The Business & Pleasure of Flowers
Join Vonda LaFever and Lori Wilson as they share expert advice, insider tips, and a whole lot of fun on all things floral. While everyone loves flowers, running a floral business can come with its fair share of challenges that might make you lose sight of the joy it brings. In this engaging and informative podcast, Vonda’s wealth of floral expertise pairs perfectly with Lori’s background in teaching, sales training, and life coaching to deliver valuable insights you can use right away.
From industry trends and the flower shop of the future to overcoming obstacles like boosting sales and building a stellar customer service team, they’ve got you covered. Discover how small shifts in your mindset and approach can create big transformations in your business and life.
Hit subscribe to put the pleasure back into your life, go back to loving flowers, find fresh inspiration, and bring the joy back to your business!
The Business & Pleasure of Flowers
Sharing Some Exciting News with Renee Tucci AIFD PFCI
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Episode 083: Lori chats with Renee Tucci AIFD, PFCI and shares the excitement of getting back to industry events, her experience with the Philadelphia Flower Show and her new exciting project. Her new book, Framing Floral Techniques, is a perfect gift for self or others, with the idea reader being the beginning to intermediate floral designer, or a veteran who wants to review floral design techniques. Listen in as Renee shares some secrets on what you'll find inside.
Pre-order the book: ReneeTucci.com
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And within those projects, and aside from those main techniques, other techniques, principles, elements, and different little nuggets are focused on as well. Just kind of mention like this is a project focusing on banding, but let's also appreciate the strong line that's represented here and the color harmony that you see in the flower setup.
SPEAKER_02Welcome to the Business of Fleasure of Flowers. We're your host, Fonda LaFever, and Lori Wilson.
SPEAKER_03And we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination. I don't like that Swanda.
SPEAKER_02Hey clickers, happy day. If you've been following our series on sympathy, you would know that this was supposed to be the third in the series. And it was to be an interview with a funeral director. Now, my funeral director, Jesse Partington, who is in Dixon, Illinois at Preston Chilling Funeral Home, he's the funeral director, he's the owner, and he's also the coroner. So we have had a hard time connecting. We set an appointment for the interview, and then I get a text early the next morning that says, Hey, I was up, and now we have two services that I have to get ready for. Or this time it was like, oh my gosh, I had three calls last night, and unfortunately, two were infants. So it's that type of thing that it's part of the business. So we will get a great interview with Jesse Partington and get the funeral director's perspective on how to deal with the family and what they do that maybe gives us a little bit more in-depth information and really how can you do that dealing with death day in and day out. And Jesse is such a professional at that, and I'm looking forward to the interview, but it won't be this week. We're going to try again for the next week or week ahead, but it will be coming. As soon as I complete the interview and get it ready, we will have it. But enough said about that. We are excited for the interview that Lori had just recently with Renee Tucci, who is a member of the American Institute of Floral Designers and Professional Floral Communicators International. And she's going to talk with Lori about a new project she has going on. So let's get into the interview with her and Lori. Hello, Renee Tucci.
SPEAKER_00Hello, Lori. How are you? I'm good. How are you? I am great. I am so excited to be back on with the gals from Flower Click.
SPEAKER_03I know you're becoming quite the regular, aren't you?
SPEAKER_00If two times make me a regular, then yes.
SPEAKER_03Well, but you and I now are good friends because we got to meet face to face. Right? Yes. So that was fun. And that was at Texas State. And I gotta say, I know I was only there on the last day because I had other things, but it was a little emotional for me because it was my first entry back into the humanity of the world, like physically being with people. But it was really great. I get to meet a lot of people, but you were one of the main reasons I wanted to be there.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's really sweet. Thank you. Yeah, it was emotional for me as well. And also sensory overload. Like I forgot how to use the airport, you know, just navigating my way through that and people and crowds and getting back into it. But then once we were in our little bubble, right? We hadn't missed a beat. You know, the flower family converges and it's just happiness and flower love, well to wall.
