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Growing Up Flowers: Wisdom that Won't Wilt
by Sarah E. Kidder

I grew up working in my mother’s flower shop. She opened it when I was just three years old, and I loved being there. I had my own desk set up, complete with phone, desk set and order forms. According to my father, I put everyone on hold until I was about five. I wanted to know everything my parents and the staff knew. This was a tall order, considering that my mother had been an English and art teacher, my father a politician. And the staff made up primarily of Cal Berkeley students. I learned how to design floral arrangements, read maps, and handle all kinds of “emergencies” in all sorts of situations. The result: I enjoyed every moment of growing up in the shop, and took my in-the-business education and added it to my own time at Cal, and now have put it all together with Sarah Kidder Designs. Getting back to basics, here is what I learned in my formative, and what I still hold as imperative truths.

Wisdom that Won’t Wilt

• Answer the phone after the first ring, and before the fifth.
• Always have a pen handy. Preferably one in every pocket, behind an ear, and on every table, plant and pile between here and there. You will find them by closing time.
• You can write on anything and everything. Don’t be shy. In time, it will be a kind of calling card.
• Always look presentable.
• Personal issues do not exist during events, phone calls, client interactions, or at social functions.
• Calling mom and dad by their given names gets their attention quicker than you’d think.
• Only have the radio on low. Just in case.
• There will always be running jokes- but they are not for everyone’s ears. Besides, no one else thinks, “I’m at the end of my bolt!” is funny. Ribbon jokes only get in-house laughs.
• You don’t have to know everything. Just know that you can get things done.
• Etiquette is everything.
• Always answer the phone.
• Remember that: 1) You are a professional. 2) They are the client. 3.) You may both be right.
• It’s all about presentation.

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