Full Name
Katherine Sharp Webb
Job Title & Company
Farmstead Florals, Owner
Why do you think you were chosen as one of Oxford’s Top 20 Under 40?
I’m truly honored to be chosen as one of Oxford’s Top 20 Under 40. Although I didn’t grow up here or attend Ole Miss, Oxford has become my home, and I strive each day to bring more joy and beauty to this community.
Tell us about your work and what excites you most about it.
I own a flower farm in Oxford that provides flowers to florists and groceries locally and in Memphis and Birmingham. In addition, we offer flowers by the bucket, build-your-own bouquet bars, and full-service floristry. Farmstead Florals is best known for our self-serve flower stands on the Square and on campus, as well as our booths at the farmer’s market. We love that our flowers get to be a part of so many special moments, big and small.
What’s an accomplishment you’re especially proud of?
I am especially proud of the farm’s workforce. I get to work alongside exceptionally positive and hardworking folks every day. Our team of 15 includes two full-time associates, Edward Duke and Olivia Young, who make it possible for me to mother my 7-month-old! The three of us get to work with the most fun group of workers in agriculture—many of whom are Ole Miss students and a couple who are retired—but all love delivering the joy flowers bring to the communities we serve.
How has Oxford influenced your journey, and how do you hope to give back?
I love small towns. I grew up in one in south Louisiana and then attended Sewanee: The University of the South, a college smaller than many high schools, in middle Tennessee. For me, it has always been about the community a small town fosters.
Even though Oxford and Ole Miss both continue to grow, they do so while maintaining their “small-town-ness.” A community that nods and smiles in passing, small talks with strangers in the grocery checkout line, has farmers market regulars, restaurants, bars, and coffee shops where you can order “the usual,” and people who pick up someone else’s trash just to leave it better than they found it. These are all characteristics of a community that acknowledges one another and extends the title of “home” beyond its four walls and out into the town itself.
A self-serve honor flower stand like the ones we have on the Oxford Square and on Ole Miss’s campus would not necessarily work in just any place or college town. I am proud to be part of a community that supports, honors, and encourages communal integrity, small business, and shared beauty. I hope to continue to find new ways to uphold those principles.
How do you like to spend your time outside of work?
My husband, Wesley Webb, and I have a 7-month-old baby girl named Maudie. Almost all of our free time is spent oohing and aahing over her and our dog, Bay!
