Flowers for a Healthy Lifestyle w/ Jodi Duncan

“There's nothing that changes the energy of a room, like a bouquet of flowers,” says floral professional Jodi Duncan AIFD. In this flower chat with host, Sharon McGukin AIFD, AAF, PFCI, Jodi offers tips for making fresh flowers a part of your healthy, elevated lifestyle. Jodi also introduces us to her new healthy-focused site the Hungry Florist. Check out this new online gathering place for florists (or their friends) who love, eating, cooking, and creating. 

How we Bloom podcast is an oasis of flower ideas. Host Sharon McGukin of Smithers-Oasis North America interviews floral guests who dare to do things differently. We listen, learn, explore new opportunities and that's how we bloom!

Transcript

Flowers as a Lifestyle w/ Jodi Duncan

Jodi Duncan (00:09):

Oh, help us! Send the flowers. Just can we, can we drop them over the skies, airlift the flowers, and drop them on all the houses and on all the people.

Sharon McGukin (00:25):

Welcome to How we Bloom, an oasis of flower ideas. I'm your host, Sharon McGukin AIFD, AAF, PFCI and I believe that every great success story starts with one simple idea. That's why we interview those who dare to do things differently, inspiring people who plant seeds, grow ideas, and bloom to their full potential. In this podcast, we listen, learn, explore new opportunities, and that's how we bloom.

Sharon McGukin (01:04):

Floral professionals consider flowers an important part of life. Despite the isolation, one gift of Covid was that more people than ever realized the value of flowers as a lifestyle. Who doesn't want to add to their daily life beauty, color, fragrance, and a bit of nature brought indoors? There's a reason that gardening is the number one hobby of Americans. Playing in the dirt connects us back to Mother Earth. Grounding us. Whether we grow food, herbs, or flowers, we find joy in nurturing something that shares life with us. I feel that people who never knew the value of flowers and people who had forgotten the value of flowers, relearned the gift of giving and enjoying flowers during Covid. I was thinking about this and initiated a discussion with my dear friend, Jody Duncan AIFD. We love to chat. I wanted to share some of our thoughts with you. I met Jody years ago through AIFD and found a kindred spirit. We can talk for hours. We share a love of family life and flowers. This Ted Talk speaker, visual and brand strategist is a creatives problem solver within and without the floral industry. Her marketing and consulting business focuses on the problems and concerns that keep her clients up at night. She makes those challenges go away, productive, inventive, charismatic, and a whole lot of fun. That’s Jodi. Join us as we discuss flowers as a lifestyle. Let us know what you think. Welcome, Jodi.

Jodi Duncan (02:55):

Hi, Sharon. It's so nice to be with you today. 

Sharon McGukin (02:59):

I am excited to have you here as my guest because I know you always have a lot of great thoughts about flowers, the use of flowers, and how to live with flowers. And, it really has occurred to me a lot in the past couple of years how flowers are a lifestyle element.

Jodi Duncan (03:18):

They really are. It's, it kind of softens the blows of daily living just to have flowers in your life. Back in the Ted Talk, on YouTube, that I gave several years ago, I alluded to that and called it ‘flower power.’ Flowers elevate your mood as well as the people that are around you when you just carry them with you through the day. And let's face it, the days that we all walk through now are more challenging and we are presented with more instability and fear from all kinds of things. So what better than flowers to just give us a chance to sigh and to give us some eye candy. Give us something just to go “ah, it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay.” And flowers do that for me. I suspect I'm not alone. <laugh>

Sharon McGukin (04:07):

<laugh>. I think not. And I think that a lot of people identified with that more strongly during Covid. The isolation made us really value home-cooked meals and using flowers to beautify the home. You know, when you put flowers on the table before a meal with family or friends, it makes those people feel like a special guest. Just a simple flower. It can be foraged from the yards or purchased from a florist. It doesn't really matter where the flowers come from. It's that you took the time to have them before the people at your table.

Jodi Duncan (04:46):

It really is a true thing. You're absolutely right. I mean, that's such a true statement. And there's nothing that can't be made better by adding a flower and the, it's mindfulness really, not just to throw some food on the table. 

We've all stood at the counter and we've all eaten with food in our laps. But, but to come home and just to have a single bloom or some foliage from the yard or something that you, you grabbed quickly at the grocery store, or a bouquet from the florist. It elevates your mood, your expectations, just the whole energy shifts when flowers are added to the room. We've all been to funerals where there weren't any flowers. And there's nothing more depressing when you're already in the midst of loss to not have flowers. I have flowers in my home all the time. Even during Covid, when you couldn't go anywhere and you could not get anything.

