Interview with Tom Bowling: Trends to expect for 2020, Permanent Botanicals

#010: Tom Bowling AIFD, PFCI shares his thoughts on trends to expect this spring, summer, fall and winter. Working with Pioneer Imports and Wholesale he knows first hand the colors and textures that are emerging for the wedding and home decor market. Join Vonda and Tom in their conversation about not only what to expect, but how this could affect your shop this year.
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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:04

[ music plays ]

Vonda 0:04

Everything you've done for the catalog and for your videos that you're doing, was there anything that stood out or that surprised you?

Tom 0:10

I think the strength of color surprised me the most.

Speaker 1 0:18

[ music plays ]

Vonda 0:19

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

Lori 0:23

and Lori Wilson and we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination, kind of like us, Vonda.

Vonda 0:31

[laughs] My special guest today is Tom Boling . He is an amazing educator in the industry, past president of the American Institute of Floral Designers, a member of The Professional Floral Communicators International. And wearer of many hats in our industry. I want to say from glassware to bling, from consulting to special events. And those special events were like the Rose parade, which you kind of graduated from planning and working on to judging. I mean that's a pretty big thing and I could go on and on because there's so much Tom, Tom and I have worked together on numerous project from vendor expos to design shows, but one of my favorites and most memorable was the Oscars, which you were involved with for many years. So welcome, Tom. Thanks for joining me at The Business and Pleasure of Flowers.

Tom 1:27

Vonda, It's my pleasure to be here with you and to share some, some great memories. Just like you were talking about, you know, with the Oscars and some of the other events that you and I have had the opportunity to participate in.

Vonda 1:39

Yeah, for sure. Today I'd like to talk about trends. I know that's always one of those big words, the trends, but trends and colors and products that shops can expect to see this coming summer, fall and maybe even Christmas. You and I've worked with a company that we respect and represented, which is Pioneer Imports and Wholesale. This company sells containers and permanent botanicals, also known as flowers. What would you say that you could share with us that's coming up this summer? Spring, fall?

Tom 2:12

Well, I think Vonda, you hit on a , on a great topic of color because color is so personal for everyone. As shoppers, we often see that people react to color before they react to design style or particular flowers, and especially men gravitate to color when buying for someone else because they know so and so likes blue or green or yellow or whatever the color combination may be .

Vonda 2:42

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. There's actually been studies on that, right, but the first first response is color. Let's talk about permanent botanicals. I know you've worked with Sarah and the team on trends that are coming up for summer and spring. Can you share any of those secrets, or expectations?

Tom 2:56

Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, and when we look at color and we look at trends, we have to go more actually global than that to look at what's happening around the world or influences that we're seeing. You know, this is an election year. We look to the blue family especially because of that influence and it's a very safe and calming color, which works out quite well. Again, when there's turbulent times, people want to feel safe, they want to gravitate to colors that make them feel good and blue is one of those colors for sure.

Vonda 3:34

Probably some of that because that's the Pantone color of the year, right?

Tom 3:37

Absolutely. They were quite wise to make those blues. And you know, blue comes into the , the pale blues, the light blues, the medium blues, the dark blues, the navies . You know, like we said, we look to globally then, but we also look to fashion and we're seeing so much blue coming into influencing our color palette.

Vonda 3:59

Okay . And so what other colors are we going to be seeing? Well the interesting about the blues is it pairs so well with many other colors, whether you're a little bit more dynamic and want to do combination of blue and orange for instance, for like birds of paradise. That's perfect. Or you look to the Provence combination of the yellows and the blues paired together. But then the blue also goes quite well with other harmonies as far as like the reds are concerned, the dark reds and the Maroons and we're getting back to cycle color revival . So you're saying the blue and kind of the rich red more the Royal colors again?

Tom 4:37

Again, yes. Not to calling it, you know, the jewel tones. We've eliminated that color family, that's a great word for it. We don't call it that anymore. But yeah, you're seeing those same colors revive once again. A nd we have to remember that you and I may have seen that come back multiple times and you know, it's, it's new to someone and that's the whole part about any type of color or color combination is what's being embraced today. Might've been 15 years ago or even 10 years ago because those c olors cycles happen quicker and quicker, you know, more often now.

