50 Years in Flowers: Vonda's Origin Story

Episode 297: In this special solo episode, Vonda LaFever, AIFD, takes us on a heartfelt journey through her 50 years in the floral industry. From her very first Saturday job at a flower shop in Ames, Iowa, to building her own business alongside her husband, to founding Flower Clique, Vonda shares the lessons that shaped her career and her life.

She reflects on mentors who taught her the importance of commitment, quality, and mechanics; the joy of teamwork and community; and the milestones that come from family, friends, and faith. 

Most of all, this episode is a celebration of passion, resilience, and the belief that when you keep learning and share what you know, you not only grow yourself—you elevate everyone around you. 🌸

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

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

I learned then that it's important to know what your competitor is doing. But know what you want to do. You don't want to copy them in what they're doing or their pricing. Price shoppers are not the customer you want. Welcome to the business and pleasure of flowers. We're your hosts, Vonda LaFever and Lori Wilson.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

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

SPEAKER_02 0:33

It was a bit of an unusual week at Flower Click. Lori has laryngitis. So as you can imagine, Lori not being able to speak. Oh, that's really unusual, right? So she would not call, which is kind of hard for me because I'm used to talking to Lori, maybe not every day, but every other day. So finally, after about four days, when she could get a little bit of squeaks out of her, she would zoom me and she would look at me and I was trying to read her lips or get out a little bit of something when she was trying to explain something to me. And you know how that is when somebody is trying to explain something to you and they're whispering to you. And here you find yourself whispering back to them. So we're having this whisper conversation on Zoom, and it was just hilarious and finally. I'm like, Lori, just go back to bed and rest. Just go, go rest. We need you to get better. This is a Labor Day. So by tomorrow, when she gets back to work, she probably will be able to speak a little bit more. I wanted to take this opportunity to record a podcast to share with you my 50-year anniversary of starting my first job at the flower shop. I mean, I look back and I'm like, oh my gosh, September 1975. Wow, it's been 50 years. And that just seems a little bit insane. Quite honestly, it's just been a lifetime of learning from that very first job in Ames, Iowa, where my parents had to take me to work, right? Because at 14, even in Iowa, you don't have a work permit, you can't drive. And it was about 12 miles from my house to the flower shop. So every Saturday they would start off and they made that commitment that I was going to work and this is where I was going to work. So pretty cool that they started out letting me know how important work was and that it took a commitment to get there. So I guess that's one of the first lessons I learned is it's all about commitment. And somebody is paying you to do a job. So you need to do it and you need to do it right. So these were kind of my informative years. I know they say informative years are from birth until eight, but the next stage is adolescence. And those are also considered informative years as young people develop their identities, their values, and critical thinking skills. Hmm. I think all of those were really influenced by that first job. And I'll never forget Peggy Harrison, who was my mentor, and she allowed me to work at a young age, and really her and the whole staff taught me so much. When I was a beginner in the shop, my job was to clean, clean the displays in the front showroom of the shop. You know, people took a lot of time and effort to make it so beautiful in there. But when that crystal gets where it's cloudy, when there's dust settling on anything that's there, even the permanent botanical, we would call them silk arrangements, would get dirty. And so all of those things had proper ways to be cleaned. And I was shown very carefully what I needed to do and how important it was to, once you clean that item, to put it right back in the same spot. Okay, I got it. I learned the importance of a clean shop, that quality begins with cleanliness. And you notice that right when you walk in the shop. So that's why I guess I always have said, walk in the front door. What do you see as a customer sees it? I was taught that in my informative years. And let's look at the front sales room. Let's call it. We used to call it the front room, the back room, the sales room. I was told the importance of a greeting when they walk in the door, a smile, and just to show them you care. It's those things, that greeting, the smile. And although I knew nothing, I was scared to death to be there because if they asked me a question, what was I going to do? And she said, just come get one of us. We're we're right here. So anyway, that happened, you know, for a few years. I was working the Saturdays, and I will never forget my first open house, which was that very first year. It was the days when you would close on Saturday and you would work all night long to flip the store to make it Christmas the next day. Yeah. It was insane that first few years because it wasn't changed until I was probably there maybe four or five years, and then they changed the way they did that. But close on Saturday, you would work all night long until you were ready for that open house on Sunday. But what I found out was it's really important to listen and follow directions. But also it was fascinating those few years to watch someone's vision and planning come to life