Sunshine Flowers International was founded in 1986 by Patricia Valencia, a native of Bogota, Colombia. Before starting her flower business, Patricia worked for several prestigious companies, including Mobil, Pepsi Cola and Disney World! She's lived in Bogota, Los Angeles, and Miami, FL, and since 1997 has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Patricia moved to California in the mid-1980s and graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Import and Marketing. She then began importing cut flowers from Colombia.

Patricia Valencia is a pioneer, being the first female business owner and flower importer at the San Francisco Flower Mart. Her daughter, Patricia Araujo Clay, studied architecture and received a B.F.A. in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute and has been exhibiting her works annually in San Francisco since the late 1990s. Patricia grew up in Bogota, Colombia, and has worked in the retail industry since she moved to California, including Ah Sam Flowers and Silver Terrace Nursery, where she learned all about cut flowers. She has also worked for art galleries and design firms and was a valued concierge at the Banana Republic San Francisco flagship store in the early 2000s.

For over 15 years, Patricia has owned and operated Sunshine's Flower Company with her mother, Patricia Valencia. Patricia Araujo Clay specializes in the distribution and sale of cut flowers, working directly with growers and assisting customers with their orders. The two Patricias - mother and daughter - work together and maintain contact with the elite floriculturists in South America, visiting them annually to personally evaluate new products. All to ensure the discerning eye a flower worth remembering.