SPEAKER_03It was, it was, and it it just reminded me of what I love about the industry. So we brought you on again because you're doing something really fun that you are kind of finished, you're getting ready to launch into a little bit of a media frenzy, probably, because why you say what you've done.
SPEAKER_00Yes, thank you. Um, actually, I wrote my first book, and so I am yeah, I'm here to talk about the book and eminent publication date and just to tell you a little bit, a little bit about it. Because I think the listeners could benefit from it, and if they can't maybe know someone or one of their employees, could benefit from it. I think it ties into a lot of what you do with flower prep school and things like that.
SPEAKER_03They they they would marry well together. Right. Well, and I've said this before because, like we said, we had you on here about a year ago, just about, yeah. Yeah, it was about a year ago, and you even brought it up. It was episode 36. So if people want to listen to that and know you know your whole life story, they can go back and listen to episode 36. But I want to say one of the things that always attracted me to you as a person, I didn't even know you, and I can't remember my first introduction. It was via social media, maybe it was through Vonda, I don't know. But I started following you on Facebook, and I loved how you taught. You would do instructional videos. One of the very first ones I ever saw, you had this might make people mad, but it really was just basic tutorial. You had a bundle of flowers that you had just got in a grocery store, maybe one or two, and it was for someone like me who I'm not a designer, right? You were so good at your instruction, and I felt like you were patient and you were explaining the whys of you know how you put the greenery in, and then you're gonna look at heights. You were doing all of the things, and I could actually follow you, and I didn't feel stupid. Many, many times I'll watch things and they're so elevated. I'm like, I could never do that. So I just kind of tune it out.
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you. I'm so glad that you you got something out of that. I think I remember that video, and that was the beginning of COVID when I realized I better get my stuff together and get virtual because this is happening. And so when I go back and watch some of those early videos from just a year ago or 14 months ago, I've come far as far as you know how I shoot it and my the investments that I've made in that. My target audience is someone who is dabbling in the in design, knows a little bit, knows you know, the the bones, um, but wants to expand. And I do enjoy breaking things down and explaining it in a way that makes sense because I am a methodical learner, and so I only know how to teach methodically, and that's helpful to some people and not helpful to other people, um, but it's it's how I do it.
SPEAKER_03Right. Well, you also have um a patience about you when you're instructing, and that comes across through videos, and it's a beautiful thing. I mean, you're very affirming to your audience, and you probably don't even realize you are. So I didn't. I love it, and that's why when you first told me you were gonna be writing a book, I was like, Where do I sign up? So let's talk about your book. Let's start, let's get started there.
SPEAKER_00The topic is framing floral techniques. Yeah, that's the title. Um, framing floral techniques, and the subtitle is uh skill building inspirations and explorations. So if I just kind of go back to the beginning about how this even started, first of all, I never thought I would write a book. Never. This was not in my five-year plan at all. Um but in fall of 2019, which I feel like is the last time we can really refer to life as it was PC, pre-COVID. Yeah, pre-COVID, PC. I was at a a retreat, a three-day retreat in Dallas, and it was a design retreat, but more than that, it was sort of a soulful, introspective retreat where the leaders really had us searching for our whys. And it was led by Stacey Carleton and Shawn Michael Foley, and they are wonderful at just enriching people and helping create spaces for confidence and skill building. So we had a few assignments to complete throughout that retreat, and one of them was a writing assignment. And so that night I went home, I did the assignment, and I came in the next day and I read what I wrote. And whether they were being genuine or just being nice, they, along with everyone else in the room, were very complimentary about not only what I wrote, but my writing style, and suggested that I get in touch with some magazine editors and things like that to kind of nurture that that ability. And that was the seed.
SPEAKER_03Is that the first time you had even been told that or felt that? Wow.
