The Flower Podcast

As members of the floral community, we can help and inspire one another to grow as individuals and in our respective fields. This week's guest is a great example of the floral community. I had the chance to catch up with Sue McLeary this summer, and now that the publication of her new book is just around the corner, I'm thrilled to have her back on The Flower Podcast. We are discussing The beauty...

Many flower farmers are expanding into the wedding industry as well as florist that may not have been offering wedding design. I invited Alison Ellis to return to the podcast. Alison is the founder of realflowerbusiness.com, creator of Flower Math, and author of Falling Into Flowers, A step-by-step guide to today's modern wedding business. She's a floral designer and educator who teaches florists...

We're starting our season with Megan Hurley as our very first guest of 2023. Being an entrepreneur may be challenging, particularly when we launch our company out of a deep-seated passion for a particular field, such as flowers, growing, or even the planning of weddings and other events. Megan has the unique blend of a chief operating officer's (COO) brains and a chief executive officer's (CEO) he...

This is the time of year we're all surrounded by people, decorating, shopping for presents, attending parties, and of course, spending time with family. This time of year may be quite tough for some people for a variety of reasons. This week, I contacted Holly Chapple. Holly is well-known for her wedding and events, her Chapple designer community, FlowerStock, her partnership with Syndicate Sales,...

It's always fun to host florists here on our podcast and I'm really happy to have Alex Vaughan and Quinn Kiesow of FLWR located in Nashville, TN. They both bring years of experience to their shop where Alex is creative director and Quinn works with operations, logistics, and is a general rigging guru. They have a retail flower business that services daily deliveries, wedding and events, and are no...

Who doesn't love an awesome comeback! Although we may not think of a comeback in flowers, I am looking at the mum as the next big flower trend. In years past the chrysanthemum was the staple corsage for homecoming on the football field, and the inexpensive filler for florists. Today, our domestic flower farmers are working hard to preserve this beauty, and at the same time, they are increasing the...

I'm overjoyed that urban flower farming is becoming more popular. This week, we're talking with Mimo Davis and Miranda Duschack of Urban Buds City Grown Flowers in St. Louis about how they started on this amazing historic land, creating multiple revenue streams and community impact. In this episdoe we chat about: - How their flower journeys began - The history of the land they grow on - Pre-pandem...

Today we talking about cooperatives and collectives with two guests that represent a growing segment in our flower farming communities. We're excited to have Jill Shea of the Connecticut Flower Collective and Justine McFarland of the River City Flower Exchange this week on the podcast. Both manage two different models where farmers are working together to reach their community and area with the fl...

Hi Flower Friends!! This week we're diving into The Flower Podcast archive to share one of our episodes from the past! Our episode with Laura Dowling was one our listeners favorites. Laura was the Chief floral designer at the White House from 2009 until 2015. As the creative director for flowers and decor, she managed White House floral design for thousands of official and private events, includin...

I am thrilled to have Dr. Solomon Leong as a guest this week.   His honors are most impressive including awards, workshops, exhibits, demonstrations, books, a creative consultant, and extensive media attention. Dr. Solomon Leong AIFD is the director of SOLOMON BLOEMEN, a prominent Hong Kong-based bespoke design firm. As a doctor of philosophy in cultural studies, Solomon offers his understanding o...

Dave Dowling returns to our podcast this week. Dave has over 20 years of experience flower farming and now works for BaLL Colorlink as an advisor to cut flower growers across North America for small to medium sized farms. This week it is great to chat with Dave again and discuss the importance of knowing who your customers are before planning your crops. We also chatted about the importance of mai...

Our guest this week is Eddie Gordon, third generation farmer at Gordon Skagit Farm known for their amazing collection of heirloom pumpkins that they grow. It was great to hear about how Gordon's evolved into a destination during this time of year. With over 120 varieties they're constantly trying new pumpkins for color, texture, and form. If you haven't seen Floret's Favorite Specialty Pumpkin Gui...

