the couple remember Huweih. “I remember seeing him on the paper raising money for college,” she said. She said Huweih was a polite and quiet boy. He asked permission to enter a business, and no one felt obligated to buy from him.

Huweih sold flowers for 10 years, and through that created connections, friendships and acquaintances in Hollister. Although he had competition, and sometimes his flowers were not the freshest, he managed to sell them. 

With his years of experience Huweih had advice to the young flower vendors of today.

“For every ‘no’ you get, you’ll eventually get a ‘yes,’” he said. “I was always told to count your no’s. The more no’s you get, the closer you are to a yes. The more ‘no thank yous,’ the closer you are to a sale.” 

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