SPEAKER_00Yes. So I still didn't really think anything of it. Um, but it did start over the next few weeks and months, it started germinating a little bit in my brain. And then March 2020 came along and my schedule completely cleared, and I decided, well, maybe I should think about this a little bit more. And so I happen to be very lucky because, well, I live right outside of Philadelphia, and there is a wonderful publisher who is not far from me who has published many um floral design books, specifically AIFD designer books. And um they have a whole department that deals with craft uh type of books. So it's um Schiffer Publishing, and they're actually partners with AIFD, like um publishing partners. So I started thinking about them, and that the fact that they were so close to me was certainly a bonus. And I reached out to some of my friends who had published with them, and and I heard great things. So I reached out to the owner of the publishing company, and I thought he was gonna laugh me off the phone because I'd said, I think I want to write a book, but I have no idea what I want to write it about. I just have a book, you know, that I think I I think I could maybe do this, and I've got the time. So um we went back and forth, and he didn't laugh me off the phone. Apparently, this is not unusual for some, or he was just saying that to make me feel better. Okay, but it was not unusual. So we talked about a few different options. Um one of them being, you know, a coffee table book, you know, a beautiful design book, or you know, a party style book or something like that. But then one of the options was an educational book. And considering the fact that my direction is floral education, that just kind of felt right um immediately. So I spent the next few weeks mapping out what that book might look like, and in the end, uh whittled it down to 42 projects, and each of the projects focuses on a different technique. And now your listeners that are AIFD or who have looked into AIFD may be familiar, will be familiar with the AIFD guidebook. It's yes, Bonda refers to that book a lot. Yep, we you know, many have called it our Bible. It's uh used very heavily, and in some of my more sophisticated teaching, I refer to it all the time. All of my students use it, but it is aside from some amazing sketches, it's just a guidebook. It's not visual. So I wanted what I did to be a visual representation of what can be found in the AIFD guidebook. So I went through all the techniques listed in the guidebook and I picked out a bunch of them. And like I said, we ended up with 42 projects, and so each focuses on a different technique. And within those projects, and aside from those main techniques, other techniques, principles, elements, and different little nuggets are focused on as well, just kind of mentioned like this is a project focusing on banding, but let's also appreciate the strong line that's represented here and the color harmony that I that you see in the flowers that are chosen. And so there's sort of a magnifying glass on the different parts that can be featured within a design as a subset of the main focus. So that's how we came up with the title framing floral techniques, because framing is a technique that is used and featured in the book, and so that's where the title came from.
SPEAKER_03I'm so excited because I'm picture as you're talking. Yeah, I love cookbooks. I don't love a cookbook that's just 30-minute meal. Here's a picture, here's a recipe, here's a picture. I like the deeper, like, oh, this was created at a party for Frank Sinatra, and here's what they did. But you know, the reasoning behind it and what you need to look for and all of the really details, like the really big one, and that's what I'm kind of visualized.
SPEAKER_00I mean, that that is exactly it. It's a how-to book. Um, as I said, 42 projects. Every project is photographed and written out step by step. There's over 500 photos in it. Um, it's beautiful, if I do say so, it's myself. It's very colorful, which is on brand for me. Um, and it does not only list the recipe of the flowers that are in it and the steps to do it, but then as I said, there are little insets or text boxes that talk about the different exciting elements. So each project has a a tech tip box. So it will talk about tips related to the techniques in it, possibly alternative outcomes, or you know, learn from my mistake, don't do this, blah, blah, blah. Um, so there's tech tip and then there's tech talk within each project as well, which where we expand upon the different techniques, principles, and elements that are used throughout the specific project. Each project is um pretty comprehensive, but it's also written in my voice, which while I like to do some sophisticated teaching, I do not take myself seriously. Right, right. There's a lot of alliteration and it can be lighthearted. So I'm really proud of it and I can't wait to share it with folks. I think it's gonna be a fun project book that people can refer to and hopefully find inspiration from. I don't expect that each person will do each project as stated, but if they can find inspiration from it, that's the whole goal.
SPEAKER_03Your job was done.
