Episode 15: Interview with Kate Penn, CEO Society of American Florists
"What exactly does SAF do?" It's a question Vonda and Lori hear from flower shop owners all the time — usually followed by "isn't it expensive?" In this episode, they go straight to the source: Kate Penn, executive vice president and CEO of the Society of American Florists. A 32-year SAF veteran who started as a journalist writing for the association's magazine, Kate pulls back the curtain on the advocacy, research, and education happening behind the scenes — much of it invisible even to members.
An association for the whole industry — since 1884
SAF is the only national trade association representing the entire floral industry: breeders, plant propagators, growers, shippers, brokers, wholesalers, brick-and-mortar retailers, event-only studios, freelance designers, and consultants. It was chartered by an act of Congress in 1884 — originally to get growers hail insurance. Today its mission is to "connect and cultivate a thriving floral community," which Kate translates simply: help the industry sell more flowers to more people more often.
The advocacy piece is where the invisible work happens. In the weeks before this conversation, SAF's team fought to get the floral industry included in federal Covid aid packages — and to get floriculture counted in dollars earmarked for agriculture. Two weeks earlier, Kate says, floriculture wasn't even on the Secretary of Agriculture's radar for those funds; SAF's advocacy team pushed until the light bulb went off. Beyond the crisis, SAF works on immigration reform and even niche tax-code corrections affecting how retailers depreciate shop renovations.
The research behind "flower power"
SAF also commissions the university research florists lean on in their marketing: a Harvard-connected study showing flowers improve seniors' short-term memory and social connection, research on flowers' emotional impact on happiness, and a study from two years back linking flowers to stress reduction. SAF packages that research so florists can pitch it to local media — and it was proving especially powerful during the pandemic, when outlets came looking for positive stories about how flowers help people through isolation. The association even created downloadable social media graphics any shop can post, putting a lighthearted spin on the message that flowers calm us and connect us when we can't be together.
Free webinars, open to everyone
When Covid hit, SAF made a strategic decision: open its webinars and resources to the entire industry, member or not. Kate's reasoning is generous and practical at once: "The more floral businesses we help get to the other side of it, it's better for our whole industry." The response stunned even her team — webinars that typically drew 50 to 150 people suddenly had 1,300 trying to register, forcing SAF to expand its platform capacity. Vonda can vouch: she's shown up minutes early and found the room already full. The webinars were free for the time being, and SAF's website live chat was, in Kate's words, "smokin" — with the team meeting every morning to turn the previous day's questions into new resources.
Answering the "too expensive" objection
Lori puts the hard question to Kate directly: why do so many shops say SAF costs too much? Kate doesn't flinch. "What that says to me is it's not valuable to you" — the same perception problem as a customer balking at a $150 arrangement. So SAF spent eight months on research-driven strategic planning, asking the industry what it needs most, and reorganized everything around three goals. First, career development: recruiting talent, training it, and proving floral is a real career — including a new online career development platform, which Kate calls their most audacious project. Second, connection: contrary to predictions that millennials would skip conventions, SAF has seen a surge in attendees 40 and under, and is working to livestream and record events for those who can't travel. Third, the future: helping shops keep up with fast-changing consumer behavior and technology through content, education, and best practices. Every SAF initiative, task force, and staff team now maps to one of those three goals.
Key takeaways
- SAF is the only association representing the full floral supply chain, and much of its value — like getting floriculture into federal aid and agriculture funding — happens invisibly on Capitol Hill.
- Use SAF's commissioned research on flowers, stress, and seniors in your own social media and local press outreach; ready-made graphics are on their website.
- During the pandemic, SAF opened its webinars and resources free to non-members — take advantage of them.
- "Too expensive" is really a value-perception problem — the same one florists face with customers — and SAF rebuilt its strategy around career development, connection, and the future to answer it.
- When you have questions, use the live chat on SAF's website; a passionate 12-person team is answering in real time.
Sponsored by:
Flower Clique
Flower Clique Prep School
Real Life Retail Florist