Vonda and Lori ask, "Who will you be, post Covid-19?"

Episode 017: Join Vonda and Lori as they share thoughts and help you plan who YOU are going to be on the other side of the pandemic. We all need to have momentum for the future, and you can start today! 

For more information check out: https://www.thebusinessandpleasureofflowers.com/

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

Transcript

Lori:   0:08
If we can control this little part of our world or our business or our life. It might help alleviate some of that anxiety.  

Vonda:   0:28
Welcome to the business and pleasure of flowers, we're your hosts Vonda LaFever   

Lori:   0:33
and Lori Wilson and we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination kind of like us, Vonda.  

Vonda:   0:50
Hey, cliquers. It's really nice to be just sitting here having a little coffee with Lori on a Saturday morning.

Lori:   0:56
Yes. Note, saturday morning, we did not have time this week, Vonda, to do our normal podcast, so we're having to work over the weekend.  

Vonda:   1:05
That's all right. Anything we need to do to get it done right?  

Lori:   1:08
Well, and at this point, I have no idea what day of the week it is. They're all run together.

Vonda:   1:17
So it has been such a roller coaster week of emotions for all of us, hasn't it?  

Lori:   1:23
It has. It has. It's been very emotional. I was just listening to our flower clique members Facebook Group and yesterday and reading, someone would post something that would break my heart, and then an hour later, somebody would post something that reminded me that they have such a good sense of humor and how important it is to laugh between the tears. So many unknowns.  

Vonda:   1:48
Absolutely. And I just wanted to start off with reading a message from one of our flower clique members because this reminds us why we do what we do. So this message is from Bonnie Roberts, and she's the owner of Bonnie's Floral Boutique in Henderson, Nevada.  

Lori:   2:05
I love Bonnie.

Vonda:   2:06
She's such a sweetheart. So just going to start off, I'm so excited to say that we have approval from the city to open for delivery only. We can't put the sign open on or do curbside pickup, but I can't sleep. I'm so excited about going back to work tomorrow and plan this. Yes. Bonnie's floral is in ladies, you are my hero in this pandemic keeping us sane, keeping us updated so we don't have to be overwhelmed with all the videos and emails. I must admit the time has been good at home. I've been able to learn more about what my husband does early in the morning before he goes to the wholesaler, then running a car wash four days a week and helping at the shop. I now know why he's a little cranky sometimes. L o L way have also got to actually spend some time together, not just working together. I have to say I've enjoyed the time the Lord has given us to pause and shift briefly. And when I heard that I had a way to do Mother's Day, I came to life and lit up like a Christmas tree. I just couldn't imagine not doing flowers for Mother's Day after 34 years. Thanks for everything, ladies. God bless your leadership and guidance. Through this, we have felt united not doing this alone. Prayers for us all. God bless Bonnie. You've brought us hope.  

Lori:   3:40
Oh, I'm telling you what that that helps us get through another week  

Vonda:   3:45
It does. And we're so happy for her

Lori:   3:48
Cause she has been one of those shops that didn't know can I be open, can I be closed. Can I deliver? Can I not? You know, I think the word for the month has been anxiety, anxiousness, and we're going to talk a little bit about that today, not in a negative light, but more as something that you can do that might help with anxiety during this time.  

Vonda:   4:12
You have a really good quote that you wanted to start with today.  

Lori:   4:16
You know me and my love of reading, whether it's an article or book. And I thought this quote in one of the articles I was reading it says if you have a real knowledge of what's important to you now that can guide your decisions and priorities in the future, and you'll probably be happier as a result. And when I read that, I started thinking about all of our shop owners who are trying to figure out what their new normal is going to be coming out of this and what I want to talk about today are some things that you can do now that will help you evaluate what your priorities are and kind of try to align them with what your inner value system is. And once you get all of that aligned, which we're going to give you some steps here that's going to help you come up with okay, coming out of this, this is what I want my business to be.  

Vonda:   5:16
When you read that to us when you're talking about the real knowledge of what's important to you. I kind of go back to Bonnie's letter and how her eyes were open to what her husband was really doing. And maybe that appreciation, the simple appreciation of what he does changed her and making decisions that she's going to do in the future.  

