Chimneys, Choices & Customer Care: Why Actions Speak Louder Than Smoke

Episode 281: What do the Pope, memory care planters, and your favorite steakhouse have in common? More than you think. In this episode, Lori and Vonda take a thoughtful (and often funny) dive into recent global events—the passing of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV —and what it reminded them about unity, leadership, and the power of actions over words. From emotional crowd scenes to boutique service lessons, and even Bob “watering” the garden box, this one’s packed with reflection, humor, and a few truths we all need to hear.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Those people are hands on doing the work of saints. Like they're doing it.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Welcome to the business and pleasure of flowers. We're your hosts, Vonda LaFever and Lori Wilson.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

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

SPEAKER_01 0:30

So, Lori, we're going to talk a little bit about current events today and kind of a little bit different spin on a current event.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Yes, I love a current event. You know, I loved my civics class in high school.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Okay. Well, this one has to do with spending hours looking for smoke.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

We did. We, I will say that the rest of our staff did think you and I were a little nut, so I think. Well, and especially me, because I'm not, here's fun fact. I'm not Catholic. However, I'm a little obsessed with the Pope in a good way, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:13

It's interesting because I I was a convert to Catholicism many, many years ago. So this to me, it's not something that I'm like, oh my God, I know all about this. So the more you know, the more you kind of like dig into it, and you're like, hmm, this is so interesting. But we were we were watching that chimney during our staff.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

We've been watching it ever since, ever since. And so I was fascinated with it. Number one is I loved Pope Francis. I think the majority of the world, I don't I don't know, maybe not. The world was watching him. The world was watching. I love history, anything in history, I think is important to watch live, whether I agree with it or not. I I think it's cool to be able to say, yeah, I watched that. I saw that. Whether it's a funeral or an inauguration, whatever, I like to witness it. Yeah. Is that weird? Is that weird? But I was that's how I was raised. So you and I were watching this, and we just happened to be in our director's meeting with Ellie and Cammy, and poor Cammy, who was in Mother's Day hell. Hell week hell week, as we and her kids in tennis. Doing all of the like finals week and state track meets and tennis and everything. She was like, What? Oh, wait, yeah, I did hear the Pope died. Like, she was out of it. She's like, and she's Baptist, so she has no idea. But she was a trooper. She was like, Wait, what? Share your screen. I want to see what kind of smoke. Like, so that was actually kind of cool. It was you got to educate her a little bit and tell her what was going on. And then she got really into it. She's like, send me the link.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

You were still into it too. And Ellie and Tyler. Then we were getting all these texts on bets that were going on and this. And the birds, and the birds, the birds on top of the chimney with the smoke coming out with Tyler. And then you were telling me about Bailey at work.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Yes, my daughter, who was raised in Christian, but she's not Catholic. But she and her team, she works at a hospital, and so they were watching it too. Just think that's so funny. It's really cool. It was really cool. And I also think this is one of the positive powers of social media, right? And the internet that we know a lot of times it can be used for the bad. But this is where it was, I think, a beautiful thing. And there were times while we were watching this that you and I both, because we know each other so well, we were getting choked up. Yeah. Many times. One of the times we're seeing the crowd in all of the different countries and the flags and the hugging. And I'm like, wow, I love this so much.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

So united. Everyone, yes, in those hundreds of thousands of people. It was beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Yeah, we're just united. They all came together for one thing. And I was like, This is powerful. This is absolutely powerful with everything that's going on in the world. And to see this, and so much love and beauty. It was just beautiful. So I think we got choked up there many times. But then when he came out and we were like, oh my gosh. So you start asking me this morning, because you were asking about Bailey, and it keeps entering your mind about the the people that aren't Catholic or aren't even religious at all. Why this has made an impact.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

And one of the reasons I asked that is because when I was not Catholic and I was raising my family, the the boys before I became Catholic, and the Pope came to the United States, and it was a big deal, of course, it always is, but have him come and the Catholics were all gathering, and and young people were just like gathered around him. And they asked someone from a non-Catholic church, not non-Catholic, and they said the Pope coming here is like the second coming of Christ. And I was like, oh MG, what is wrong with that person? I mean, I wasn't even catching it at the time, and I'm like, yeah, what that person's got things all wrong.