Jodi Duncan (05:45):

I went to my property, where I have five acres. Some days there wasn't anything in bloom. I'd be like, “Well, I've got moss. I'm going to rip this moss out of the creek bed and take it back to the house and put it in a pretty tray and put some stones with it, and a few sticks and a few branches, and some mosses and some lichens.” And even something as simple as that, just the creative expression and the mindfulness that it took to break you out of whatever thoughts you're thinking, or whatever rut you might be in. Flowers can lift you out of it. I can say that because I've experienced it <laugh>.

Sharon McGukin (06:23):

It's interesting. Even small children know that. Think how many times a child has plucked a flower to take in to someone they love. “I picked flowers for you!” Isn't it just interesting that they know, even at a young age, that flowers bring joy to others?

Jodi Duncan (06:41):

It's intuitive to a child. The dandelions in all their stages of development. The clover. The violets that grow in most people's grass or in the ditch. When you're a toddler even you go and grab those and either stuff 'em in your own pockets or you go give them to an adult or to your mother or your grandmother. Children intuitively understand the comfort, beauty and joy of flowers. There’s something about being like a little child. <laugh> When it comes to flowers that is. It’s so healthy and full of hope. 

Sharon McGukin (07:22):

Hope adds grace to life.

Jodi Duncan (07:24):

And boy, do we need grace now more than ever. <laugh> 

 Sharon McGukin (07:27):

We do. I think that's why we’ve relearned the value of flowers. There was a whole generation that had never learned the value of flowers. And then our generation had, in a lot of ways, forgotten the joy of flowers. And they relearned that because when you couldn't be there, flowers could speak for you. Flowers could add the love to the room that was absent from the people. Because when you are in that moment of grief and you look around at the flowers, it represents the people that love the one you love. And that's just comforting.

Jodi Duncan (08:02):

It is comforting. It seems like when the world shut down and went sideways, that we didn't get to see each other. We didn't get to touch each other. We didn't get to gather. We didn't get to grieve. We didn't get to celebrate, um, for way too long. And the collateral damage of that, um, is something that we're still suffering from today. But the bright side of that, if there is one, and I hesitate to even say that there is a bright side. But there is, and that is that we realize that flowers really do carry emotion. That they really do express when we can't. When we can't be there for a birthday, funeral, anniversary, somebody's bad day, or somebody's ‘just because,’ when we couldn't be there, flowers had to speak for us. We were masked up and hunkered down. We had to send flowers to carry our hearts, to carry our affections. I think that is a beautiful lesson that hopefully we won't forget that flowers are so important in that way.

Sharon McGukin (09:17):

And when we couldn't be with our friends and we couldn't be with our activities, we could be in our herb garden. We could be in our flower beds. We could be outdoors. I think of the new movement of foraging that is so popular now and all of the parts that it plays in our lives. I think that came because we could just do that. We couldn't go places, but we could get outdoors and walk through the woods and walk through the fields and bring back those natural materials like you mentioned. And we were able to teach that to our children.

Jodi Duncan (09:52):

During what we've just been through, our humanity was diminished and squelched and shut down. So flowers became human. Flowers very much became human. They took on the essence of who we wanted to be, but couldn't be. They expressed the words that we couldn't deliver. That's a huge, huge gift to me - how powerful flowers really are. Especially in the wake of the last few years. It brought the human touchback like what you said about being in the garden. People were sort of removed from flowers. They're behind glass. They're behind a counter. But during all the lockdowns and everything, people really started gardening. The garden centers were wiped out. I know in my area they were sold out. There was nothing left. They sold out in record time. People were planting things in record numbers. The seeds were out. The garden centers were empty, because people were at home doing that. So I think it brought flowers back into our hands, into the hands of the consumer, out of the cellophane, that they were so far removed that now they're accessible, they're tangible, and we can receive healing just from focusing our attention on something beautiful if only just for a moment.

Sharon McGukin (11:20):

And it plays into the fact that we were searching for a healthier lifestyle. Flowers are like good food, 

fine wine, comfortable surroundings. Flowers are a part of a healthier, nicer, more elevated lifestyle. You typically find that when people enjoy flowers in their home, they have a lot of other healthy habits, as well. 

Jodi Duncan (11:46):

They really do. And studies have shown that Rutgers has done studies. I know SAF has done studies. Major universities - Harvard, Princeton, Duke University, have all done studies about how flowers affect healing. How they affect our mental state. “Which, Oh! Help us!! Send the flowers. Can we just drop them over the skies?  Airlift the flowers and drop them on all the houses and all the people? Because if anybody needs some mental health, awareness and comfort, it's all of us. And flowers certainly provide that. It just gives your mind a safe place and happy place to go.” Without responsibility. Nobody wants any more stuff. Nobody wants anything we have to dust, but flowers you can enjoy. Compost 'em when you're done. And then pick up some more. It doesn't require a commitment. It just requires a vase and some water. 

