Seed Your Future’s newest class of industry explorers got an inside look at floriculture Feb. 22–24 at the Society of American Florists’ Next Gen LIVE! conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, where 10 students from North Carolina State University attended their first professional industry event.
For every one of them — from undergraduates to Ph.D. candidates — it was their first time experiencing the floral industry beyond the classroom. They networked with retailers and suppliers, walked the trade show floor, and sat in on a presentation to better understand the floral industry.
The visit was one of several initiatives Seed Your Future has launched this year to connect students with real-world horticulture experiences — part of a broader strategy to expose young people to the full range of career paths within floriculture and related industries.
“It was the first industry event for all of them,” says Jazmin Albarran, executive director of Seed Your Future. “And it opened their eyes.”
Several students shared that even as horticulture majors, they weren’t aware of the full range of career paths within floriculture — from retail and wholesale to production, logistics, marketing and entrepreneurship. The lack of visibility, they said, made it difficult to imagine where they might fit.
Two students revealed another challenge: Their parents had only supported their horticulture degrees if they pursued landscape design, believing that path offered stronger earning potential. Both students, however, are drawn to the floral industry.
Albarran encouraged them to explore SAF’s resources for new industry entrants to demonstrate that floriculture is not only creative — it’s a viable, business-driven career path.
“When I showed them what SAF has available online, they were grateful,” Albarran says. “You could see a sense of direction and hope.”
The Next Gen LIVE! experience builds on additional student outreach in January: the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS), the Tropical Plant International Expo (TPIE) and the Pennsylvania Farm Show Career Fair. Together, these events exposed more than 200 students to horticulture careers.
The industry captured their imagination, says Seed Your Future volunteer Davida Freedman, who led a group of students at MANTS. For instance, students were surprised to learn about the breadth of rose varieties that growers have to offer.
They also expressed interest in the different careers they may be able to pursue in the floriculture field.
“There was an overwhelming number of students who had particular questions around particular types of jobs — from STEM-related careers all the way to traditional jobs in a growing facility,” says Broch Martindale of Corteva Agriscience in Indianapolis, and president of Seed Your Future’s board of directors. “Watching students engage directly with industry professionals was powerful and reinforced why exposure and education matter so much,” he says.
Learning about different career opportunities is what Seed Your Future is all about, and the organization is looking forward to more ways to open students’ eyes to the industry this year.
“We will continue building on this experience by working to get the students who attended connected with a nursery or greenhouse later this year for deeper, hands-on exposure,” Albarran says. “Overall, it was a strong way to kick off the year.”
Kenya McCullum is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