SPEAKER_02 5:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

And it to me, I'm like, gosh, I hope people are really thinking that. To me, it's a symbol of unity in the world. And I think that's why I used to watch the Pope too before. And then now, and that's why I was interested about Bailey and the younger people because it seems like they really embraced Pope Francis. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

And I've asked her what she has said is, and keep in mind, it's not his words, because they can't understand what he says because of his language. And it's not like she spent time trying to interpret language. Right. I think it was it was his actions. And we know action speaks louder than words. If you go back, and I will say that for me too, as a non-Catholic, but a Christian, a Christ follower, I will say, but not a Catholic. What I've seen in him, or what I saw in him, was he always put his hand out to the children, to the marginalized, to the men and women and children with disability. Like he never once shunned or said, Oh, keep that away. Like, and and he laughed. He was joyful. He was joyful, and you know me. I'm all in with anybody that's gonna crack up about something. Like he's had a sense of humor. And then he also would mourn and cry when someone was sad. So I love those moments. Empathy.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

That's you, empathy.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Oh, he's very empathic. You know, there was one moment where a little boy was trying to ask him something and he just broke down. It was at a microphone, and again, all in another language. And so the Pope made his security person bring the boy to him because the little boy was too shy to ask. And it was something about the little boy's father who had passed away, and that he was worried that his father didn't go to heaven, and he was too embarrassed to ask. And so he crawled up on his lap. And I have no idea exactly the interaction, but I'm sobbing. Yeah. Just watching because of how he's reacting. So again, it's those kind of things. And I think it goes back to actions always always speak louder than words.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

It's interesting. You said you're not Catholic, but you're Christian. But if we look at Catholic with a small C, it really means all embracing and unity. And so Catholic with the big C is like Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist. Right. Like we look at the Catholic, and what you said, and what we're seeing, and that we're hoping this new Pope has is it is Catholic with a small C, which is all embracing and community. So pretty cool. And I love his new name, Leo. Leo. Kind of like Leo the Great. Right. So if you look up your history, but interesting. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

I don't want to at all minimize the enormity and the I don't know, sanctity of the Pope. I mean, that's that is so up here. Yeah. Right? But when we were talking about this earlier, I really started thinking actions. This is such a weird thing, but I was like, it really does remind me of why like why I always go back to my favorite boutique, even though it's high-end, right? Or why Mark and I go to our favorite restaurant that doesn't have happy hours and it doesn't have lunch specials, and it doesn't have like you know what I mean, those kind of places, but it has great customer service, and the people that work there are incredible.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

I'm gonna guess they're kind, they're genuine.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

They're just they're just elevated, okay, honestly. As you know, I've been having talk about a little Lenny story. I've been having we we're gonna maybe have to move him to a a next level, right? So without going into too many details, I had to go two or two different places yesterday. And these are not places that I want to move him because I don't want to deal with this. However, and I don't want to get emotional, but I will it's okay. I will, right? One of the places is pretty freaking expensive. All these places are, which is a whole nother conversation that makes me but man, I'm watching those employees, they are fantastic. Those people are hands on doing the work of saints, like they're doing it, and I'm like, dang it. If I gotta sell my house, I'll do like they make you want to put the person you love so much here and without words, just with action.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

Wow. Does that make sense? No, it it speaks volumes to what actions again go back to the very beginning of our podcast here. Actions speak louder than words, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

And they weren't doing it to impress me, they didn't even know I was there looking because they're busy, you know, and it wasn't elaborate, fancy, it wasn't like some beautiful, I mean, it was just normal, normal memory care style, but it was the quality of the care and the actions and the joy and the laughter coming out of the employees, not necessarily the people, but they were just making the best of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

Just like you have said, how laughter really helps get through those moments. And I'm sure they have to do that every single day.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

To be able to see joy in them, yeah, right, doing the really puff stuff, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Right, right, right. So they have this outdoor, you know, the nice little outdoor, very gated, very thing. And they have I don't know if I should tell that, but anyway, it is what it is, it's memory care, right? And they have these little built like planter boxes because they do some gardening, because some of the men and women love to garden, and so it's very beneficial. And I've seen this in a lot of places, but you have to push a button to let someone out and then come back in, even though it's gonna. So there was a couple of people out there, some men, and this woman that was kind of giving us a tour was kind of pointing, showing us out there beautiful area, and she was like, Oh, yeah, and there's so and so and so and so, and your dad would love it because there's these men, and she kind of stopped and she was goes, Oh, then there's I don't know, Bob. We're just gonna call him Bob. And he was over by the planter, and we all kind of tilted our head because we're like, What's Bob doing? And she's like, Oh no, she's like, Amanda, Bob's peeing in the planter. She goes, Bob owned a farm, used to pee in outside. And I'm like, Well, that isn't my dad would do. It's and my sons. I mean, this was a thing back when we lived in Ohio. Like, sure, it is what it is. It is that's hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

You guys just all stop to look and is like, oh well, I mean, you know, it could be worse.