Jodi Duncan (12:49):

Put it at your bedside. Put it someplace where you are going see it. Put it at your sink every day where  you brush your teeth. It doesn't have to be out in the foyer where everyone sees it. Because let's face it, lots of people are still not getting together. Put it in a place where it's going to elevate your mood and make it special for you. It's a gift to you. It's an affordable luxury. It's a nice splurge and we all deserve that and need to carve out that space for ourselves now more than ever.

Sharon McGukin (13:17):

And I think that's why it's important. For so many years, people thought of flowers as a gift, as a remembrance, as a celebratory thought. And they didn't buy flowers for themselves. You see people now buying more flowers for themselves because it is unaffordable luxury. It is a gift you can give yourself that you can enjoy. A lot of people say, I don't want to give flowers because they don't last. The memory of giving those flowers or receiving those flowers lasts forever. You can't tell me how many sweaters someone has given you. But you can remember the numbers of times that you've been given flowers. It's a memory maker. The flower's purpose is for that moment in time. And, all good things pass. Great meals … gourmet meals go quickly. <laugh> Things that are wonderful, pass fast.

Jodi Duncan (14:17):

<laugh>. They do. I've done over 2000 weddings in my life and have done wedding consulting. That ship has kind of sailed. I don't really do that anymore. But I do remember flowers always taking it on the chin in the budget. Invariably somebody would say, “Well, the flowers will just wilt.” They're just going to be gone. I said, “Can we talk about what happens with the wedding cake? <laugh> “Can we talk about what happens with the catering? And the band that you paid all this money for that evaporates into thin air? It's gone <laugh>, it's gone! So, we've got music that evaporates. We've got food that we all know what happens to that. I mean, we've got invitations that were letter press and hand calligraphy and cost all this money. But, really you want the flowers to elevate and change the entire energy of your event.  Come on!

Sharon McGukin (15:15):

Flowers are a memorable part of it, too.

Jodi Duncan (15:16):

Absolutely. It elevates the expectation. It elevates the mood and changes the entire atmosphere. The entire atmosphere is changed at your celebration by flowers. Even in your home. There's nothing that changes the energy of a room, like a bouquet of flowers. There's not a gift that transforms the entire atmosphere like flowers. It energizes and revives it and just causes you to think on a little higher plane because flowers are around. You can just get your thoughts just a little higher because you have something pretty to look at.

Sharon McGukin (15:53):

One really bright mother of the bride was brilliant. She said, “You know, flowers are more important to me than the food because the flowers will be seen in the wedding pictures for history. The food will just be eaten and gone.

Jodi Duncan (16:09):

And she's not wrong. I love her. Give her a hug and a high five from me because, yes, that's absolutely right. I was forever defending flowers. But, at the end of the day they knew that I was right. And just when I would point it out, like “Okay, if it has to be something that's going to stay and it's not going to go away, then you've got a photographer. The photographer and your apparel. I mean, there's very few things. If it's good for the flowers, it's good for the band and it's good for the food. Because, that stuff all goes away too. <laugh>

Sharon McGukin (16:44):

And how many times have you ever seen a bridesmaid dress re-worn? <laugh>. 

Jodi Duncan (16:48):

Come on. I know. Exactly. Exactly! 

Sharon McGukin (16:53):

I do think that flowers used as an element of an elevated lifestyle is learned behavior. I don't think that it's something that you will find in homes where children weren't taught that or they witnessed it in someone else's home. I know you and I have talked about that our children when they went to college still had flowers in their spaces, or they have flowers in their home because they learned the value of doing that. I think that we need to really make a concerted effort to teach young children. To have activities that include flowers, to have the opportunity for them to learn how to design flowers. Because flowers in the home, to a large degree, is a learned behavior.

Jodi Duncan (17:43):

It is, children learn to know that's part of your routine. It's part of the expectation. It's part of the creed. It's part of your family crest. It's the essence of who you, as much as anything, as much as the habits of your family. Make sure that's integrated and appreciated by children. Give them the opportunity to help in the garden. Give them the opportunity to help you disassemble and reassemble a grocery store bouquet and not say, oh, don't touch that. Teach them how to arrange flowers in the most-simple way. Teach them care and handling. Let them create. And they love it. They love it. I started in a flower shop when I was seven. My mother worked at a bank across the street, and she got off at 3:30 pm and I got out of school at three o'clock.

Jodi Duncan (18:42):

She had made friends with the florist across the street and asked “Who can help me with this? Do you know a babysitter? We're new in town. We don't know anybody who can help me with my girls.” And, they were really sweet. And they said, “We're florists. We're out on delivery anyway. We'll just pick them up after school and they can come hang out with us.” And so, from three o'clock to 3:30 every day I was in a flower shop hanging out. They would let me put leaf gloss on the plants and water the plants. And that's probably facilitated my career path that I've had for more than 30 years. It started at seven in a flower shop. And so I would say, Sharon, what you are saying about learned behavior is me. I'm Exhibit A <laugh>. That's absolutely true. Absolutely true.

