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November/December 2018

canadianfloristmag.com

Striving for Work-Life Balance

How Delegating Can Save Your Business — And Your Sanity Cultivating Cultivating aa Healthy Healthy Company Company Culture Culture

inside

• Email Marketing 101 • Capitalizing on Flower Fashion • The Power of a Curious Mind PM42919543

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• Our best-in-class technologies, including our award-winning POS and web-hosting solutions, are built to run your business efficiently – connecting you with consumers and the largest network of florists. • We invest heavily in robust consumer advertising campaigns and develop unique and effective marketing programs and products – all to help you acquire and retain new customers.

We’ve made all the arrangements so your business can blossom. • We have industry-leading experience and knowledge, and are always available with the support you need – allowing you to stay focused on your business. • With over 80 years of partnership with florists, we are 100% committed to ensuring that every single order in our network goes to a local florist.

myteleflora.com

| 1.800.668.5770

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16 Starting a company takes moxie, tenacity, faith, and hard work. It’s well-recognized in the start-up world that the founder will wear all the hats in the beginning because there isn’t enough profit to hire extra people. The founder learns the business from the ground up and every process, product, and point of view is infused with the founder’s philosophy and vision. But eventually, there will come a time when the business needs to scale up. It’s a sign of success when the founder can fire him or herself from certain roles and grow the business by taking the time saved and reinvesting it into activities that help the business thrive. -Michelle Brisebois

08 departments

features 10

Making Spirits Bright

Distributing the Load

Making Time for Life and Business

Are You Too Busy to be Productive?

online

Coast to Coast

Florist Spotlight

The Social Florist

By Design

Grow with Joe

Ask the SEO

On the Level with Neville

Network with florists online

Have your say. Join the new Canadian Florist Facebook Group to share thoughts on florist life in Canada. http://cfmag.pub/fbgroup

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A Time To FROM THE

EDITOR

Unplug By Katie Hendrick Vincent

Vol 113 No 6 Editor Katie Hendrick Vincent khendrick@CanadianFloristMag.com 800-314-8895 ext 106 Advertising Manager advertising@CanadianFloristMag.com Publisher Ryan Freeman ryan@CanadianFloristMag.com

Fortunately, I did not grow up in the era of smartphones. In high school, most of us only got a cellphone when we started to drive. Their primary purpose was to provide a line of communication to our parents in case we were running late, needed to change plans, or encountered an emergency on the road. Per school policy, students kept phones in lockers or car consoles during the day. (Crazy to think teens actually abided by this, right?) By my college years, cellphones definitely got more use, but they were still a far cry from today’s standards. No one had access to the Internet; that capability was reserved for lawyers with Blackberries. Honestly, texting only really caught on during my senior year.

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Alas, the same cannot be said for my professional life. I got my first job, assistant editor for the Society of American Florists, in March 2010. My third month there, we ran a six-page feature story about the significance of smartphones. The theme? Anyone who wanted to succeed in business had to have one. (I joined the connected masses that summer.)

e-mail: distribution@CanadianFloristMag.com Tel: 800-314-8895 ext 2 Fax: 800-755-7032 Mail: 6-6150 Highway 7, Suite 400 Woodbridge, ON L4H 0R6

Of course, smartphones have many assets. But there’s no denying that having email access available at any moment takes a toll on employees’ wellbeing. A recent Wall Street Journal article delved into this problem. “Today, always-on is the default work setting for most of us. Ubiquitous smartphones, slim computers and innovative apps make every response a snap—quicker, easier, seemingly less painful. It just takes a second, right?” wrote tech editor Matthew Kitchen. “But those rapidly accumulating seconds are just technology’s version of death by 1,000 cuts, expanding the workday’s boundaries until it seamlessly blurs with the rest of civilian life.” Kitchen cited a 2016 study by the Academy of Management, which found that employees tally an average of eight hours a week answering work-related emails after hours, and that 30 percent of men and 23 percent of women regularly bring work home and (sigh) on vacation. Oh, can I relate. In 2016, I had the most “successful” year of my career. I juggled positions for three different magazines, for which I wrote something like 200 articles. One of those won a prominent award. I also line edited a friend’s novel and outlined a continuing education textbook. What I didn’t do: many leisurely activities. Looking back, I recall a lot of weekends spent working in coffee shops or at my (now) husband’s office. (He’s a workaholic too.) I took two mini vacations that year — a Caribbean cruise (I wrote for four to five hours a day on that one) and a trip to the Florida Everglades (I didn’t actually work but had my laptop within arm’s reach the whole time in case one of my bosses contacted me). Ultimately, I became depressed and burned out. A mere four days into 2017, I sent a lengthy — and, if I’m being honest, slightly curt — resignation letter to my bosses at the most demanding of the three magazines. Emailing that letter (subject line: swan song) felt very therapeutic in the moment. But in hindsight, I should never have let the situation get to that point. I should have spoken up nine months earlier, when I noticed that their expectations were becoming unreasonable and I was feeling overwhelmed. It would have spared a lot of resentment on both sides. And, I would have had some pleasant memories of 2016. For the past two years, I’ve focused on achieving work-life balance — and I still have plenty of room for improvement. What’s certainly helped are my current bosses, who respect my time and encourage me to take breaks and connect with my loved ones. Wondering how you can show your employees similar support to create a healthy workplace culture? Check out Mackenzie Nichols’ feature, Making Spirits Bright, p. 10, to learn some bosses’ tried-and-true tactics that boost morale. If, like me, you tend to take on too many tasks, be sure to read Michelle Brisebois’ advice on delegating in Distributing the Load, p. 14. Not only will you feel better removing some of your burdens, but freeing up your plate will also allow you to invest your mental energy in strategies to actually grow your business. Funny man Neville MacKay, CAFA, PFCI, wearer of many hats, also shared his secrets for living a full life. (Spoiler alert: it involves uttering the word “no” from time to time.) Check it out in Ain’t No Time For All That, p. 30.