SPEAKER_00 14:25

Oh, yeah, for sure. But they just pushing the button, Bob trying to redirect, redirect. It's like, let him finish. Like, come on.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

Anyway, I got so tickled because I was like, well, again, it's the observations, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:42

It's well, they just laughed and I was like, I love that you're laughing because I'm laughing.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

It's not Bob's fault. No, hilarious, Laurie. Holly. Hey there, clickers and potential clickers. Are you still guessing at what you should charge for your designs? If words like uncertainty and inconsistency are familiar to you, you're not alone. Too many florists are relying on LLP, looks like pricing, and it's costing them profit. It is time to weed out the worry and grow your know.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

Ooh, I love that, Lori. So join us for our upcoming webinar, and we're gonna break down easy to understand, easy to execute pricing methods that actually make you money, not just pretty arrangements. Plus, you're gonna get a sneak preview of the Flower Click Advantage, our tools and strategies that take guesswork out of pricing for good. Stop guessing, start growing. See you there.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

Speaking of guessing, Vonda, when are we hosting this webinar?

SPEAKER_01 15:59

Well, that's a really good question, Lori. We're hosting that on June 4th, and that'll be 1 o'clock Pacific time, 2 o'clock Mountain Time, 3 o'clock Central Time, and 4 o'clock Eastern Time.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

Right. And if they want to make it easy, just make sure they're signed up for our emails. They can go to flowerclick.com and get signed up for our emails and they'll get all the information there. Somehow, all of this always brings me back to that feeling of the culture of your business. I swear, I know it sounds crazy, but no. Walking into the bit of a boutique, walking into a flower shop, walking into a restaurant, walking in, you can have that same feeling of wow, these people, they have fun here.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

Right. You're looking at them at the back and they're working like crazy. They're like, especially last week when everybody was nuts for Mother's Day, to look at them and they're not like at each other, and they're like having fun and laughing, and they're working like little dogs over there. And you're like, oh my gosh, they're having fun.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

Right. And it doesn't have to be fake. You can still mess up and you can still have stress, but it's authentic joy in the midst of chaos.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

It is it is. I used to say in those moments, many moments during the holidays, are we having fun yet? Right. Because then people are like, I'm okay, come on, lighten up. Just you know, we we need to be enjoying this because it's a lot of work, but think of how many people we're making happy. But anyway, again, actions.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Active actions speak louder than words, yeah. True. I talked a lot about using the restaurant industry as an example, yeah, to the world. And there are a lot of uh similarities, but my son works in that industry, and I think it's so interesting to me that in his job, he makes great money because he works on tips, like he has to do a good job. He works at a high-end steak house, but when he's not at work, like he's very you know him. I mean, he's very quiet.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

That's what I was gonna say.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Reese is a man of few words, very few words, very introverted, super handsome young man.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Yes, say, yes, and I sat close to him at the wedding, you know, so talked to him a little bit, very quiet, very few words, very few words, like you would think he would be like some computer nerd, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:50

But like he's not at all. He's never on his computer, he's just oh anyway, nice young man, nice young words, very nice, very, very few words, but when he goes to work, like he will walk in and they'll say, You have however many tables or reservations tonight, you have all of these requ requests, like he's got return customers, like people request him. Wow, and he's got like all of this. He has people giving him Astros tickets. Wow, like all no, it's crazy. I'm like, um, are you like two multiple personality? Like, what is this coming from? But it's a whole different he just gets in this zone and it's an experience. He comes to life and he goes above and beyond when he loves what he does. Yeah, and he's like, it's just you go in and he goes, I love to give them this experience, and they see it in him. And yes, he's handsome. It I'm sure that helps. But it's the person, I mean, that only goes so long, you can be a total jerk and nice, and your customers are gonna like you, and they're not gonna request you. They're not gonna request you, they're never gonna come back, right? But you know, he goes above and beyond. If he finds out it's something special, he always gives them something extra. It may be little, but it's who doesn't love something extra? Right. Right.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

You know, some maybe it's a little appetizer, a little dessert, or a little something, and they always so it's interesting, Lori, because as you've said, you know, he's he's quiet, he seems more reserved, but his customer service skills are exceptional. Now, let's go back to how Reese was raised. He knows how to treat people through the whole experience of when he grew up. He grew up as your son, you know, and as we say, the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. Yeah. And he has observed you and Mark and the whole situation and knows how to treat people. Yeah. And that's yeah, that's huge. And that's what I think all of us in flower shops, in customer service, realize that you know, it just really comes down to how you treat people.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

