Interview with Renee Tucci AIFD PFCI: An unusual Journey to Success

Episode 036: Vonda and Lori chat with Renee Tucci AIFD, PFCI about her floral journey. Renee is a talented floral designer from the suburbs of Philadelphia and loves all things flowers. As a floral educator she loves to share her knowledge with students and novices alike, and at the same time says she will never, never stop learning! Renee is very active in the floral industry and tells about her experience at the Philadelphia Flower Show.
For more on Renee:
https://www.reneetucci.com/about

Our podcast page:
https://www.thebusinessandpleasureofflowers.com/

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

Transcript

Renee 0:00

We are all facing a lot of challenges. We're also facing a lot of opportunities. So it is an exciting time.

Vonda 0:13

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

Lori 0:17

and Lori Wilson . And we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination. Kind of like us, Vonda Good morning.Vonda Sue , and our special guest.

Vonda 0:36

Good morning, Lori.

Lori 0:37

for those of you that can't see us, I , to say we have a third person today and I'm super excited. Her name is Renee Tucci , and I'm going to read a couple of sentences here, Renee , the technical side of your credentials, but then Fonda's like, we don't want to read her whole bio. I want to tell what I really know. So is that all right with you?

Renee 0:59

Yeah. Sounds great. Good morning.

Lori 1:01

Alright. So Renee has more than 20 years of progressive floral design and leadership experience in the floral retail and event marketplaces ms. Tucci achieved credential status in the industry and was inducted into the American Institute of floral design in 2016 and professional floral communicators international in 2018. She's also an educator with American Institute of floral designer education partner program, and a member of the national Teleflora education team. That's a lot of letters behind your name.

Renee 1:41

That's a lot of words. Yeah .

Vonda 1:43

I just want to jump in and say, you know, the energy and enthusiasm that Renee has is contagious. I mean, her excitement for this industry is really a gift and people who know you, it is a gift because you connect to people, you're like a connect or you like to say, Oh, you know what? You should know. So, and so because you have this in common with them , um, Lori has that gift as well. So the two of you both are connectors, but I do think that just your enthusiasm and all you're doing online, I've been watching your Facebook lives and everything going on there. And I'm super excited for you.

Renee 2:19

Yeah. Well, thank you . Thank you. Yeah . I didn't even realize that I was a connector as you put it or that I was doing these things until people started saying it a few years ago, I was just being me. And then several people mentioned along those lines and I started to think, well , I guess I am, maybe that's my super power . Maybe I can use that for good. So just being positive is easy for me and loving the industry. Well, those are all the easy parts.

Lori 2:50

So my first memory of how I started kind of, I don't want to say stalking you, but I started in a very good way was when you started posting pictures, you were working at the Philadelphia flower show. Was that at the beginning of 2020? I have no concept of this year.

Renee 3:18

Yes . Time is like evaporating. So actually this was my 15th year at the flower show earlier this year in 2020. And the end of February early March is when we had the show. And it was really special because the first year that I was invited to create my own major exhibit . So I had been on Bill Shaffer and Chris Kraft's team for 10 years. I learned so much under them. And honestly I owe so much of my career to them. And then for three years I coordinated the main entrance gardens. So when you first walk in, you're kind of immersed in this floral and botanical world that's created by the Pennsylvania horticulture society. So I organized the floral part of that, which was the biggest job I had ever done in my career. So I did that for three years. And then this past year I had decided to leave retail and PHS got ahold of me. And they said, well, don't hitch your wagon to anything else because we know you and your capabilities and we have a special project for you. So the theme of this past year was Riviera holiday. So they actually partnered with the principality of Monaco. And part of that partnership as a sponsor was that they got major exhibitor space on the show floor, but of course, no one from Monaco was going to come and view it. So they asked me to produce the exhibit on behalf of Monaco. So that was incredibly special to be invited, to do that and to be trusted with such a special piece in the show itself. And we got to play off of princess grace, who is a hometown, Philadelphia favorite gal who lived the actual princess dream, you know? And so I got to play with a lot of pink roses and yes, I did a ton of posting back then. So just to circle back, makes sense that that's when I first came on your radar.

