Episode 32: Life's Realities: Eleven Things We All Need To Realize
Lori is back — and she's bringing perspective with her. After testing positive for COVID on July 9th and spending a month recovering at home, she spent a lot of bed-rest hours scrolling through her phone and thinking about truths worth remembering. The result is this episode: eleven realizations she and Vonda walk through together, each one filtered through the lens of running a flower shop during a quarantine year. None of them are brand new — but as Lori puts it, reading them post-COVID, "there's a lot of realness behind some of these."
Borrowed time and taking your health seriously
The first two realities hit closest to home. You're living on borrowed time — Lori spent July 4th grilling in the backyard with her family, and on July 5th felt like she'd been hit by a truck. Every day is a gift, and you simply never know.
That flows straight into number two: take your health seriously — physical and mental. Lori is honest about the fear that came with her breathing troubles and the sadness that follows when a high-energy person suddenly can't do what she loves. Vonda points out that for shop owners who tested positive, the anxiety doubles: you're worried about your health and about who's going to run the business. Vonda also recommends a book she's re-reading, The Rhythm of Life by Matthew Kelly, on balancing physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual health.
Experiences, hard work, and believing in yourself
Collect experiences, not possessions. Lori's son went skydiving with his best friends while she was thinking, "you don't even own a couch" — but he'll never forget it. Her own childhood was Volkswagen-bus summer road trips with her teacher parents, long on memories and short on stuff. Vonda adds a floral twist: flipping through old photos of shop open houses — the displays, the tuxedos, the kids with Santa — those work experiences count too.
Hard work trumps talent. Both hosts grew up watching fathers who owned their own businesses and worked relentlessly without complaint. Lori connects it to hiring: every shop owner has met the talented designer who isn't a team player. Like the middle-school athlete who's gifted but uncoachable, talent without willingness to put in the work isn't worth much.
And believe in yourself. Lori shares a phone call with a workshop attendee drowning in self-doubt, and asks the question worth sitting with: kids naturally believe in themselves — at what point do we stop? Vonda's answer: often it's when the business isn't going the way we pictured. Henry Ford said it best — whether you think you can or you can't, you're right.
Never stop learning, reading, or questioning
Develop a passion for learning and you'll never cease to grow. Lori, a former teacher, went through Flower Clique Prep School purely for the love of learning — no plans to become a designer, and that's exactly the point. You don't have to be passionate about a topic to benefit from learning it.
Don't stop reading, either. Lori inherited her book habit from her dad and grandfather, and she loves the quote: read more — "it allows you to borrow someone else's brain." She's connected with strangers at her husband's work dinners over a shared book more than once.
Then question everything — respectfully. In an internet full of unreliable sources, Vonda brings it back to the shop: when you read about the newest flower-processing method, check the source and check the date before you change your process.
Be sure, skip the degree guilt, and plan ahead
Number nine may be the most practical for florists: be sure of what you believe and stand for — let your yes be yes and your no be no. Vonda shares a line she learned from Bill McKinley: if you can't say no, you've never really said yes. Lori applies it to weddings: she respects shops that confidently say "weddings aren't for us," while too many owners keep taking weddings they hate for a couple hundred dollars of profit. Saying no to the wrong work opens the door to the business you actually want.
A degree is not as important as it seems. Vonda never went to college — and her dad, a high-school graduate, built and sold a business for over a million dollars. Education matters enormously; the diploma, less so. And finally: plan for your future. Short-term and long-term goals are hard right now, and many shops are rethinking whether they even want a storefront. That's okay. As Lori says, it's fine to erase what you thought your future looked like and write something new.
Key takeaways
- Guard your physical and mental health — illness takes a toll on both, and your business feels it too.
- Hire for work ethic and coachability, not just raw design talent.
- Let your no be no: turning down the wrong work (even weddings) makes room for the business you want.
- Keep learning even outside your passion — curiosity makes you a better-rounded owner.
- Revisit your goals: what you planned pre-2020 can be erased and rewritten without shame.
Sponsored by:
Flower Clique
Flower Clique Prep School
Real Life Retail Florist