with a willing team, right? There was one or two people who were in charge, and everyone just knew what they were supposed to do, did their task, and then came back to look for the next thing they were supposed to do. And it happened. So all of those things in that front room I learned. Then I graduated to the back room. And I was there more hours than I could come after school, you know. So a couple days a week I would go after school instead of just on Saturdays when I was able to drive. And I got to process the flowers, right? That was a big deal. Yes, you get to cut the flowers, you get to fill the buckets with water, all of that. But you know what? I took that as such a cool responsibility. And I made a point to know everything about care and handling. And I was told even at the time that the amount of waste that they had or flowers that weren't holding up were so much lessened because I took that time to take it to the next level. They'd always done care and handling, but as you know, it changes all the time and just to constantly be on top of that. So that was cool. It was kind of my deal. It was like, I'm gonna make sure these flowers last a long time. So I learned that flower care equals quality, equals satisfied customers. Then had the opportunity in that back room to prep for the designers, set things up. And this was the days before floral foam. Yeah, yeah, that that's a long time ago. You're right. We didn't have floral foam when I just started. It was shredded styrofoam with chicken wire over the top. We did that for maybe about a year, and then we started getting the Oasis floral foam because it wasn't quite as expensive, but it was the new cool thing. And I remember using the floral foam and being taught how to green things properly. That's when glue guns were introduced. So this is all back to the basics before we had things that many of you didn't even know at one time didn't exist. It was there in the design room that I understood the importance of mechanics. Good, solid mechanics. Making things pretty is good. But if it's not put together properly, if it's not strapped down so that when the driver throws it from one place to another, you're gonna get a complaint. You're gonna have an unhappy customer. So importance of mechanics was learned way back then. But also the importance of team, teamwork, respect for others. Yeah. Observe those around you. And you can learn a couple things. One, you can learn. Just observing, doing your job, watching things go on, and not just being in your own little world. You can pick up so much. That was early on. But then there might be teachable moments that you're like, oh, somebody taught me this. And I think maybe that might help them if I show them that or tell them that. I have a vivid memory of one of the girls who we had hired to work in the front room. Her name was Donna, and Donna was the pastor's wife. What's this gonna bring? Because she's just always so sweet. And how's she gonna do in sales? She's never had a job before. You know, it's that leery person. And at that point, I was probably assistant manager. And so she comes in, and I will never forget it to this day because she was a natural. Her personality was that power of positivity. And whenever she would bring something out that was made for a customer, it was a fresh arrangement, it could be something that was a silk arrangement, might have been a cursage and boutonier for a young person, she would always say, Oh my gosh, isn't this beautiful? And then she would go into the conversation, where are you going to place this arrangement? Or, oh, is this your first prom or is this your first homecoming? But when somebody brings something to you and says, Isn't this beautiful? You are a little taken aback if you weren't thinking it was so beautiful. Because we had other front room help, we'll call them, that would say, Oh, do you like this? How do you like this? No, her whole demeanor was, isn't it beautiful? And they're gonna have to tell you why they don't like it if they don't like it. But to her, it was natural and she really truly believed everything that we did, which I'd have to say it was absolutely gorgeous. So that was something that I'll I'll just never forget. I learned there that simple things can bring joy. I learned that a flower shop can be a retreat for others, could be a safe space. We had a banker from across the street who was the vice president at the first national bank, and he would come in almost every day for his coffee break. We would have put on a fresh pot of coffee because we knew Joe was coming at this time and we'd always have some kind of treat. And he would come and rather spend that little bit of time with us women at the flower shop. It was a safe space for a developmentally challenged person who lived downtown. Robert would come in probably three days a week. He would come in and have a little coffee, see if we had any sweet things around that he could have and just tell us a little bit about his day. And the other one was Marvin. Marvin, we're not even sure where Marvin lived. I mean, he would come in and he would smile, he'd have a quick conversation, he'd have a cup of coffee, and he was on his way. But each and every one of those persons were always welcome there. And they brightened our day because we brightened their day. So simple things can bring joy, and sometimes we overlook that. Also, when I was in Amos, I had the opportunity to work at a wholesale house. So at the wholesale house, somebody had called and said, Does anybody want to come work with the designers? And, you know, Peggy asked me, and I was like, oh my gosh, this sounds like a cool opportunity. Now, those days I was pretty shy, somewhat reserved. And I had the opportunity to work with some really great designers, and also some really demanding