Tracy Parke is ready to tackle the next three holidays after a much-needed rejuvenation boost courtesy of Society of American Florists’ 1-Day Profit Blast held earlier this month.
“It gives you more energy,” the fourth-generation Hartford, Connecticut florist says. “For it to come before Mother’s Day, Easter and Administrative Professionals’ Day — and get you thinking of doing everything you’re supposed to be doing to be profitable — the timing couldn’t have been better.”
Parke’s pick-me-up resonated with her fellow House of Flora staff. She was accompanied to the Cranston, Rhode Island event on April 6 by two designers, the shop’s processor and social media manager, a floral assistant, and shop owner (and Parke’s father) Richard Brancifort.
Parke says taking a team to educational events like the 1-Day Profit Blast is a no-brainer: Everyone can learn something applicable to their day-to-day duties, there are more people to remember finer details, and the enthusiasm they draw will ripple through the shop, inspiring and energizing the entire team well into the future.
“I think everybody in the industry should go,” Parke says. “If you learn one thing to take back, it’s worth it. We all learned more than one thing.”
The event, which was sponsored by Carbone Floral Distributors and the Flower Shop Network, included educational speakers and a vendor showcase where attendees could put faces to their current suppliers and forge new connections.
“Learning about new products, design ideas, and trends in this ever-changing field is always helpful,” says Shannon Monahan of Richards Florist in Farmington, Maine. “The speakers were engaging, and the flower demos and displays were beautiful.”
Monahan also appreciated getting to see floral product and vendors on location at Carbone’s where the event was hosted.
“Learning more about the vendors and where our flowers come from was incredible and personalized the process,” Monahan says. “Oftentimes, we order and the flowers appear in boxes. We do not give much thought to the communities of people who grow and handle those flowers before they hit our shop floor.”
The event’s three speakers covered a variety of topics. Loann Burke, AAF, AIFD, CFD, PFCI, an event specialist at Furst Florist and Greenhouses and the 2015 winner of SAF’s Sylvia Cup Design Competition, provided insight on how to create trending wedding styles efficiently and profitably. Tim Huckabee, sales and service guru and founder of The Profitable Florist, led an interactive session about boosting sales and efficiency with a lean team. Donald Yim, AIFD, CFD, PFCI, the winner of the 2019 Sylvia Cup Design Competition, spoke about leveraging Instagram, offered techniques to engage social media followers, and shared photography tips.
Getting so much information for a small investment of time and money was a boon for Susan Kimmerlein of Oak Street Florals in Wakefield, Rhode Island. She opened her floral event design business in 2023 and took a little something from every speaker that she can apply to make her business more efficient, more visible online, and more profitable.
“I got some helpful insights into ways to make more efficient use of my time when designing for events,” Kimmerlein says. “I also got some good encouragement to take better advantage of social media to promote my business, myself, and my creativity. It’s a friendly industry full of helpful and talented people. It was fun to spend the day with them.”
Brancifort says networking with fellow floral professionals — including those new to the industry and long-time veterans like himself — was one of his favorite parts of the 1-Day Profit Blast. He even reconnected with a distributor he had lost touch with and wasted no time reordering their flowers for use in his shop.
“I got their product in this morning,” Brancifort says. “I’m glad I reconnected with them. They have the most beautiful hydrangeas.”
See more photos from the event here.
SAF’s next 1-Day Profit Blast is Nov. 4 in Atlanta.
Laurie Herrera is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
