The Floral Hustle

jeni: Hello Flower friend.

This is Jen and you are listening
to the Floral Hustle podcast.

I am so excited to talk about something
about making 2023 a more intentional year.

We're gonna talk about today,
five things to start right now.

To help make your 2023 wedding season
a less stressful, a stress less

wedding season, and a lot of those
things need to start today because if

you keep going and keep this momentum
potentially of where you're at right now.

Next year could end up to be very
stressful, very hard, unless you put

some boundaries in place, some rhythms
in place to help make it less stressful.

We control our stress.

We can make choices to make sure that
we are less stressed down the road.

So five things for a
Stressless 2023 wedding season.

First thing, you need to schedule time.

You literally need to go in your calendar.

If you ha have weddings, if you have
birthdays, if you have whatever it may

be, go in there and mark some time off.

And if you get an inquiry for
that, you are simply unavailable.

And that is a really hard
thing to do for some.

But not having that time
off is gonna make you.

Resentful of your schedule, it's going to
make you feel out of control like that.

You are not controlling your days.

And I literally have seen some of my
flower friends that have done this,

like they just look less stressed.

They can be with their family, they can.

Enjoy life, which is the whole
reason why we're doing this, is

we want to have those moments.

Because if we're working all
the time, does any of the

other moments really matter?

So go in, look at your calendar, look
at all the dates that you already have

booked, and book time in for yourself,
for your family, for whatever it may be.

. A lot of people don't seem to do this
very well because I've seen so many

Flos with their head spinning, looking
for stuff in the heart of wedding

season is start sourcing supplies now.

And I know it's a cost and I know
that you know the money isn't coming

in if you're like in Minnesota.

Wedding season has really slowed down.

But you are going to save yourself so
much headache by strategically finding

supplies that you know you're going to.

This could be lomi dishes,
this could be floral glue.

It could be cylinder bases,
it could be floating candles.

All of the different things
that you use on a regular basis.

I would try to get a stock of those
items so you are not dealing with

panic when those items potentially
aren't available next year.

I witnessed so many florist in
Facebook groups and at the wholesaler

literally in panic mode for not having
floral glue this year for not being

able to get loy dishes this year.

The three brick oasis trays or
the two brick oasis trays, like

those were out for, and people.

, they were just struggling with ground
installations a florist center.

Our area was literally trying
to find like 27 little one foot

trays, and luckily I had them.

And we have a group in Minnesota
that helps us source things from

other florist friends and communicate
and just ask anybody if they

can borrow something, et cetera.

So we have at least that
to help as a backup.

But not everybody has that.

Get your A game on, get your planning
game on to really get ahead, get

it done by the end of the year if
you want the tax deduction for this

year, cuz that is always helpful.

And then really going into the year number
three is mapping out your goals when you

don't map out your goals or start planning
like what you want a year to look.

You are just wandering around with
really no purpose, nowhere that

you're headed because you're just
kind of wandering around aimlessly

with no intention in your business.

So sit down, I'll explain a thing
that I think is super helpful.

It's called a c e o Day, and literally
take, you are the c e o of your business.

Take a day.

Because you deserve to be
able to take the space.

To take a day to plan out on a quarterly
basis would be best, but plan out

what you want your business to be.

Look at things from afar, like
your analytics on your website,

your analytics for your Instagram.

Are things working?

Are they kind of working?

Should you tweak something?

You revisit things that you've
seen other flos do that you would

love to implement in your own
strategies, and then go from there.

So like you have a foundation of
I know where my business is at.

and then take that and plan
because then you are chasing

a goal, chasing a dream, not.

Like having no intention,
having, having no vision.

And with that vision, you
will feel more purpose.

You will feel like you are accomplishing
more when you get those goals.

Make a vision board of what you
want your floor, your floral, um,

whole world to look like in 2023.

I, I know one florist that literally
makes it a goal to have a wedding

at a certain wedding venue.

or a, they love this inspirational palette
and so they, they make that a goal.

I want to do a wedding like this
and I'm going to find a bride.

Because when you speak out or write
down a goal, it is so much more likely

to become true because you are putting
it out there in the universe that

I want to do this and I mentally,
when I do that, I feel more committ.

and when you're more committed,
you are going to have a little

bit more hustle, a little bit more
grind, a little bit more intention

in every single thing that you do.

Is this helping me get closer
or farther away from my goal?

Which I think is a critical component of
really mastering every single task that

you do because so many people spend time.

On tasks that aren't getting
you towards where you wanna go.

So definitely do a goal planning session.

Do a c e O day, you deserve it.

Then evaluating your pricing
and adjusting in accordingly.

Doing it right now, flowers are going
to just, that's how the world works.

Flowers are going to
be more expensive next.

You can of course, source and
build that whole plan, but you need

to look at your pricing and make
sure your pricing is going to be

in line so you can be profitable.

Because when you're working
your butt off and you're not

profitable, you become resentful.

You become I've been there like,
you're like, why am I doing this?

I'm not making any money.

I'm working my ass off.

and you deserve to make money
that is impactful in your life.

And when I made that decision, that I
deserve to make money that's impactful

for my family, impactful for me, that
is worth me not being with my children.

Even though I do think not work, working
BA basically makes me a better mom

because I have that creative outlet,
that creative space that it's almost

critical for me to have just that little
bit of pause and that little bit of drive

going towards something otherwise, I.

I'm overwhelmed because I'm
just in kid land all the time.

I, my, my mind personally needs a break
and so making sure it's worth it for

me to be paying someone to help the
children or to be watching the children.

Is definitely an equation for me.

I don't know if that's
an equation for you.

I often have them working with me.