designers. Most of them encouraged and taught me. And that was my first knowledge of AIFD. Like, what the heck is this AIFD thing? So a few years later, this Iowa gal went to San Francisco all by herself, not knowing anyone, to attend her first AIFD symposium. The year 1987. And I fell in love with flowers and floral art again and again. Two years later, I was inducted. And as many of you know, AIFD is a really important part of my life, but it started back then. So moving on, right? It was time for ownership. A new state, a new community. My business partner and husband Bud had what we needed to succeed. Me, shop operations. I knew what I was doing as far as that goes. He had great HR, human resources, great at relationships, business development. So one thing you need to know whenever you start a business, whether it's a flower business or whatever, you need to have great depth of knowledge in that field. So in this case, we had the knowledge, but we still needed to do market research. We needed to make sure that where we were would allow us to succeed in business. That's why we created real life retail florist course for Flower Click, because it really will help you set yourself up for success, which is what we did. We looked in our market and there really was room for another flower shop. Then you'll observe, hmm, I'm not going to do just what they do. What is it that we can do different than these other two flower shops in town? And what we came up with was quality. It was just a repeat of what I'd already learned, right? Quality. So our tagline was a distinction in quality that was a little bit lacking in that town. So this was perfect. A distinction in quality, flowers, plants, and gifts. Said it all, right? So there was no doubt when we went into business what we would be doing. We built on quality. The two of us. I would design, he would deliver. To try to build the business, we did it the old-fashioned way. There was no online service, right? Involvement in the community, which they're telling you you should be doing now. Rotary club, chamber of commerce, church, wherever you could get involved and make a difference in the community so that you were visible. We hired a team. We started with one and then added another one. And the important thing was each one of them had to be aware of our core values and really share those core values. And we always said when we opened the business from day one, we're here for family, friends, and fun. And if we make some money, that's a good thing. But it was that feeling that's why we started because we wanted to work together. We wanted our family to be able to be in the business with us, and we wanted to have fun when we were doing it. A couple times before we'd hire, then Bud would say, if it doesn't work out, we can always go back to the two of us family, fun, and friends. Our sons were raised in the flower shop. Ellie literally was two days old. Our staff, our team, was our extended family. We had respect for one another. We gave them respect. And we expected that in return, just like your family. I learned then that it's important to know what your competitor's doing, but know what you want to do. You don't want to copy them in what they're doing or their pricing. Price shoppers are not the customer you want. You want to listen to your customer, you want to listen to their needs, their concerns, but you need to know your numbers, the financials. Yes, way back then I was still saying we need to know our numbers. I didn't take care of that most of the time. That was the other half of the business who was in the office. That I didn't have to worry about it way back then. But your cogs, your cost of goods sold was imperative. I remember Bud coming out of the office and saying to all of us, not just me, not just the manager who was back there with the team, would say to all of us, if you don't need anything right now, we need to hold off for a few weeks. Hold off. Okay, that meant that we needed to worry about the cash flow, right? If your cash is getting strapped, then you don't want to overbuy. And that's what he was clearly communicating to us. And it's interesting because I haven't heard that in so long. And when I was bringing things up in my mind, I'm like, oh my gosh, he was doing that way back then. It was like, okay, we don't need to order things for homecoming now. We can still wait two to three weeks to get them so we still have time to work on them for the next project. Oh, we don't need to get our Christmas things in right now. We can actually push for a later delivery date because then maybe we can get net 30 and not have to pay for it until we start selling that product. All of those things were really smart financial and business decisions. And so I think maybe something that might help somebody else, just knowing if somebody else is keeping track of that or you're doing it yourself, if cash is a little strapped, know what you need to back off on. We would even have employees that were part-time who'd say, Oh, you know what? I really have some stuff to do at home the next couple of days. So if you don't want me to come in, I can just wait and come in, you know, Friday or whatever the day was. So they were willingly stepping up to help with that cash flow situation, which that who does that? Your family, people who are like family, who are your friends, who are your employees. Back to family, friends, and fun. Even way back then, I learned that you have to count every flower that goes in an arrangement. Yes, it's a lot of times because I was out listening to the designers when I would go to a wholesale house or the education that was out there. Anytime there was extra education out there, I was gonna be there. I was gonna continue to learn and grow and find out what was going on. When I was at my job in Iowa