You change a pricing structure. You decrease staffing levels. You decide to source product differently — or roll out a new process companywide. From the owner’s seat, those decisions are made with cost savings, revenue and efficiency in mind.
But on the shop floor, they can feel very different.
“When you’re at the end of it, you’re thinking, ‘We have no idea why we’re doing this. This seems so completely unnecessary,’” says Liana Cedano of Family Flowers.
That disconnect — between decisions made at the top and how they’re experienced day to day — is what the “Think Like an Owner” session at the Society of American Florists’ Next Gen LIVE! event, Feb. 22–24 in Raleigh, North Carolina, aims to address.
The session is led by Cedano, who brings the headquarters and operations perspective, and Denise LaFrenier, who adds the “boots on the ground” human resources lens shaped by years spent inside shops and working face to face with teams navigating those decisions in real time. Together, they’ll pull back the curtain on how owners and leadership teams think — so employees better understand the owner mindset and why it matters.
“It is difficult for employees to understand why somebody makes a decision and how that affects everybody,” Cedano says. “You don’t always get the why.”
Cedano and LaFrenier will help attendees at every level see how daily actions tie directly to profitability, efficiency, customer experience and long-term sustainability — and how clearer communication can build trust instead of confusion.
The session begins with a simple reality: owners think differently — because they’re weighing a complex mix of factors employees don’t always see. Cash flow. Margins. Labor costs. Risk. And in the floral industry, where product is perishable and margins are tight, “small mistakes and small margins within the company do have big consequences,” says Cedano.
Cedano and LaFrenier will ground the discussion in real-world scenarios drawn from across the floral supply chain, showing how everyday choices — a substitution, a delay, a missed upsell — ripple far beyond a single transaction.
Through guided reflection and scenario-based discussion, participants are encouraged to step into different roles — owner, manager and employee — and consider how decisions are made, communicated and received at each level.
“You’ve got to think not like an employee, but you’ve got to think like an owner,” Cedano says, emphasizing that ownership is less about title and more about mindset. When employees understand the “why” behind decisions — even without seeing every number — they’re more likely to act with accountability, intention and care, she says.
Amanda Jedlinsky is the senior director of content and communications for the Society of American Florists.
