From Manhattan Office to the Connecticut Coastline
Suzie Flores traded a bustling Manhattan career for the rugged shores of Connecticut, where she now cultivates sugar kelp beneath the Atlantic waves. Her mission? To revolutionize American diets by introducing seaweed—a vital ingredient for a sustainable food future.
Braving Winter Waters for a Growing Harvest
On frigid February mornings, when most of coastal New England hunkers down against the cold, Flores ventures out onto the water. She waits for calm seas, ice-free boats, and GPS buoys firmly in place. Departing from Stonington, Connecticut—one of the state’s last commercial fishing hubs—she carefully lifts lines of slender sugar kelp from the ocean.
Though the seaweed is still just thin fronds in winter, these will flourish into meter-long blades by spring. Flores meticulously measures, photographs, and collects water samples for marine scientists before returning ashore.
A Bold Leap Toward Environmental Stewardship
Just ten years ago, Flores held an English degree and worked at an academic publishing firm in Manhattan. Today, she manages the Stonington Kelp Company from the very marina she and her husband purchased and call home. The crop she harvests remains relatively unknown in the US, compelling her to spend years educating consumers about seaweed’s benefits.
Family and a New Purpose
Her husband, Jay, a former combat photographer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, returned home deeply unsettled and retrained as an engineer. Around the same time, Flores welcomed three children in rapid succession, prompting her to reflect on the legacy she wanted to leave.
She asked herself a profound question: What would she want people to say about her at her funeral? The answer was clear—it wasn’t about market research or software development.
Rooting Themselves in Connecticut and Seaweed Farming
The family relocated north and purchased a dilapidated marina straddling the Connecticut–Rhode Island border. Flores returned to school, earning credentials in environmental science. She then reached out to Charlie Yarish, a biologist at the University of Connecticut renowned for pioneering seaweed farming in America.