or whether I'm owning a shop, you still have to continue to get education. In those days, there was no online education. You had to go and take a part day off or take your Saturday or Sunday to try to learn so that you knew what you were doing. And you had to count every flower and teach your employees to do the same. Even then, it was price the designs as they need to be. You don't need to look at your competitor and say, Oh, what are they charging for that? And it's interesting because I'm sure you're thinking, well, you didn't have the internet. They weren't comparing prices. And the honest truth is they were. People would pick up the phone and call and pretend they were a customer because we did the same thing, right? We wanted to know how much your dozen roses are and how much your delivery charges, and how much is a vase of mixed flowers. So you would pose as a customer so that you could see what your competitors were doing because you don't want to match what they're doing, but you don't want to be so far out of the ballpark that people are like, oh, well, their roses down the street are $20 less a dozen. That's going to make a difference. So, in a sense, you need to know what's going on so that you know that you're in the right ballpark, that you're doing what you need to do as well. You just need to do your best, right? The best quality. And when we're talking about price shopping, price shopping is not like people are going to the grocery store and price shopping, right? It's different because it's not apples to apples or oranges to oranges. This is different designers, different styles, different quality of products. And I think customers do know that. You just need to do your best. Quality product, quality service, involvement in the community, and customers will follow, hands down. Another thing I remember is a good working relationship with our competitor. Hmm. I'm not sure everybody has it, but I really hope you do. It would be one of those things like, oh man, I need six more white carnations to complete this sympathy design. And in those days, you could call the wholesaler and they could put a special run on and a special delivery charge. But we chose not to do that for right, cash flow, cost of good sold reasons. You would pick up the phone and you call your competitors. Had two in town, and we had working relationships with both. Call them and say, Hey, do you have six white carnations I can borrow till tomorrow, till the truck comes in tomorrow? Or otherwise I can trade them for another color if you need something else. So it was the situation that you were borrowing things on a need basis, you know, leather leaf, salau, whatever it was. And we were really good at being kind and friendly and just being able to help others in a time of need. It went both ways. People would call you, you would call them. And I always thought that was kind of cool that there wasn't that degree of people being In such competition that they weren't being kind. And then came our first website. Yeah. It's time for the old worldwide web. What was WWW? Oh my gosh. Bob Gibler, who was a friend of my husband's, and he was self-taught, Gibby, we called him. And Gibby knew how to set up a website. And he did just that for us way back then. And it was rough, you know, but we took some pictures, put them up there, and it didn't have nearly as many as you do now, that's for sure. But there were probably 10 things on the website and got us up and running. I remember Tom Butler from Teleflora saying, this is the wild, wild west. And I think when you look at AI and what it's doing right now, that's pretty much what it was like when all the online shopping started, the dot coms and everything. Kind of equivalent to that, that it's so changing our business. It's changing our world, much like the internet did way back then. It just made you do a shift to you usually did high productivity and recipes and repetition at holiday time, right? That you always did. It was like on Valentine's Day, we're going to do 20 of these, we're going to 30 of these, whatever the number was. But now you're going to do that productivity on a daily basis. Well, at first it was like maybe you get one or two orders a week. But the customer was starting to have an appreciation for seeing what they're getting. That's why the internet gained traction in the floral industry, is because people appreciated being able to see what they were getting, not just a phone call and say, oh, just trust us. We'll do something in pinks and purples and it'll be beautiful. Well, now that they had just a sampling of what beautiful might be, they wanted to see what they were going to be getting. And, you know, the rest is history at that point. I threw AIFD, got connected with Bill McKinley and the student chapter of AIFD, which was at Kishwaki College. At that time in my life, I had a little bit of time that I was able to devote to giving back to the floral community and to the students, and was able to teach. I actually taught beginning floral design and sympathy at Kishwaki. It was such a joy because the students in golf course maintenance or turf management, it was required for them to take floral design. Kind of interesting for sure. And they were such a joy because a light bulb would come off. They would come in and they would, they're like, I'm not going to take this class on it's not going to do any good, and a few other words. It's such a joy to teach people when that light bulb goes off. And everybody who teaches tells you the same thing. So that was fun. And then they would have to do a color project. So you learned a little bit more how different people saw color. And to the point that I had one student who was colorblind. And so that was really interesting to see how he came up with his color project. And we all overcome