Lori 5:05

Interesting, because I don't think you came on my radar because of what you posted. It's what some of our flower clique members that were there, like Steve I'm like who is this that literally created a princess out of flowers.

Renee 5:21

That was great. Steve was on my team. I had incredible team members. You guys know that you can't do it without an amazing team. It was really fun to feel the support of them and to see how they loved it and posted about it. And then of course the public, I mean, once the show opened, it was rare that you could actually get near the exhibit. It was three to four people deep around the whole exhibit, the entire run of the show. It was just nuts. And then of course we were so, so lucky. I mean, we moved out of the show on March 11th and the world shut down March 13. So it was pretty nuts. But thank goodness we got it.

Lori 5:59

You guys got to do the Philadelphia flower show, so that's a good thing. So, okay. So we've got some questions for you. There's probably an additional 10 questions I still have about like, how did you get inspired for princess grace, but we'll do that another time. I can already see Vonda going , bring it in. Right . Were you raised around flowers where you just woke up one day and like, Ooh , I like flowers.

Renee 6:27

Not really. I wish I was raised around flowers. No , I was not in high school. I was an overachiever and involved in tons of different activities. I was in the marching band, which explains a lot about my personality these days. I had to fit a part time job in there somewhere. So I was working at a local grocery store. I worked my way up from bagger to check her to customer service desk. And then one day they said, Hey, we need someone to cover floral, will you go over there? I was like, it's not really what I wanted to do. I mean, my dream at 16 was to work with customer service desk and I had just gotten there. So I went over there cause I don't say no to anything. And that was right around the time when I needed to start figuring out what am I going to do with my life? What college am I going to go to? All of that? And I was like, well, this is okay. You know, there wasn't anything else that I was really passionate about. And there were some local schools that had a, an ornamental horticulture program. So I applied to them. I was accepted and chose a school actually really close to where I live now. So I have my BS in ornamental horticulture with an emphasis in floriculture and a minor in business.

7:37

Let me back up just a minute. So you're telling me that just that little bit of glimpse at the flower department at my grocery store was really what made you go, you know what? This might not be a bad idea.

Renee 7:51

that's it? And I'm calling you as like, I'm ashamed to admit it. Now. It wasn't like, Oh my God, I love this so much. I have to do it . Well, this is okay. I'll just see where it goes.

Vonda 8:02

Yeah. That's pretty cool. Renee.

Renee 8:06

shrug of the shoulders, like, all right , we'll do it. So when I started college, of course I still needed a part time job. So my freshman year I started at a local flower shop the week of Valentine's day. So that was a sink or swim situation. And I went from sweeping floors and scrubbing buckets. And my most vivid memories of working at this first floral shop were me jumping in the dumpster. That was part of my job, like helping keep things moving. And we never had enough space in the dumpster . So I did a lot of that. So I worked my way up to junior designer and then I worked there pretty much all through college and then graduated college, moved out to a slightly larger shop and was there for about a month when they promoted me to be the special events coordinator. I had literally no idea what I was doing, but I, again, never say no. So I figured it out. And I learned how to do that for six years. And then I went to another shop and I learned how to be a manager there for six years. I went to another shop. That would be my most recent shop. And for three years there, I was both the floral manager and the special events coordinator of both their Philadelphia store and their South Florida store. So I traveled back and forth between Philadelphia and Florida about once a month, depending on when plants and events needed me and produced events down there on this little tiny Island last year, I decided to make the leap and leave retail and be my own boss. Here I am.

Lori 9:41

Here you are, on your first podcasts , Right?

Renee 9:45

My first podcast. Yes .

