Creating Ripples in Bogota: A Journey to Natuflora (Natural Flowers)

Episode 198:  Lori interviews Vonda about her recent visit to Bogota, Colombia. She went there to attend Proflora and visit some flower farms, particularly Natural Flowers - the provider for Flower Clique bouquets. During her time there, Vonda had the opportunity to meet the workers, see the flower bouquet creation process, make new friends and observe the ripples of kindness and respect that started at the top.
In the next episode, Ellie and Audrey will join Vonda for a more in-depth recap of their experience in Bogota.

Sponsored by:
Flower Clique
Flower Clique Prep School
Real Life Retail Florist

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

To the model of Dr. Price's book, Spark the Heart, Engineering Your Empathy in Your Organization. In one of the chapters, she talked about Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Welcome to the Business and Pleasure of Flowers. We're your hosts, Vonda LaFever, and Lori Wilson.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

And we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination. Kind of like us, Vonda.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Hey Lori, how's it going today? Good. I'm glad to have you back in the States, in the good old US of A. It's good to be back to the States, but I'll have to say I'm kind of missing my people in Bogota, Columbia.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

Yeah, I I can imagine. I want to hear all about it, but I know you're exhausted.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

You know, I'm really not. They're on the same time zone, so that wasn't bad. It just said you know me, I don't usually start my day at 6 a.m. and end my day at midnight. So that's I usually start my day at five or six, but right. I'm not the night person, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Yeah, it was crazy. You and Ellie and Audrey were all first of all so good at keeping me up to date while I was here, you know, sending me texts and pictures and stuff, but I could not believe how early the text and pictures started and how late in the day they were continuing.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Yes, right.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

Dang, these are some long days.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

They were long days, but they were really good. And the week flew by, it just flew. Yeah, just and Ellie and Audrey and I are gonna do a recap on the whole trip, but I just thought, you know, you and I were talking about what to do for this week, and I said, hey, let's just do a replay of the episode we had about creating a ripple, and you're like, no, let's talk about it. So hey, here we are, right?

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Because I think I told you the a long time ago when you guys were talking about this trip, and Amy, our natural farms buddy, was telling us about this trip. I I think I mentioned to her the only part of the trip that I really was like, I don't want to use the word sad because I wasn't ever sad, but the part I was like, ah, I wish I was going. It wasn't so much to go to Proflora. It wasn't really, oh, I want to see the operations, I want to see the flowers, I want to see what's trending. None of that. That's all amazing, but it was the people, right? It's the missional side of my heart, which is a huge part of my heart that wanted to meet the people, hug the people, learn about the people, and and develop that relationship. And when you came back, that was the first thing this morning out of your mouth. Like you got teary-eyed, and you're like, I miss the people.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

I miss the people. I do.

SPEAKER_02 3:06

And then when I got on our staff meeting, that was the first thing out of Ellie's mouth. I missed the people, I missed the land. And I was like, oh, those are the moments, those are where that's what I totally get. And so that's what I want to talk about today, is just those feelings that you had.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

The people were so genuine, you know, and that's what I just loved because you know us, we're genuine people.

SPEAKER_02 3:33

That's the way we are.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

And when you meet and you're able to connect with people that are like that, oh gosh, it was just, it was just so it was so wonderful. I can't even tell you. It just made me so proud that we're part of Natural Flowers or Natural Flora and Amy Desperado from Natural Farms. I mean, it's a whole thing, just it just made me proud. And I don't even, I mean, I don't own any of it, right? Right, right. You know, it's just that they create the bouquets for Flower Click and to be able to see and experience each and every one of those people. Oh, it was just it was just great. And then if we go back to that ripple that I was talking about, when I look at that, Lori, and I say, okay, the ripples were in many places. You know, we met Lucia, who was in charge of the operations. That's that's Audrey's bestie, really, with the farm, right? She's the one that gets things happening. But you could see the ripple with Lucia and her people that are working with her in the office, how her positivity and the way she treated them that went down to the next person, to the next person. And you know, I'm sure she wasn't seeing or experiencing that. It's the way they operate. Yeah. Again, you know, Amy walks in who hasn't been there for a year, and everybody is just like she's the rock star. Right, she's the queen has arrived. She was, and it was such a respect that they had for her. Um, and it just brought joy to their faces just to see her there.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

Well, she's part of the ripple, huge part.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

She is a huge part of the ripple. I mean, the way she treats them and respects them, you can see it coming back, and they're just like joy-filled. And Edgar, who is in charge of the production, wow, what a force. I mean, he's on the floor working with these people every single day and has really high expectations for them.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

But the Ripple, because he has respect for them to get that done, was just so cool to see, just really great.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