Media Designer Ruby Coles

Printed in Canada ISSN 1700-5043

Circulation

Subscription Rates Canada - $30/1 Yr, $48/2 Yrs, $65/3 Yrs + HST USA - $69/1 Yr, $111/2 Yrs, $163/3 Yrs International - $99/1 Yr, $160/2 Yrs, $233/3 Yrs Occasionally, Canadian Florist will mail information on behalf of industry-related groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above. No part of the editorial content of this publication may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission. ©2018 Strider Media. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher. No liability is assumed for errors or omissions. All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. Such approval does not imply any endorsement of the products or services advertised. Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not meet the standards of the publication.

Dedicated to the memory of Bill Martin, and all those who gave of their time and resources to build up our industry.

www.canadianfloristmag.com

Have you lost sight of the big picture? Edward Unger will help you recalibrate with a plan to identify your values, goals, and priorities. Find it in How to Make Time For Life and Business, p. 20. As always, we hope this information leaves you feeling inspired and refreshed. All of us at Canadian Florist wish you a very happy holiday season and a healthy and prosperous 2019!

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LESS IS

High Impact Designs. Less Coverage. Now is the time to be bold. OASISÂŽ Midnight Floral Foam lets you think bigger and design bolder than ever before! Dry gray foam transforms to rich black when soaked, creating the perfect canvas for any design. Equipped with MaxLife technology for enhanced biodegradability, this exclusive formula is 100% biodegradable* within 567 days. So, stop covering foam, overfilling it and overdoing it! Less coverage means less materials and less labor to create stunning designs. Go ahead, be bold.

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FASHIONABLE

Fleurs

By Isabel Harrisson

design

I come from RivièreOuelle, Québec. When I was 18, I took my first floristry class. I fell in love. Now I am 37 and I have completed more than 30 advanced courses with some of the greatest European masters of floral art. Previously, I worked in a boutique in Québec City. Since 2013, I’ve been a freelance instructor because it’s the best way for me to spend time with my children, while continuing to share my passion. I teach with the Canadian Nacre Academy team and I am a co-founder of the blog Art Floral Pro, an educational tool allowing every florist to easily learn more about the technical and marketing aspects of our beautiful profession. Here are a few favourites from my portfolio.

The wild and imperfect plants are a part of my identity. I love picking them and working with them. It’s my personal way to celebrate nature’s beauty.

This composition plays with negative space.

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Movement is life. Even in the strictest compositions, I try to include movement. It’s the copper ribbon’s role in this mosaic of roses.

Colour is a powerful tool to create harmony. To marry the yellow craspedia to the corsage’s silver bullion, I added araucaria cones and pale beige fake fur. This gradation of beige and brown links the silver and the yellow.

The symmetric balance is not boring at all! Symmetry gives an impression of stability in three dimensions.

The opposition between the texture of the rope and the flowers creates tension.

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How to Make More Time for

Life and Business By Edward Unger

How do I make time for life and business? This is a question you might have asked yourself when you have two calls on hold, what feels like a hundred important emails waiting to be answered, five more calls to make for the day — and the thought of your loved ones tugging at your heart. Then there is that thought: “As soon as I finish this order and finalize this part of building the business today, I can spend all the time I need with family or socializing or enjoying my favourite hobby.” But then something else comes up and you miss that birthday celebration/ sports game/holiday party, or show up late, wondering how it happened again.

life, right?” But after a few years, it doesn’t feel that way. Your mind, heart, and soul are drained. You need to figure out how to stop feeling exhausted.