I have a whole setup that has an and a
desk and you know, all the, the different

things that they can play with out here,
a train set, all the super fun things.

But I still sometimes just frankly,
need to have childcare and there's cost

associated with, so making sure it.

Undeniably worth it to pay for
that childcare to come in and

be with your children when you
are working or your spouse.

And then that mental energy that
is, uh, going out of your spouse,

you need to make sure it's worth it.

So make sure you're making enough money.

And then the next thing, again, goes
back to scheduling, is practice saying.

Don't overbook yourself.

I literally have done nine weddings in one
weekend and a funeral, and it was a large

funeral, nine weddings in one weekend,
and I see Flores, I don't do that anymore.

I have done some bigger weddings, like a
huge wedding, and then had like a smaller,

medium size wedding in that same weekend.

, but I won't do like that I'm running
all over because that's just not the

space of frenzy that I want to live in.

And then I'm making sure that
I have obviously the support.

To pull off those weddings
because I can't do it all myself.

So when you overbook, you
overbook everybody, not just you.

You're overbooking your freelancers
that are going to be with you because

everybody is going to feel stressed out.

They're gonna feel the
tension that this is a.

A tough week, they're gonna feel like
the icky energy potentially, that you're

just, you're running around with your
head cut off and you look like a shit

show, and you want to create environments.

For your freelancers that are cultivating,
good energy positivity, not like we

don't even, we're running outta buckets.

We don't even have space
for some of these things.

So look at your calendar and when
you go into the practice that I don't

want to overbook myself, you're going
to be a little bit more strategic

about the weddings that you choose
because you're not just choosing.

You are choosing strategically, weddings
that are going to be profitable,

weddings that are going to bring
you cre, creatively fill your cup

up and that it's a good decision.

You're not gonna be making bad
wedding decisions cuz a lot of

those bad wedding decisions are.

The bride was not your speed.

The couple was not your speed.

The mother of the bride
was not your speed.

Like they just seemed really difficult.

They just seemed all these complicated.

Issues around their wedding.

Like when I have somebody that's in
their inquiry telling me that they

wanna repurpose a million things.

I can tell that this is probably
going to be a pain in the ass, and

this might not be a wedding that
I wanna do because it's going to

be me there three different times.

I personally love to have the majority
of my installations for that wedding

done before I even arrive on site
and get in, get out, get everything

done, and get enjoying my life.

Because the weekends are when my
kids don't have school or my husband

isn't working, and I'd rather be
with my family and minimize that time

that I'm outta the house that day.

Sometimes it just happens that
you need to be there for a flip.

You need to be there for a tear down.

I personally try to find
someone to do the tear down.

Cause I just think that, you know, if
somebody else is happy to do it and I

pay them accordingly and it's worth it
to them, then I don't mind doing that.

It makes my life a lot
easier and it makes me, I.

Less choosy about doing a larger wedding
or doing a bigger wedding that needs a

tear down because I have someone that
can just take care of that and so I don't

need to be leaving at midnight or whatever
it is to go and tear down a wedding.

So having those things in place
really helps you make sure

that you're not overbooking or
just overextending yourself.

I know making money is important and
being able to pay your bills is important.

If you overbook yourself, you're doing
a detriment to your finances as well,

because when that inquiry comes in
for that wedding, you're not gonna

be responding it to the to that week.

You are going to be dropping the
ball with some current clients.

You are going to not be providing
the experience that I'm guessing

that you want to provide because
you're just so stretched thin.

And that's not only that.

When you get a lot of this,
you are running in a panic

mode of planning all the time.

You're running in a frenzy,
you're running a, a running thin.

You know, you just, I I I call it, I'm
drowning here and you're describing

the water a anytime that anybody
talks to you about any wedding, cuz

you're just like, so, Exhausted and
the week has not all even began.

So you deserve space.

You deserve to have time to
actually enjoy being a florist.

That is one really hard thing
for me personally, and one of my

freelancers that I just absolutely
adore has said this to me.

Jenny, stop and enjoy your wedding.

Look at how beautiful it is.

Look at how, and it is true
because I wanna get in there and

get out and get to my family.

So that is something that when you
overbook yourself, especially, you

have no time to enjoy your creativity
and like to look at what you did.

And for one, Take photos and videos
so that you have social media content.

When you are overbooked, you are dropping
the ball on all of those things normally

because you just don't have the capacity.

Social media can wait.

The client that emailed
me an inquiry can wait.

They deserve your attention and
I think that really just being

intentional and when you see that.

Have a whole drafted, I'm
sorry, but I'm not available

because how can somebody argue?

I've actually had someone argue
it was a family that I've done

multiple weddings and I was like
not wanting to do another wedding

because they're kind of crazy people.

But have that script, have that email
already drafted in your, Google driving

a note or in your notes app of your
phone so you can just cut and paste it.

And so you're not having to mentally
struggle every time that I have

to say no to this wedding again.

And it's just, ugh.

Cuz then you're like, am I
not gonna be hitting my goals?

Am I not gonna be making the money?

You will make the money that you
deserve and that your business.

Is entitled to.

By creating that space, you
will elevate your business.

You will elevate your experience
and you will command more.

Of a investment from a bride or
couple because you're, you're worth it

because you provide that experience.

So those are quick five things to do to
make 2023 feel lighter and more aligned.

And I really hope that you're
going into next year, cuz

next year isn't that far away.

It's not here already with some
intentional practices that you can

feel better going into next year.

You can feel better while you're in that
wedding week because I truly believe

that starts now and I hope you do too.

Thank you so much for
listening, flower Friend.

I so appreciate you and I hope you
are having a great flower week.