Yeah. And you were talking about one thing you noticed because you're very discerning, and when mentioning Edgar and the respect, you noticed that that was reciprocal, right? It was a mutual respect. So when he walks through the farms, he's talking with them, he's making eye contact, they're talking with him. You could tell that he was approachable and they have just as much respect for him as he does for them.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Yeah. Yeah. And I kept thinking, gosh, Lori talks all the time about the culture of a business. Right. Culture here was was one that you talk about being ideal. I mean, we walked through the greenhouses, and you could tell the people that were in charge of the greenhouses, even maybe a leader or a foreman, and all of them were communicating, you know, and even then the rows of the field, here they are, and just doing what they needed to do and happy about doing that. So that was that was really, really cool.

unknown 6:58

Right.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

You know, it's interesting that you're bringing that up. I was reading an article earlier today because I was uh pulling resources for our profit blasts that we're going to be doing, you know, when we go to Chicago, talking about management and making a ripple, all of those kind of things. And one of the things I read that brought me back to the conversation you had just had about Edgar and how he treats his employees, even though he is their boss, was an article that was part of it was talking about as a manager, you don't need to tell your employees, constantly remind them that you're their boss. Like you should never say or have in anywhere in your statement or your sentences, as your boss, be your boss, you know, I'm your boss. That's implied, like they know that. Right. For sure. But when you say that, it's almost derogatory, it's almost condescending, and it's already known. And so he was giving examples of his father who owned his own business, and he used to go to work with him a lot, kind of like Ellie did with you. And his dad owned a pretty big company, but as a child, an elementary age, he didn't really know like financially what his dad did. He just knew he went to work every day and owned a company. But he would hear his dad talk to co-workers and he would be interviewed by people as to what he did. And he goes, Oh, yeah, yeah, I help him out, I help this guy out. But what he didn't realize is he was his boss. Like he owned the company, but he never said, I'm his boss. He said, Yeah, we collaborate on things, or I help him out on some things. Oh, yeah, I worked with him on this project. And he said, It as he grew up and realized that, he's like, That's how I want to treat my employees. Yeah, because the the father's attrition rate was like at you know 95%. Like those employees were die hard in love with his father because of the mutual respect he had. And so I thought of even though I wasn't there to meet Edgar, I'm like, that's probably how that guy is.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Yeah, yeah, a lot of respect, you know, with each other, right? So obviously, Edgar and the team, I guess, that worked uh on the bouquet making team, but also the the co-workers had respect for each other. You could just tell they were having fun, they were enjoying what they do, and you could genuinely see that here they were working hard, yeah, but having fun. There was music playing in the background, Lori, and and they were just enjoying joy. There was joy among them. Yep, it really was awesome to see. Like I was proud. It's like I was saying that I was just so proud that this was a farm we were working with. Just really proud. Amazing.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

And you got to tour some other farms too. I don't we don't need to talk about the names of them. I don't remember. And you liked them, but you said this one was a different vibe for you.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

It was a total different vibe. And sometimes I think maybe since they were we were touring them, they didn't have any music. It was silent, and everybody was just very serious, and yeah, that type of feeling. I didn't feel it was as collaborative or enjoyable, is not what I was seeing. And I do think that comes from the top. I mean, the owner of the farm, then the person um who was in charge of that product, not just the production area. Andreas oversees the whole operation. And then, of course, Edgar was in charge of the production of the bouquet area. But there were people who were standing there waiting for flowers to come in for another farm. For instance, if they don't have the perfect color carnation, it's not in production, then they buy them from a different farm, and then somebody has to be there for quality control. That guy was so joyful just waiting for his truck, and then he's got a little team inside going through everything. You know, they're just not, they're not Debbie Downers. They're just excited. They're grateful for their job, they take pride in their job. And the farm feeds them a big lunch every day and takes care of them as far as their needs, which I suppose makes them happy to come to work too. You know, they like the people they're with, they like the people who they're working for, they take care of them, they bust them back and forth, you know, all the basic needs, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

Yeah, well, it goes right into the model of Dr. Price's book, Spark the Heart, the uh engineering your empathy in your organization. In one of the chapters, she talked about Maslow's hierarchy of needs and making sure your employees, all of those needs are met before you can ask them to achieve the top, right? You have to make sure shelter, food, water, health care, all of these things are met before you ask for the moon. You can't ask for the moon if they don't have food and water. For sure. So it's amazing. You know, they're clearly doing it right, they're choosing to care for their employees with an empathetic heart, and it shows. And the other thing that I love that I know you guys are gonna expand on even more is speaking of ripples, you guys made a small ripple to into the little flower click group that does our bundles. You did a little design show for the ladies. Talk a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00 12:59

Yeah, so each week our production for our flower click bundles happens on Tuesdays and Fridays to be shipped FedEx or via Armelini truck up to the Bill Doran locations. So, what we did is we ask Edgar who he wanted to attend, a little class that we were going to give. And we had 20 workstations set up with a container, and we took one of the bundles that we had selected, the magenta bundle, and put that at each one of the workstations. And then he ended up having the bouquet assemblers who do just the flower click bouquets come and stand at the tables and we did a design class. Well, I know no Spanish whatsoever, right? And so Amy was the interpreter, and so I would kind of give instruction, and then they were making the design as we were going, and it was just it was so cool to watch how intense they were watching and wanted to do it right, obviously. But here there are 20 people in front of us doing this, and there's probably a hundred standing around watching this. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. So the people who oh my god, which was kind of cool that they allowed them to do that, right?

