Episode 27: Celebrate AIFD Month: Interview with Jackie Lacey AIFD President
With the 2020 AIFD Symposium canceled, Vonda and Lori decided to bring symposium to the podcast instead — dedicating a whole month of episodes to the American Institute of Floral Designers. They kick it off at the top: an interview with Jackie Lacey, AIFD, PFCI, AAF, CFD — the current national president of AIFD — on what accreditation actually gives a working florist, and why the 2021 Symposium in Washington, D.C. will be one for the books.
"Who are you, and why haven't I heard of you?"
Jackie's AIFD origin story starts with a magazine ad. He owned three flower shops in three different states when he spotted an ad for AIFD, had never heard of the organization, and simply called headquarters to ask: who are you, and why haven't I heard about you? He was invited to the next symposium — in 2001 — and hasn't missed one since. He was inducted as an accredited member in 2006 and got involved the way many members do: friends asked him to help on a committee (Vonda was on the membership committee at the time), and helping turned into leading.
Founded in 1965 by a small group of leading floral designers, AIFD exists to recognize and promote floral design as a professional career. But as Jackie describes it, the organization is something closer than family — because your AIFD family is family and work, elbow to elbow in the flower room, laughing and crying over things nobody outside the room would understand.
Brokers of emotion, and the three stages of a florist
One of Jackie's most quotable ideas: florists are "the brokers of emotion." Customers bring us their love, their concern, their thankfulness, and ask us to convey it to someone else in the form of flowers. And he maps a designer's growth in three stages — first you put things where you were taught to put them; then you start moving things around and become a designer; and finally, when the principles and elements are second nature, you can appreciate the curve of a single calla lily over driftwood and you've crossed into being a floral artist. AIFD's job is to promote that standard, not just in the U.S. but worldwide.
What accreditation really buys you
Jackie is candid that preparing for the accreditation test taught him "how much I didn't know" — and that discovery made him a better designer and a better businessperson. He now sometimes tells clients they have enough flowers, and shows them what good design can do instead of simply selling more stems.
The other benefit is the network. With roughly 2,000 members behind him, Jackie can look a client in the eye and say "absolutely, we can do that" — then pick up the phone and call someone who's done it. The icons he once only followed in magazines are now contacts in his phone. Vonda adds the phrase she heard at her own 1989 induction, from then-membership chair Kearney Burchard: your AIFD pin is a "license to learn." Accreditation isn't proof you know everything; it's the beginning of learning from everyone.
For talented designers who don't think they need AIFD, Jackie's answer is about confidence and doors: the credential instills self-confidence when you're alone at the design table, and it opens career paths beyond it — teaching, presenting, podcasting, working with colleges and garden centers. "Open the door and come through it. We're all here on the other side, waiting to help you and to push you up."
Symposium 2021: two symposiums in one
With 2020 canceled, the team is folding two symposiums into one in Washington, D.C. over the 4th of July — 2020 inductees finally walking the stage, returning and new designers on the main stage, hands-on classes, hallway education, partner showcases, a first-timers tour, and an AIFD book launch. High school FFA members and SAIFD college students will be there alongside members from every era; Jackie even hopes to bring Bob Gordon, president 50 years earlier. Lori — a self-described non-designer whose 2018 symposium jobs included a voiceover and heroic Starbucks runs — vouches for how welcoming it is: strangers hugged her into the family on day one. Details at aifd.org.
Key takeaways
- Accreditation is a "license to learn," not a finish line — its biggest lesson is discovering what you don't know.
- Mastering principles and elements makes you a better businessperson: design skill can replace "just buy more flowers."
- The AIFD network means never bluffing alone — there's always someone to call who's done it before.
- Challenges hide opportunities; if the door won't open, look for the window.
- Never been to symposium? Start with the first-timers tour in D.C. — you'll walk away saying "I had no idea."
Sponsored by:
Flower Clique
Flower Clique Prep School
Real Life Retail Florist