How Floral Technology Can Be Easy - Ida Bertone from Floranext Talks Experience, Customer Service, and Industry Passion

Episode 088: When it comes to learning new technology, or anything new for that matter, it's never easy. Vonda and Lori talk with Ida who shares how her vast experiences and many years in the floral industry have given her what it takes to work with florists' in the area of learning new technology.  In her position with Floranext, she has the opportunity to work with flower shop owners on a daily basis and loves what she does!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:03

You know, it's not all fun and games in the floral industry. There's a lot of hard work to be done, and I get that. I get, you know, when uh a florist is just, you know, super overwhelmed. I mean, the last thing they need to worry about is their point of sale, right? Their website. That's like the last thing on their list.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Welcome to the business and pleasure of flowers. We're your hosts, Vonda LaFever.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

And Lori Wilson. And we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination. Kind of like us, Vonda.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Good morning, Lori.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Good morning, Vonda. And how are you this fine Monday?

SPEAKER_00 0:50

I am great, and I'm very excited because we have a special guest today.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

We do. I always love when we have a guest.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Our guest today is Ida Lena, or she likes to be called Ida. Last name Bertone. We have met through Florinex. So I've had the opportunity to attend one or two meetings with her in that position, which we'll get into a little later. But I'd love, Ida, for you to share a little bit about your story. Tell us about you because I want to get to know you a little better, and I know our audience does as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:23

Hi, ladies. Hi, Lori. Hi, Rhonda. Hello. Thank you for having me on your podcast today. It's very exciting. You guys are such an inspiration in the industry and so knowledgeable.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

Just doing such good for the industry. So, how did I get started in the floral industry?

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Well, I started my career as the youngest traveling bank manager for Essex County in New Jersey. That's how I started my career. So my first passion was marketing, bank, banking, and numbers. And I was 18 years old and I was actually a manager. I had just graduated from high school. Somebody told me about a test that they were giving out for a bank manager. And I went and I got the position. Not too long after that, a couple of years, my mother got into a terrible accident at work. My parents are both blue-collar workers. My dad's a mechanic. My mom worked for a meat processing company. And she got her dominant arm, which was her right arm, caught in one of the machines and had to come and live with me. And I had to take care of her. Oh my gosh, that just made my arm hurt. Yeah. And my mom, you know, she's a young mom. And we're we're going back to the mid to late 90s when I started my banking career. So without revealing my age, but uh, you know, uh, we'll go there. So after that happened, I left my career. And and at that time, the the bank that I worked for, they got sold to a different bank. So it was a good time to leave, you know, everything happens for a reason, right? Right. Even the bad stuff, right? So I ended up taking care of my mom um for years. And as she was getting better, I realized that I needed something to do because she would have a nurse come in or she would be out of the house for six hours a day and rehab. So I saw a little position posted in the newspaper at that time. You know, that was where you would find jobs in the world. Right, right. Nothing right, not on Craigslist or you know, uh so um I found this little like floral assistant part-time. So I said, you know, I'm gonna do that because I can't vacuum my house enough, like every day I was vacuuming and cleaning. I'm like, I could literally eat off the floor. I have nothing else to do. So um I can't window shop anymore. So I'm going to go get a job. So that seemed like the perfect job because it was part-time. I'd still be there in the afternoon to help my mother, um, help her, you know, cook or wash her hair or whatever she needed help with after she was done with her rehab and her nurse. And that's how my career started in the floral industry. So, what I thought of as a little part-time job grew into me managing the flower shop. Um, I had a wonderful boss, he was just amazing, and he taught me so much about the industry. And it was a fairly big flower shop. We had about 10 employees with me included. It was busy.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:26

So um, my mom got better. She ended up moving out, and I just stayed in that flower shop for many, many, many years. Um, until the flower shop sold. And then I went and purchased my own flower shop and brought uh a few of the employees over, the ones that wanted to continue working. I brought them over because when I started working there, most, if not all, the employees were in their 60s. Yeah. Um, and I was, you know, young and I learned so much from them. They became my friends, and I just loved their knowledge and just how wise they were. And we just had so much fun. It was just a lot of fun. Um, so um, a few of them came over with me to my flower shop, and that's how I got started in the floral industry. It was a little bit by accident. Um you know, what I thought was gonna be a really easy job, and I think that's the perception of a lot of people that want to go into the floral industry. Oh, flowers. Oh, yeah, what can be easier than that?