SPEAKER_02 14:11

I didn't know that. Yeah, that's fun.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

And watching that, and so then afterwards, after we got done, then I went around to each one of these workers and you know, helped them with their bouquets or just told them how beautiful it was. A couple of them were really in tears because they were so joy-filled that probably nobody's ever done that before. Because I asked, I'm like, Amy, Edgar, have you ever done that? And they're like, No, we've never done that. And such joy. It was just such joy on their faces when we were able to do that.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

Well, I can't imagine. I'm trying to just put myself in their position. The fact that they're so used to just doing their work and going home, you know, the the fact that you guys did something extra just for them.

unknown 15:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

You know, they're not used to it. And so think about that, that little afternoon or that morning, the blessing you gave them, yet the huge blessing you received, uh, and Ellie and Audrey and Amy, how much fun and joy that brought everybody, and how we can do something like that as a business owner, right? Back here, a flower shop owner, a flower click owner. Like we can all take that example and figure out what I can do for my staff. That you know, of course, a flower shop owner isn't going to do a little design show, but right. What small gesture can I do out of the norm to show my staff, hey, you matter?

SPEAKER_00 16:07

I think one thing is not even your staff. Your staff, I do think a lot of times the culture that we talk about often, I think a lot of times our flower shop owners do that.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

I think many of them do. Yes, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

I would say stepping outside of your shop and holding a design program like this, because it was pretty basic, right? It was easy, basic things that I knew they could succeed at. And if we take that same pattern and create a ripple at a nursing home, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:42

I just think in the nursing home too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

Yeah, nursing home, assisted living homeless center, yeah, any of those kind of places. Yeah. Because that's where you're gonna get the joy as the teacher, because they they will be so overwhelmed of your kindness and what you're doing. So that's the kind of thing I would think of back here at home is yes, your employees, you're not gonna do a design show. You're you're gonna continue to build the culture and appreciate them and show them how much you appreciate everything you're doing. But if you truly want that feeling, right?

SPEAKER_02 17:16

You have to go out of your comfort zone. You do, you have to go out of your comfort zone to make a ripple, and you have no idea. You know, I was telling you earlier when we were talking about that. Like, that's the cool thing about a ripple. You have no idea where that ripple ends.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

And an example of that, take the opportunity to do pedal it forward, right? Right. That's where there's a huge ripple, you know. Right. Society of American Florists, it's called Pedal It Forward. If anybody hasn't had that opportunity to be part of that, just take a look at SAFSA.org.now.org.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

Yep, yep, it's all over their social media, it's on their website. I'm gonna be doing it here in Houston. I'm so excited. I'm having lunch on a Sunday after church with my aunts and uncles and my cousin, who I told you she works with the food pantry here. We are going to do it. We're gonna team up with a food pantry and a senior center that is outside of not only kind of our comfort zone, but of our little bubble here. It is one that is not frequented very much, okay. Um, which is the whole point, right? Um, and so we are going there and we are very excited. My son is going to help us because we need a big bucket carrier. Sure. And so we're we're excited.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

We are very creating your ripple for sure.

SPEAKER_02 18:47

Oh yeah, we are so excited, and we are just going to love on these people and pass out bouquets, and we're gonna give them an opportunity to give a bouquet to someone, you know. And that's a point she brought up. You know, one of the coolest things, there are gonna be people that we meet that have very likely never in their life been able to give someone else a bouquet of flowers, never because they've never afforded that opportun been afforded that opportunity. Yeah, and um that's like that brings uh puts a lump in my throat.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

Like that's crazy. That is crazy, but I probably couldn't do it this year. I've been too emotional because put those bouquets together who are getting them delivered to you, Lori, for you to be able to share that love and joy to other people who can pass it along to someone else. Think of that from the very beginning.

SPEAKER_02 19:47

Yeah, you met the people that are making this happen so that I can share joy to these people. Like it's it's crazy how the whole thing works.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

You will be sharing so much love when you hand those two bouquets to someone, and then the joy that they're gonna get to be able to give away.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

Well, and I think it'll be kind of fun. You know, some of these people, if I get to have conversations with them, I can tell them, you know, just two weeks ago, my boss met the the women that created these bouquets in Columbia. She was standing next to them talking with them.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

They created these. I mean, that's pretty amazing. That is, that really is. I'm so excited that you're finally doing that because how many years have you said?