Vonda 5:17

Yeah, that's true. And I never thought about that because now I like our children, Taylor and Ellie, they haven't seen those color combinations. Its all new to them, and they're like, this is exciting. I love this. And we're like, eh.

Tom 5:30

You know, I always remember and talk about the tie dye look and every time that comes back and being of age now, I've seen it come back three different times. And you think, well, it worked the first time and we loved it and embrace that in the 70s and how many times have we seen that reoccur over and over and over.

Vonda 5:49

And that's the one that's really evident, right, because how do you redo a tie dye ? You don't, it's tie dye .

Tom 5:53

It is. It is. Exactly. But there again, you know of the colors that we're deviating from out of the blue harmony, we look into the the wedding family, any event, family, and those are, we're seeing a lot of of subtle looks there too with the, those sand colors that are so on their present with the new roses, the Sahara, not that Sarah's new, but you know some of those muddier colors where it's just a combination of floral and texture and color may not be the strongest element that we're seeing now.

Vonda 6:29

Yeah, you just hit on something and that's texture. There's a lot more textures coming forth, aren't there?

Tom 6:34

Absolutely. It becomes so important in any combination of design, but I think now people are really embracing and recognizing whether it's the fringe on a pillow or a purse that has some accessories on it that texturize. Yeah, texture is right up there at the top.

Vonda 6:54

And we've seen that increase of organic feel in design in fresh. Is that coming forth in the permanent botanical field as well?

Tom 7:02

I think so because with any permanent botanical, whether it's a, a true botanical or what we would refer to more as a fantasy flower, that you know, a little bit of this, a little bit of that it's created, it's not a real either color or it's not a real form accurate to it's botanical presentation and fresh. Yeah, we're, we are seeing those textures become so important, whether it's an enhancement of visually giving it texture with color combinations or physically. Again, you know, the materials may not be always smooth at this point.

Vonda 7:36

And I did notice in the new catalog for pioneer imports and wholesale that you did a lot of settings outside. So that brings the texture of the world into the design itself, I think, which was really cool.

Tom 7:50

Absolutely. And it's important because what we're doing is imitating nature with our permanent botanicals. So we want them to look like they're bringing the outside into the home, whether it be in a color, in a flower, or simply a styling of all greenery, which again, is one of those super important looks right now where the younger generation, the millennials are gravitating back to that whole terrarium phase. You know? And I just, I have to laugh every time I see the macrame holders and the macrame accessories, whether they're on the wall or on the table, or functional or decorative, we see that and we just kind of like you, we just kind of like giggle and go, Oh my gosh, that was so seventies but yet it's so strong right now again. And when you go into like pottery barn, you're seeing those presentations all through the store. So it just kind of is a, Oh yeah, that's kind of cool. It's a revisit. And you feel kind of good about it.

Vonda 8:52

You do. Did you use to make macrame with your mother? I mean I did. I would be like, we're going to do this.

Tom 8:58

Yeah, exactly. How many square knots and clove hitches and all those knot patterns that we did. Like I said, some of it was more functional plant hangers, et cetera. A lot of it in being an art major as I was in college, we did things as wall pieces in combinations of materials into that to take it to the next level, which I think is super important with any trend that we're looking at that you take that trend, you personalize it, you internalize it, and then you put it back out for your customer and that's one of the areas that I always wrestled with when I was in retail for 20 years because we had so many trend forecasts coming at us. As we still do from multiple directions, and this forecast said these are the colors, these are the combinations, these are the looks. And then somebody else would come by and go, Oh, well yeah, but not really. This is what I'm seeing . And so you have to look at those. And bottom line is you have to look at what's your customers going to embrace because living in the Midwest we always didn't get the trend, the hottest trends or the most extreme, I guess I should say trends never made it into our market area, but we have to also recognize the fact that with our social media, the world has become so much smaller. Just because I live in the Midwest does not mean my customer base is not aware of those colors or those forms that are new, whether they're organic or more mid century modern. They're out there and we have to recognize that

Vonda 10:40

Much more than we used to. Right . Like you said, when you were in your shop and I was in mine whatever was working in our area, we were aware of what was going on but our customers weren't and if you have something that's trend forward in your shop, people will be going, hmm, old school.