Lori:   5:40
And then even her talking about, you know, she was kind of even maybe rethinking the whole flower shop business. And then she realized she could be open for Mother's Day, and that spark was ignited immediately and that passion came back. You always talk about thinking, Remember why you got ended the industry in the first place because you're passionate and just that little bit of good news reignited that for her. The reason we want to talk about this, and a reason to do this now is because we all feel so much is out of our control. And maybe if we can control this little part of our world or our business or our life, it might help alleviate some of that anxiety.  

Vonda:   6:25
That's what we all need right now is to alleviate some anxiety. So let's plan for the future so we can help that.

Lori:   6:32
the author talks also about momentum for the future. And I liked that because he said, anxiety or depression, a lot of people are very depressed right now. I don't not saying clinical, but a lot of people are struggling with feeling really down and depressed. So the opposite of depression in his mind is momentum for the future. If we can start being forward thinking when Okay, once I come out of this, this is what my shop's gonna look like. What's my life? It's going to help bring you out of all of that.  

Vonda:   7:11
I think it really does. When we can focus on something outside of ourselves, for sure, we have shop owners who are actually remodeling during this time, right? So in that case they're taking and they're going okay, my momentum for the future is this is what the shop is gonna look like. But we're talking a lot internally as well, right?

Lori:   7:32
So here's one of the challenges we have, instead of sitting back and planning what your business is gonna look like, rethink that and start planning who you want to be as business owner. When you come out of this, that might sound a little confusing, but I want you to just sort of hang in there, because there is a difference. It's going to be a difference between priority, like the way business has always been. My priorities and my core values, were going to kind of walk through how to do that. And the first thing you have to do is put all your business stuff aside in one side of your brain and write down your values. You as a person, you Vonda LaFever. Me, Lori Wilson. What are my core inner values? Revisit things about your life, like What is it you're missing out on? If I had toddlers at home is one of my values, as I need to be more available to my Children or I need to, I need to help take care of my father more. I want to be able to free some more time because family is my inner core value, you see what I'm saying. And so I'm not talking about remodeling your your floors or changing up your cooler. I'm talking about you personally. What do you hold to be true  

Vonda:   9:04
interesting that you say something about children because I know that's a big challenge for a lot of parents right now, they're working from home, and they're trying to home school their children and this maybe is not the best time for you to say I need to spend time more with my toddler, because there might be a higher frustration. In that case, how much time is good for you to spend with your child? I don't mean that in a negative. There is a lot of parents who are better parents when they can have these blocks of time with their third and rather than all day long with our kids.  

Lori:   9:43
Oh for sure. That's why everyone has a different value systems, right? Neither is right of wrong, its just what you hold to be true, because we also talk to the shop owner who is filled with guilt because they can't spend more time with their kids or they just, you know they can't ever get anything completely done because they feel bad. So whatever your cases is, and maybe it isn't kids, maybe it's parents. Maybe it's your spouse, or friends. I mean, that's something for me, my value system, like spending time with my best friends in a group, which is something I'm really missing right now because you know, we can't be around each other. So having really great heart to heart conversations with your best friends in the same room, Or maybe it's just spending time with your spouse. I don't know.  

Vonda:   10:34
It's trying to determine what amount of time I think that is important to spend at work with your family, with Children with spouse and goes back to balance.  

Lori:   10:46
Well, so yeah, so you do your values, and then you kind of look at those. And once you have those down, start looking at how your day to day business goes and think like, What are you waking up now? Going kind. So glad I don't have to be doing that today. Maybe, and this is just something that I hear from a lot of shops, maybe it's weekend weddings. Maybe you are a flower shop that really down to your core. You don't like doing weekend weddings. Main reason because it cuts into your values of wanting to spend more time with your family or whatever. Figure out a way to get rid of that, right? I mean, if it's making you miserable or making you feel like you're not content in your job or your life, it means it's not aligning with your core values. So either find somebody else on your staff that really does love them. Like I know a lot of flower shop owners that do love them. They love doing weddings, and they're really good at it. Or figure out a new way to rebrand the wedding part of your business to work more for you.  

