“The earth laughs in flowers.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

To work in floral has been a magical experience. I work in the Floral Department at my local Big Y and I can say with complete and utter honesty that I love my job. Not many teenagers can say that they are in love with their first job. Here are the top 5 reasons why working in floral has changed my life and why I fell in love with it.

1. You get to be so artistic with all of your work.

People can order or ask for so many things ranging from: chop and drop arrangements, specialty arrangements, corsages, boutonnieres, huge balloon orders or simply just to have a bouquet re-wrapped nicely. But whatever you're asked for, you get to have so much freedom with the designs. It really gives you a handle for what colors work well together and that's so important.

2. You learn to communicate with customers, happy or not.

Customer service is the biggest and most important thing when it comes to working in retail. In case you didn't know, it takes 12 positive experiences to make up for only 1 unresolved negative experience. There will always be one customer who is dissatisfied with your work but every other satisfied customer makes up for it. You can't please everyone but you can do your absolute best to try! Customers are always the #1 priority and helping someone find exactly what they need and want is one of the best things about the job.

3. There is always something to do or learn!

On my first day I learned to wrap a bouquet and the next week, I was learning to make corsages! There are so many tricks to keeping flowers at their best appearance and making sure they look absolutely wonderful for the customer. A quick tip for anyone is to be sure to read the directions on the flower food packets! They are there for a reason, to help the flowers last and stay healthy longer. If it says half a packet for 1 pint, don't pour the whole packet in thinking that it will be beneficial, the directions are truly there to help!

4. It teaches you to manage your stress.

With big events or holidays, flowers of various arrays are needed. Thanksgiving centerpieces, Christmas wreaths, Valentine's Day arrangements and Prom corsages/boutonnieres are in high demand during their respected seasons. This calls for a lot of work on our part but it will always be worth it. Valentine's Day was extraordinarily crazy this year, we sold out of nearly every single thing we had. Being a new store, we didn't have any data to base orders upon. It was so fun working on a day that is so special for so many people and being able to give people a gift so meaningful.

5. To see the smile on the customer's faces as they walk away with their bouquet or arrangement.

This is the main reason that I continue loving my job as much as I do. Some people come in buying flowers for drama productions and some come in to buy them for a relative in the hospital. Working in floral is such a personal job because flowers are the first thing to stand out when walking into a room, it is our job to make sure they look good. To see a customer's smile when you hand them the bouquet you just wrapped is one of the best feeling in the world. Seeing the look of awe when they see their gigantic balloon order is always an amazing thing to witness. Happy customers mean happy workers in floral. I can't imagine working anywhere else. I am so grateful I chose to enter down this path of employment because I couldn't love it any more.