Recapping Our Bogota Adventure: Highlights and Takeaways

Episode 199: In this episode, Vonda is joined by Audrey Kristoff and Ellie LaFever as they share their experiences from their recent trip to Bogota. They discuss the beauty of the flower farms, the journey of a Flower Clique Bundle, the event of Proflora as well as the love and appreciation of the local Columbians. 

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

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:04

I think the great thing about the expo was we saw so many different varieties that we hadn't seen.

SPEAKER_02 0:17

Welcome to the business and pleasure of flowers.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

We're your hosts, Vonda LaFever, and Lori Wilson, and we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination. Kind of like us, Vonda.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

Hi clickers. I'm here without Lori today, which is a rare thing, but I do have some special sidekicks with me. We have Audrey, Christophe, as you know, she's been with us many times, and Ellie Lefever. So hey girls, how's it going? Good. Hi there. So we have just returned from Bogota, Columbia. As we mentioned in last week's session, Lori and I touched on a few of the things, but I really wanted to have Audrey and Ellie come back and really like to talk about the highlights of the trip. And so I just thought we'd just get going. Audrey, tell me. You know, we got to Bogota on Sunday, and you know, let's go through the days.

SPEAKER_04 1:19

Yeah, it was a quick trip there for me. It was only like four and a half hours from Atlanta. You know, you feel like you're so far away, but we're only one time zone away and arrive there. It's beautiful. Bogota is like surrounded by the Andes Mountains. It was really pretty once we got there.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

Ellie, you had the longest trip. You had a long travel day on Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Yep, did not much to say about it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

Good travel day. All right, so well, let's just go on through with some of the recaps. Monday we were at the hotel, we were getting acclimated to you know the whole environment, and then Tuesday we kind of hit the ground running with a bus trip that went to the different farms. What was your highlight of that day, I guess? Let's take a look at Tuesday and and what were you thinking on that?

SPEAKER_01 2:11

Um so Tuesday we went to three different farms. We went to Alexandra Farms, we went to Ayuda Farms, and we went to Don Eusebio. Alexandra was amazing because we got to go through the rose test garden and see roses that are not in production yet. That was really fun. Ayuda was primarily carnations, and they had a beautiful property, lots of horses and donkeys, and we got to see tons of new varieties of carnations that inspired us in our designs and development for the future.

SPEAKER_04 2:53

Yeah, I think that farm was so beautiful, and we got to the owner of the property. I believe his name was Jose. He was the one who gave us a tour, and I think that they had that property in their family for a few generations. So I think it was just great that we got to see their passion for their craft and how they've um developed that farm and become a really premier carnation supplier and so many beautiful varieties. I think their peach one was the SAF best in show for that variety.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

Yeah. Yeah, that was pretty amazing to watch that. And then the last one, I think you liked Ellie because they kind of gave us some of the culture of Columbia where we had the coffee and then we had the fruit. They brought out all the different kinds of varieties of fruit, which was really cool.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Mm-hmm. Yeah, being a last tour of the day, they really put forward the effort to bring the energy and and then it started downpouring, which was fun. I no sarcasm there. I actually enjoyed it. It was cool to see how the rain comes in so fast, and they kind of have the systems in place to collect the rain and be able to reuse it in their in their farming practices. So that was really cool to see that side of it.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

Yeah, the only downside of the day was the long bus ride. We're all just like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04 4:19

It was long. Yes. Ellie, while we were on our trip, she looked it up and Ellie, you can confirm Bogota has the worst traffic in literally the whole world.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

Yes. Worse than Mumbai, worse than Tokyo, worse than China. So that was crazy to experience it and see all the buses just packed to the brim with people. And yeah, very fascinating. So, yeah, tops global ranking for worst traffic.

SPEAKER_02 4:50

Wow, traffic. Yeah, that's crazy. Well, we experienced it, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_03 4:55

Yes, it was a brutal bus ride home, but we got there and we got back. We made it. We made it.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

We made it. And then I think Wednesday was a real highlight because it was the first time we've ever experienced natural farms, which is the supplier for our bouquets that we do for Flower Click. And so just a walk through the greenhouse and you know, that first view of the greenhouse and everything grows, um, and then it's harvested for us, you pretty much not us, but in a sense it was. That was kind of a highlight. Yes, it was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04 5:31

The whole farm, it's a beautiful property, so well kept. Everybody is takes such pride in the jobs they're doing, from you know, picking in the greenhouses to the production to the office people. I think what struck me that day was the kindness and generosity of the Colombian people. I think everybody was very open to having us there. We're so excited to show us everything.

unknown 6:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

I think they were definitely proud of the work that they do, which made us feel proud of us supporting them and being in a good partnership with them. And um, they have over a thousand people on the farm. It was very cool to see that they have buses that transport them every day to and from work and as well as feed them lunch every day, provide uniforms. So it was really cool to see that in person. We always hear about that, those kind of things, but to see it in real life and see the faces of everybody is just a whole different feeling for sure.

SPEAKER_04 6:36

I think too to see the relationship between like Gur, who was the production manager of the plant. He really has an amazing relationship with all the employees. You know, he would walk by people and call them by name, the relationship between the workers. It was just a really great culture, and you really felt like they all were very tight. The employees and the staff and the office workers, it was a really nice culture to be around. It felt really great, uplifting, and positive environment for them to work, and and they were just happy for us to be there and experience it with them.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

And extra special with you, Audrey, because these people you had been communicating with for a couple of years with the orders, and it was great that you actually got to meet face to face.