Tom 10:54

Exactly. Yeah . I always encouraged people take field trips and force yourself to go to the targets of the world because those people are spot on for trend colors, trend patterns. Again, super important. Whether it's a geometric, whether it's again, more organic. There's lots of things that are happening and I do courage. Target and Pier One is a good one as well. They've got their finger on the pulse and their budget for setting that is much stronger than ours and so are we following? Yeah, we really are. We're not inventing the trend and we're embracing the trend at some level, whether it's by color or by shape, by form , texture, whatever. We have to be absolutely aware of that.

Vonda 11:40

Yeah, we do because our customers in the floral industry are looking for that. They're coming to you. If you're the expert in the field. When you're looking at everything you've done for the catalog and for your videos that you're doing, was there anything that stood out or that surprised you?

Tom 11:55

I think the strength of color surprised me the most. Again, depending on your client base, what color harmonies you're going to embrace. And we see that in the catalogs from pioneer important wholesale where we're seeing colors that are a little bit maybe stronger, which is interesting. But again, they're offset by another combination of more subtle colors too. I love the fact that you can find what is right for you. It's like a menu going to a restaurant and not everything sounds good or do you particularly like a particular dish? But there's something else that they do offer that will strike you. And again, that was one of my hardest things was to get over what I like to taking the, the me, the I out of that equation, going to market, going to pioneer imports and wholesale shopping. It wasn't about what I liked. And that's difficult to really set yourself out of that and go, yes, my customers would like that.

Vonda 12:58

Right? And you really have to know your customer .

Tom 13:00

Absolutely. And as we work with our customers, we see that and we're into their homes and into their lives really in many, many ways. It is important to know that. And you brought up an excellent point. We have to be trend savvy to entice our customers to come in and especially posting that on your website, all through your social media. Look what we have. This is new, I just got back from market, I just came back from a seminar, whatever it is that you have discovered, you need to wave those flags and let people know that you are on top of what's going on.

Vonda 13:38

And also ask for their feedback. Right. So, I just got back, here's the new colors, what do you think? Would you have this in your home? And some of them I'll go, no way. And others go, Ooh , that's cool. You know, just to hear the response they think is just great for everyone.

Tom 13:51

Absolutely. That's, that's a great idea is to get the invite that customer feedback so therefore they feel like they're contributing as well

Vonda 13:59

And we learn so much from that. That's why we need to do that is get them to participate. Have you projected or been working on what's happening for fall and Christmas yet, Tom? Or is that still coming?

Tom 14:10

We're in the fall right now. That's the other thing too. The turnaround time from the time that these products are conceived and executed, obviously offshore until the time they get here. That window used to be easy a year and a half, two years out, and now the turnaround time is so amazingly quick. I mean 120 days is not uncommon. Then you think Holy cow, from inception to execution to importing times to getting it into the wholesale house, into the retail. Just like everything in our lives have been so compressed for time. We live in that Amazon world, so we're used to it and our customers demand that and as we see those changes happening, we have to be ready and I think pioneer imports and wholesale is one of those companies that does an amazing job. Not everything is going to be new. We know that there are some good, strong foundations that we build on. It's kind of like a lady buying that little black dress. That little black dress can be accessorized in so many ways and put into a new look or refreshed . That's kind of the nice thing too, that when you look and you're considering buying how those colors can transition. And as I mentioned, you know we talked about the blues, how many combinations can you base blue on? So it makes that a good investment. Now what you do with that, you take a percentage of your projected sales and obviously put a combination together here, but it's still blue based and you put another combination blue based again. So fall is one of those color and it's super saturated in color. Whether we live where the colors are intense or we've been transferred to an area where maybe we don't see that extreme color change, but it's still with us. We've been brought up with it and hey, I may be living in Arizona, but I still want those wonderful russets and all the oranges and those golden yellows and that whole color combination.

Vonda 16:19

I think last year we saw the blue come in with the fall and I think we'll probably see that again.

Tom 16:24

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Vonda 16:26

The blues on the undertone or the combination of that even with fall colors I think is awesome.