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:26

Um, so let me go do that, you know. Of course, my perception was wrong. It turned out to be one of the most uh difficult jobs I ever had. I mean, you know, as young as I was, I didn't have that much experience in in the work industry, but it was very demanding, but in a good way.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

So I have questions. I had like 10 questions as you were talking. Fascinating. I always find it so fascinating when someone um Bonda, kind of your story at 14, right? You found a part-time job. It's not like you grew up, oh, I just adore flowers. I have to do something with flowers, it's who I am. Like, kind of the same thing. What was it, Ida, that you fell in love with so quickly? Was it the design part of working there, or was it the management side?

SPEAKER_02 6:20

I'm gonna have to tell you it was all of it. Like when I when I got there, you know, the first week was kind of rough, but then after I just felt like I was home. And I can't really explain that to you. It was just like, you know, I'm not gonna say I'm like the deepest person in the world, but it just felt like a fit, like a missing piece in my puzzle. Yeah, um, it just all just came together, and I and I'm not gonna say that, you know, when I was first designing that I was a good designer. I mean, you should have seen some of those, but right after a while, it just all made sense. And I was just like, this is where I want to be forever. And and I never looked back, even though that I loved marketing and banking and numbers and technology. I loved that. That just felt like home.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

So amazing. I'll bet that helped you. The banking, so the numbers, the technology, all of that and the marketing. That certainly helped you when you had your own business. I mean, that put you way ahead of most people at the time.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

It helped me and it also helped, you know, the shop that I worked for. I came in with a lot of new ideas, you know, some young ideas that they could have just said, oh, you know what, you're so young, be quiet. You know, like they never shut me down. They always gave me a platform, which I think is really important. It's something that I've learned. Always give somebody a platform, um, no matter how old they are, you know, no matter how experienced they are, because you can actually learn something from somebody. Um, so they always gave me my platform and they always heard me out. And I really appreciate them uh for that, because they could have just told me to shut up, kind of.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

You know, right. I didn't as you know, right now in our industry and a lot of other industries too, everybody's hiring. You know, every flower shop I talk to is looking for employees. Yes. Um many of our flower click members, when they get new employees, they want to sign them up for our sales training, our design, you know, all of the onboarding stuff. But what I tell them all the time is I always ask, you know, is this a younger person or is this a person that's really seasoned in the industry that you're hiring? And when it's a younger person that doesn't know as much, I get so excited because they're the ones open to the new training and the new concepts. And they're the ones that will actually reach out to me after the training and tell me, oh, I learned this, this, and this. I would have really liked to have known this. Like that's how we get more information on what we need to do extra in our content. But it's the ones that have been in the industry for 50 years, the they're the ones that are a little more difficult.

SPEAKER_02 9:07

No, I agree. I agree, I absolutely agree. Although I do have to say, you know, like I said, my co-workers and my boss, they were all in their 60s. Okay. I was in my 20s, and they were very open too. So I think it has to do a lot with personality as well. Yeah. So I wouldn't, I would just let everybody have a platform, no matter who they are or how old they are, you know, just see what they do with that, you know, see how motivated they are. Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