Lori 9:47

Well, something that I want to say to you is, I don't know if you know this about yourself, but you're a natural teacher and I love watching your Facebook lives because you don't dumb it down, but you also don't make people like me who aren't designers feel like I can't do it. You're very encouraging. You're inspiring. And you are a really good teacher. And so I'm just curious. Did you know that about yourself before you start doing things on your own?

Renee 10:21

Nope. No. I fell into teaching because one of the shops I was at, we decided to start holding workshops for customers. I said, all right, I'll give it a try. Yeah. So for three or four years, I built up sort of a curriculum. You could say a series of classes, the students would sign up and do five or six classes in a row and they would build up their skills. And I definitely honed my skills through that, which was , I guess, looking back now kind of a good way to start, because it was a low pressure situation. It was just women who it was a hobby for them, you know, whereas what I'm doing now as part of the AIFD education program and my Teleflora education specialist teaching that matters. I mean, these folks that come to my classes now they are there to build skills for career. So the way that I learned to teach the way that I learned to break things down and describe things, it was really vital that I honed that before I got to this more important part of my educational career. But thank you for what you said.

Lori 11:26

I was actually with Vonda and she logged into her Teleflora account and we watched you, we were in the middle of a photo shoot and we had a computer and Julie Polzer, Ellie, Vonda, and I are like watching. And Julie is trying to watch you on her phone, And we're just trying to be your cheerleaders and you explain things very well. So that was the time I saw you on an actual education seminar, but your Facebook lives, I feel like our little teachable moments.

Renee 11:54

Thank you. I have a lot of followers that are not florists and I know that we like to learn things too. So I try to walk that line to everyone, but I mean, I'm still learning how to do it. I will tell you, last Thursday, I was teaching at our local college and I literally had a light bulb moment mid-sentence while I was teaching my class about how to twist wires and how to really explain that so that the wires twist correctly . And I actually finally linked it to a definition in the AIFD book. And so it came full circle for me. It's something I've been doing and teaching and thinking about all these years, but I'm still learning.

Vonda 12:30

We all are. But what I always think is interesting when I hear about journeys and , and we all personally have that same type of thing is, think about how one thing builds on the other. You know, you started at the grocery store, but then you decided to learn this and this. And it all comes back around to where here you were learning to teach in the store, which really brought you to hone those skills, to be able to be, do what you do now. And to be able to professionally teach for the American Institute of floral designers to have that certification classes. I mean, you think of where you started and every little thing builds on that only because of your personality and that the people who will grow and learn from what they're doing rather than saying, yeah, that's all right. It's good enough. You know, you always continued to take what you do and make it better and professionally get you to that next step, which a lot of people do. And some people don't, but I love to see the connection. I love to see that journey, which you've really gone through, which is pretty exciting. Exactly.

Renee 13:35

I love it. There's nothing more satisfying to me than seeing a group of people, whether it's just on a ladies night class or an AIFD class or Teleflora class, someone walks in and they see the sample and before I can hear them murmuring, as they're finding their spot, mine's not going to look like that. I crazy, you know, whatever. And then it does at the end of the class, there's nothing more satisfying than seeing the instant self esteem booster that happens with the students. It has a trickle down effect that is just exponential. It's fantastic. It feeds my soul.

Lori 14:10

Yeah . Well that's why you're a natural teacher. I mean, that's my favorite thing. When I was in a classroom as a kid saying, I did it, Mrs. Wilson, I did it. And I'm like, people either feel it or they don't not everybody has been called into that. But I think actually the three of us, because Vonda i s a fabulous teacher. Also,

Renee 14:28

I learned from her lots of times.

Lori 14:31

I feel like if she can teach me how to do three roses in a vase than anyone,

Vonda 14:37

I remember meeting Renee , right .

Renee 14:39

Penn Jersey unit while I was on that board for a long time. And we brought you in to do a program, programs. Plural. Yeah, yeah,

Vonda 14:48

Yeah . But I remember the first one and I'm like, who is this girl? She is just getting everything done. So yeah , from the beginning there you were .