Tom 16:31

Absolutely. And it just punches and you know, we really didn't talk so much about the saturation of color, but you know, colors change throughout the year and we think spring and how bright and cheery and all the colors that are, you know, they look one way and then we go into the summer where it gets a little bit more faded and sun bleached and those colors are little bit softer and not so strong. And then all of a sudden we returned back to, as you said, fall and now we're punching in the rich saturation of color makes it so wonderful.

Vonda 17:05

Gosh, hadn't even thought of it that way. The sun bleached in the color and the lighter blue sky. Any other insights you can share with us on color or trends?

Tom 17:14

Well, they think we're still very much influenced at this point with that natural organic look, especially in our event work and our design executions, whether it's bouquets or whether it's a table stylings or whatever. Um , we're seeing that gathered kind of unstructured feel and we have to recognize that. And whether we embrace that or it's right for my home or me, again extracting me out of that equation, it's right for my customer. So you get textures and that DIY look that people strive for. Again, I want it to look like I made it kind of a thing. That's a little challenging sometimes to make that look, especially if you're like myself, I become more of an architectural designer, so that's a 180 for me. And to do that trend look, I really have to work at that. But that's good because it broadens my awareness and broadens my skills too.

Vonda 18:15

I think we've talked about it before where it's a challenge because we still think principles and elements of design and some of those DIY are like, wait a minute, there's, there's nothing here.

Tom 18:27

It's a collective look. And I kind of think of that. It's more of a school look and like you said, you know those of us that have been, this is my 41st year and you could see that focal area, you could see that line. You could see the balance especially, and that's where I noticed the biggest change in trend work is, as you said there , the principles and elements are there, but they're not there as we know them and we're taught to be very clean and and executed and definable . Sometimes you kind of have to dig through and go, Oh yeah, I see the balance or yeah, I'm not quite seeing that that's developed focal area, but it's again, that's what our customers are looking for .

Vonda 19:14

That's right. So I couldn't get away from talking about pioneer and imports and wholesale without asking you about the videos that you're doing because you're such a great teacher, your patience, and you're very articulate when you're doing those.

Tom 19:29

Well, I think education, being a former school teacher, I firmly believe that education is what keeps us alive and that's keeps us growing and it keeps us moving forward and just as this podcast or whether it be a hands-on class with someone or whether it be a, you know, wire surface presentation, anything that keeps you moving forward is super important. And that's the education part of what we do as a school teacher. I think, you know, you synthesize it down and you break it into parts and pieces and you make it, to me it makes sense.

Vonda 20:08

It's to make it super easy to understand and that's what they're like. It's like, Oh I get this, I get it.

Tom 20:13

And thats what design is and we see that, you know too in some of them like cooking shows that we watch on TV. I'm a terrible cook and I know that. But after watching some of those, I feel like they have taken those steps and made it make sense and now I feel confident and is my dish going to turn out exactly like there's probably not anywhere close. But I had the experience, it was positive. I learned and it made me want to try it again or try another. And that's what education is about. I feel like we should not doing duplication cause I don't want you to make what I'm making. I want you to make what you want it to be. Internalize it, personalize it. You know, add this flower, add that, but know why you're doing it and what it really is going to contribute to the overall result.

Vonda 21:06

Interesting. Because there's so much duplication out there and we do have to duplicate for that customer who wants it to look like this.

Tom 21:13

And bottom line, I pretty much taught myself to design looking at photographs of other people's work. Just as artists copy. There's nothing wrong with that. What did you learn? How did you use it? How did that artist use a brush stroke when they were painting the application of materials? Is mine going to be identical to that? No, I'm afraid it's not going to. However, what did I learn? And that's my big thing. What's your takeaway ? And if I wasn't standing here, could you explain that? So now you know you've got a good, strong core of knowledge to take it to the left or take it to the right or add this or however you want to choose to internalize that.

Vonda 21:55

Love that. That's, that's how we grow.

Tom 21:57

Exactly. Exactly.

Vonda 21:59

So we're going to move on to a couple of personal questions.

Tom 22:03

Okay.

Vonda 22:04

So what do you love most about the flower business?

