Episode 158: The Journey Continues: Happy Anniversary to Us! (Our Annual Anniversary Episode)
Happy New Year — and happy anniversary! Flower Clique has just finished year three and is rolling into year four, so Vonda and Lori bring on the whole crew for their annual tradition: Ellie LaFever and Kami Martin join for the once-a-year, all-hands reflection. (After some 13-year-old-triplet Christmas stories from Kami involving wrapped lumps of actual coal, first iPhones, and a bathroom-mirror makeup tutorial.) Lori poses three questions to each of them — and the answers add up to an honest look at what building a company really feels like.
Question 1: Is it what you thought it would be?
Ellie's short answer is yes — with a catch. "It's a lot harder than we thought it would be, but it's also a lot more rewarding than we thought it would be." Nothing is outsourced, everything gets figured out in-house, and the small things always take longer than expected — but the company is on its way to being bigger and better than she imagined. Kami agrees: she knew it would be hard work, but her "finite brain" never pictured Flower Clique expanding this far, and she's proud of the product — even with a few more bags under her eyes.
Vonda's answer is yes and no. She was confident they could build something that genuinely helps shop owners, especially on the web side — but she never anticipated how central education would become, from elevating seasoned employees to onboarding brand-new ones. The other surprise: the camaraderie across the whole team.
Lori leans toward no — in a good way. She expected a straight path into one-on-one leadership consulting; instead, whole new avenues opened for connecting with members and non-members alike. And she names something every employee of a small company will recognize: though Flower Clique belongs to Vonda and Ellie, she and Kami carry it like it's theirs. Every email, every conversation — "is this a good reflection of the company?" They joked they'd have more free time. It's the opposite — yet Kami says it's still easier than her old work, because she's fully bought in to what they're doing.
Question 2: What was your biggest surprise?
For Lori, it was how many flower shops they already knew who jumped on board no questions asked — and the genuine friendships that grew from there: texts, FaceTimes, Christmas cards. Ellie's surprise was feeling the support flow back: after years of remote work hidden behind screens, getting out to in-person events in 2022 made the industry's encouragement tangible. Vonda names the loyalty — florists are a different breed, and the kind messages from members regularly move her to tears because they mean the mission is working.
Kami's answers go deepest. She's formed bonds strong enough that she found herself awake at 4:30 a.m. praying for a member with cancer — someone she's never met in person. Her first in-person floral conference was "a game changer... good for my soul," and it gave her the confidence to finally walk into a shop she'd driven past for years. But her biggest aha is sobering: the number of shops selling or retiring in the past year or two. Three years of rollercoaster have produced real burnout — she's never seen this much turnover in all her years in the industry. The silver lining: selling owners routinely tell the new buyers, "you've got to keep these people."
Question 3: What do you hope to achieve in 2023?
Ellie picks a word each year, and for 2023 it's fortify — strengthen what's already built rather than piling on new things: the systems, the courses, the photo shoots, everything that had to be built fast. Then comes the goosebump moment: Lori, independently, had already chosen refine — cleaning up and improving what exists, personally and professionally. "Our goals are aligned," Ellie laughs.
Kami's word is balance. Fresh off completing a 2022 goal of reading through the Bible in a year, she wants work, kids, and some actual Kami time — including finding a hobby, something she (like Lori) relinquished at first childbirth. Listeners with hobby suggestions are officially invited to send them. Pickleball is on the table; Vonda declines. Her 2023 goals: learning TikTok and Instagram (after once posting a course promo to "close friends only"), plus a couple of inspirational trips.
Kami closes with the truest note in the episode: she came in "not in a great head space" and left revived. As Ellie puts it, the inspiration heading into 2023 doesn't feel fake — "we've had to battle the last few years... and we know we can do it."
Key takeaways
- Building something meaningful is harder and more rewarding than the plan — expect both, and expect less free time, not more.
- Buy-in changes everything: work feels easier when your whole team treats the company like their own.
- Relationships are the real return — with teammates and with the customers who become friends.
- Burnout is driving a wave of shop sales and retirements; take owner wellbeing seriously.
- Pick a word for the year — fortify, refine, balance — and let it shape what you say yes to.
Sponsored by:
Flower Clique
Flower Clique Prep School
Real Life Retail Florist