I was raised under the bench of the family florist shop, St. John's Florist in Brooklyn, New York. My Yiayia opened the store in 1933 after the family restaurant burned down. Yiayia passed the store down to my Uncle Milton, who left it to my Dad. I ran the business from 1982 to 1992, when I was bitten by computing. I made my manager an offer he couldn't refuse and left the flower business for computing.
My floral education consisted of design and care tips from hired designers, other family members who worked in other flower shops, from flower market resources, supply salesmen and other florists ride sharing to Teleflora or FTD meetings, where I was also active in helping setup and tear down of design shows. It was during that "backstage" exposure that my interest in managing mechanics in found objects was born. I was lucky enough to have spent a month in Lakewood Ohio at the Bill Hixson School of Floral Design, which opened my eyes as to how much I didn't know. It was boot camp for florists, where the staff assumed you knew nothing about anything floral and meticulously led you through the intricacies of each of the basic design schools' philosophies and mechanics.
I love working in found objects, you cannot predict what customers want filled. It can be a piece of glass, ceramics or even Louie the Log, a six foot driftwood planter with a copper liner that was set with silk foliage and dry materials. Of course, the commercial problem of one of a kind items is that they are one of a kind!, e.g., not easily duplicated. I emphasize the uniqueness of those designs in my value proposition to customers at shows and most people appreciate that a premium is attached to custom work.