Tom 22:08

As I said, this is my 41st year and the fact that where I am in my career at year 41 is so different than where I was at my first year. I mean, I started in a flower shop as part time help during the holiday season is where I began and you know, learning to stuff evergreen into a Nutcracker bowl . I thought I was all that the bag of chips, but you know, that's fine. And I love being that and that where I was, the fact that we grow and develop and mature and the opportunities are out there that are endless. Whether you're involved in product development or you choose to stay in a shop or as you and I have shared some many wonderful presentations, you sited of the Oscars and it's a week and it's so much fun. But that's not our life. That's not real. But we had a good experience and I learned things from you and I learned things from the other team members. And again, what's the takeaway? You know, what did I learn from that experience that year?

Vonda 23:10

And what's amazing to me, Tom, truly, that you look at everything about an opportunity of what you can learn and take away from it. I think that's pretty huge. I don't think most people do that. I really don't think they do.

Tom 23:20

No, that's o ur building tools and we're building this type of home today and maybe this, now we learned something new and we're g oing t o modify that and change that and be receptive to change and Oh yeah, I never thought about it that way. And again, now we're taking a different look to it.

Vonda 23:39

And I would say that after 41 years and all the changes that you've seen and you've come about, there's shops out there that you know that they're doing the same thing they did 41 years ago. And that's I think why we've seen so many shops go out of business .

Tom 23:54

I would agree because our client base has changed and yes, we may be in a small town somewhere, wherever it doesn't matter. And we have that mindset of, Oh, my customer always likes this. Well really, maybe they don't. And you've mentioned getting that customer feedback, invite a group in and make it a fun look. You know, who are your corporate clients? Who are your residential clients? Who are your people that special events and get that whole blend in mixture involved in what's going forward and how to move your shot forward. And it's disturbing when you see as a shop owner, you see your customer shopping somewhere else and that's a wake up call. It's like, okay, what are they doing that I am not providing? Whether it be, you know, a style of design or a mixture of , products or services. What am I, what am I lacking? So take a look at that as an opportunity for growth.

Vonda 24:53

Great tip there. Okay, so the next one is what is your favorite flower?

Tom 24:57

Wow. Favorite flower. You know, we are so blessed to have nature at our fingertips. What I like today, I may not like as well tomorrow and I can change that. And it doesn't mean that I'm abandoning any one thing. It just means that, you know, today I'm , I'm really loving. Um , another look, I guess if I really had to zero in on one, I love an oncidium orchid. I'm a yellow person. I really enjoy the yellow. It's an intricate flower. It's detailed, it's got so much interest to it. It's one of those flowers for me that I can just look at and go, I could use it here and I can use it here. And it's so diverse. It's a little unusual. Like we all are. So , you know , it just sort of fits me most of the time . So I'm going to say oncidium orchid.

Vonda 25:46

That's great . They're beautiful. That's for sure. So then our one podcast question that we ask everyone, what is the one thing that's giving you life right now? No, now I have to have to say, you know, it's not your heart, it's not your air, it's something else.

Tom 26:03

I think right now my focus as I mature in the industry and the age and things is my family because that's what really, really inspires me. And I spend a lot of time with them. And I'm blessed to have a fabulous family and you look at that and you , you count your blessings and family is right there for you. And I'm again, very blessed to have a good, strong foundation in my family and that means a lot.

Vonda 26:29

So you can't replace that.

Tom 26:31

Absolutely not.

Vonda 26:32

And they are the ones who got you where you are today.

Tom 26:35

And keep me and still, yes, you're right. And that's what motivates you to move forward and share that knowledge that my youngest daughter is developing her floral career now and to be able to share that. Recently we collaborated on a wedding, large wedding and it was so fun working with her and teaching her and she was teaching me too , so it worked out great.

Vonda 26:57

That's great. That's really awesome. Thank you Tom for spending the time with us today and we'll look forward to seeing you at another industry event somewhere.

Tom 27:04

Thank you Vonda

Lori 27:07

We have certainly enjoyed our time together today and we look forward to being with you guys. Again, if you have any questions, concerns, comments, anything we would love to hear from you, you can always email Lori@flowerclique.com Also, if you enjoy our little podcast, go ahead and click that subscribe button. That's very helpful for us. And you can even leave a review and we hope you join us next week.

Vonda 27:33

Yes. 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.

Speaker 1 28:03

[inaudible] [inaudible] .