We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christian Rattell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Christian thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?

Yes, but the take away here was patience, because you may not start off taking yearly vacations.

I have been running my own business with husband for the past 7 years. The first 5 years we did not take a single day off. It was frustrating at first. We purchased a successful existing business from a couple who ran the business for 25 years and they were ready to retire. We were told the business ran itself. We believed we were entering a new field with a strong support team. The major perk for owning our own business at that point in our lives was the balance between work and home. We had a young elementary school age son and wanted to be home for him as often as possible.

It took time to understand that we could not trust that all of the employees we inherited had best intentions with the our success. There were times we thought we made a mistake with the purchase and actually dreaded coming into the shop. We had so much to learn about being business owners, about the industry, managing 20 employees and still keeping the atmosphere light hearted, fun and still professional.

In time we weeded out the bad seeds, promoted trusted employees and trained new staff. We allowed the hardworking talented staff to shine and with that the company began to shine. As we felt more comfortable with being in the shop less & less we were finally able to take our first vacation after 5 years and have taken a vacation each year for the past 3 years. Patience in knowing we will fail at times. allowed us to trust we would learn our lessons from our mistakes and improve the following year.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My journey into the floral industry started with a big leap of faith at a rough time in my life. I was working my dream job as the Director of Special Events for a major University in the area about 10 years ago. I was recently married and my son was only 2 years old. We had a beautiful home in a town with a great school district. On the outside I imagine my life looked great. But the reality was I was not happy working so many nights and weekends, my boss was terrible, and I had a multitude of issues brewing in my marriage… I decided it was time for an overhaul in my life.

I left my husband and my career. I decided to get my Masters Degree in Counseling so I could have a better schedule to raise my son. The next few years were hard. Achieving my Masters Degree while separated, raising my son while not being able to see him every day, bouncing from family homes, dating and working multiple part time jobs to be able to afford life took a toll on me. But I stayed strong for my son. I knew I had made the right decisions.

Eventually I met a great guy, Jason who was the rock I needed. We bought a house. I completed my degree. Together we provided a great life for my son. Things were looking up.

But after graduation I struggled to find a job in the field of Counseling. I continued working multiple part time jobs and I was actually working more hours than before going back to school. It was a bit of an emotional roller coaster.

Along with Jason, we decided if I was going to work all these hours then maybe I could put all that energy into owning our own business. One of my part time jobs was at a local catering venue and I loved taking the floral arrangements and repurposing them. I decided my passion for event planning and new appreciation for floral design could be a perfect mix for a new career. We found a local flower shop for sale and decided to jump in!

We dove head first into this industry and we love it! The creative outlet was so rewarding. We learned a lot from the current staff, from new hires who had previous experience and online research. We put our own spin on things and started offering floral classes and expanded our gifts to items offered by local vendors, farms and artists. Together with an amazingly talented set of designers we have built a beautiful catalog of everyday designs for birthdays, get wells, anniversaries, just because, etc. We offer floral arrangements, gourmet gift baskets, plants, balloons, jewelry, etc. I have built strong relationships with the community and our events have been growing every year with baby showers, holiday parties, weddings, etc. Every event is customized, so for example each wedding we complete never looks like anything else we have done. I love meeting with the couple and finding out what their style is and making the final design a dream come true for them.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When we bought the shop it had a cafe in the front of the shop. We loved the idea of have a florist/cafe. The community loved the environment and I thought it was a nice way to cross sell both shops.

We put a lot into trying to merge the 2 businesses to really run as one. The previous owners had them set up as 2 very different businesses. I thought it was a missed opportunity to cross sell.

At first it seemed like it was going great. A customer would come in for a cup of coffee & grab a loose bouquet. We would host art openings for local artists selling their art in the florist & would keep the cafe open and bring in live music.

Unfortunately, the cafe wasn’t a big money maker to start with. And then COVID hit and we closed for a bit. When we reopened we significantly reduced the menu to help with wait times and make it easier for the young staff employed up there. It never really got back to where it was… and as I said it didn’t bring in much even than. So, ultimately the pivot didn’t workout for us, so we just went the completely other direction and chose to shut down the cafe and expand the florist sales floor instead. We brought in more local artists’ decor, jewelry, local honey and new products like dried flowers. It is a new change, but so far this pivot seems to be going in the right direction.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

When we took over the business, we were lucky to have a few designers who were veterans of the floral design industry. We learned tons from them. They taught us the basic skill set and techniques for an industry that continues to change every year. However, we really felt what the shop was offering was a little stale.

Two major things I wanted to bring to my business as the owner were making sure my staff felt like they had a voice in the company and the opportunity for them to feel like there was growth available to them. I truly believe offering a workplace where everyone feels heard and appreciated sets the pace for the atmosphere and product the community experiences.

As an employee in past jobs both of these things bothered me and it didn’t matter if I was working for the state, a big University, a corporate job or a small mom & pop job. I hated feeling I didn’t have a voice or that there was no room to grow and in turn the feeling I had going to those jobs daily wasn’t always welcoming.

So, we decided we would always promote from within. We have hired a mix of talented experience designers and staff that had zero experience. We started staff at the front desk or as a delivery driver and as they show promise and an interest we have trained them and promoted them. The majority of our designers at the moment started at the bottom with zero experience and they have grown to talented floral designers. Together with this eclectic team & market research we have built a great portfolio of products and reputation in the community for day-to-day designs and events. Customers call and tell us how we stand out from others in the industry. We had a woman who works at the front desk at a local senior home. She said she always can tell when a floral delivery is being made if it is from our shop, because we stand out. She was ecstatic the first time one of our designs came in and it was for her.

We also created a bi-yearly review system which tracks each employee’s progress. This gives us an opportunity to touch base with each staff member to discuss if they are meeting the company’s needs and their own personal growth, but also guarantees we hear anything they feel they need to say to us. This team really helped build our shop’s reputation and I owe a lot of that to the staff being heard, knowing there is a future here with us and together we all work hard to stand out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jacquelinesflowers.com

Image Credits
United Elite Photography