Episode 77: Lessons Learned from Dad: Happy Father's Day!
"A father holds his daughter's hand for just a short while, but he holds her heart forever." In honor of Father's Day, Vonda and Lori invite Ellie LaFever to join them for something a little different: no checklists, no marketing tips — just three women who run a business together, tracing the lessons their dads quietly built into them. It's a reminder that even in a women-run company, the first man in your life leaves fingerprints on how you work and lead.
A seat at the grown-ups' table
Ellie grew up in the family flower shop with a creative mom (Vonda) and a businessman dad. Her memory: Rotary Club lunches every summer Friday. While the shop was casual and hectic, Rotary was women in heels and men in blazers — and her dad brought his eight-year-old along and treated her like an adult at the table, as did every Rotarian in the room. It came full circle in high school when she stood before that same club, dressed up and in heels, giving a speech that earned her a college scholarship. Being treated like an adult early, she says, is a big part of why she always felt like an old soul — and why she knew who she wanted to be as a businesswoman.
The berm and the ocean
Vonda's dad was a garbage man who left for work at 3:30 in the morning and still made it home for family dinner — and family camping trips were sacred. On a long road trip to Washington state, with everyone exhausted and the trailer barely leveled, he casually suggested a little walk up the berm behind their campsite. "Oh, come on. You might like it." At the top: the Pacific Ocean. That was his way — downplay everything, then share the excitement at the summit. Ellie recognizes it in herself immediately: better to under-promise and let the moment deliver than to hype something into disappointment.
Something good is going to happen to you
Lori's dad, Leonard, was a school principal and school board director in a town where practically every aunt, uncle, and cousin worked in education — so "his eyes are on you wherever you go" was not an idle threat. Her favorite memory: a Saturday of burning brush in the country, all three kids sweating through chores while their mom sang a made-up song — "something good is going to happen to you." After lunch, Dad announced a trip to the dump… and drove them to the ASPCA instead, where the kids picked out a beagle named Sam. The reward came after the work, never announced beforehand — because telling them first would have been bribery, and earning your keep was the family religion.
The lessons they still run their business on
Each woman names the lesson she carries today. For Lori, it's that education gives you options — college, trade school, a new art, it didn't matter to her educator dad, as long as you never stopped learning and shared what you learned. She still reads everything she can and "regurgitates" it for others — now filtered through the question, "how would this apply to a flower shop owner?" Her dad also left affirmations on Post-it notes on her mirror every school morning, including one she's never forgotten: whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.
For Ellie, it's service without a sermon. Her dad ran a Monday-night meal called Loaves and Fishes for anyone who needed a hot dinner, and woke her at 3 a.m. every Thanksgiving to put the turkeys in. He never lectured about philanthropy — he simply did it, and she learned it by standing next to him. Her takeaway: do things for others instead of talking about doing things for others, right down to the small daily kindnesses.
For Vonda, it's work hard and earn your keep. At her dad's recycling center, nobody stood around — "nobody's in right now, but you can be doing this" — a rule that carried straight into the flower shop. And his corollary shaped her whole career: if you're going to work that hard and pour in your heart and soul, work for yourself. That conviction launched Flowers Etc. in Dixon, and later, Flower Clique.
Key takeaways
- Treat young people like adults and they'll rise to it — in the shop, at the table, everywhere.
- Under-promise and over-deliver; let the view from the top of the hill do the talking.
- Reward hard work after it's done, not as a bribe before it starts.
- Never stop learning, and share what you learn in a way others can use.
- Model service instead of preaching it — and if you're blessed to still have your dad, tell him you love him. If not, share a memory of him with someone who loved him too; that's how you celebrate Father's Day over and over.
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Flower Clique
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