Episode 62: A Tribute to a Special Friend, Marie Ackerman AIFD PFCI AAF
This week's episode is different, and dear. Vonda gathers two of Marie Ackerman's closest friends — Julie Poeltler, owner of Julie's Fountain of Flowers in Lone Tree, Iowa, and Tim Farrell, owner of Farrell's Florist in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, both AIFD and PFCI — to remember an icon the floral industry lost just over a month before this recording. Marie was a member of AIFD, PFCI, and the American Academy of Floriculture, a Tommy Bright Award winner, and above all a teacher. As Lori put it after sitting in on Marie's Shine program: she was a beautiful designer, but first she was a motivator — she wanted to inspire everyone around her.
Write down one thing
Marie opened her presentations the same way: take out a piece of paper and write down at least one thing you'll carry away. So Vonda asks her guests what would be on theirs. Tim's answer has stuck with him since the first time he saw Marie speak at an SAF convention, where she surprised the room by entering from the back: be prepared to ensure success. He says he's thought of it before nearly every professional presentation since. Julie's came from Marie's commentating classes: ten minutes before you go on stage, walk away. Be alone, collect your thoughts, let no one into that space — then come out ready.
The loudest table in the room
Everyone who crossed paths with Marie seems to have a table story. If you got seated with her at an industry event — even among strangers — she made sure every single person was included, with questions in plastic Easter eggs, pencils, crayons, dominoes, Legos, whatever was on hand. Her table was always the loudest in the ballroom, and she was competitive about it; Tim once staged fake roars of laughter at his own table just to get under her skin. Behind the fun was a philosophy she shared with him: take care of the newbies — they're going to affect all of our tomorrows. A first-timer's experience at AIFD or SAF can make them a leader or make them disappear, and Marie chose to make leaders.
A mentor who called you back
Marie joined American Floral Services young — running the AFS Education Center and editing major publications in her twenties, in a pre-digital world — and later became Vice President of Educational Services for Teleflora. Yet as busy as she was, she was never too busy. Julie still has every note Marie wrote critiquing her portfolio photos, and the first encouragement card Marie ever sent her. Tim points out that a vice president of a major corporation always took your call, and always called you back. Vonda, who worked beside her on AIFD Symposium — one of the industry's biggest projects — saw the other side too: the spreadsheets, the balanced budgets, the ability to balance people, and the occasional loving order to "put your big girl panties on" and get moving.
The episode weaves in Marie's own voice, including her "Marie-isms" like the BGO — "a blinding glimpse of the obvious" — and her image of the masks we wear to hide from evaluation. There's the story of Wynnona, a timid young designer at her first symposium who asked to help, built the armature grid for a Shine arrangement, got a shout-out from the stage, and was later inducted into AIFD with Marie placing her lei. And there's Renee Tucci's memory: frozen with nerves at her first unit presidents meeting, microphone in hand, until Marie walked the room asking person after person, "Do you want Renee to fail?" Every no rebuilt her — and Renee still reminds herself that the audience wants her to succeed.
Let it shine
To carry on Marie's mission of inspired education, the AIFD Foundation and Marie's family have established the Marie Ackerman AIFD Fund. Vonda encourages listeners to contribute so Marie's legacy of helping people achieve greatness lives on; you can read her full obituary as well. The episode closes with Marie herself leading a room in "This Little Light of Mine" and offering her final charge: be a torch, a spark, a candle in the dark — bring light and hope and flowers to everyone.
Key takeaways
- Be prepared to ensure success — preparation was Marie's first rule for every presentation and every professional moment.
- Take ten minutes alone before you step on stage to collect your thoughts.
- Take care of the newbies; their first experience decides whether they become tomorrow's leaders.
- Strive to surpass yourself, not your competition.
- Mentorship is in the details — the handwritten note, the returned phone call, the specific invitation to help.
Sponsored by:
Flower Clique
Flower Clique Prep School
Real Life Retail Florist