Vonda:   11:56
When I had the flower shop in Dixon, Illinois, we didn't do a lot of weddings. But when I did choose to do a wedding on a weekend? I actually had my Children help. I mean, Syer, and Tyler, they would carry the boxes in and help put things on the table. Ellie, even as a toddler, I mean,  as a young girl would bring things in and she would put things on the table and a lot of times it's not necessarily changing a lot, but maybe incorporating what you love into what you love, you know, maybe merging the two and they don't always have to be totally separate. If you're the business owner, that's often times something you can do.  

Lori:   12:35
Another example that I have been hearing recently through all of the many shops have made the comment. Why do I have so much square footage in my shop like, Why am I working so hard to pay so much rent for so many square feet when I only have maybe 10 people walk in every day? These are really kind of lightbulb moments for some of these shop owners to rethink. What can I do differently? Because again, your priority is, Well, I got to be open as many hours as possible because I have this big, beautiful shop, but the rents kind of high and so starting to hate it or resent it, Because it's taking so much time. I don't get to go to a Zumba class. Whatever. Something that's important to you. Yeah, that's important to you. Maybe refocus and figure out. Can I reworked that? Can I move? I know some people are in five year leases. I talked to a guy last week, and I could not believe how long his lease was. He's got a lot of square footage

Vonda:   13:50
and a lot of times you can use that square footage and make your showroom smaller span the design room or your storage could be there and make better use that. It's we're really rethinking that square footage, you might not be able to get out of that lease, but what can you do different than what you have there?  

Lori:   14:13
And that's exactly what we were talking about. Do you have plumbing for a coffee bar? He's like, You know what I do? I could rearrange this and, you know, we're just talking and, you know, you've always talked about doing coworking space if you have extra, and he's like that's a great idea and so, like, you just gotta make sure you have a really good WiFi, If you're gonna run out Coworking space, that is number one. If he can do that and it can generate income, but he doesn't have to do all the work or he just receives the rent. It helps because it aligns more with his value system.  

Vonda:   14:51
Absolutely. That was really great to bring that in. It's like what is important to you. And how could you change that

Lori:   14:58
right. One kind of interesting exercise to do for all of us is visualize yourself five years from now. The author even talked about what do you want people to say about you at your 100th birthday partying, like for me? That just seems I can't think that far ahead. So I'm like, let's do a five year plan. Do you want to be doing exactly what you're doing now? In five years, I mean the same way business this way. And if you think I want to throw up when I think about having to do this particular part of my business for the next five years, then you need to change it. Then you need to change it exactly. Auditing your priorities. You know, no one wants to be audited, but we can audit our own priorities. Take a look at that. I talked to a lot of people that are always All they talk about is how busy they are. I'm so busy. I'm so busy. I can't. I have many people even in my personal life, that I'm like are you? Are you really that busy? But what they're doing one of their values, whether it's a healthy value or not. One of their values is for people to think they're indispensable, really important. So they have gotten in this habit of telling them self. They have to constantly be busy, even if they're busyness doesn't ever result in anything. You know what I mean? How? I can go and clean my house. And I was busy all day cleaning my house. Honestly, I am a horrible house cleaner. It probably isn't gonna look very clean. I will start cleaning a closet and then I've tried on everything in my closet and forgot to clean. So busy because I need to look important or I need to look like I was super productive. Your priority of being super busy but your value maybe need to revisit your value. Why do I need people to think I'm super busy? Why do people need to think I'm important?  

Vonda:   17:01
Is it the business that makes you happy or what you complete that satisfies you.

Lori:   17:07
right, Exactly. There's a huge difference because I don't believe when there's nonsensical busyness in our day, I don't believe you end that day with happiness or contentment. No, you end it going. I got to do all this again. What did I even do, right? I used to pride myself, and I think I've even said it on this podcast about how Oh, I am so good at multitasking. I can multitask. My theory is refuted because I read an article in a It was a psychiatry magazine that said, Neurologically  It's impossible to multi task. We task switch, we don't multi. You can't do these things that once you stop doing something and move over to something which isn't healthy But in my mind, because I have eight different tabs open, I think, Oh, I'm doing great, so you don't do any of them very well.  