Sharon McGukin (19:35):

And through the years I've learned just by speaking with people individually, a large percentage of people who are in the floral industry today grew up either on a farm or in a landscape business family. Those things they learned as children became skills as adults.

Jodi Duncan (19:55):

I think so. And I think it elevates the appreciation for how flowers are cultivated and grown from the root, to seed, and bulb. If you're close to the dirt, you understand that process and that effort of nurturing something to grow. And you don't take it for granted once you've been to the flower farms like both of us have. I was not raised on a farm, but my friends were, I was in very rural Midwest. I think that's absolutely true, that there's something inherent that we realize about the power of a growing bloom that's pretty incredible.

Sharon McGukin (20:37):

I think so. I'm headed to Iceland on Saturday. I'm so excited to see what their natural terrain looks like, to see their flowers, to see the materials that surround them. What I'm really looking forward to is the geothermal waters. I hear they're very healing. But, I especially want to see what a person that lives in Iceland experiences in their landscape.

Jodi Duncan (21:04):

It's a great opportunity. We've both been very fortunate to travel. To experience different cultures and how they perceive flowers, how they cultivate flowers. I like to go off the grid and not have the tourist experience. I want do the touristy stuff, don't get me wrong. But I also want to see how do they take out their trash? Do they have a trash day? I want to see <laugh>. I mean, I want to go to the grocery store when the locals are getting off work. I want to see the little ones getting dropped off for school. Are they on a bus or do the parents drop them off? Or are they on a shuttle or I want to know the nuances of their lives. I know when I was in England, it was always common at the end of the day when people were getting off the train that every man got a bouquet every day.

Jodi Duncan (21:55):

Every day, okay. When they got off the train. To bring home to their partner, their wife. And I inquired about that of my friend who was local and lived there. And I said, this is incredible because in the United States, men generally only grab flowers if they're in big trouble or they did something wrong or it's a thing. You know, it's an actual event. It's a birthday, Valentine's Day, or whatever it is. And she said, “Oh, no! The men who don't send flowers here are the ones that are in trouble. They're the ones that are cheating on their wives or have maxed out their credit card or have some other character flaw. I thought that was so interesting that it's normal. It was normal in this town in England, that the men got flowers every day.

Jodi Duncan (22:52):

And that was normal. I thought, good for them. Even their Playmobil. Like the Playmobils, you see here are florists sometimes. And, in Toys here you see a florist kit sometimes. Here, we have first responders, carpenters, doctors, bakers, all of those kits. But you don't see floral kits. You're just now sort of starting to see them. But when I went into toy stores in England, that was normal. It was as normal as a doctor's kit. It was as normal as a saw and a hammer for carpenters. All of those things. The florist kit, it would come with an apron and hand pruners. It would come with all of the floral things. So, I thought “Wow!” So yes, definitely. Flowers are a learned behavior. Definitely.

Sharon McGukin (23:38):

Because it's part of a healthy lifestyle and they embrace that. And then, I think they're the wise ones because they do embrace that. I think that we have let flowers be delegated to special events or special purposes. And one thing that we could do to elevate the thought of using flowers on a daily basis is just to choose flowers that are affordable. Choose flowers that are just loosely dropped into a vase. I mean, not making a production of it. We were on vacation and someone was on vacation with us. I brought in flowers that I'd picked up. They were just in a bundle. She said, “Oh, are we going to see flower magic?” And I said, “No, I get paid for flower magic. We're just going to drop these in a vace to enjoy.

Jodi Duncan (24:31):

Come on.

Sharon McGukin (24:32):

And that for me is flower magic.

Jodi Duncan (24:34):

Absolutely. Because those flowers that pass through our hands so many times, we're doing it because it's part of our job. Or, it's part of our procurement list. Or, it's part of “We want you to teach this or you have to teach that, or you have to do this thing.” But when I casually, as you mentioned, picked up flowers, those are for me. And if I want to get really tedious and you know, noodle something. And go all crazy with it, then that's just for fun for me. But, I'm like you. The flowers just pass through my hands and I want the opportunity to enjoy them without a budget, without a time constraint, without an expectation of an educational message. These are just Jodi's flowers. <laugh>

Sharon McGukin (25:19):

Flowers for joy.

Jodi Duncan (25:20):

They're just for me to make me happy. That's it. Period. End of sentence. I don't have to justify it. I don't have to send a PO for it. I don't have to send a report about it later. These are just Jodi's flowers.