obstacles. And this was nothing new for him. I made that connection with Bill McKinley at AIFD. And that's where I met so many amazing people who are now my lifelong friends. It's so great to be able to connect, whether you're at AIFD, SAF, or a state association, connecting with people who have the same passion and love of flowers that you do. In this case, that's where I met Julie Poultler, Sharon McGucan, Michelle Perry White, Marie Ackerman, and so, so, so many who opened doors in my career. And like I said, they're my lifelong friends and family. So back to family, friends, and fun. At the flower shop, there were milestones with your kids, graduations, high school, college, life-changing events, illness, death, bring about life changes. And that's when you find that you're really thankful for your family and friends. After I sold the flower shop, you learn you have a lot of knowledge. Maybe you can share with others. And I had several opportunities, both in business teaching and design teaching. And that's when you've learned that it's really important to share with others, to empower them to make them stronger. And that's where my heart really was like a servant's heart, which it still is. I want to serve others. I want them to get better. I found myself, though, in a situation that I enjoyed helping others. But there were some limitations and frustrations. And there's some advice here for managers, owners, employees, co-workers. When you're empowering others to do something, don't play yo-yo with that position. Don't give a responsibility and then turn around and take it back for self-serving reasons. Unless there's a really good reason. And sometimes there is, right? For an example, if someone is ordering flowers for you at the shop and they're doing a pretty good job, but you just want to take it back for a while. You want to do it. Well, think about the message that sends to somebody. Think about the negativity. They're like, what did I do wrong? Why, why, why are you taking that away from me? I was doing a great job. I was enjoying it, and nobody was complaining, and my cost of goods sold are in line. So be careful on that. And if there is a point that you need to make a change like that, really good, clear communication is all it takes. Hey, you know, I'm going to start ordering flowers just for the next two months because I kind of miss it. I'm missing the relationships and I would like to do that. Maybe you and I can collaborate on what we're going to order, but I'd like to place the orders with the wholesaler. Something clear, concise, and not letting them think it's something they did. And the yo-yo effect, I call that. And there's been a couple times in my career that's happened. And it it does hurt. It really hurts when that happens. So try to avoid that if you can. But at that point, where the yo-yo effect was happening, it was a place that I needed to listen to my family and my friends. Because I wasn't having fun anymore. That time in my life taught me what not to do, and I really tried not to do it. So time for change. I raised my children with if you don't like what you're doing, make a change. It's up to you. Nobody else. Nobody else can make that change. So that's what I did. And that's when the voice in my head from my parents, who were both entrepreneurs, said, if you're gonna work that hard, do it for yourself. So I had these two things going on. The words from my children telling me what I told them, putting it back at you, and the words from my parents that says, you know, you're working pretty hard. Maybe you do want to do it for yourself. Which is what led to us starting Flower Click. It took me back to family, friends, and fun. Oh, believe me, it was a lot of hard work. And it still is. However, working with people you love makes things so much easier. We hit the ground running and found out that relationships are everything, trust is everything, belief in one's capabilities and others around you is everything. This podcast launched and Flower Click began and it began to grow. For a few months, be cut before the brakes got put on because of COVID. But COVID proved again trust in each other. We would say we're all in this together, and we navigated just like you, and have come out stronger than ever. In the past five years, we've been blessed. FlowerClick has an amazing team, family and friends who are like family. Ellie, Lori, Cammy, Denise, Leslie, Audrey, Allie, Donna, Sherry, and Alicia. Thank you. We have so much. It keeps us all very busy, you know, from our membership that we have to online education. Lori and I and Ellie and Cammy are traveling. Sometimes Audrey with us, we're on the road to educational events to share and to learn. We have amazing members. Our clickers are amazing. Shop owners who trust us to do the right thing. And believe me, we don't take it lightly. It's a huge responsibility to help others succeed. And their success is what it's all about. You know the saying, you're only as happy as your most unhappy child. I feel that. Tariffs and downturns in the economy cause me concern. Yes, I lose sleep. But then I bring it to the team and we kick in and do whatever we can do for the member's success. And when I say the team kicks in, they really do. Each and every one of our Flower Click team members contributes and cares, not just about the success of Flower Click, but the success of our members. And for that, I am truly grateful and beyond blessed. With that being said, moving forward into the next 50 years, looking forward to a lot of fun with a fabulous family and a faith-filled and fantastic friends.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

Thank you all, and we'll see you next week. 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 32:17

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