SPEAKER_00When is the book available? Well, um, it is now scheduled after a small COVID push. Um is now scheduled for publication October 29th.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_00So uh yeah, it'll be a late fall sort of holiday push. And um, we were anticipating a publication date of the end of July, so a little bit bummed out that it got pushed. Um I feel like I'm on like the longest game because I've been talking about it since February because I thought it was in July. So some of your listeners may have already heard about it, but we are taking pre-orders and they're going very well. And um, so anyone that pre-orders, as soon as I receive the books, which as I say, the publisher is very close to me, so I'm gonna actually go pick up all you're gonna physically drive over there and get those books. I am, I am. My husband to his chagrin will be coming and calling with me. Um, but as soon as the books are in hand, I'm gonna sign every copy that was pre-ordered and turn it around and get it right back out to in the mail. So um it'll be a great holiday sale.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's what I was thinking in October. What a perfect gift for someone for Christmas, you know, and I could picture a shop owner purchasing this for their lead designer or maybe a an employee that's been there a while that's wanting to learn design. Like what a beautiful design.
SPEAKER_00And it really, and it's a reasonable price point, so I don't think it's out of the question that you know, multiple designers could receive this. Of course.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely, absolutely. I love it. Well, I'm excited and I can't wait to get that in my hands. And so, what I'm gonna do when I get it, my goal is to make some of them, and then I'm gonna send you pictures.
SPEAKER_00Oh good. Oh, yes, that's what I want.
SPEAKER_03I would love to see that would be fun, and so people can do that, and they could even post it on your Facebook page or they can post it on your Instagram and say, look what I made from your book.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Yep, there's a framing floral techniques hashtag. Um, so you can, you know, hashtag it and then I would see it. I'm really excited that the cover is really colorful, and so you can actually see the cover on reneetucci.com. That's the best place to go to see it and place your pre-order. Yeah, I just thought of one other little bonus. There's a QR code throughout the book that you can scan that is taking you to a special um YouTube channel specifically for videos that relate to projects within the book. Um it's sort of an interactive uh component. That is a great idea. Yeah. So I just actually filmed most of them this past weekend, so I'm in editing this week. Uh, but they're they're gonna be preloaded into that channel. So it's things as simple as, you know, how to soak floral foam. Some of us know how to do that, a lot of us know how to do that, but I speak to a lot of garden clubs and um folks who have dabbled in this, but maybe don't know the correct way to do it. They've they're guessing or they've seen the wrong way to do it. Um, so it's sort of meant to help take away some of those bad habits. So in Yeah, no, that's really good. That's you don't push it down, right? Yeah. So it may say soak floral foam in the book, and then if you scan the QR code, you can watch the short video that just explains a little bit more about it. And that's just one example. There's a bunch of of different little hits throughout the book, and I'm gonna continue to add to them.
SPEAKER_03That's a really fun idea, actually. I love it because as you are talking, you know, I'm visualizing the book and I'm thinking, ooh, it it's one thing to read something, but then to actually see someone applying it, it's a double learn, right? So I get it now. Then I understand how to apply it, then I can go back and try to do it myself. So I love it, I'm excited about it. Um, I want to go back in time a little bit because we were again, we've rescheduled this podcast. I don't know how many times, but just because of life. You were at the Philly flower show, Philadelphia flower show. Very big deal, and you had a big, huge thing there, all about bumblebees. Is that right?
SPEAKER_00Well, honey bees specific.
SPEAKER_03Honeybees, honeybees, yes.
SPEAKER_00Um I had I was um an exhibitor at the flower show. I appreciate you saying big huge. It actually was not a big huge exhibit. What we ended up creating was um a an eight-foot wide and tall honeycomb and filled it with miniature honeycombs, and the honeycombs were then filled with dried florals and jars of honey and uh signs that had facts about honey bees, and so it was an interactive educational tapestry of flowers and honey. So that was actually the back of the honeycomb. The front of the honeycomb was an oversized pair of bee wings that the guests could stand in front of and have their photo taken with the bee wings, which we had dressed up with some dried flowers as well. So it was a really fun exhibit. It ended up being more than I could have anticipated as far as interaction with the public. They really enjoyed it. It was a busy exhibit.
