“We hope these flowers brighten your day. Now brighten someone else’s by Petaling it Forward! #Petalitforward,” Fred’s Flowers Tempe AZ posted on Facebook last year.
Who wouldn’t want the job of making people happy? That’s exactly what happiness ambassadors get to do Oct. 23 on Petal It Forward day.
How you select your happiness ambassadors depends on a number of things — the size of your shop, number of employees and your location — to name a few. For some shops, staff members take turns from year to year. For other shops, everyone gets a chance to experience the joy.
In Lafayette, Colorado, Lafayette Florist, Gift Shop & Garden Center’s team and employees at Good Samaritan Medical Center’s satellite store got to take turns handing out bouquets throughout the hospital. The shop also partners with the Lafayette Fire Department and Firehouse Subs so, they were able to get in on the action, handing out flowers and sharing the joy, too, said Sandi Yoshihara-Sniff, AIFD, AAF, CPF, who runs the florist shops.
Jodi McShan of McShan Florist in Dallas, Texas, has her drivers seek out busy areas and hand out flowers during delivery runs. She also uses her public relations team and the Dallas Police Department to hand out the bouquets.
At some florists’ shops the entire staff enjoyed the experience of being happiness ambassadors such as Josef Reiter’s Botanica Floral Design in Portland, Oregon. Depending what is going on at the shop, Reiter will take part in the event, too. Everyone at Leona Sue’s Florist Inc. in Scott, Louisiana, gets to be part of the fun, said Annie Taylor, AIFD, CFD, CF.
“All of our team wants to be a part of it,” she said. “Every employee gets a shirt that has the Petal It Forward logo on the front and our shop name on the back. They all arrive 45 minutes early for work that day so we can hit the morning rush traffic.”
Likewise, everyone on staff at Fred’s Flowers in Tempe, Arizona, got to hand out the flowers.
“It was important to me that we all experienced that feeling and saw others reactions,” said Renee Potter, owner and 4th generation florist. “The purpose of this event was very fun and exciting for the staff, it also reminded them what it feels like to give flowers.”
Tip: If you have a large shop and staff and can’t permit everyone hand out flowers at once, consider handing out half of your bouquets at one time and half at another time so that everyone can take part. Or create a schedule of 10-minute time allotments and assign several people to each.
Get ready to Petal It Forward. SAF provides members with advice, as well as easy-to-implement materials such as a Flower Card Template, T-shirt template, and a sample Media Advisory at safnow.org/pif.
