Maribel Herrera, lead design wedding and event specialist at Allen’s Flowers in San Diego, shares her tips to manage event work, clients and time.
In the last year, weddings and events at Allen’s Flowers in San Diego, California have skyrocketed, averaging anywhere from three to nine each week. “The influx of work has led to double and triple booking our days and teams so we can execute properly. It leads to a level of what I call ‘organized chaos,’” says Maribel Herrera, lead design wedding and event specialist.
Directing teams of designers, inspecting flowers when they arrive at the shop, and making sure clients are happy requires Herrera has to be on top of her game. “I’ve been learning how to time manage and organize a little bit better,” she says.
Herrera, who is featured in the latest issue of Floral Management where she shares her takes on wedding trends and how to grow as a designer, shared these tips that help her juggle multiple projects and clients successfully.
Create a Schedule
Herrera has been doing floral work for 14 years, with a focus on wedding and events for eight years. “I’ve learned how long it takes to complete a task. For instance, dealing with email should take two hours, creating multiple floral arrangements 90 minutes, and so on. On an average day, I account for all of these things, factoring in everything to schedule myself adequately and properly,” she says. “I even schedule a 20 minute break — to eat, take a walk or whatever I need for that day.”
While discipline is key, Herrera realizes that every day is very different. Within that dynamic, she aims to come up with a game plan and “stick to it as much as possible to be as efficient as possible. That includes keeping on top of team members and the tasks they should be accomplishing, as well.” That’s where tools come in.
Choose Your Tools
Herrera uses a small business customer relationship management (CRM) app to do all of her proposals, communications, timelines and payments. “It’s like a filing system and keeps everything organized,” she says. “Whether I’m ordering, doing mock ups or whatever, it marks everything along my process. It keeps things organized when I’m communicating on multiple projects at one time.”
She also relies on Google calendars and alarms. “I set alarms for everything,” she says. “I have a few to-do apps on my phone that help keep me organized, but I’m old school and like to write daily to-do lists using pen and paper.”
Leverage Social Media
While Facetime and Zoom calls took over during the pandemic, Herrera’s wedding and event consultations are now back to in-person meetings or emails. Inflation and the supply chain add a new layer of challenge when creating florals within a requested style or budget.
“I try to be as transparent as possible about all that’s going on, while assuring clients that they’ll still get the look or color palette they want,” Herrera says. “I do a lot for Allen’s Instagram, so I send clients there to get a quick little look at how things might come together.”
Set Boundaries
Herrera is an advocate for mental health, and that attitude extends to time management. “In my younger years I had no boundaries. Now I know that just as hard as I work, I have to play as well and do things that are enjoyable for myself,” she says. “Not taking those breaks is how we get tired, resentful, grumpy and lose passion. If I can’t be present and loving to myself, how can I be present and loving to others?”
Over time, Herrera has redefined what success means. “Some days it looks like having lunch with my family and talking about silly things. Other times it’s doing nine events in one week with happy clients, money made and hands shaken,” she says. “It’s important to find what works for you — what your success looks like. It’s taken me a lot of time to learn how to be this way.”
To learn more about Herrera, read the Talent column in the November/December issue of Floral Management.
Julie Martens Forney is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
