Episode 8: Interview with Ellie LaFever: Lessons learned growing up in the flower shop and beyond
This week's guest shares a last name with the host — and that's no coincidence. Ellie LaFever is Vonda's daughter, Lori's friend (an Enneagram seven and four who, according to one book Lori screenshot immediately, can change the world together), and the creative director of Flower Clique. She's also the reason this podcast exists at all: Lori credits Ellie's encouragement and behind-the-scenes work for getting the show off the ground. In this conversation, Ellie traces her path from napping in the back of a small-town flower shop to designing brands in Los Angeles — and delivers some of the most honest advice a retail florist will hear about staying relevant to the next generation of flower buyers.
In the shop since she was two days old
Ellie grew up in her parents' flower shop in Dixon, Illinois — literally from two days old, complete with her own nap room. She worked her way up the classic ladder: washing buckets, riding along on deliveries, then a three-carnation arrangement at around age eight that a real customer actually bought out of the cooler. She remembers getting frustrated learning to design and marveling at her mother's patience — calm, positive coaching, "maybe move this rose over here." (Lori, fresh from being Vonda's student at Flower Clique Prep School, confirms the teaching style hasn't changed.) By high school Ellie was doing sympathy work, payroll, and managing. And around 2000, her dad gave her a computer and a desk in the back office — the beginning of a balance between hands-on design and technology that would shape her whole career.
From Dixon to Rome to New York
Ready to leave the small town, Ellie went to Iowa State University, was one of 50 accepted to design school, and graduated with a BFA in interior design. Three experiences shaped her: studying in Rome, which gave her a global design perspective; a summer internship at a big corporate hotel-design firm in New York, which taught her she didn't want corporate life ("I was raised in a tiny flower shop with a family mentality"); and assisting commercial photographers, including on Better Homes and Gardens shoots, where she learned lighting and styling. New York also taught her about burnout — a week of brutal deadlines ended with a badly cut finger and an attempt to hail a rush-hour taxi to the emergency room on Fifth Avenue. Her takeaway: slowing down is worth it, and her generation is finally treating balance and mental health as things worth protecting.
Interior design and floral design, she argues, are the same discipline at different scales: you take a vision and create something physical that alters a person's mood. Websites, online courses, brands, photography — "everything in our world is designed," and once you have the eye, it moves fluidly between mediums. That fluency is why Ellie named Flower Clique and shaped its brand, vision, and visuals as creative director.
Where flower shops fit for young professionals
Vonda asks the loaded question: where does the retail flower shop fit for young buyers? Ellie's answer is refreshingly blunt. Her generation is resourceful — "you can't get mad at us when we buy flowers for ourselves at Trader Joe's." The retail shop's territory is the moment that matters: weddings, new babies, birthdays, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day — gifting occasions where impact counts. Which means shops must be the best at care and handling, offer genuinely unique designs, and manage expectations, because nobody wants their hundred dollars to disappoint. And per the customer-service article Lori read: you can't pull the wool over millennials' eyes. Skip the salesy act. Be real, listen, and if you can't help, point them to someone who can.
Experiences, workshops, and the fear of teaching
What draws Ellie's friends into a shop? Experiences. Workshops with personality: flower crowns, wreaths, wine and cheese, clear expectations about what you'll take home, and a 10 percent promo for the next class. Vonda raises the fear many florists carry — if I teach them, won't they stop buying? Ellie flips it: workshops teach appreciation, and "we want it all and we want it delivered." When the occasion comes, they'll call the shop they trust — because you showed them exactly how good you are. Lori adds a favorite spin from their friend Julie: host an after-hours session where a budget-conscious bridal party makes their own arrangements with your flowers — an amazing memory that creates faithful clients.
Adapt or fade
Ellie's vision for keeping shops thriving comes down to adaptability. Update the brick and mortar — even small moves like fresh paint and new rugs chip away at a dated feel, and "it might be the one thing that saves you." And cultivate a cool factor: be interesting, show your personality, don't be afraid to rebrand. The shops being cool and relatable are "killing it." Adapting to 2020 and beyond is slow, but it's a requirement for survival.
Key takeaways
- Accept that young buyers grab grocery-store flowers for themselves — and own the high-impact gifting occasions instead.
- Be authentic: this generation buys from real people, not sales scripts.
- Workshops build appreciation and trust — they create customers, they don't cannibalize them.
- Small renovations count: fresh paint and updated details can change how relevant your shop feels.
- Show your personality, embrace rebranding, and make your shop an experience worth talking about.
Check out additional information at thebusinessandpleasureofflowers.com and watch for more episodes with Ellie.
Sponsored by:
Flower Clique
Flower Clique Prep School
Real Life Retail Florist