Sharon McGukin (25:33):

But let's talk about how we can share that with other people. What can florists do to promote the idea? Using flowers as an element of a healthy lifestyle, if perhaps they're not doing it? You and I were talking one day about how we both enjoy doing floral events. You were in Chicago, I think. I was in New York. I did a ‘bouquet bar’ for all the guests of the opening of a hotel. I helped them to make their own little bouquet. The guests that were staying in the hotel had vases in their rooms to drop the flowers in. The other bouquets we wrapped and they took them with them as they left. And, it was so much fun. Tell us about when you did the flower crown event.

Jodi Duncan (26:17):

Yeah, I taught flower crowns for a couple of large music festivals actually. We were banging out like 700 crowns a day for the festival goers. And my favorite part of getting to witness that was to see a father making a crown for his tween little girl. Cause there weren't small children there. I mean, they were probably the youngest ones, 7, 8, 10 years old. Cause after all, it's a music festival. So, there would be a few like babies or tweens. And, seeing the mothers with their daughters making flower crowns or a couple together It was very tendered to see cross-generationally how flowers brought them together in a shared experience with a shared project. Immediately it would give them all the endorphins, all of the smiles on their face, and then they get to walk away with this flower crown on their head.

Jodi Duncan (27:16):

It was remarkable to see. I loved watching mothers and daughters together. I loved watching, I don't know, there was something about the dads with the little girls that just melted me completely. I saw it over and over again and I was just in the wings, kind of a fly on the wall watching everything. I had planned it and everything, but I taught designers to execute it. It was a great, great opportunity to really see the impact and to watch them walk away and smile. I had that same experience too in my Ted Talk. If you go back and watch that old thing, we did a gorilla floral installation in Evansville, which is where I live now. We came back to clean it up afterwards. And I had done 12 vases of a dozen roses and set them in a construction zone downtown on cardboard boxes and did it like gorilla. Like nobody knew we did it. So we like snuck in, slammed them down, and then went and hid and we went back to clean them up and they were all gone.

Sharon McGukin (28:19):

Oh, cool.

Jodi Duncan (28:19):

I loved that because the flowers migrated into their lives. I would see people looking around like, “Can we take these?” And they did as the evening fell. We went back, all we had to do was pick up the boxes. I actually had a photographer that took pictures of people. It was a mom and a stroller, or it was a guy. And you'd see him look over his shoulder and he's walking with his wife or with his children and he would come back and just grab a bunch out and kind of like, go give it to them and then look over his shoulder. I loved, I loved this organic primal response to flowers. I was shocked. I thought when we went back, I thought a few things would be missing. But Sharon, those flowers went into the community. Completely dispersed. I was so thrilled. I was thrilled with the impact of flowers. People desired them, wanted them, took them, and smiled about it. It was so much fun. So much fun.

Sharon McGukin (29:22):

I once was checking in a suitcase of books because I was selling books at my next event. And it, the skycap asked me why it was heavy, because it was such a small package. I said, “Because it's full of books.” And he said, “About what?” And I said, “About flowers.” He said, “Oh, who cares about flowers?” And I said, “Buy your wife some and find out.” He said, “Well, I don't want to waste my money in case she didn't like it.” I said, “I'm going to give you a larger tip because I want you to take my tip and buy flowers on your way home and see if you are wrong. Because she will be thrilled that you have brought her flowers.” He said, “You think she'll think I'm running around? <Laugh>. I was like, “No, I think she'll think you're wonderful. So, promise me my money just goes to flowers.” 

Sharon McGukin (30:15):

I always wondered if he really used my money for flowers or not <laugh>. I surely hope she was nice and wonderful and thrilled if he did. <laugh>.

Jodi Duncan (30:24):

I hope so too. I've done that in restaurants too before. When you just kind of have a synergy or some sort of a connection with a server. They're like, so what are you doing in town? And I'm like, “Oh, I'm a floral professional. I'm teaching, or doing demonstrations, or workshops, or whatever.” And so they would be like, “Oh that's so interesting.” They're like, “You know, I really don't spend money on flowers.” Or, “I don't know much about flowers.” And I'm like, “You don't have to know anything. Just go buy 'em.” 

Jodi Duncan (30:53):

Yeah. Next time he's like, “Well I see 'em at the gas station. I said, I don't care where you get 'em, just buy 'em. Because they're wonderful.” I don't care where they came from. Just buy the flowers. So what you said about the tip, when I would write my tip, I always tip generously. On those cases when those conversations happened, I would do the same thing as you and just do a little over the top. And I would say, please take a tiny bit of this and at least buy a small bouquet somewhere and give it to somebody that you love. Just write that on the ticket. And I did that like a lot in my travels. I've done that frequently. If that conversation came up.

