"Follow your dreams." This is the theme Toni Engelhardt, co-owner of The Flower Patch in Pinckneyville and an active member of the community, has found to be her key to success.

Engelhardt says you have to be willing to turn your dream into action. This means setting a goal, taking the risks that will help you move toward the goal and then working hard to achieve the goal.

Engelhardt first learned about the value of hard work from her father, Howard Carson, who worked in the coal mines. "He worked as many shifts as he could to provide for us," she says. In addition, Engelhardt's husband came from a family of hard-working farmers.

Engelhardt didn't graduate from college and ended up working in a garment factory. "I hated that I wasn't using my mind," she says. She went back to school, got a degree, became a tax consultant and opened her own business.

However, in the back of her mind, there was always something else she wanted to do - her real dream - which was to open a flower shop. When she and Deborah McCune opened the shop 28 years ago, there were already two others in town, but they felt they could do it. "We took a risk, and then began working a lot of hours," she says.

Of course, for Engelhardt, what made it easier was the fact that she was finally able to do what she loved. "The flower shop helped me become happy within myself," she says. "What really made me happy was that I was helping make other people happy."

In fact, on occasion, Engelhardt would send flowers to people on her own. "I might be in the bank and see someone having a bad day, so I would go back to the store and send them some flowers," she says. "It would make such a difference for them."

The Flower Patch was named the chamber's Business of the Year in 2005, during the shop's 25-year anniversary.

Despite the love she has for her business, Engelhardt devotes a lot of time and energy to helping her community. She is actively involved in the chamber, a member of the retail committee of the Strategic Planning Committee, and a member of the new Foundation for the Future of Pinckneyville.

For these and other efforts, she was named Citizen of the Year by the Pinckneyville Chamber of Commerce this year.

Running a business and being so involved in the community led her to work six and seven days a week. While she wants to spend as much time as she can helping her community, she also realizes that she needs to devote enough time to her business.

"People need us to be there when someone gets married, or when someone dies," she says. Engelhardt finds that getting out of the store for even half a day and doing something different helps. "It's a partial recovery," she says. "I don't need to have weeks off."

One person she admires is her cousin, Irl Engelhardt, who was CEO of St. Louis-based Peabody Energy (aka Peabody Coal) from 1990 to 2005. "He is the best multi-task person I have ever met," she says. "I love the way his mind works. He can do so many different things and be in so many places."

Engelhardt's message to others? "Believe in yourself," she says. "Believe that you can get out there and make a difference."

Bill Atkinson has been a full-time freelance business writer since 1976. He is also the author of seven books. His most recent is "Eliminate Stress From Your Life Forever." Contact him at 985-4486.