SPEAKER_03The busy, busy bees. So why bees? Like what inspired you? Did you just come up with that or did they tell you we wanted you to we want you to do that?
SPEAKER_00Well, the theme of the show itself was habitat, and so uh many exhibitors chose different habitats around the world, and you can do with that what you will. And honey bees are such an on-trend topic, and they're in danger, and we really rely on them and we need them. So I thought it would be important to touch on that. Uh, and also, you know, the color yellow is my signature color. So I thought that um wouldn't hurt to have an exhibit that was yellow. Also, you know, we just my husband, who's my partner in all of my projects, he's incredible. Um, when PHS invited me to exhibit, they asked me to create a photo opportunity um that they were going to place near the entrance. So basically they said, do what you want, but make it a photo app. And um, so when I started toying with bees, it was actually my husband's idea to create the giant bee wings. And so once we And so how can we incorporate flowers with that and and um design something really um intriguing? And of course the show was outside this year because of COVID.
SPEAKER_03That's what I was gonna say. It's usually like in a convention center type place, and I because I remember seeing you know, I watch it all online and I noticed it was outside. Y'all got lucky with weather, I guess. Actually, did it work?
SPEAKER_00Well, we didn't get that lucky. Um, it was the first week in June, which the reason they chose that week is because historically it is the nicest weather week in this area. But this year, of course, it was uh a little interview. We had everything from 95 plus degrees on opening weekend to the following Friday, it was down in the 60s. We had rain, we had serious thunderstorms, we also had some pretty sunny days. So Mother Nature threw everything she could at us, and of course, we had to anticipate that when we were designing the exhibit, trying to make sure can this thing withstand all of these elements? Um, because it was not under tent. Whatever cover we provide has to be part of the set, it has to aesthetically look like it belongs. You can't just put a tent over your exhibit and so we built a tiny little covering to help protect the wings, but we had to anticipate whatever mama nature might throw at us, and and it held up, everything held up, but that is why I chose to design strictly with dry flowers. You know, some people did use fresh flowers, and we do have to go in every night and maintain them. Uh, and I did that anyway, even with the drives, and I had some potted plants to to water, but uh the thought of 90 degree days and fresh flowers and sun and uh it just storms, all of it.
SPEAKER_03You have to go in midweek. Are you able to refresh a spot?
SPEAKER_00At the show closing every night we can go in and and do maintenance and refresh and things like that. So we were there every night making sure everything looked great. Every morning it has to look, you know, like the first day. Uh so it's it's a how many days long is it? Nine days plus a member day. So actually 10 days open plus three setup days, three hard setup days, and then yeah, so it's it's a full two weeks that it's out on on display. Oh my gosh. I mean, how do you take that much time off to just focus on that? Well, if you're like me, I'm kind of my own boss and I make my schedule, and that was a priority. So I I just, you know, that's what I'm doing this week, and that's how I'm reaching the public, and that's how I'm I'm spreading my brand and and bringing awareness through social media and things like that. Um, so there are a lot of studios that can do that sort of thing where they handle events or they handle whatever it is that they handle, they block off this time. Um I know a lot of designers um come to the show to help the exhibitors. Um, in fact, you know, people came to help me and my team was incredible. I could not have done it without them. And so they just they just sign up to volunteer for people, or how does that work? Well, my team were people that I've worked with in the past that I invited to be on my team. And so I know many of them just they just took time off of work. They just took they wanted they're that committed, they wanted to be a part of it that much that they not only volunteered to help me, but they gave up time making money with something else so that they could be a part of it. So I feel really, really fortunate that we had the support that we did because we I couldn't couldn't do it without them.
SPEAKER_03No, it takes a village, right? It takes a whole team. So okay, now I want to fast forward to an event because I get to see you again face to face because you are going to SAF for your first, it's like your inaugural SAF event.