Sharon McGukin (31:34):

I just encourage florists to do like you and I discussed. It was so much fun to watch all the attendees of the opening leave with their bouquets so thrilled. All these guys giving them as gifts to their date or carrying them out saying “I'm going take this home to so-and-so.” And you had such fun watching the flower crown makers throughout the event. I encourage florists to do some fun things like kids parties. Where kids can learn to make something and then everybody has a take home.  Or, before a dance recital, a flower crowns cart on the sidewalk. I mean, there's just a lot of ways that we can pull people in and put flowers in their hands and teach them what joy the flowers bring. 

Jodi Duncan (32:22):

It's so popular now. Terrariums are back and all these little ‘make and take’ workshops. People can buy flowers anywhere. Let's be honest. I mean, seriously, you can buy flowers anywhere. Why do people want to buy flowers from you as a traditional brick and mortar florist? What are you doing that nobody else is doing? Because otherwise it's just a commodity and they can always get it cheaper somewhere else. But how are you elevating it to your customers? And I would say to that … give them an experience. 

Sharon McGukin (32:51):

I think that's the main thing, an experience.

Jodi Duncan (32:53):

It is the main thing because now we can order with three clicks and it's here and we don't have to talk to anybody. We don't have to go anywhere. And then sometimes when we do go places, it's not a pleasant experience. We have to wait too long in line. There's trash outside the store. There's dead flies in the windowsill. There's, you know, no music playing. It's, it's like, how is this a place I want to hang out? I want the shop to be a place where I feel like, “Oh this is amazing. I feel like I'm in a spa. I feel like I'm somewhere special.” If you can make children happy and show them the joy of flowers through make-and-take workshops for holidays, for birthday parties. I mean birthday parties are so popular now. Character, birthday parties and all of these kind of things, I would say partner with these people, make nice with these people and say, “Hey, how can we work together?” Provide an experience that is enjoyable and that's fun and that we're educating, enlightening, and entertaining the next generation of flower buyers. And that's through those hands-on workshops and those ‘bouquet bars’ and all those things that people are doing, I think it's remarkable. I wish when I had my shop that that was on trend or the cool thing to do because I think it's a lovely opportunity.

Sharon McGukin (34:11):

I do think there are a lot of florists across the country who do a great job of being a destination place. They have the vibe that pulls people in and people want flowers from that florist just because the brand is so pervasive in their area. They know they're going to get an experience when they go there. And for a long time, convenience was the main key to a sale. At one-point price was a main key to a sale. But today, truly experience shopping and being a destination shop is what pulls people in. And there's a lot of people that do a great job of that.

Jodi Duncan (34:53):

There are, and kudos to them because this is not an easy climate to create, or facilitate, or understand the essence of what that even looks or feels like. And so hugs and high fives to the ones that are being innovative and creative and providing a special place for people to um, be like the cheers of the floral world. You want to go where everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came, you know? And so, the neighborhood florists who are providing really good service, service sets us apart. The personality, the essence of it, flowers are a commodity. But to elevate that commodity, I think for successful floristry to happen, the flower and the consumer are elevated for having passed through our hands. That is absolutely my heartbeat, my marrow is that those flowers that pass through our hands should be better for having passed through our hands. And the hands that they pass into should be elevated as well. To me that's success. And that's what this industry is about. And that's what makes it so beautiful and magical and healing and special.

Sharon McGukin (36:09):

Because our heart is blessed by the people we encounter in our work. And, our hands are blessed by the flowers we touch doing our work.

Jodi Duncan (36:18):

A hundred percent, I really believe flowers are a medium. And I would say that not only do they carry the beauty and the essences we've all talked about today, but also that those flowers carry our creativity. There's a little bit of us, just a little bit of us that goes out with every single one. Just a tiny bit of Sharon and a tiny bit of Jodi and a tiny bit of every listener that as those flowers pass through our hands, there's a tiny bit of us that goes with it. And to be able to create and elevate in that way is such a privilege. It's divine. It really, it really is. It parallels the creativity <laugh> that's just divine and that we get to partake in and share with humanity.

Sharon McGukin (37:01):

Now speaking of sharing, I know that you have a new concept you are developing right now. And I don't know if you're ready to share it with our audience. They'd love to be first.

Jodi Duncan (37:11):

Well sure. Well you're definitely first and, and I'm ready to talk about it. I think especially with you because I feel like you're such a safe place and such a good friend. But, this is in the really early conceptual stage. So maybe in five or 10 years we'll all look back and go, “Oh my gosh, who knew that was how that started?” Or maybe it'll just be our small little sweet intimate community. But when Covid happened every day I would get boxes of color - boxes of flowers, from all over the country and from South America. And when Covid happened, those boxes stopped coming. So my creative outlet was gone, because I was working with those flowers every day. And so that was just a great loss. And so what I started doing was really thinking about health and wellness and thinking about my own wellness.