Lori 14:58

Alright. So Renee , here's our next question for you? Do you have a business secret? You could share. Our summit that we did recently was about secrets. Like what are the best kept secrets in the industry? So we thought this one might be fun. What do you have a secret you want to share?

Renee 15:16

Yes. That's a great question. I really think, and this kind of goes back to what we talked about a bit ago. Part of my foundation, one of my pillars is just creating community over competition and reaching out to the other florists in your area. The other people who do similar things to what you do and create a network with them. I mean, you guys would flower click do that so well, but even on a more micro community level or nearby area, being able to connect with them because no one understands what we do, right ? Like us people look in on the floral industry and they think, Oh, it must be so fun to play with flowers glamorous. But how many years did I jump in a dumpster? Right? And no one understands what it's like to work two days before mother's day or how many Holly pricks you're going to have in your hands in December. And I know we're supposed to sell what we have. Sometimes the customer needs just has to have 12 yellow roses and we only have nine. So I'm going to call my florist friend up the street and see if I can trade her to lilies for three roses so that I can get that order out today. Cause it's too late to call my local wholesaler or, Oh my gosh, I've never decorated the chandelier at this local venue. Maybe my other florist friend has, they can help me know what size ladder do I need to bring. So I just think that it's not a secret, but making friends with local people who go through what you do and use them to your advantage bar , bounce, marketing ideas off of each other, look at their Instagram, look at their website , see what they're doing. See what's working, twist it to fit your brand and grow, grow together. That's my theory .

Lori 17:00

I love that. You said community over competition. We've talked about that a lot. You know, at flower clique and I have been pleasingly surprised. I think when I've had members call us and say, Hey, there's this other shop. They're fairly new. They're three blocks from me. They need your help. I already told them, they'll probably be calling you and wow. And they're in your delivery area. And they're like, yeah, but they need you. They need Vonda. They're so passionate. And it just warms my heart. They get it .

Renee 17:37

That makes me really happy to hear. I think it's more of an old school, luckily and old school feeling to really despise your competition. I can't tell you how many times I've had to make a call to another. And the person on the other end is just downright mean or not helpful. I'm trying to get an order out. They don't want to help. They don't want money, I guess . I don't know. And that's just, doesn't make anybody feel good. And I could tell the last few years that I was in a shop , you know, I'm not in the shop anymore. So I have to make that disclaimer. But the last few years we definitely did feel like there was a shift. I think the new generation that's coming up, recognizes the need to support each other and to go out of our way for each other, because the only way we're going to survive. Right.

Vonda 18:20

I think it was that trend a long time ago. When I started in the business, it's like, Oh, I need three more pink carnations. I will call the place down the street. And we would do that. I mean easily, like you said, I'll get them back to you tomorrow after the wholesalers there. But then it got to the point, like you're mentioning, it's like murmur , you know, they don't want to help it's I'm in it for myself.

18:40

Well, you know what I think some of it might be. And again, I'm kind of looking at it from an outside, just a business perspective. The personality types that seem to be more like, I don't want to help you. They're not the types that are open to change or open to growth. I see all the time when I have conversations with some are flower clique members, some are not, but they'll call and they just don't want to change. And they're stuck in their ways and they're not going to, and I think you're talking about the younger generation. That's different. I think it's because they're way more open to change. They also, each one of them are kind of focusing more on what's their niche in the industry, there competitor might have a slightly different niche.

Renee 19:28

Yup , exactly. So if a shop opens up three blocks from me , like you said, figure out how you're going to be different, how they're going to be different and just grow from it.

Lori 19:37

Right, right. Good secret there. What do you love most about the business?

