Episode 25: Turtles are like people: both can only move forward if they stick their neck out
It started with a turtle on Vonda's morning walk and a turtle named Jaws on Lori's TV — on the same weekend, without either of them planning it. That coincidence became a whole episode, because Vonda and Lori realized the turtle is the perfect picture of where the floral industry has been since March: tucked safely in its shell, apprehensive, a little snappy, and afraid to stick its neck out. And here's the thing about turtles — they can only move forward when they do.
Jaws the turtle, and the sign he was getting better
Lori's story comes from an Animal Planet series about the San Diego Zoo. Jaws, a sixty-something-year-old turtle with heart trouble, had retreated to a corner of his enclosure — head in, not eating, not coming out. After treatment, his zookeeper ran a test: he opened the turtle door and turned on the hose, because Jaws (unlike most turtles) loved being sprayed. Jaws came "running," planted himself under the spray, and stretched his neck all the way up to the sky. That was the sign he was healthy again — a turtle that feels safe enough to stick its neck out.
Lori was sobbing on her couch, because the metaphor was unmissable. Flower shops tucked in when the coronavirus hit. Mother's Day was the first big stretch of the neck — scary all week, then a triumph. Now shops are peeking out again: reinventing weddings as backyard events, selling flowers for drive-by birthdays, even setting up drive-by baby showers at the local country club. The water's coming down, and it feels good.
Four lessons from the tortoise (and the hare)
Vonda brought in a blog by author Ian Brookes on what the tortoise-and-hare fable teaches business owners, and the hosts worked through all four lessons:
1. Sometimes we take too long to make decisions. Right now especially, waiting to see what happens is its own decision — and as Strider's Ryan Freeman warned a few episodes back, the shops that sit still will discover competitors got a six-month head start. Make a decision, try something, adjust.
2. Set aside the fear of failure. Google any famous CEO and you'll find a trail of failures behind the success. Failure isn't the opposite of progress — it's where determination and focus come from, because it forces you to redirect. Flower Clique itself was shaped this way: early ideas got tested against real members, some got dropped, and the best ones survived. That's also why every owner needs a sounding board — a manager, a peer, a safe group — instead of pitching ideas on Facebook where someone slams them.
3. The competition isn't always someone else. Sometimes it's the devil on your own shoulder — the overthinking, the art of comparison you can never win. Stay in your lane and do what's right for your shop, because every shop is different. And the other version of this trap: thinking you already know everything. Coming out of COVID-19 saying "I'll just do things the way I've always done them" is being your own worst enemy, because things are not the same.
4. Slow and steady really does win. Age may not bring speed, but it brings the ability to reflect and put what's happening around you in perspective — which loops right back to lesson one: it's okay to make a mistake and keep moving.
Be the four-year-old, not the thirteen-year-old
Lori shares a video she saw at church years ago: interviewers asked people from age four to eighty, "Do you know you're pretty? What's your favorite thing to do?" The four-year-old beamed and danced on the spot. The thirteen-year-old covered her braces and wouldn't perform. Adults got worse and worse — until the eighty-year-old, who said "of course, I just had my hair done" and sang for the camera. Most of us are living in that self-conscious middle ground, and it shows up in business as fear of a Facebook Live or doubt before a big wedding. Lori's advice to camera-shy owners: it's about your business, not about you — and the people who make it about you were never your customers anyway.
Key takeaways
- You can only move forward by sticking your neck out — playing it safe indefinitely is how a business stays stuck.
- Don't take too long to decide; trying and adjusting beats waiting to see what happens.
- Treat failure as training. Find a sounding board and keep pitching ideas.
- Quit competing with yourself — comparison and know-it-all thinking are both self-sabotage.
- Write the four turtle lessons on a sticky note and put it on your POS. Slow, steady, and willing to stretch wins.
Sponsored by:
Flower Clique
Flower Clique Prep School
Real Life Retail Florist