You Belong Here: Mentorship, Positivity & Welcoming the Next Generation
Vonda is flying solo this week, recording from Orlando on the very last night of AIFD Symposium 2026 — Elevate — while the trucks are still being loaded out. The plan had been to record with Lori, Ellie, and half the floral world on site, but symposium had other ideas. So instead of a recap of stages and sets (that's coming later), this is something more reflective: what actually stayed with her after a week of incredible design and education wasn't the flowers at all. It was the floral family.
The first-timers reception was the best room of the week
When Vonda and her symposium co-chair Randy Wooten were each asked — separately — what their favorite part of the week was, they gave the same answer: the first-timers reception. Picture a room of people attending their very first symposium, seated at little tables, visibly apprehensive. Then past AIFD president Lori Lemmick rolled out a bingo game that sent everyone around the room asking questions — have you been in the industry 30 years or more? Do you own your own shop? Are you a wedding florist? — and something close to magic happened. Board members and brand-new attendees ended up in the same conversations, and you could watch people come alive.
Because everyone who walks into an event like this alone is asking the same silent questions: What am I doing here? Do I belong? Is anybody going to talk to me? What if I ask a dumb question? Meanwhile the room is full of hugs between people who already know each other. What broke the ice was seasoned members telling their own first-timer stories — "I came not knowing anyone and left with a new bestie" — and then making introductions: you're from that area? I know a designer there, come meet them. Days later, Vonda watched pairs of brand-new friends walking symposium together.
Small gestures, zero cost
One thing AIFD gets right: every first-time attendee wears a bright yellow ribbon on their badge, and the membership genuinely keys in on it. Vonda watched people get stopped in hallways all week — "Hey, how's it going? Do you have any questions?" That interaction is the whole point. Positivity costs nothing, and it means everything to the person receiving it. Most of us can remember someone who made us feel welcome. We can also remember someone who made us feel invisible. Choose which one you're going to be.
Sometimes that hallway moment is the start of a mentorship — and mentoring doesn't have to mean a standing monthly meeting. It means being there for questions and reaching out occasionally with a "you've got this — what do you need?" The AIFD membership committee does this formally for designers pursuing accreditation, and Vonda speaks from experience on that journey: she earned her AIFD accreditation for herself, and she'd encourage any designer to aspire to it for the same reason. Those letters signal a standard of professionalism — but whether accreditation takes you two years or three, you don't have to wait to belong to this community.
The ripple effect (and a challenge)
When someone feels welcome, they welcome others. When someone receives encouragement, they encourage others. That ripple is how the industry stays healthy — and Vonda has a specific way to practice it. When you get a compliment, don't trade it back ("your hair looks nice too"). Accept it, then look to the next person and pass a genuine one along. If a kind thought crosses your mind and you hesitate — say it.
Her challenge for the upcoming run of events — state conventions, the Society of American Florists convention, whatever is next on your calendar: look around for the one person who seems a little unsure. Stop. Introduce yourself, introduce them to someone else, and ask about them — do they own a shop, work at a wholesale house, deliver, design? Get them talking, because that's how people get comfortable, and that's how younger people decide to stay in this industry. You have no idea how much one small conversation might mean.
The takeaway that sums up the whole episode: the greatest thing we can arrange isn't flowers — it's confidence in another person. The biggest moments of symposium weren't on the stage. They were in the hallways, at lunch tables, in the flower room, and around the tables where volunteers turned leftover blooms into more than 2,000 bouquets for hospitals, VA facilities, and organizations all over Orlando. Flowers bring us together. People keep us here.
Key takeaways
- First-timers at any event are silently asking "do I belong?" — a welcome, an introduction, or your own first-timer story answers it.
- Encouragement costs nothing and creates a ripple: welcomed people welcome others.
- Mentorship can be as light as occasional check-ins and being available for questions.
- Accept compliments, then pass a genuine one to the next person instead of trading it back.
- At your next industry event, find the unsure person, stop, and get them talking.