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

Sherronda, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Along with taking care of clients, taking care of our team is one of the most important things we can do as leaders. Looking back on your journey, did you have a boss that was really great? Maybe you can tell us about that boss and what made them a wonderful person to work for?

Not that this was the “Best Boss” I ever had, but the training and teaching I received from her during that time, I still use and implement to this day. It was my first retail job (Claire’s) as a sophomore in high school and my manager’s name was Shannon. As a high schooler, you were not able to hold any level of management position (third key, assistant store manager, store manager).

After only working there a few weeks, my boss was impressed by my great abilities and potential. Although, I was not supposed to be considered for any level of management (because of my age), Shannon trained me on every level of management for the store, including her job and responsibilities.

One day, I showed up for my regular shift and Shannon had to leave the store for an appointment, but the assistant manager had not shown for work yet. Shannon looked at me intently and said to me, “You are in charge of the store until the assistant comes in”. Well, as it may be, she never came in that day, which had me in the store by myself the entire shift: organizing clothes, assisting customers, checking out sales at the register, etc. I ended up closing the store that evening. Shannon came back the next day, fired the assistant manager and praised me for my efforts. Although she couldn’t promote me to the “position” because of my age, she gave me a raise and the responsibilities as a third key, then another raise and responsibilities as a assistant manager. By the age of eighteen, I was a store manager and now training others.

The two most important things I took from this experience are:
1) Know and do your job so well and be willing to train others on your position, so that you never have to feel threatened about someone taking your position because you will always have value (there or somewhere else).
2) If everyone on your team is cross-trained, they can step in to any given role at any given moment, which makes them more valuable within your team. Many of my employees were ready to step into management roles where we were and/or when they left to work for another company.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

HOW I GOT INTO THIS BUSINESS…

I always say this business found me. I use to decorate for my church for free to help out. One of the ladies whose kids were in elementary and middle school would always say “when my kids get married I will call you”; I was thinking, sure you will. When her daughter was finishing medical school, she called and asked me to do her wedding.

She ended up having two weddings in one weekend; a traditional Nigerian ceremony and an American ceremony. Two weeks after I agreed, I found out I was pregnant (after six years of trying) and went on bed rest. I met with her and vendors on days I had scheduled doctors appointments. I did a ton of research just because I wanted to give my all. A few weeks before her wedding, I gave birth to my daughter who after seven hours passed away. With God’s grace and help, I pulled myself together and did her wedding and didn’t think twice about this craft being a business for me.

A few months later, I got a referral to do a wedding in Dallas, and I declined, but the bride begged and begged. Her family was here in Houston, and she was alone in Dallas. I agreed, and that was supposed to be it. One referral came after the next. Although, I was still grieving, but I have always loved flowers. Seventeen years and seven kids later I still love what I do! That’s the short version of it!

WHAT PRODUCTS/SERVICES YOU PROVIDE …

We, KC Events & Florals, are full-service floral, events design and rental company. The type of rentals we offer include, but not limited to lighting, draping, lounge furniture, linens, glassware, flat/dinnerware, charger plates, bars, tables, chairs, custom backdrops, balloon arches, photo booths, etc. We also operate a daily flower shop for deliveries.

PROBLEMS SOLVED AND WHAT SETS US APART …

We help clients design and execute events seamlessly without having to shop around for multiple vendors. KC Events & Florals values:
1) people and relationships over money and material,
2) high level of customer service/satisfaction with integrity,
3) even the smallest of details always matter.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In January of 2014, we re-branded our company to go full-time in the industry. This would include moving the business out of my living room, garage and three storage units into a warehouse space. I had been looking for an affordable warehouse space for months and found none. I told God I could afford this particular amount, so I stopped looking. One day I received a call from a previous warehouse associate had I contacted (which was out of my price range). He kept my contact info and called me about a space and told me the leasing price. Well, well, well, it happened to be the EXACT PRICE I told God about! Oh, it gets better and more resilience awaits!

We’re set to sign the least on the first Monday in March. The Friday before the signing, I was informed by my corporate clients that they would no longer be have weekly floral installments and all upcoming corporate events would be cancelled as well (this was due to the oil and gas crisis that was then experiencing major layoffs, acquisitions, etc.). In spite of this, I stepped out on faith and signed my new lease contract with nothing but the deposit and the first month’s rent and no upcoming events on the books. I continued to work on my business systems and processes, network and serve/work with other event industry professionals. By me serving and working with others in the industry, calls and inquiries came rushing in and we haven’t missed a beat since.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The pandemic affects the entire world by March of 2020. All of our corporate clients cancelled their contracts for weekly floral installations, all upcoming events and individual’s weddings/social events were either cancelled or postponed. For the first time in the six years, we had been in a warehouse, we were “in the red” for the month of April.

We planned a last minute event for a couple who could not leave out of the country (due to the shutdown) and he wanted a small party for his family with a birthday yard sign. We had the rentals and tablescapes for the party, but not the yard signs. I decided to learn how to make yard signs as other vendors were extremely high priced at that time. Once I posted our yard signs on social media, we were receiving calls for yard signs. So, we added this to our rental inventory!

Our pivot also included us branding for other companies by …
1) making cloth masks with custom wording/pictures for individuals/clients (sublimation and/or vinyl),
2) printing on t-shirts, cups/mugs, and also
3) creating custom acrylic seating charts and signage.

Currently, we still provide these “pivot” services and rentals.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kceventsandflorals.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/kceventsandflorals
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/kceventsandflorals
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/sherronda-scogginsba9642111

Image Credits
Agape House Studio AmaByAisha Sherronda Scoggins