The Fresh Bunch

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys are back with another fresh episode!  This week we have industry legend and friend to the family, Captain Ian Watt of Kennicott Brothers!  Ian has led a long and successful career in the industry, working with some great companies, including Holex, Anton Spaargaren, and more!  Now he has brought his knowledge and skills to help run the KBC Direct program at Kennicott...

Send us Fan Mail In today's new episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers, we got a nice mix of good with the ugly as Mike and Fern discuss the current market situation, the worst Friday sales in 2 years, and the Ecuador strike updates.  And then we switch gears to a lighter side of the podcast and play our first podcast game!  You may be familiar with "The Colbert Questionnaire," well we...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys are back with another very special, and well-known industry friend.  President of Alexandra Farms, Jose "Joey" R. Azout!   Alexandra Farms is a boutique grower in Colombia, specializing in growing the world's finest nostalgic, romantic, fresh-cut garden roses.   The farm was started by Joey in 2005 and is named after his daughter Alexandra Lydia Azout. ...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers, there is no special guest.  We recorded this bonus episode last Friday, to discuss the rising civil protest crisis in Ecuador.   As business owners with a farm, offices, colleagues and close friends IN Ecuador, we have many feelings and thoughts on the current situation.  Since recording this episode, the protests have intensified, and t...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers we sit down with our friend and Founder and CEO of Details Flowers Software, Corrine Heck!  Corrine Heck founded Details Flowers Software to help event florists manage and scale their businesses effortlessly. Over the past 20+ years, she’s had experience in just about every part of the industry — transitioning from event designer...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers we were one Fat Guy down, as Fern was taking a much-deserved family vacation.  So Ryan stepped up and filled in.  Luckily our guest is the Ring Leader of the Flower Circus and had lots to discuss and make up for a missing Fern.  John Elstgeest, and the Flower Circus through floral fun, are informing, entertaining, and inspiring fl...

Send us Fan Mail Petal Productions is one of the largest wedding and event professionals in the country!  Their team produces upwards of 30 large-scale, high-end events PER WEEKEND for the difficult and diverse Miami/South Florida clientele and more.  How do they do it?  It starts from the top with President Raffi Grosz and the multi-talented, Lead Designer Carlos Muina.  Listen as they join the F...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys are back with another fresh episode and inspiring guest.  Director of Sales for Equiflor Corp. and Rio Roses, and incoming SAF President, Oscar Fernandez has a lot of history and wisdom to share.   From his time working with Fern back in the day, to him speaking with congressmen at the annual Congressional Action Days in DC, and a lot more over a nearly 30-year career...

Send us Fan Mail We joked about a special episode idea in one of our early podcast episodes.  What if we got all 5 of Mike's sons together and discuss on the podcast what it's like working with your family.   We're happy to announce that idea is no longer just an idea.  And the 2 Fat Guys are proud to present this very special "Brothers" episode of 2 Fat Guys Talking Flowe...

Send us Fan Mail Not even the Mother's Day rush can stop the 2 Fat Guys on their journey to podcast greatness.   In this episode, we brought in a very special guest.  Carlos Oramas, CEO of the Gems Group, a lifestyle company in the business of creating demand for fresh cut flowers in everyday life, specializing in the supermarket channel.  Carlos is a marketing expert who's won numerous...

Send us Fan Mail It's Mother's Day season, which means everything is cranked up to 11.  From the amount of flowers in and out of the coolers to the hours working, to the amount of cafecito drank, and the number of podcast episodes recorded per week.  That's right!  We're giving you a special bonus episode to get you through the rest of the holiday. In today's episode, you...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys are back with another fresh episode.  In this episode, we wanted to focus on a florist and the current ups and downs of running a flower shop and garden center.  So we asked our friend and world-famous floral artist, Deborah De La Flor, AIFD, PFCI to join us.  Together with her husband, Gus, they run De La Flor Florist & Gardens in Cooper City, FL,  a family-owned...

