We recently connected with Jimi Santoli and have shared our conversation below.
Jimi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I started in the floral industry in 1988. I graduated from high school and did not have any direction other than i wanted to be a famous rock star (drummer) ha ha!! I walked into a flower shop one day and asked if they were hiring drivers, figuring it was a pretty easy, kind of 9-5 deal. and 35 years later I am still in the floral industry having run the gambit from retail and events to sales. I believe the skills and experience I have learned over those years have helped me in my sales position.
Jimi, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Through my 35 years in the floral industry, I have met and had the pleasure of working with all kinds of talent on many different levels. Being open to learning has made my journey even better. Every day I strive to provide my customers with the best possible experience. Having been where they are is very helpful because I can relate to their challenges and struggles. They lien on me for professional advice and I am more than happy to build that relationship help my customers win.”
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
So, ever since I started in the floral business my friends used to make fun of me for “playing with flowers” all day. HA HA HA
So I decided one day I needed to come up with a more masculine name. So playing on my Brooklyn, Italian roots, I came up with “Jimi the Tulip” and ran with it. But it wasn’t until I started working for Jet Fresh that Ryan, marketing director, took that name and branded it to a whole nother level. Thus the “Jimi the Tulip” stickers, hats, shirts, etc were born.
Any advice for managing a team?
Plain and simple, have fun. At Jet Fresh Flowers, with each day you never know what can happen in the office or warehouse. Whether it is an impromptu social media video, a Nerf gun fight or what have you. The important thing is to just have fun. Many people come to jobs where they do not want to be there and I believe that is not good for morale or productivity.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jetfreshflowers.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimithetulip/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JimitheTulipSantoli/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimithetulip/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jimithetulip/videos
- Other: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va93XOHAu3aRf3UmZF1Z