Men & Flowers with Eddie from Barstool Sports
What happens when a single guy at Barstool Sports receives flowers at the office for the first time in his life? His coworkers look like they've seen a ghost — and florists get a rare, unfiltered window into how men in the 18-to-40 crowd actually think about buying flowers. A year after Vonda and Ellie appeared on The Dog Walk, Eddie Farrer of Barstool Sports Chicago returns the favor, with Ellie leading an interview that covers flower-buying barriers, business grit, and a five-year unpaid climb worth hearing about. (Shout out to Flower Clique member Teresa at Garland Flowers in Oak Park, who created and delivered Eddie's first-ever arrangement.)
A first-time flower recipient reports back
Eddie had mentioned on his own show that no one had ever sent him flowers, so Vonda and Ellie fixed that. His honest review: he knew they were coming, they were "really nice," and — his words — flowers don't do anything besides enhance a room. He's bought flowers exactly once, and only because the recipient told him flowers were her end of the bargain for a favor. Left to his own instincts, he admits, a gift probably wouldn't have been flowers at all — not out of dislike, but because he's "never really thought that direction." That's the gap florists are marketing into.
What actually stops men from ordering
Asked what would move the needle for his mostly male, 18-to-40 audience, Eddie's first answer isn't price or product — it's trust. When he Googled florists, he faced a wall of options and remembered every horror story about fast-delivery companies. His hardest question was simply: who will actually get it there when they promise? Lori's counterpoint for consumers and shops alike: those top paid results often aren't real local shops at all, so look for a brick-and-mortar address — and shops should make their realness obvious. Eddie also wished he understood the meaning behind flowers and colors; that kind of simple education, he says, "would go a long way" with his listeners. The hosts point out that most local shop websites already sort designs by occasion — but as this conversation proves, florists can't assume anyone knows that.
And here's the part worth reading twice: Eddie doesn't want to send the generic base package. "If you're gonna send this, you want them to mean something," he says — clicking the first thank-you bundle on the page feels like checking a box. He'll happily call a shop, though he notes online ordering has its own appeal: when you click the exact picture, nothing gets lost in translation. Debriefing afterward, Vonda and Lori land on the takeaway for sales teams: when a man calls to order, really listen — he cares more than you think.
Five years as a free intern: Eddie's stay-the-course story
The business half of the interview is just as good. Eddie started at Barstool in 2013 after showing up to a kickball tournament in Grant Park to meet the guys behind a website he loved — and then worked as an unpaid intern for five years before getting his break in 2018. He came close to quitting right before it happened. What kept him going: a culture where founder Dave started in a basement too, so heads-down work eventually gets recognized, and a stubborn belief in himself even when his own dad thought he should just get a sales job. The pushback, he says, only made him dig his heels in more.
Consistency is the whole game
Eddie's best business lesson maps straight onto running a shop: show up every single time. He posts his podcast at 11 a.m. daily because he wants to live inside his audience's routine — the day the episode isn't there is the day a listener finds something else. Find a niche that isn't overexplored, keep going, and don't take days off from the things your customers count on. Wrapping up, Lori adds the lesson for anyone chasing a floral dream against skeptical family: the path to your passion includes sweeping floors, but if you can engage with what you're passionate about a little each day, it'll get you where you want to go.
Key takeaways
- The biggest barrier for male flower buyers is trust — make your shop's realness (address, photos, reliability) impossible to miss.
- Men don't want the generic base package; they want the gift to mean something. Guide them to it.
- Don't assume customers know about occasion categories or flower meanings — educate simply and often.
- Consistency builds audiences: be reliably there, in your customers' routine, every single week.
- Stay the course — Eddie interned free for five years before his break, and nearly quit right before it came.