It’s no fault of your own. It’s the cost of making a living and what we have been taught to do from traditional families and culture — “work hard, stay late, do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your

Here are five steps to start redesigning your schedule to enjoy your best life while still nurturing your business.

Making time for life and business really isn’t difficult. But what it requires can challenge you at first. Once you adapt, though, you’ll find the inspiration and joy you’ve been missing.

KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING You wouldn’t go on a road trip without a map or start building a house without blueprints. Most likely, when it comes to your business, you have a plan. But how about the plan for your life? The foundation of your life roadmap lies in your values. There are five areas to consider when determining these values: family, relationships, career, health, and religion/spirituality (or wellness/personal growth). Action Item: Craft your personal mission statement. Start with the end in mind. Ask yourself: Why do I exist? What are my biggest goals? Come up with three points, defining each in a sentence. 1. I exist because… 2. I exist because… 3. I exist because… Action Item: Identify your vision, spelling out what you want to be or want to do.

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1. I want... 2. I want... 3. I want... Action Item: Now, address the values that affect how you live your life, such as work hours, non-negotiable priorities (birthdays, school activities, etc.), and relationships with employees, customers, and others in your community. Describe in a paragraph about why these things matter and how you will give them proper attention. 1. We will.. TIME TO GROW There is nothing like getting new information in your mind to inspire a new idea, a different perspective, or a new adventure. Personal growth is vital to making time for life and business. One of my favourite authors, John Maxwell, emphasizes the importance of reading, thinking, and writing in his life. He makes time for it every day — no matter what. Some people ask him, “what about on the weekends?” His reply: “Every day, no matter what.” John Maxwell is one of the top authors in leadership who has impacted hundreds of thousands leaders across the globe. That’s because he sticks to his principle of making time for things that help him grow. What is your personal growth plan? At the end of every week, ask yourself, what did you learn from your experience with friends, family, and colleagues? What could you have done better? What books would help you achieve that? What can you learn to help empower your team?

next day. It will help you adjust your calendar and spread your life goals and business goals out over the week. After scheduling priorities, review what went wrong and what went right during the previous day or week. What fires came up that stopped your progress? What challenges were you able to overcome to keep your focus? What were real emergencies — and what were just events that occurred because of lack of forethought?

Action Item: Write down your plan to grow. Possible actions include reading for 30 minutes a day, listening to an audio series, scheduling one-on-one calls with colleagues or friends to share successes and discuss obstacles you’re facing.

This can be challenging at first but with the help of a Google calendar or even just sticky notes, you can be a master of reflection. Over time, you learn to adjust what you didn’t get to finish, prioritize the next day’s activities, and how to spread those projects, tasks, and events over the upcoming days and weeks so you don’t feel overwhelmed.

TIME TO RECHARGE

This will help you say “no” to the good opportunities and “yes” to the great opportunities in all areas of your life.

What makes your heart come alive? Do you remember something from your childhood that you always loved but haven’t explored in ages? Maybe it was riding horses, playing a sport or a musical instrument, writing, or travelling. For me, it was picking up hockey again. I played street hockey as a kid but never got the chance to play with a team on ice. So I got all the equipment that was at my parents’ home and started to play a couple times a month. Consequently, I was rejuvenated and so refreshed with new ideas and motivation getting back to life and work. Reading, embracing spiritual time, and speaking affirmations are also amazing ways to rest and recharge to avoid burnout. Action Item: Do you have a resting plan? Find out what invigorates you, what calms your soul, what helps you unplug, and sharpens your creative juices when you get back to life and business. Once you’ve identified these activities, make a point of engaging in them regularly. REVIEW It’s important to frequently revisit your personal mission statement, your vision, your values, your growth plan, and your resting plan. I recommend thinking about it before bedtime, on your way to work, and the night before the work week starts. This helps you see the most important things you can accomplish the

Action Item: Set dedicated times to review and reflect on your plan and habits. Plug them into your calendar. REPEAT Each day is a new opportunity to try a different approach, listen to a new perspective, and live a new adventure with those you care about most. It’s a time to create inspiring products and services to help your community and also take care of your family. The goal in the marathon of life is to last the distance. Your health and mental wellbeing are your most valuable assets to your loved ones, your business colleagues, your customers and all those in between. There is only one you. You have received the challenge. Now march on like the warrior that you are. When you change, grow, rest, review, and repeat in all areas of your life, you will not burn out. This is not something you can outsource. No one can answer these questions but you. But that is also the empowering and exciting part. Edward Unger is a senior project manager, business and marketing strategist for StriderSEO.com. He has run a recording studio, hosted free songwriting workshops, offered in-studio training, and developed multiple e-commerce websites. He enjoys family time, making music, rollerblading, playing ice hockey, playing guitar, and singing, among other creative outlets.

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