Yeah, everyone has something to contribute. You just have to sit back and listen. And it's often, and Lori and I've talked about this before, the silent ones that just sit back and listen, and then all of a sudden they interject something and you go, Wow, where did that come from? Yes, absolutely. Your story is awesome. I love that. Thank you. I just think it's fascinating that you go from banking and marketing into working at a flower shop and then owning a flower shop. Now you work with florists on what I think has to be the most challenging job, and that's trying to get them comfortable with technology.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Yes, yes. And I don't find it challenging. Yeah, I don't find it challenging when I speak to them. I feel like, you know, um, I've been taken out of my comfort zone so many times, and I realize that no matter what, we can do it. Anybody can do anything, especially nowadays when you have so many resources um, you know, where you can learn. Yeah, you know, like when I started working at Florinex, I was very intimidated. Here I am, a person that never went, I never went to college for computers or SEO, but I still had such a huge knowledge of it. But you know, I never did that, you know, working alongside of people who have. So I was a little bit intimidated, but then I said to myself, you know what, I can do this. And that's what I say to the florist that I speak to. Don't be intimidated by anything because it's all learning. And, you know, um, the more you fail, the quicker you are to success. Right. I have the worst analogies, by the way, ladies. I have the worst analogies, but they're probably gonna come out throughout this interview.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

We all do, no worries.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

So, yeah, I don't find it challenging. I find it really inspiring to talk to somebody that feels like they can't do it and showing them that they can.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Yeah. So Idolina Bond has mentioned Florinex a couple times, and that is who you work for. Tell us for people listening that are like, what's Floor Next? What is it? What kind of company is it, and what exactly do you do?

SPEAKER_02 11:51

So Florinex provides software for florists, independence also for florists. So back in the day when you wanted a point of sale to key in customers' orders into your shop, you would need to kind of sign up for a wire service and pay uh for their technology, which was a lot of money. So Florinx was created for the flower shop that wanted independence from wire service, wanted to kind of rule their own roofs. There you go, another bad analogy. No, so that's why Florenex was created. It allowed shops to be independent, have their own software for their point of sale, their manage their own website. And that's how Florinex was created. I love the idea of Florinex when it first came out. I worked in a shop when Florinex first came out. Um, and I was very friendly with Bill O'Shea, who also had a really, really busy, successful shop in New Jersey. And when a customer wanted something for that area, I would send it out to Bill, which was uh William's son, who's the owner of Florinext. So I, you know, it was a very new concept. I mean, I have to say, at the time, you know, a cloud-based software was just a really new concept. So I love the idea of Florinext. And what Florinext stands for, which is Florist Independence.

SPEAKER_00 13:14

Well, I remember years ago, then when websites were coming out, and probably before Floor Next's, we had an independent website too that one of the local guys made, but our point of sale system I think was FAFS. You remember that? Yes, FAS, counting systems, but I think that was probably before Floor Next. It was you and I have sat together on a couple of demos on the point of sale system, and I just I kept saying, Wow, wow, yeah. It was, it was like, gosh, this is easy, and it does this, and yeah, and and I've seen a lot of point of sale systems, and I was really impressed. And I also impressed Ida is the way that you make it very simple when you go through that tutorial, because it it doesn't seem hard, and that's why you can give that technology advice to a novice who doesn't really know what they're doing. I think it just great the way you teach.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

Oh, I appreciate that. But you know, Florenex is super user-friendly. Um, and of course, I'm I'm super biased because I work here, but it's just a great product, it really is. And besides the product, we just have a great team. Like, honestly, I care about my customer. I care about them. I've been in their shoes, I know what they're going through. You know, it's not all fun and games in the floral industry. There's a lot of hard work to be done, and I get that. I get, you know, when uh a florist is just, you know, super overwhelmed. I mean, the last thing they need to worry about is their point of sale, right? And their website. That's like the last thing on their list. Florinex is just a really great company that not only produces a really user-friendly product, but also genuinely cares about their customers. We genuinely do.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

Do you ever get the opportunity to still work with flowers hands-on? Or no?

SPEAKER_02 15:17

I haven't for a while. I haven't for a couple of years. It's been very busy at Florence.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:22

But before that, I always try to, in the marketing aspect of it, I always try to design flowers just to take images of them, just to keep my hands in, you know, or maybe I'm doing a a party for a friend. Right. You know, uh something that I can do like that. So I try to, but I haven't in a while. I haven't, you know, had my hands in the design aspect of the floral industry in a couple of years. Yeah. Yeah. Ever since COVID and whatnot. It's kind of put a tamper on that.