SPEAKER_04 7:31

It really was. I mean, I've seen their names in the emails and never, you know, really pictured in my mind what they look like, but to actually see the girls that input the orders for our Flower Click members and meet the person who sends me Carlos, who sends me the FedEx tracking information every week. It was just it was nice to make that personal connection. And now I feel like we have more of a relationship than just a working email thread going between us. So that was amazing.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

So then after we got back from the farm, then we did a quick run-through over at Proflora, which is a big expo of all the flowers, you know, grown in Colombia, some in Ecuador that they've brought over, so that it was just a big, huge showroom of so many varieties of flowers and just beautiful displays. That was amazing, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Mm-hmm. It was cool. Puts our little expo to shame, that's for sure, at our American events. But yeah, it was incredible.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

And the next day, then we went there for the whole day. We spent the day there. It was that day we finally got to sleep in a little bit, got a little rest.

SPEAKER_04 8:44

Yeah, I think the great thing about the expo was we saw so many different varieties that we hadn't seen. And after you know, the three of us walking through and deciding what we liked and what we might want to try, we got to walk through with Amy from Natural Flowers, and she walked through and wanted to see what we wanted to try and what new varieties we thought we might want to include in our bouquets, and the possibility of getting those for our members was that was really fun.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

Yeah, got to do a little shopping. Yeah, and and I think it was cool because a lot of them had the sustainable product, so there's actual certification that they're doing at the farms to say that they're working to be sustainable in everything they're doing in the farming processes and all the steps that they have to take to be certified. So that was cool to be able to see them displaying that and proud that they've gone through that certification as well. It's kind of a big deal for in the US. I think people are interested in making sure that they're purchasing from a sustainable farm.

SPEAKER_04 9:51

Yep. I think the other thing that struck me about the the expo was just the creativity, the number of booths that just, you know, their design elements and how they incorporated new flowers and new processes. It was just really, really so interesting to walk around and witness the creativity of all these designers.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

From floral chandeliers to floral walls to floors with flowers, you know, to arch was in it. Just like you're saying, there was so much creativity in there. It was great, especially using those new varieties and you know, a lot of painted flowers and just just sparked your creativity for sure. So then on uh Friday, then we returned to natural farms and really had a great day again. It felt like we built relationships on Tuesday, and so returning, and there was more trust, and there was like we were like friends coming back home. And Ellie took over and just did her thing that day.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Yeah, so one of the main reasons of going to Columbia was to tell our story of how Flower Click, you know, we start at the farm level and go all the way to the end consumer, and through those channels, one of them is at the farm, and so we got to see the process of the designs that Vonda creates, then getting assembled and packaged into our bouquets, into our flower click bouquets, and so I got to document that entire process and be able to tell that story. So got a ton of great content from that.

SPEAKER_04 11:33

It was emotional, wasn't it, Audrey? It really was. It was fun to see. First of all, they have a group of mostly women, I think, that are trained specifically to assemble our bouquets. So to come to the farm on Friday and see them ready, like we were there to film our the production of our bouquets, so they were all prepared and ready for us, and just to see those girls standing waiting for our bouquets to arrive at their table. So the process is they have these design tables that are kind of a semicircle, and all the flowers are laid out that are in the recipe for the bouquet, and then once they get their table, these girls, it's are so meticulous to detail when it comes to assembling the bouquets, they inspect each flower and take off any bad petals or leaves and um just the specific order that they put those flowers in and the care they take and wrapping them. It was just really fun to see the process from beginning to end. And once we saw these bouquets being made to order, and we see the order labels with our member names on them, and it really brought home that we were producing for our specific members.

SPEAKER_02 13:01

Yeah, that was really cool. And and the pride in the faces, you know, and the joy that each one of them had. And they knew Ellie was coming to film, so they had they were all had makeup on and they were smiling, and they were like, ooh, we're almost like they were movie stars, which they were, you know, they're stars, the star of the show. It was great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

I think just the people of Columbia are beautiful people, they're honest, trustworthy, warm, and it was just very special to see that in person. And I'm gonna practice my Spanish before I go there next time so I can speak to them a little bit more. The people I would say was definitely the biggest highlight for me, the whole trip.

SPEAKER_04 13:45

That was my highlight too. I feel like how kind and generous they were, how welcoming they were to us, hardworking, dedicated, proud. And that wasn't just at the farms, it was the Colombian people in general, the people that served us at the hotel, the people that you know served our meals and our drivers. They were all so kind.

SPEAKER_02 14:09

Yeah, and I don't think we felt at all threatened at any point. I mean, you hear when you're traveling, oh my gosh, you got you're going to Colombia, you're going to Bogota. Personally, I didn't feel like there was any threat whatsoever. Yeah, it was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04 14:23

No, there really was no time that I felt unsafe, and I would say I can't wait to go back.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

Same. Except for I'm gonna do like you have done, Audrey, and you were using some app to learn a little bit of Spanish.

SPEAKER_04 14:37

Yes, I knew a little Spanish. I was brushing up with the Duolingo app so I could basic communications, but like Ellie, I would love to practice some more and be able to have some meaningful conversations with some of the employees, and it would be interesting to see and hear what they would say about working at natural flowers and at the farm. I would love to get their feedback on that.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Yeah, so now we're back and and ready, and now we're ready to plan another trip.

SPEAKER_04 15:07

Yeah, and make some new bouquets with some new varieties and color combinations. I feel like we got a lot of ideas, got the creative juices going.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

Yeah, for sure. A lot of great ideas. So all right, thanks for joining me, gals. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

Thanks, Vonda. 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. We look forward to seeing you next week.

SPEAKER_02 15:48

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