Jodi Duncan (38:04):

It was a hard reset for me these last few years. <laugh>. And so, I started looking at nutrition and wellness. You know, I think about my flowers. How they're conditioned, that they're at the right temperature, they're getting the right food, and they're at the right stage of development. We're also mindful of all of the flowers that pass through our hands, but we're not mindful of the food that passes through our mouths. And as an industry, we give ourselves to creating and elevating flowers, but we don't do that for ourselves. And so, the hard reset of the last couple years of this great awakening woke me up to realize, “Hey, you know, you're so concerned about your flower food, what about your Jodi food?” How’s that feeding you and making you last as long as possible. We want to know what the base life is on those flowers, but what about the Jodi life on the planet and what are you putting in yourself?

Jodi Duncan (39:00):

You know? And I don't know that in an industry we really take time to think about that because we're really great at thinking about everybody else and putting ourselves last. And so, I kind of want to change that. So, to that end, I started a group that is on Facebook only right now.  And, if you want to join it, you can just message me. Because, I don't want any bots or any trolls or any spam in there. So I've kept it a very small community. It's about 550 people right now. It's just been out, I don't know, a couple months. And I just started it and I thought, “Oh, this will just be me and a few of my besties.” And then it just blew up. So the group is called The Hungry Florist and you won't find it if you search for the Hungry Florist on Facebook because it is hidden and it is private and it is closed.

Jodi Duncan (39:50):

However, if you want to come, just message me or if you have a friend in the group, they can let you in. Right now, that's the only way to connect with us because we're really over there talking about how we eat and what we eat and how we're too busy to eat healthy. And these are just little quick tips to integrate into how we approach food, our mindset about food and to set ourselves up for success and health. As a floral industry, we're so full of so many good things, but we really don't talk about our health or our wellness. We're really concerned about everybody else's. And if it's, it's like the oxygen mask thing on the plane share and they say put your own on before you put on anybody else's. And as florist, we're putting on everybody else's oxygen mask and we're not putting on our own and we're eating garbage and we're sick and we have all these diseases and all these terrible things.

Jodi Duncan (40:45):

This is just a place to stop and go, “Okay, I've never really thought about nutrition. I think about it more for my flowers than I ever have myself.” Guilty! I mean, I'm not throwing any stones. I was that person. I ate like a 10-year-old at a carnival until the last couple years. Some health challenges stopped me in my tracks and said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's not going to work. So that's what the Hungry Florist is. There's a website that's in development. There's some journals and recipe books that are in development that'll be out. But, but yeah, thanks for asking about it. I've got a lot of people wanting me to coach 'em. I've got people saying, “Hey, can you meet me at the grocery store? Teach me how to shop, teach me how to cook, teach me how to do this.”

Jodi Duncan (41:32):

And I've had a couple people come to my kitchen and come spend a day with me before say, “Hey, can you come to my kitchen and help me figure out what to eat and how to do it efficiently, affordably, and healthy.” And there's a way to do it. I've been doing it the last couple years. So, if Covid gave me a gift, which I kind of hate even saying that was it. That it caused me to reflect and carve out a space for my own wellness and then realize, “Hey Jodi, there's a whole industry that is pretty much the same.” And not just the industry, actually the whole world. We are just barreling toward convenience and not at all toward nutrition and health. And wellness is more important than ever.

Sharon McGukin (42:17):

More important than ever. I will agree. I think the gift that Covid gave me was that I had always said, I love my job, but it is a job. It is not my life. And in our industry, it's easy because we love it to get caught up in it and think “this is my life.” But, that was my job and my life is my family. My children, my grandchildren, my husband. And, I had the opportunity to prove that that's true. Because everything else went away and we were left, you know, with those things. My family. I was whole and I knew that I was whole. So that was the gift that Covid gave me to realize exactly what I'd always said. I love my job, but it was a job. I love my life and that is my family and friends. So that was what I learned from what I hope will never be repeated. <laugh>. I

Jodi Duncan (43:11):

Come on! No kidding. But it's so good that you had that awareness and that you came down on a really positive side of it. Because, I have a lot of friends and I know you do too, that are not there. Their identity was so tied to what they did and how many stages they stood on. What name was on their business card. And yeah, everybody kind of had this, I don't know, you could use a million metaphors of a rug being pulled out from under you or an anvil being dropped on your head or you know, <laugh> road runner and the coyote. You know, you're just doomed no matter what. And I think there's a and it was painful. Oh, it still is because to try to figure out what your identity is and to get down to the core and the marrow of who you are is hard work.