Renee 19:41

I touched on this a little bit, but I think the way that it touches people's lives aside from food. Let me tell you, I love to eat food and flowers, I think are the two things that make people just like instantly makes you just euphoric. I always say delivery drivers have the best job. They're the ones that get to hand the flowers to the recipient. They get to see the smiles, the immediate like attempt to sniff the flower . And I think that is why we do it. And unfortunately, most of us in the workroom don't get to see that part, but even handing out bouquet to a bride. I mean, those are the moments that keep us going. And that's my favorite part. You know, getting a student through a class and seeing their self confidence go up and then immediately at the end of the class, they're signing up for another one because all of a sudden they know I can do this. I can take these beautiful impermanent materials and create something out of them . Then they're going to tell their friends and , and or the recipient's going to post a picture of their centerpiece. That's the part that I love, how it changes people's lives. Cause it really does. Can you see my shirt now? Pick flowers, not fights . When we talked about community over competition, my new favorite shirt, pick flowers, not fights .

Lori 21:05

I love it. Love it.

Vonda 21:08

So, Renee, what is your biggest challenge these days in the floral business?

Renee 21:14

That's a great question. We are all facing a lot of challenges. We're also facing a lot of opportunities. So it is an exciting time. But I would say for me personally, since I did leave retail a year ago, I am now my own boss as a consultant educator, enthusiast, whatever you want to call it. That is my biggest challenge. It's a bittersweet challenge being my own boss because I have no one to tell me. You don't have time to try that. You should not take on that new idea because your plate is already full. I'm just constantly wanting to do new things and try new things. And I really shouldn't. I should, I should be limiting what I'm doing because I work too much, but I don't want to, I want to keep doing more and there's no one to tell me not to. As an example, I recently heard this great podcast about flower subscriptions. So depending on when this airs, my new flower subscription will have launched. Thank you to Business and Pleasure of flowers. I'm starting very small and simple, put it out there and if it could be anything. And so this is just an example of my big challenge. Like, do I need to take on this new project? No, I have enough projects. I want to try it. I was inspired by your podcast. And I mean, truth be told I'm an industry nerd. So I've been watching this trend prior to COVID-19 then of course COVID hit. It just exploded just like you guys said. So I want to get in on it. And I want to see if it's going to work for me. So I spent the last few days, developing how it might work for me and , and building that up. So that's going to launch tune that to my biggest challenge. It's just that I have too many ideas and no one to stop me from them.

Vonda 23:10

So it's prioritizing those great ideas you have .

Renee 23:14

Yeah . Yeah. I mean, it's a , it's a COVID silver lining. I have the time I'm mostly home. You know, all of my traveling, educating gigs have been canceled. All of my freelancing gigs have been postponed. So I have the ability to try all these things. And then maybe in six months when the world is different, I'll decide what did and did not work and pivot again.

Lori 23:38

but it's kind of the theme for 2020, But that's one we, we use a lot just like our Virtual summit that was supposed to be face to face. We are like pivot.

Renee 23:49

Your summit was great. You did a great pivot .

Lori 23:54

thank you. So let me ask you this. You are, you've been in the industry for a long time. You are now out on your own as your own entrepreneur. What advice do you have for someone let's say, what advice do you have for 18 year old Renee, something like that, moving forward, if they want to own their own business?

Renee 24:15

Um , well I think you guys have touched on this in previous podcasts, but my advice is to pursue education. I mean, there's no way around it. You're not going to just wake up one morning and know how to be a successful floral-preneur. Right ? I just made that word up. You've got to study the business of it. Call my friend Vonda . She can help you with that. You have got to study how to create the flowers and all the things that go into that processing care and handling, how to work in foam, how not to work in foam. So , I mean, there are so many things I honestly, sometimes I know I'm not, but sometimes I feel as though these classes, we teach at my local college for AIFD and Teleflora. I sometimes I feel like I'm worried that we're doing them a disservice, that they think they're going to come out of 15 or 18 classes and know everything. It's an absolute ever evolving industryand you have to pursue education until the end. You've gotta consume YouTube videos and people that you like, follow them, see what they're doing, ask them. How did you do that? You know, people love when they get private messages and ask for how did you do that? That means someone's watching. Oh my goodness. And of course AIFD, I would highly recommend pursuing that certification because there's no other networking situation or educational opportunity that will change your life or your career more than AIFD so that's my advice for 18 year old Renee, just keep learning and learning .

