Musings of a Florist :: Naked

Musings of a Florist :: visit flirty fleurs on Tuesdays and read a variety of musings by me – Alicia Schwede, editor of the blog.

 

I’ll be sharing some thoughts of what I’ve learned, what I would do differently, and what I’m thankful for on this flower filled journey I’ve been on since 1998.

Naked.
Thinking back to my post DETERMINTATION, that post I shared about that first year in business when I was hustling hard for work. There’s a memory that has been lingering since I wrote that post…
Sometime in that first year I was invited to participate in a bridal show. The bridal show was a bust with about 3-4 brides walking thru all day, but I became fast friends with the girl in the booth next to me. She ran one of the wedding magazines in Colorado and was familiar with pounding the pavement for work. She invited me to attend an ABC (association of bridal consultants) meeting with her and so I tagged along the next month. After attending a few meetings I was asked if I’d like to do the centerpieces for a meeting – I excitedly said yes! A chance to show my designs to a group of wedding planners, yea! So I created a variety of designs to showcase my range of work. At the meeting 2 of my designs were to be raffled off to the attendees. I’m standing in front of the group with the meeting leader and pulling the tickets out of the fishbowl and I’ll be damned – I picked the ticket of the one other florist in the group. In front of 40 people she blurts – OH! Why would *I* want one of your weird arrangements?! With the most appalling look on her face and she really emphasized every word out of her mouth. A few people in the room laughed. You guys, I felt like I was standing naked in front of 40 people, well I do suppose my emotions were naked. The group leader says – ok, we’ll pick another name.
At that moment I wanted to be anywhere but there!
What’s the old adage? Don’t let them see you cry… well, I held it together but I’m pretty sure I cried in the car on the way home.
If you are wondering – yes, I went to the next meeting and the next meeting, and pretty much every meeting after for many years. Her goal was to get rid of competition, but I wasn’t about to let her push me out of the way.
#DontLetThemBringYouDown