Share A Story Of Inspiration!
We will be choosing 5 submissions to feature in our weekly Floranext blog. Please take a minute to share a short story about how being a florist has had a positive impact on your life. We are open to stories about any florist related topic that had a direct affect on you personally.
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A young man calls and would like to know prices on roses. He is going to bring his girlfriend some flowers. He places an order to be picked up. He arrives at the flower shop. He is so excited to bring his girl some beautiful roses. In two weeks, he calls again and places another order for roses. He arrives at the flower shop. This time I ask him what is the name of this special girl? He smiles from ear to ear and tells me her name and how they met. She loved the first order of roses and now he says she will be very surprised and happy with the second order. He thanks me over and over for our service and says he will be back in two more weeks for some more roses.
That’s why I love the floral business. It touches people’s lives. We meet people and get the privilege of being a part of special events and moments in time.
I was hired as an after-school high school helper during my junior year in high school. Because of the values instilled in my by my Dad, I knew that I had to be on time, and do my very best each day. I walked to the flower shop, which was inside the first Indoor shopping mall in the Pittsburgh area.
My boss was an older lady who was impressed that I showed each day on time, and tried to do and get done everything she assigned me to do. She kept me on after the Christmas holiday, and began to teach me things. Bow making for instance. The botanical as well as the common names of flowers as well as plants. And many other items large and small.
She instilled in me (or maybe brought out in me) a love for the beauty of flowers, and a desire to help others realize their dreams thru weddings, pretty everyday bouquets, and funerals. She taught me that education was very important, and to try to think out of the box.
After leaving the flower business at age 19, and going to work for corporate America for the next 20 years, I still kept my hand in the flower business, and attempted to gain all the education — both flower and business — that I could. In 1987, I bought my flower shop. October, 2017 will record a 30 year milestone of shop ownership.
That early training as well as the fulfillment of my own dream of owning my own business has helped me to mentor other people and get them onto a path where they can fulfill their dreams. Sometimes it is thru educational opportunities; Sometimes thru mentoring and being a good listener; sometimes it is being a trainer…….or just a role model.
In all cases, I try to always remember what my Dad and my first flower shop boss taught me……..”Kindness never goes out of fashion. Lead by example. Listen to all comments and critics. Be hardworking in all areas of your life, and you will succeed. And finally, Love conquers All”.
My Grandmother and her garden.
Every summer at Gramma’s house all my life has been full of ‘Purdy Flowers’ – as she pronounces it. Not a single corner of her yard is without a flowerbed and there are always hummingbirds and songbirds from dawn till dusk.
Every summer has always lead up to fair time. Gramma has competed in the local fairs for decades. I must add that Gramma almost always takes home Grand Champion prizes in every department she enters; crochet, canned goods, baked goods, photography, poultry, rabbits, goats, potted plants, vegetables, and my very favorites… cut flowers and floral arrangements! (she competes in the expert division)
I just loved going out in the morning the day the flowers had to be entered and searching for the prettiest most uniform blossoms of each variety, cutting them in threes (for the holy trinity she said) and filling her kitchen with every kind of flower you could imagine surviving in Montana.
We filled jars and cups by the dozens with special cut flower elixir she made with soda pop, picked the best of every category for the cut flower division and prepared them for fair.
Then the fun part, bouquet making! All of the flowers left that had been cut that morning (Gramma calls them the ‘reject flowers’) went into our bouquets, we got to use the pretty little vases she keeps in her curio cabinet for these.
Every year Gramma would set aside a beautiful old Victorian boot shaped porcelain vase, I’d always make a monochromatic arrangement with it in pink just specifically so I can put her chenille flowers in to cascade down the side of the boot. One of Gramma’s favorite flowers is a petunia so there are always plenty in any pink or purple, double or single. We’d always make an ‘arrangement in white’ in her milk glass and hobnob vases, a great place for lots and lots of her adorable feverfew flowers! We had so much fun making our little bouquets, its always a day full of laughter!
By far my fondest summer memories are during fair time with Gramma ; spending the day playing with flowers and eating the ‘reject cookies’ that didn’t make the cut for fair.
She is my hero, my favorite person in the whole world, such an inspiration in every way in every part of my life. My little shop features many of her handcrafted treasures from her crochet work and beaded jewelry to her fresh baked goodies, and her canned jams and pickles (everyone loves these pickles!)
The biggest drawback to my shop ironically, is that for the last handful of years since I opened I haven’t been out at my Gramma’s making bouquets in her kitchen for the fair…. So, I want to thank you for your putting this survey in your newsletter. I needed to remember why I wanted a shop in the first place, who’s garden started this. I think I’ll make a bouquet and take it to my Gramma’s and get our fair schedule set for this summer.
Being a florist is like painting with nature’s colors every day. The vibrant blooms and their unique stories inspire me to create beauty that brings joy to people’s lives. It’s not just a job; it’s a passion fueled by the simple, yet profound, language of flowers.