Althea Wiles – J Althea Creative and Rose of Sharon Floral Design Studio – Floral design and consulting other aspiring and established florists

2021 and 2022 has been a tough year for business around the globe. In your experience can you share how businesses prosper in 2023?

Always be willing to adapt to change in big and small ways. The flower farm industry has experienced droughts, labor shortages and transportation issues the last couple of years. Learning to deal with these issues in relation to your florist business will be crucial moving forward. My florist consulting firm offers free webinars before Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day to florists everywhere who may need some help navigating these issues during the busiest seasons of the year. My best advice is to seek out mentors and colleagues who can help you on your journey and offer support.

The economy has been turned on it’s head in the wake of the pandemic. What should businesses focus on in 2023?

Focusing on leading your team with empathy and reason will be a priority in 2023. Retaining good staff will be top-of-mind for most businesses. I always try to create a calm, safe workplace for my employees. This leads to higher productivity and less mistakes in our systems and operations. Most importantly, it fosters an environment and energy that keeps our customers happy.

What are the pro’s & con’s of working from home and have you any first hand experience?

We recently opened up a new floral design studio location because I had been running my florist business from my home for years and we needed more space. Even though it was a private studio in my home, customers would still show up at my home at all hours of the day. From my personal experience, I like having that separation and privacy. I still operate my consulting firm from home for the most part though, which is a mostly virtual business and that works fine.

How can business owners combat the rise of inflation and what have you done that you can share?

In the flower business, this means that customers must be flexible on the types of flowers used in their project. We often source from our local flower farms in an effort to help cut costs for our clients. The final result may not be exactly what the customer thought they wanted initially, but it may be even better. In addition to cutting costs, you don’t have to worry about transportation issues or added carbon emissions to the environment.

In the last 5 years we have seen the rise to Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, NFT’s, Digital Marketing and many more! What do you think will impact the world most in regards to online selling?

I have no experience with this.

On a more subtle note. If you could have dinner with three people, dead or alive who would it be and why?

I am a serious introvert. The thought of having dinner with strangers is not appealing to me at all.

Reading is still one of the most popular ways to learn anything. What is your most recommended book(s) by who and what did you learn from them?

I have enjoyed The Art of Wearable Flowers by Susan McLeary. I am also consistently inspired by her the design tutorials on her website, Passionflowersue. Susan is a floral designer, artist, and instructor who creates unusual, boundary-pushing floral art including elaborate headpieces, flower crowns, and her signature succulent jewelry. Creating wearable flowers is a project I have delved into the last couple of years and our customer base loves the products.

What is your purpose for getting out of bed each day and what do you aim to achieve in the future?

I strive to create a community of collaboration in the florist industry. Having a support network can make all the difference. I even added a course in my florist education program called Collaborative Participation 101. The opportunities that present themselves when you work from a place of community over competition, are endless. Community over competition is a phrase we hear a lot, but rarely see in action. As hard as it can be to break out of the competition mindset, it is possible.