Send us Fan Mail This week's podcast guests are not new to the floral industry but have been making big waves over the last few years thanks to their new joint marketing partnership.  Sahid Nahim of New Bloom Solutions and David Kaplan of Above All Flowers together are using their experience and knowledge to successfully help companies make connections and partnerships all throughout the indu...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 12 has taken flight, you better strap in, because today's guest is Jet Fresh's own, Celine Bray!  Celine is a Senior Account Manager, Buyer and Garden Rose expert who's been part of the Jet Fresh family for over 10 years.  She's well known for being a great and attentive salesperson, but she also has a reputation (amongst those who know her) as being so...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys have a very special guest for episode #11!  Rodrigo Leiva, VP of Sales & Marketing for Esmeralda Farms.  As many in the industry know, Esmeralda Farms was acquired by the Sunshine Bouquet Company in 2020.  Rodrigo is one of the key people in helping manage and lead this new mega-company of over 20,000 employees.  A life-long flower pro, and stepson of floral legen...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys have officially hit the double-digit mark as our 10th episode takes flight!  Today, Fern and Mike are joined by 2 well-known, and well-respected life-long members of the floral industry, Kelle & George Cantafio. Kelle, President, and George, GM, both for Esprit Miami, a leading provider and floral importer of fresh-cut flowers to the wholesale market.  Listen in a...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys have been eagerly waiting for this special guest episode of 2 Fat Guys Talking Flowers.  They knew Alejandro aka Alex Perez of Komet Sales would make for a phenomenal guest for our platform.  Anyone who has spent time talking with Alex already knows he is a vault of knowledge and experience and is willing to share that with his peers and coworkers.  His passion can be...

Send us Fan Mail The 2 Fat Guys came in the Sunday before the 2022 WFFSA show in Miami to record this special episode with our very special guest, Andy aka "Commerce Drew" from Nordlie/Kennicott Detroit in Warren, MI.   Andy is a great friend of the Jet, who's had a long career in the floral industry, and in the past 2 years has established himself a "floral influencer," t...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys have made it to episode lucky number 7!  And in this special episode, we have our first international (non-employee) guests!  Marc and Sander from EZ Flower in Holland, one of Jet Fresh's top suppliers of Europe-grown flowers such as Tulips, Peonies, Ranunculus, and more.  Listen in as they shed some light on the new struggles and insights of the Dutch side of th...

Send us Fan Mail *Episode recorded on Feb. 13th (Day before Valentine's Day) right after we closed. The Fat Guys are just about done with the Valentine's craziness, and this episode and one more sales day is all that stands in their way.  This episode we wanted to get a younger generation's mindset on the busy flower holiday, and give wholesalers and florists a unique perspective on...

Send us Fan Mail We're right in the middle of Valentine's Day rush, but that's not stopping your favorite flower Fat Guys from giving you the inside scoop on what's going on our side of the floral industry during this hectic time.  On this special episode Mike and Fern are joined by FSFA 2021 Flower Salesperson of the year, Jimi "The Tulip" Santoli.  Listen along as t...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys are back.  A brief Covid battle stopped them for a week, but Mike and the Fern are back and ready to talk about what's on everyone's mind...Valentine's Day.  Listen in and get some insight on our views on the holiday, why we hate it, and everything in between.  You'll hear some suggestions on getting creative during the holidays, past business fail...

Send us Fan Mail The 2 Fat Guys are back with another fresh episode!  This week, Fern and Mike are discussing shipping issues from Europe, cargo freight woes, what happens when you steal someone's veal cutlets, and much more in between.   Sit back, relax and enjoy our latest episode of 2 Fat Guys Talking Flowers.

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the second episode of 2 Fat Guys Talking Flowers! Join Mike Black and Fernando Ortega from Jet Fresh Flowers as they discuss all things good, bad and ugly about all things  related, and share how they really feel about the industry. In this episode they are joined by Melisa Fuenmayor.  Sales Representative and Social Media Influencer from Jet Fresh Flower Growers S.A. i...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the first episode of 2 Fat Guys Talking Flowers.  Join Mike Black and Fernando Ortega from Jet Fresh Flowers as they discuss all things good, bad and ugly about all things  related, and share how they really feel about the industry. Stay tuned for future episodes and special floral guests and much, much more.