It's yeah, well, and that's a really good point. And I think that's why hiring is hard. I mean, uh, so many of our flower shops right now are struggling with finding employees, and then you get one, and then three days in you're like, man, this person's a jerk, or this person is not gonna work out. And maybe they had some other random mask on during the interview. Because you don't know how they were raised.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

You don't. You don't. Yeah. And that that makes a world of difference, you know. You can change, right? Because Dr. Cole Price talks about empathy and how you can learn empathy, but you have to want to.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

You have to want to make that change. Right. Right. I was telling you the other day that we always talk about skill versus will. Yes. Right.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

You don't always have to hire for skill, hire for will to want. But I like the new one that I heard Simon Sinak talk about, because it also rhymes as hire for desire. Again. You know, hire somebody that you see the desire, the passion for wanting to work. It doesn't have to be, oh, I'm so passionate for flowers. Right. It's just like you see some sort of passion in them.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

Yeah, it's interesting you bring that up because just this week on social media on Facebook, there was a question in one of the groups that's like, I have a 15-year-old who has come to me that wants to work this summer. She wants to be an intern. What are your thoughts? I know the parents. It was almost negative. And somebody's like, just check your laws to see if you can have somebody or you can have them into shadow. And, you know, and then others were like, hey, I started when I was 15, and oh my gosh, I would not change it for the world. You need to be a good mentor. You need to help this person. And then somebody's like, Yeah, but you have to be careful because especially if it's a parent and you do something wrong, it's like, yeah, you know, it was like, no, encourage this person, you know. Oh, being crazy. Talk about a desire. They had a desire.

SPEAKER_00 23:31

Talk about squelching.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Don't do that. Gosh.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

Yeah. Do that. Well, I mean, think about you started what when you're 14. I did. Yeah. And you will say, though, because we've talked about it, it all depends on who hires you.

SPEAKER_01 23:48

It depends on your mentor, it will make or break. Mentor will make or break. And that's what we have to worry about in this industry because especially if you're having a bad week and that's the first per time that person starts, they're like, ooh, man, huh? I don't think I want to be in this industry.

SPEAKER_00 24:04

Yeah. That that terrifies me, honestly.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

I think back to, I don't remember how many years ago it was. It was at one of the next gents, and I had been speaking on something. I can't remember which one it was. It was the QA part. Can't remember if I was on a panel. I don't remember. I've slept since then. But someone in the audience was asking me. They had been working only like eight months, but the boss had sent them to next gen, which was great. The manager was the one they were really struggling with. And they were getting really, really discouraged because they liked the industry and they had a bunch of new ideas. And the boss w brought her in as an assistant manager. Okay. She was trained to be over people, but the manager was conflict. Like she was really anyway, she's like, I don't know what to do. And so my advice to her was be the leader you wish you had. You cannot change that person, right? Right. Right. But you have the power to make or break the people underneath you.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

That's actually how they see this industry.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

Yeah. So the person that was her boss that hired her probably modeled well. But then the manager little man wasn't the toxic. Jeez.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

But that was great advice. Yeah. Great advice. And you gotta just remember, okay, it's all on me now. They're watching me. They're watching me. I gotta filter this person. Uh-huh. But I have to lead these people. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:05

And it was just like a whole new perspective. And that's what it was. Then you're encouraged instead of discouraged, right? Right. No.

SPEAKER_00 26:13

Now I've always wondered what happened to her. I hope she's still in there, and I hope that manager shines better elsewhere. Hopefully she's shining better elsewhere. I feel like that manager was probably threatened because of all the ideas that this young girl was bringing in. Who knows? And instead I sitting down, having a conversation, looking through, okay, let's talk about these ideas and going, some are good, some are maybe not gonna work, and let's blah, blah, blah. It was just no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Yes, yes, yeah. So that's where those people answering that Facebook of, oh, be careful. That's what made me think of that's like that manager.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

Absolutely. All right, well, I'm gonna wrap it up, you know, because it's time. Laura that right there, modeling is important. And our takeaways today from our smoke that is white, and bringing it back to it's all about unity, being joyful, modeling. And as you said, that the Pope is elevated, kind of like Reese's restaurant, elevated, so to speak. But we all are being watched in modeling and being joyful and unifying things are super important. And I'm just gonna leave you with this because when we talk about modeling, Pope Leo is from the Augustine order. And the Augustinians, you know, it was Saint Augustine who said, speak the gospel at all times, only when necessary, use words. And so I think that's what we're gonna have emerging from what we're gonna see. And I think we have to remember that in our lives every day is to be the model, be the manager that we wish we had.

SPEAKER_00 28:11

Love it. Love that. Love it. 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_01 28:36

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.