Vonda 26:03

Going to shift and do a little personal question as what is your favorite flower?

Renee 26:08

Oh, that's a good question. And I have an answer. I don't have a favorite flower. I have a type, you know how sometimes people have a type in like men or women that they like. I like tall, dark and handsome, that sort of thing, like small and round. So reniculas, spray roses, crispedia, hypericum berries. I don't know why I'm just so drawn to them. And that really feeds into my design style as well. Given my choice, I'm going to make something small and round, which has been a bit of an issue like at the Philadelphia flower show, when I can design on stage , they had this great competition where we designers would go head to head against each other and our friends would all commentate. And then the audience would choose a winner. It's a surprise package situation. It took me years to figure out that I needed to go bigger so that people can see it from the back of the room. So I tend to like things that are small and round and I would stick to that if no one told me I couldn't

Vonda 27:13

So interesting Renee , because when I was working at Everett's flower shop in Ames, Iowa, which is where I started, I worked with Brian Smith and Brian was six two, and I'm five, four. And his things were always big and showy and mine were just more like yours, more little compact, you know, small arrangements. And we didn't even realize that until Peggy who came in, she's like, look at this, you know, really look right now. This is because your size and your size, the difference in the designing and you are small, you're a small, petite woman. And so that's why your designs tend to be that way. It was an eye opener to me then. But when you said that it brought it back to me like, Oh my gosh, well, there is a really good reason why you do that. And that's your preference.

Lori 27:59

I prefer t hat small, tight type of bouquet, like on the morning s hows On their coffee table. I love it.

Renee 28:09

I always look at those

Vonda 28:14

Now, Lori, your question.

Lori 28:15

my question, and then we will want to set the question I ask everyone is what is giving you life right now? Renee ? What mean like at this very moment,

Renee 28:28

I knew you were going to ask me this because I'm a regular listener. No , I can't lie and say, I didn't think about this beforehand. So many things that are coming up are giving me life. But if I had to pick one, it would be zinnias and butterflies because I have been home. And so for the first time ever, I threw some zinnias seeds on my garden and I forgot about them. And they came up a few months ago now and they have been incredible to look at out my window. And I have never had so many butterflies in my yard. So every day I'm just filled with happiness, looking at the butterflies, floating around my zinnias at this point in my career to still have such an appreciation for something like that. It's just really satisfying. It's everything.

Lori 29:13

Alright V, What is giving you life right now?

Vonda 29:15

What's giving me life right now or the flowers that I still have that I'm looking at from our summit yesterday. I'm surrounded by beautiful flowers . So it's hard to not be joyful because of that. I don't have butterflies or zinnias, but I do have some beautiful roses and hydrangeas that I'm enjoying we're flower girls for sure. Renee .

Lori 29:36

Okay. So what's giving me life right now. Is there is an app called house party . Are you familiar with it, Renee?

Renee 29:44

I am. I have not used it, but I have heard about it.

Lori 29:47

Okay. Because of our quarantine life, you know, we don't get to go out and see our friends and stuff . So I have a happy hour with my girlfriends from high school. I've known these girls since the seventies. Wow. We have our house party tonight and I'm excited about it, we try to do it every few weeks and check in. And it just kind of gives me life because those are those kinds of people that have known you since you were seven years old and there's nothing you can do or say that's gonna shock them.

Vonda 30:21

that's great, Renee. Thanks for joining us today. It's been our pleasure. We've learned a lot about you and you've been able to share a lot with our listeners about what Renee Tucci is all about and what you're bringing to the industry. So thank you.

Renee 30:34

Thank you so much for having me. I, I can't wait to hear it come out.

Lori 30:41

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. Yes. So please come back and join us some 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 31:58

[inaudible] .