FORCE OF NATURE

Petite Floral Creations Owner Hagar Duel Finds a Sense of Community in Barrington.

Hagar Duel was almost named Daisy – a name as sweet and delicate as the blooms she now arranges daily in her Barrington floral studio.

“The plan was for me to be named after my grandmother,” Duel tells Country in a recent interview. “My parents immigrated here from Panama, and two months after they arrived in Chicago, my mom went into labor, but my parents didn’t know they were having twins until my mom was giving birth.”

In the chaos of that already crowded delivery room, it was decided that the twins would carry biblical names — one of which became a lifelong symbol of perseverance, faith, and strength. And it is that powerful name – Hagar – that now seems to fit the creative powerhouse perfectly.

“I’ve always had a passion for creating things with my hands,” explains Duel, a Senior Project Manager at Comcast and a wife and mother of three who discovered her ultimate creative outlet back in 2018 when she opened Petite Floral Creations. “Plus, flowers spark conversation and community. I’m from the Caribbean, so we just naturally gravitate to nature.”

Indeed, flowers have served as a form of artistic expression for Duel since she was just a little girl growing up in Chicago. “The first flower I ever fell in love with was the gardenia,” gushes Duel, who met her husband, Eric, in Chicago while working in advertising sales together. “There’s just something feminine about the gardenia. I think it’s just the beauty and the delicacy of that particular flower that reminds me of a woman. It holds so much potent fragrant power, but it is so delicate inside. I think that’s something that is truly reflective of me.”

Her love for all things floral is also somewhat reflective of her mother.

“I love perfumes, and especially love the scent of floral perfume,” Duel explains. “My mom worked at Christian Dior in the Panama Canal Zone for many years. And she also loved perfumes. So much of who I am now goes back to my mom and what she too loved.”

It’s these loves that seem to materialize amongst each and every one of Duel’s floral creations—bouquets and blooms that seemingly hold within them her beautiful spirit. “I feel like floral designs need to have rhythm,” she explains. “And with that rhythm, what choreography can I bring into it? Are the flowers dancing? Are the flowers moving?”

It is this philosophy that makes Petite Floral Creations truly something special.

“It’s all about bringing in something that is not normal to the eye, but that can create visual interest,” explains Duel, who also serves as the co-founder of Yo Soy Ella, Inc., a domestic violence nonprofit organization established in 2012 that specifically serves teen girls and women. “That’s just part of my personality. I’m intentional about bringing that philosophy into my designs.”

While designing weddings and special events, Duel also seems dedicated to finding ways in which floral design can serve as a form of therapy for those eager to discover something tangible in an increasingly intangible world.

“It can serve as a form of calming,” says Duel, who looks forward to creating more community-wide events moving forward. “You can ground yourself just by touching and feeling and seeing floral creations come to life. My dream goal is to be able to utilize and leverage that art and share it. That’s part of my floral philosophy.”

It’s this approach that her clients have fallen in love with—much in the same way Duel says she finds herself totally in love with Barrington as a whole.

“This business has already blossomed into something so beautiful, and that’s because of the Barrington community,” concludes Duel, who served as a PTO Board member at the Roslyn Road Community School while also serving on the Special Education Parent Advisory Committee. “This place has allowed me to showcase my artistry, collaborate with different farms, and connect with so many entrepreneurs. I love pairing the modern edge of Chicago to the small-town charm of Barrington. It just creates a story for me to tell.”

And as far as Duel is concerned, her story and the story of Petite Floral Creations will always include the town of Barrington.

“We are not going anywhere,” she states. “The kids are grounded in the community and so are we.”

For more information, visit petitefloralcreations.com.