Community Over Competition

Starting this year, I have made it a personal and professional goal to cut back on the number of events and weddings I do, and really shift my focus to teaching and mentoring other florists and flower enthusiasts. When I started out on my own floral journey 15 years ago, there were very limited resources for learning about floral design. It required a lot of expensive trial and error, from both a timing and resource perspective.

I have to admit that  at first I felt really vulnerable putting myself out there. Me? A teacher? There was a flicker of self doubt, especially given that there are so many other great instructors already out there - all of whom I deeply admire. I'm also shy and not a great communicator, especially when it comes to public speaking. But to challenge myself and help myself grow, I overcame my self doubt and started mentoring and coaching other florists. And what gives me the greatest joy - that moment when the it just clicks, the lightbulb turns on, and they just master a particular technique or style. That untethered joy is priceless.

So, if you have industry knowledge to share - whether as a baker, a photographer, a calligrapher, etc - I hope to convince you to collaborate with me, so we can together share and pass on our knowledge to the next generation of wedding industry professionals. Only then can we push our profession and industry forward and become greater tomorrow than we were today.

 I will be hosting workshops and mentoring sessions in the near future, both locally here in the SF Bay Area but hopefully also nationally and internationally as well. I would love to have you collaborate on these upcoming projects with me. If you are interested, please kindly submit the information below, and we can work out the details. In particular, if you are an event planner or florist who would like to host a Vo Floral workshop in your area, please denote below as well. I look forward to hearing from you and eventually meeting all of you.

#communityovercompetition