SPEAKER_00 15:51

Yeah, for sure. So then the question is when that alarm goes off in the morning and you get out of bed, what points your feet towards the door and makes you go to work?

SPEAKER_02 16:04

I just think that it's because I love my job. I can't pinpoint it to one certain thing, but I just love my job. I just I'm excited for the new day. Who am I gonna meet today? You know, um, and that's what takes me to work every day. Just the fact that I love my job. Um, I love what I do, and I think that's important for everybody that has a job, you know. You should just love what you do. And I'm sure you ladies do too, right? We're gonna turn this interview around.

unknown 16:35

Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

Yeah, no, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

It's true. Every time we ask that question to members, I'm always, you know, kind of waiting, and I'm always thinking of it myself. And the exact same thing comes up in my mind every time when I ask myself that question, it's because I love my people, I love flowers, I appreciate flowers, but it's the people. And I think when people say, Oh, you should, everyone needs to love what they do. What we mean by that is they're not the whole job 99.9% of the time, but there's got to be something that you love about your job and you're willing to take on the other stuff around it.

SPEAKER_02 17:17

That's right. It is, it's absolutely the people, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Yeah, yeah, and to me, it's a challenge of trying to make it better uh for florists. I think that's what it comes down to, which is kind of what you're doing.

SPEAKER_02 17:30

I think the challenge is having them believe that it can be better, you know, it can. I've seen so many flower shops that are so successful. Yeah, you know, at one time, even when I worked in the flower uh in a flower shop that was super successful, my flower shop was successful for like a one-woman show, right? But the other flower shop that I worked with was very successful. But, you know, just the amount of employees we had, the profit turnover was a little difficult. But now you see shops making a substantial profit. And I love that. You know, it's like, why not? Why can't you have the house of your dreams, the car of your dreams, put your kids through college? Why can't you? Of course you can do that as a florist. Absolutely. And they're doing it, and that just oh, that just makes me so proud and so happy.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

Yeah, yeah. We have a monthly meeting with our members called Chop Talk, and it's kind of a therapy session. And our whoever wants to come can come. I mean, if you're a flower click member, and we just kind of talk through questions that people have about the industry. And a few months back, there was a woman talking, she was just kind of in a bad place, honestly. We all have those days and weeks. Um, as far as her business, she was she has had a fairly high turnover rate. Anyway, she was just saying, I'm trying my best, but again, we're not in it for the money, are we? We're in, and I had so many of our members private message me going, um, excuse me if I'm not in it for the money, then why am I here? And I'm like, no, you're right. Just she needs to vent. This is this is her present moment. She doesn't mean it, you know what I mean? So I think there is a misconception out there, though, for some flower shop owners going, well, I mean, I'm just never gonna make any money doing this. Well, if you aren't, then you either need to change the way you're doing it or get out. That's right. Why are you busting your butt to work this hard and not make any profit?

SPEAKER_02 19:39

That's exactly right. The first reason you should be in it is for the money because that's your job, that's what pays your bills, and right, you know, um, so absolutely. And it took me a long time to realize that too. Um, you know, and a lot of conversations that I have with florists is watch your waist, you know, it's all about the money, you know, don't add extra stems. I used to do that all the time. Oh, this lady's so nice. I love this customer, she's so nice. She calls me honey. Every time she calls me, I'm gonna give her two or three extra roses in her arrangement. No, because that all adds up, you know. So um, even though she's a really nice late client and I love her and she's really friendly to me, at the end of the day, it's still a business, right? So we can't really keep it too personal because we do have to make money. That's very important.