SPEAKER_02 20:34

How many years have I been complaining? I mean, asking to do this.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

And we said to Amy, Lori'd like to do this sometime. She goes, Yeah, we can do that.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

And we're like, yes. So I'm excited. I've got a lot of questions though. I have to figure it out. I don't know. Do they come in like plastic?

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Yeah, you're getting five stem bouquets, so there'll be five stems of whatever type flowers or foliage, and they will be come in a sleeve. And so you will take two of those sleeves and hand them to somebody. So yeah, they are already bunched and sleeved, so it should be easy for you to distribute.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

Well, our backup plan if some of these people who are in, like if they're in nursing home care, which there's a there's a possibility they might. We are bringing some solo cups and I'm bringing my scissors. My we're just gonna chop and drop, and there you go.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

That's right. Well, you know what? I was gonna say, go somewhere to garage sales this weekend. You probably can pick up dozens of aces that would be no, but I'm just thinking to carry.

SPEAKER_02 21:37

I mean, I don't have a delivery van. Ah, that's you know what I mean. I'm just trying to think of what's easy. She's like, we can just get some solo cups. That's fine. It's gonna be fine.

SPEAKER_00 21:49

It'll be fine.

SPEAKER_02 21:50

It'll be fine. It'll be fine. It's all fine. It's all figure outable, Wanda.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

I know, I love that. You are the queen of figure out.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

We are going to. Figure all this out. Yeah, I I'm excited for to see you know the ripple that all of Peddlep Forward is going to make. And I was looking at the registration list on their website.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

It's a lot. Does it say how many states at this point? I know they're really working at every says it has a map on there.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

So they kind of make it competitive. I mean, they're real into peer pressure. So kudos to SAF for getting right.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

Yeah. Speaking of SAF, Sheila and Kate Penn were both there at I didn't know that. So we saw them at Pro Flora. And Oscar, who is the president of SAF, he was there as well. So we had a great crowd of Americans to there to help represent SAF and the industry here as a whole. But we're all trying to make ripples.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

Yeah, yeah. And I know you guys are going to be talking a lot about Pro Flora, but it was massive.

SPEAKER_00 23:00

It was massive. It was massive. Did you get through the whole thing? Yeah, we did. We did. We we walked the floor a couple different times, just taking in all the beauty and all the new varieties. But like I said, we'll talk about that with Audrey and Ellie.

SPEAKER_02 23:15

So getting back to the States when you got to lay down at night, laid your head down in your bed, close your eyes. What was the thing you thought of? And you thought, man, that was amazing. Like, what was like the one thing?

SPEAKER_00 23:40

Just the connection at the farm. Just that. I mean, I just thank when I laid down, I thanked the Lord for safe travel and being able to even have that opportunity to go and the connection, the connection there. I mean, I saw beautiful things. I met a lot of people outside of the farm, but I just was so thankful to have had the opportunity to see and view and experience what it's all about. It's about people. That's you and I, Lori. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

It's it. Yeah, it's it. All about connection. Well, I'm glad you made it back safely. It's funny, I I never was worried about your safety. I don't know if that's good or bad, but I never once had like a weird nervous feeling. I I think part of it was because you were with Amy and I knew, I mean, everybody was gonna be over there. It was a big event, and so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

The only thing that if anybody is thinking of going to Bogota, just have patience in the driving. It is the worst, and we will cover this, I'm sure, again. It is the worst traffic in the world, Ellie found out. In the world, crazy, crazy.

SPEAKER_02 24:54

I think next time, here's my advice rent some bicycles.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

The bicycles and the motorcycles were going between the cars and the buses, like they were just maybe they were causing the traffic. No, I don't think so, but there were a couple times we saw the motorcycle or the bicycle on the ground that it was a good situation. So I wouldn't have wanted to be on a bicycle or a motorcycle, Lori. Sorry. Not safe. That's true. Yeah. Okay, well, we will wait and hear how your ripple goes next time.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

Yes, I will report back. I actually told my son Reese I wanted his girlfriend to come too because I want her to be in charge of pictures. Oh, there you go. I need a photographer. You do. I am not gonna remember to take pictures. So maybe she'll come and do pictures for us. So anyway.

SPEAKER_00 25:44

That'd be great.

SPEAKER_02 25:45

All right. Thanks. Thanks for the interview, Vonda. You did good.

SPEAKER_00 25:50

Thanks, Lori. Your ripple is next.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:53

Thank you so much for listening to our podcast. We hope you enjoyed spending time with us because we enjoy spending time with you. If you did, make sure you hit that subscribe button or add the business and pleasure of flowers to your Google morning routine or your flash briefing on Alexa.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

We look forward to seeing you next week.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

So please come back and join us and discover how a bit of knowledge and one small change in your mindset can take you to new levels in your life and business.