Jodi Duncan (44:11):

It's deep work. It's not for the faint of heart, but it's very rewarding and it's the only path forward. And so, I'm going be carrying flowers with me <laugh> when I make it across the finish line. Um, but flowers are just a medium. Whether I'm getting paid to work with flowers or as it has been not paid to work with flowers, <laugh>, they're still a part of my life because I enjoy them. I am wholehearted about my affection toward flowers. It's not tied to a paycheck or what name is on my business card is tied to my soul because I enjoy them regardless of who my client is for marketing. Whether I'm working within the floral industry for a floral client or whether I'm working for someone in healthcare or a restaurant or whatever my other clients might be. Flowers are always going to be a part of my life forever. And you can take, what is it they say, you can take the girl out of the flowers, but you can't take the flowers out of the girl. And so I'm, I'm definitely that because they keep finding me even though, even though the work isn't like it used to be, it's the, the flowers still find me. And I'm delighted for that. Delighted for that.

Sharon McGukin (45:33):

I was laughing with Brian Vetter at Arizona State one time. He said we had to leave the workroom at five o'clock. And I was like, you have got to be kidding. You just lock the door. I'm going stay in here. I I'm not through. I have several more hours I want to do. And he was like, you're not doing it, you're leaving. And we were arguing about it and I started to laugh and I said, you know, if I were working at Walmart stocking shelves, I would be glad when my five o'clock came, but because it's flowers, I'm not happy to get off work. I wish you would go away <laugh>. I want to be left with my flowers.

Jodi Duncan (46:08):

A hundred percent. I'm that way.

Jodi Duncan (46:11):

<laugh>. When we used to camp, we used to camp a lot. Um, and people were like, oh, how do you camp? And I said, well, when you spend as much time in hotel rooms, for me going on vacation and being in a hotel room feels like work. So it's like, oh, we're going to stay in a hotel. I'm like, that sounds terrible. <laugh>. So, so, um, when I would go with my girls and we would go places more often than not, we went camping because my cell phone didn't work. Ha, ha, ha, ha. And, and I could get real family time, which you understand that's something even if you don't enjoy camping, you can understand being sequestered with your family in the woods, <laugh>. And so I had a little flower tool pouch that I carried in the camper that had a pruning knife and it had, uh, clippers and it had paddle wire.

Jodi Duncan (46:56):

I had all just basic things so that when we would hike or walk around in the woods or wherever we were, that I could make things. I remember when we cleaned out the camper and we sold it. Because the girls just grew up and it wasn't a part of our lives anymore. That stage was over. They want to get back to it. I love it that they both say, “How come we don't camp anymore? We miss camping.” I'm like, it'll come back around. Just wait, it's going cycle back. Give us a couple years. But as we unpacked the camper and we were taking out all our things, I found that little pouch and I just held it to my chest and went, all the things I've forged, all the little arrangements I made for the picnic table. Or, for the camper or the little projects. The girls and I would go and get things and sit on the picnic table and make wreaths or make whatever we made. Yeah. And so definitely it's exactly what you said for sure.

Sharon McGukin (47:50):

Well, thank you for sharing with us about the Hungry Florist. Sign me up. I would like to be a part of it. So, put me in.

Jodi Duncan (47:56):

I'll send you an invitation and once you're in, you can invite other people. I'm not trying to keep people out of the group. The only reason it's private, closed and hidden is because I don't want bots. There's way too much of that that happens. And also I want people not to feel obligated. I wanted to create a safe space where you don't have to buy anything on there. You can just take a picture of what you ate for supper. Or say, “Hey, I have this food allergy.” Or, “Hey, what do you guys do with this?” Or, “How can we do about that?” It's just a safe space to talk about our relationship with food and how it could be more-healthy. And it's not limited to florists either. There's a lot of people that said, oh, I'm not a florist. I'm like, no, I just call it the Hungry Florist because I'm a florist and I'm hungry. And so that just seemed like it should be the name. And so there's some great content over there. We're going to build out a lot more. It's a really fun community. Everybody seems to love it and they just want more. And so I'm trying to build that up and there'll be a website and some other things later, but for right now, that's what it is. 

Sharon McGukin (49:03):

If you share with me some links Yeah, I'll add them to the transcript and blog. So thank you for sharing your time and being with us.

Jodi Duncan (49:11):

Oh, you're welcome. It's so, so nice to talk with you. Thank you for asking me. I have so much respect for you and for your family. And I remember meeting your family in Chicago and they were just lovely. It's kind of fun how our flower family splashes over onto our actual family. Thank you so much for that.

Sharon McGukin (49:32):

We’ve taken enough of your time. Thank you so much.

Jodi Duncan (49:34):

It's my pleasure.

Sharon McGukin (49:40):

To our audience, Smithers Oasis-North America, Jodi and I want to thank you for joining us today. If you've enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and be sure to hit subscribe. You don't want to miss the inspired solutions our upcoming guests will share with you for your personal or business growth. If you have topics or guests you want to hear, please message me. We'd love to hear from you. Until next time, I'm Sharon McGukin reminding you that like the unfurling petals of a flower, we grow by changing form. Soaking inspiration in like raindrops. Absorbing energy from others like warmth from the sun. This growth opens us up to new ideas and that's How we Bloom.