SPEAKER_00 20:29

Bottom line, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

You're preaching to Vonda that it's every single day. Like you have to count, you have to look at your labor costs. Yeah, these are these are must dues in order to make a profit. That's right, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 20:45

So florists are generous people. I mean, every florist that I've spoken to, by nature, they're just very giving people, very generous. So a little bit here, a little bit there is no big deal, but at the end of the month, when you add it up, it turns into a lot. So, yeah, be in it for the money and love it at the same time. Exactly. And it's possible.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

Yeah, and you hit that when you said florists are generous people, they are so generous and generous hearts, and that's really why they love what they do, right? Because they want to see that satisfaction on the customer's face or know that they really touch somebody's lives. It's just that they have to make a profit while they're doing it. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

And I've learned from so many shops too. There's a lot of shops out there that just breaking stereotypes, just doing things so different, and they're still loving and caring and making money. Tons of it. Tons of it. Right. And they're they're inspiring to me, you know, because they they have the guts to just do it, you know. This is a business. Sometimes it takes a little bit of guts to be firm with your customers, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:48

You know what I think some not all, again, we're talking in generalities right now when we're talking about flowershop owners, but flowershop owners many times. Sell themselves short. They don't look at themselves as the expert. And what they forget that when I, a customer, am calling a flower shop to order flowers instead of running up to my local grocery store and just grabbing something off the shelf. I'm calling them because I know they are the expert in creating beautiful things and I'm willing to pay for it. And a lot of shop owners and people that have been working there for a while, they forget that confidence sells. People are willing to pay the price when you are confident in your expertise as a designer on the phone or face-to-face or or whatever. That they they need to speak with more confidence in what they're they do in their artistry. I was telling Fonda, was that Friday? I can't remember if we were. Florists are artists. It's she doesn't like the word craft.

SPEAKER_02 23:07

I don't either. I don't nothing crafty about art, florist, please. I don't like crafty. I don't like the word either.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

I'm willing to pay an artist to create the design in my head that I want sent to someone. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_02 23:25

Oh, absolutely. I say it to my customers all the time when we're talking about, you know, uh their work. And I say, you're the artist, you're a Picasso. Yeah. You're a Picasso. You're the artist. You know, even though it's living art, it's still art, you know. So you know, it's your brand, it's your art, it's you. You're the artist. And you're right, you know, it's it's a confidence thing. You hit the nail right on the head. Is that how you say it? Yes. Yes, you do. You used the right analogy this time. You did.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

That was just great.

SPEAKER_02 23:55

Yeah. That was a good one. Yeah. Um, so yeah, you, you know, just confidence and just be proud of your artistic abilities.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

Yep. So Ida, I see that you have a blog and I love the name of it, we loveflorist.com. Tell me a little bit about that blog. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

That is all mine. Um, I created it for florists that I would speak to that necessarily weren't in a position to sign up with Floor Next or couldn't, so that they would have a resource page that they could go to and get answers to their questions. So that's why I created it. Not so much for the customer, you know, that I talk to every day, because uh I'm here, you know, I can answer their questions, um, but more so for customers that I don't reach or don't get to talk to.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

Oh, that's great. Like I said, I love the name, and I was looking through it last night. I'm like, wow, I'm just kind of intrigued where it's you know, lists some florist source as far as education and tools you should have, things like that. So yeah, really great.

SPEAKER_02 24:58

Yeah, I have some really nice reading material, um, you know, for when florists start out. It's for the person that's considering a floral career and where they should go. Um, and I'm really honest about it too. Like uh, you know, be sure that you work in a flower shop first. It's it's yeah, it's the perception is a lot different than what it actually is a lot of the times. So many times.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

So many times. I I've talked about that, I don't know how many times on here I'll get calls from people just I don't know, maybe they've been on Google the night before, right? And they're thinking about, ooh, I like flowers, which is fine. And then they come across flower click, and they're like, and so they call me, and they're just at those very beginning stages, they have zero experience, but they do think flowers are pretty. And I always tell them, go work in a flower shop for two years, yeah, minimum. Yeah, and then decide if you want to open it. It is not for the faint of art. No, a lot of work. I don't know if they ever do, but they don't ever call me back.

unknown 26:09

What happens to them?