Melanie Stapleton is the owner of Cecilia Fox, an award-winning creative floral studio based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa (Auckland, New Zealand). Their studio was founded in 2006 on Wurundjeri country in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia, where they have thrived on community and collaboration. Cecilia Fox is committed to following more sustainable floristry practices. They work with local growers, gar...

This week's guest is Steve Kaufer also know as Sunflower Steve. It was great to learn more about Steve's flower journey, his cut flower farm, and the discovery of the new sunflower he's developing. Steve shares about the various crops they grow, how they harvest and process sunflowers, and the process of developing new sunflowers. Learn more about Sunflower Steve and all of our past guests by visi...

This week's guest is Amanda Luu, owner of Studio Mondine. Studio Mondine is a San Francisco based floral design studio which seeks to balance the simplicity of Japanese ikebana with the abundance of western style flower arranging. It was wonderful to learn about how Amanda found her way into the floral world and how Studio Mondine has grown. Amanda shares about the strengths of her team, the art b...

In this week's episode of The Flower Podcast, Scott shares many of the Superpowers of Flower Farmers. There are countless benefits for utilizing local flower farmers for florists and wedding professionals. Benefits Scott shares: Environmental Ability to cut flowers at the best cut stage Growing a wide variety of flowers Specialize in seasonal flowers Taping into popular colors Pivoting with crops...

Creative entrepreneurs often have challenges balancing their creativity with the demands of day to day business activities. Our guest this week has more than 30 years experience designing, managing and marketing her own floral business. Christi Lopez AIFD EMC now helps coach floral entrepreneurs by helping them overcome negative mindsets and other obstacles that hold them back from growing their b...

Jacin Fitzgerald Events began in 2009 and has grown to be included on the list of the "World's Top Planners" year after year. Jacin truly has a passion for planning and designing extraordinary events and celebrations around the world. I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to connect with Jacin while I lived in Atlanta, where she lives too. She truly has a gift for hospitality and a love for flo...

Brenna Quan is a designer who loves the creative aspect of floristry. Her artistic expression developed in her youth, studying dance and theatre, which eventually landed her on stages across the United States and Canada as a professional dancer and choreographer. It was during this time she discovered the real emotional connection between flowers & the human spirit, sparking her interest in develo...

My guest this week is Bailey Hale and he has been on my guest bucket list since the very beginning of our podcast 4 years ago. So you can imagine how excited I was to sit down for an interview at the ASCFG conference earlier this month. Bailey is no stranger to the cut flower community and his passion for flowers, farming, and introducing new cut flowers is inspiring. He shares about the beginning...

Our guests this week are Ace Berry AIFD PFCI and Patience Pickner AIFD PFCI, both are florists in different part of our country and have teamed up to offer a learning experience called Inspired Design. The episode is packed with sound insights into their own floral experiences and the lessons they've learned while growing their florist businesses and paying their opportunities forward. Ace Berry A...

Last week I had the opportunity to meet my guest this week at the ASCFG conference. I can say that he genuinely is making every effort to impact the community that he chose to make home in the south-side of Chicago. Quilen Blackwell and his wife Hannah, are the founders of Chicago Eco House and Southside Blooms in the Englewood area of Chicago where they have encountered hardcore inner-city povert...

Hi! I'm Scott Shepherd and I want to welcome you to this special episode of The Flower Podcast, where I have conversations with floral professionals from farmers to florists of all kinds. We've been on our summer break and I'm really excited for the beginning of our new season next week and wanted to share my conversation on Instagram with Ellen Frost of Local Color Flowers. During the recent stri...

My guest this week is Kimberlee Mitchell owner of  Botanica Floral located in Atlanta, Ga. She has been a part of the floral community for over 20 years and has been fortunate to grow her business to include 5 star hotels and work within the film industry. Kimberlee has been working on many major films including the recently released new HBO movie of Father of the Bride as well as several TV serie...

This week's guest is Morgan Sharpe of Creekside Flower Farm located in the Chattanooga, TN area. Morgan shares how she learned the power in place and belonging to the land. As a farmer florist, Morgan both grows and designs flowers for the community she's been cultivating for 6 years. In this episode, we discuss the importance of connecting to a place, the land, and a community.  Morgan shares abo...