SPEAKER_00It is shockingly. I'm I'm sad to admit that, but I'm happy that I'm I'm fixing it. So yeah, I will be at SAF in September in Orlando, which for me on the East Coast is just a hop and a skip. So I'm excited about that. It's easy to get to. They did a great job condensing the schedule and planning it so it's really easy um to attend this year and it compressed.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's not as long, I think. Right? It's like Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then you know, you can be done instead of the full week. Um, before we hit this record button, you and I were talking about SAF, and it's one of my favorite things to do in the year because it has a good balance of design in all of the business sessions, you know, that I tend to gravitate to. And you are saying that you're actually looking forward to it because you typically, I mean, you go to the AIFD, you go to mostly design-based conventions.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yeah. So this will be um outside of that comfort zone, which I need to do. I need to be thinking more business-minded, even though my my bent is more design. Uh, but it's really important. But to be honest, the reason I go to these things is because I am an industry nerd. I love talking flowers, being around people who love to talk flowers, um, the networking, the coming together, the sharing of ideas, the sharing of pain points and possible solutions, and um just growing that in-person bond is that's why I go.
SPEAKER_03I was thinking of one of my favorite things about going even to Texas State and to the things that I've been to is let's say you're doing like the expo part where all of the people are out there and they have the new, like the growers are there, the wholesalers are there, the flower click is there, but meeting other flower shop owners, right? And you're looking at something, you're like, Oh, that's a new product, and maybe someone next to you goes, Yeah, I've tried, I've used that before. You're like, really? How did you use it? And that's how you really learn so much about the industry, is just meeting with all the other people and hearing how they use flowers or how they use certain foams or how they use chicken wire, or you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00Yep, and this hits on something I talked about back in episode 36. Um, community over competition. You know, that's my that's my thing. And so when our community comes together, we do good work.
SPEAKER_03Exactly. Exactly. And the whole you you elevate each other and make each other better, and that's how you grow. You know, we we always talk about a flower click when someone calls me and they're like, What is flower click? Like, what are you looking for? What do you want? Like, you know what? We want a progressive florist. That's that's our target audience, somebody that is willing to join a community of other shop owners that wants to share great ideas and also ideas that didn't work and help each other grow. So, you know, to keep progressing towards the future. And I think that's why going to all of these, whether it's AIFD or SAF or just your local state conventions, which are so valuable, I just think it's important.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you're absolutely right. And now with technology, especially in the last year, we're able to do that on a virtual platform as well. So it we're getting we're getting really lucky, we're coming into a good time.
SPEAKER_03Yes, I I would agree, but I would also argue there's nothing like being face-to-face with people sitting around a table eating and laughing and just talking. Yeah. Uh it's just life-giving and it's inspirational. And I think you come back with this renewed energy, yeah, you know, of all the things you've learned. So, anyway, I could talk to you for hours, um, but I know we have reached our 30 minutes. I do have one more question that I always ask that I need to ask. What is inspiring you right now? Like at the present moment, what is inspiring you? And it doesn't even have to be floral, flower related, it can be anything.
SPEAKER_00Well, it is flower related because I've been thinking this week is sort of a light work week for me. So I've been doing a lot of reflecting and thinking about where we are in the industry and um and you know how I fit into all of that. But I'm just blown away by the fact that life is back and it's back hard. And yes, yeah, like you have stuff on your calendar and that's yeah, and just I'm just watching my friends um do their thing again, and I'm watching them love it and remember why they loved it, and the resilience of our people is incredible, and I am so proud of our industry, and it has not been easy, but we've all kept our our heads up and just keep going and innovating and just keep swimming. I'm I swear that's gonna be my gravestone. Just keep swimming. We gotta love us some dory.
SPEAKER_03Just keep swimming. What do you do? You swim, keep swimming. So I love it. All right, Renee. Well, I adore you, and you can come on my podcast any day.
SPEAKER_00Any thank you, thank you. And I've missed talking to Vonda this time, but you know, I'll catch up with her soon. Thank you so much for having me. It's always a pleasure.
SPEAKER_03Thank 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 flat briefing on Alexa. We look forward to seeing you next week.
SPEAKER_02So please come back and join us to discover how a bit of knowledge on one small change in your mindset that can take you to new levels in your life and business.