SPEAKER_02 26:11

I had a girl that was like, I want to be a florist, I want to learn, I want to do everything. And she, I think she worked for me for two weeks. Yeah, which is fine. You know, I'm glad that she realized it sooner than later. Um, uh, if she had just jumped right into it, it it would have just been a waste of you know, time and and money. You you can't just jump right into it. You really need to be sure that this is something you want to do.

SPEAKER_00 26:38

Yeah, for sure. It really is. Well, we're getting close to our time frame here, Lori. So um, I'm gonna ask you, Ida, is there anything else you'd like to add or would like our audience to know?

SPEAKER_02 26:49

Just that I love florists. I can't say that enough, but I really do. I love you guys. You guys can do anything. Don't don't be discouraged. Uh, you know, I know that for some times are tough right now. Um, you know, COVID was an interesting year for a lot of florists, which they they made a lot of money or they made good profits, and then this year has been a little bit different, but hang in there because I I see a big change in the floral industry to come.

SPEAKER_01 27:15

Yeah. No, I agree. And you know, we remind our people listening all the time nobody can execute curbside delivery like a florist, that's right, or door-to-door. I mean, you guys have been doing this your entire business life, so they can keep doing it, you know. Um, so something I ask to every guest, if you've listened to my podcast, you know what I'm gonna ask, is what's inspiring you right now?

SPEAKER_02 27:46

Yeah, and I and I thought about this question, and I I'm just gonna say that what inspires me right now is just and I hate to keep saying the same thing, but it's my customers that inspire me. It's the ones that come to me that feel, you know, upset because of their previous provider or tricked or just um feel like they're about to give up on the industry, and they inspire me every day. And when I get letters from them saying, Oh, Ida, I should have done this years ago, or I should have did this, you know, I don't know why I didn't do this sooner. That just brings me so much joy. I guess I just feel like, yes, you know, they get it. Um and they're doing well, and that makes me happy. So that's inspiring to me. Just my customers inspire me every day. Um they inspire me to do good for them. Yes, to do right by them.

SPEAKER_01 28:44

Yeah, I agree with you. I think Vonda and I are on board with that. That's what keeps us all moving. What is even more elevated when you know how that particular business owner making a change is one of the hardest things they ever have done. Oh, it's so hard. It's so hard. It's so, so hard because it's so scary to make a change, especially at that moment when you're like, well, I'm not making a ton of money anyway. What if this change makes it even worse? But the fact that they trust you enough to make that change, and then they see the fruitfulness come alongside, you know, two and three and four months later, that's the good stuff. Like that's the inspiration.

SPEAKER_02 29:34

And sometimes I get clients that are like ready to close their doors. They're like, before I'm gonna do this change, if it doesn't work out, I'm closing my doors. And then they end up not doing that. And that is just like, oh, that's like Christmas to me. It is. I mean, I can't, you know, and it sounds, you know, a lot of people like, oh, you know, Ida, you're kind of corny. I'm not. This is just genuinely, you know, it just makes me feel good to get up every day and do that for somebody. And I I I try to do that for all my customers. I want them to feel happy about their purchase, happy about what they're doing, and not defeated.

SPEAKER_00 30:12

Well, Ida, you are our people.

SPEAKER_02 30:14

Yes, we love insane. Oh, I love you guys. You guys are making such a difference, and you're so knowledgeable and so helpful, and you guys are the best. You know that, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:24

So well, we love what we do just like you. Well, we really appreciate you joining us today. It's been really fun to connect and to get to know you a little better, and we appreciate you sharing your story.

SPEAKER_02 30:38

Oh, I loved it. I hope we can do it again sometime. Sure, we will. All right, all right, you two ladies.

SPEAKER_01 30:45

Thank you so much for listening to our podcast. We hope you enjoyed spending time with us because we enjoy spending time with you. If you did, make sure you hit that subscribe button or add the business and pleasure of flowers to your Google morning routine or your flash briefing on Alexa. We look forward to seeing you next week.

SPEAKER_00 31:06

So please come back and join us and discover how a bit of knowledge and one small change in your mindset can take you to new levels in your life and business.