Vonda:   18:03
I know that's what this studies have shown, for sure. I want to go back a minute, Lori, to when you were talking about revisiting the normal things in your life and what do you want things to look like? Post pandemic. And as a business owner, you're working now. Many of you are are working now by yourselves. Maybe there's one or two other employees in there, and I almost don't want to bring this up. But as that business owner, I want you to really think. Are you relieved that somebody is not in the shop that you have to deal with today? Day in, day out, This could apply to anybody who's in a work situation and right now, is there a release of stress? Because there's somebody who's caused an undercurrent. Who's caused undue stress in the shop that maybe you really don't want them to return. And what does that look like in the future? Isn't somebody who you really need and you're gonna have to deal with? Because then you have to look it like you said your values are. And how does that work into your situation? I don't know why. I just came to my mind.   

Lori:   19:20
that's really good. It's gonna be hard, right? It's always hard to let an employee go unless you just butt heads with them and you know they were never meant to be. Most of us don't love confrontation. We don't love to be the bad guy, but that's a really good point. Are you waking up going to work and going? Wow, I love that There's no drama here, or  Whatever. You know, it's a really good point on the flip side, if you are going to work and you are missing the heck out of your employees and feel like I cannot do this alone like some of our shops were saying, I own the shop. I'm not a designer. I miss my designer so much and you know, that's good, right? I mean, you're gonna get through this and we're gonna help her. We're gonna figure out some things to do to help her get through that until she could bring him back. But that's a good it's that. What is it? Distance makes the heart grow fonder

Vonda:   20:20
yes, exactly appreciation. And I know that you had mentioned another podcast. Be sure to communicate with those employees and have those conversations. But it is a time for you to step back and say, What does my shop? You're like personal, But I still want to see what is my shop look like, After I analyze my values and verify what's important. Then the next step I yes, would be shop my getting the cart ahead of the horse.  

Lori:   20:47
No, No, but yeah, that's a thing. I mean, you gotta have both. I honestly never really thought of the difference between values and priorities until, you know, the last few weeks when I have been reading this and I think it was again a light bulb moment for me because I think Wow, even in my own life in flower clique some weeks during this I have just been on the phone 24/7 Others have had a little bit of downtime. I need to start writing down. What did I miss about every day? I'm I'm not quitting Vonda. Don't worry. What I'm doing is aligning with who I am in my values in because I think when that's an alignment I'm at my best.  Yes, a of us all of us are at our best when those two things in our universe are walking side by side.  

Vonda:   21:47
Absolutely, absolutely.  

Lori:   21:49
You know, when we were reading this quote about at the end result, you'll be happier. And I think I even said to you the word happier is a little cheesy. I think the word I like the most is contentment, because I can be in a certain type of mood but still have contentment in my heart. I don't always I mean, I usually I'm happy but I don't always have to be happy. But contentment, I think, is really all we want.

Vonda:   22:18
Agreed. Yeah, I do. I think we want to be content. We want to be happy. But I do think that sometimes we just need to be content because happy is not always there.  

Lori:   22:27
Right? Exactly. So we have what three takeaways

Vonda:   22:31
we do.  

Lori:   22:32
I will do the 1st one What is important to you now? How is that different than pre quarantine or pre shutdown? Clarify your values against your priorities. Write them down. Get a big chief tablet. A number two pencil, write them down.  Clarify my values, my priorities. What am I not missing? And what am I missing? That's even an easier way to do it right now.

Vonda:   23:11
 right. Well, so the number two, How can I bring those into alignment? Are there things I need to pass off and get rid of and somebody else can do for me, or are there things that just no longer need to be happening in my life?  

