Time to catch up...Whatcha doing? Whatcha learning?
Between conventions, travel and holiday prep, Vonda and Lori realized they'd barely had a real conversation in weeks — so this episode is exactly that: a catch-up on what they've been doing, what they've been learning, and (since the season demands it) what they want for Christmas. It sounds casual, but tucked inside are a mini-lesson on training assumptions and two of the most creative hiring ideas the show has covered.
Whatcha doing?
Vonda finally took a real vacation — ten days in Italy, from the spiritual side of Rome to the beauty of Sorrento and Amalfi — and here's the part shop owners should note: her team quietly built a secret Slack channel behind her back, appointed Ellie as the single point of contact for true emergencies, and handled everything. "I felt no stress," Vonda says. That's what a well-built team makes possible. One week after landing, she flew to Kent, Ohio to teach a Teleflora Academy class on sympathy design, hosted in Smithers-Oasis's corporate conference room, alongside co-teachers Joyce Mason-Manheim, Tom Bowling and Laddie McKinnon — with Flower Clique members in the seats and lots of hands-on projects and personal feedback.
Lori, meanwhile, spent back-to-back wedding weekends in Ohio (a bride and a best man from her kids' circle of friends), then dove into uploading recipes from a huge photo shoot that ran all the way through Valentine's Day imagery. She also hit a milestone worth celebrating: Flower Clique's done-for-you email marketing program for members turned one year old — and every original beta tester is still in it, now as a paying member. The program works, she says, because it isn't constant selling; it's information that builds the relationship with customers. And in full transparency, only two shops have ever left it — one whose list was simply too small to be ready, and one who hired an in-house design student, which Lori cheered.
Whatcha learning?
Vonda's biggest lesson came from watching others teach — and from being edited. Working with Ellie on the new Real Life Retail Florist course, she keeps discovering that what's perfectly clear in her own head isn't clear on the page. Her son calls it "the curse of knowledge": when you've been in the industry since you were fourteen, you assume everyone knows that hydrangea gets processed differently. One member hit the same wall training a new hire before using the online sales training — the gaps weren't the employee's fault, they were the assumptions.
Lori's learning has centered on the industry's attrition problem, and she brought two real-world experiments worth watching. First, a high-volume Chick-fil-A owner who couldn't keep employees created a three-day work week with longer shifts, fixed schedules, and significant stretches of days off — and has yet to lose an employee since, with coworkers becoming genuine friends. Second, a warehouse owner wrote a job ad specifically for stay-at-home moms, then sat down with them and asked what they actually needed: some wanted weekends, some nights, some only school hours. He built the schedule around them and said, "I don't know why I didn't do this earlier." Neither maps perfectly onto a flower shop, both hosts agree — but a modified version might. If you can't out-pay the big-box stores, offering hours that fit someone's real life may be the incentive that wins.
Two more threads: on marketing, Lori's conclusion after all her research into TikTok, Reels and the rest is that there's no right or wrong — just start, because customers don't want perfect. And on leadership, her thinking has shifted: leaders aren't simply born. You may be predisposed, but good leadership is made through hard work.
What do you want for Christmas?
Both hosts land first on health and healing for friends and family. Beyond that, Vonda's list is delightfully practical: sweatpants with pockets (so her phone is reachable if she meets the bear again — email her for the famous bear story), vanilla candles, and a diffuser. Lori wants what her 88-year-old dad has always asked for — "just a few kind words" — plus the one gift money can't guarantee: all five members of her family under one roof, something that hasn't happened in far too long. And stocking stuffers, at which her husband famously overdelivers.
Key takeaways
- Build a team that lets you truly unplug — a designated emergency contact and clear ownership meant a stress-free ten days away for Vonda.
- Beware the curse of knowledge: what's obvious to you after decades in flowers is invisible to a new hire. Write training as if they know nothing.
- Creative scheduling — three-day work weeks, shifts built around stay-at-home parents' hours — may beat higher wages in the fight for staff.
- Set expectations about late nights and holiday crunch before you hire, not after.
- Email marketing that informs rather than sells keeps customers (and members) around for the long haul.