Lori:   23:26
Yeah, we have one of our flower clique members that I'm not gonna reveal who they are. But they have been wanting to sell their shop for quite a while now because I've got a couple of other businesses and she, you know, was like, I just don't think I want to be in this And so we've been kind of helping her and she said to people make offers and it fell through as pretty normal. Anyway, we get une email from her this week. The subject line says, I have a plan and, you know, in the middle of all this and I'm like, Oh, no, it's gonna mean she's gonna just liquidate I didn't know. So I called her and she, during all this downtime, realized I love this industry. I just don't love the way I'm doing it. She has a lot of square footage. She's not in a real high traffic area, yet they are open 8 to 6 and then every day on Saturdays. And she's gotta have quite a few employees there. But maybe have 10 people walk in ,anyway, she's meeting with us next week. We're totally helping her rebrand, and she's moving to like half the size, focusing on making her website even better. Her social media. It's like spending money in the other areas, and it's going to free up her time. And now her daughter's excited that they just had to almost go through something like this to realize Oh my gosh, I I do love this industry I just don't like that we're doing it.  

Vonda:   24:56
That's right. That's that's pretty cool.  

Lori:   24:58
It's very cool that we were going to talk about this in all of it at like we didn't plan that. So, getting rid of staff, changing it up, passing things off. We talk about that all the time. Delegate and delegate. If it's something that you're doing in your business, and it just drags you down and you have somebody else that's more gifted in that area, give it to him, let them do that and then number three. Start now. Don't write these down and say OK, once I get back open I'm going to do it, It takes What is it you say? Seven weeks to develop a habit. It take its 28 days Maybe for me, it's longer, but you have to put them into practice now start practicing how it's going to go from here. Start practicing and planning. I also think that's going to be that momentum you need for future. Just practicing it is gonna help.

Vonda:   26:01
I just want to go back to a line in Bonnie's letter, and I have to say I've enjoyed the time The Lord has given us to pause and shift because that's what we've been doing. And so now as you've said, You got to start now. You've gotta use that momentum for the future to do things to help yourself.  

Lori:   26:23
Oh, for sure, for sure I love it. I love that she used the word, This is just a pause. You know, It's just a little pause in our life right now. It really is, and it's OK. It's It's good for all of us. Toe have to pause. Just not for too long.  

Vonda:   26:41
No, not too long.  

Lori:   26:42
Not too long. So All right, Vonda, here's the old question. And I can tell you right now I'm looking around. I don't know if I have an answer. What is giving you life? Love and laughter right now?  

Vonda:   26:59
Oh, maybe. Can we just say what I'm enjoying right now?  

Lori:   27:03
What are you enjoying right now? What's giving you contentment right now?  

Vonda:   27:07
Interesting. I had one of our flower clique members send me some thieves oil. It is. It's so it's calming. It's healthy. And I have it here on my desk and in the morning, I just put a little on my hand and they just, uh it's awesome. So, Miss Annie?  

Lori:   27:28
Well, I to received thieves oil, But it's interesting. I have in a big spray bottle. I put a few drops in there A little bit of like rubbing alcohol in the water. And I'm using it for disinfectant. That's we're pretty sure the word cinnamoney is a word.  

Vonda:   27:47
It must be. It is now,

Lori:   27:49
you know, I'm making it a word. It's Saturday. I can say what I want.  

Vonda:   27:55
There you go. So what is giving a new life right now?  

Lori:   28:00
Well, this is very silly, but my trader does dark chocolate mint cremes are feeding me this Morning. I know. I thought of, you know, keeping them in the freezer?  

Vonda:   28:17
Yeah. Oh, the best is in the freezer. You could only one instead of three.  

Lori:   28:22
Yes, well, so they have been in my freezer. Yesterday I made the mistake of bringing them into my office where they remained. And now they're almost gone. Sp, I clearly, have no self control.  

Vonda:   28:35
That's a really good thing giving your life for sure  

Lori:   28:37
it is giving me life. That and the fact that I am just wear expandable pants. I don't have to wear jeans. I'll deal with that battle later.  

Vonda:   28:47
So we want to leave them with the thought of the quote that you started with Lori.  

Lori:   28:53
If you have a really knowledge of what's important to you now, meaning right now today that can guide your decisions and your priorities in the future. And you'll probably end up happier or more content as a result  

Vonda:   29:13
We'll leave him with that thought and look forward to see them again next week.  

Lori:   29:16
All right, talk to you guys later. 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:   29:45
Yes, so please come back and join us and discover howa bit of knowledge and one small change in your mind set can take you to new levels in your life and business.