February 5, 2024 • 40 mins
Need a floral education program where creativity meets business?
Consider EMC- European Master Certification, a floral program developed to nurture the creative and business growth of designers worldwide.
Design visionary Tomas De Bruyne of Belgium, and business strategist Christi Lopez of Virginia, discuss with Sharon McGukin upcoming EMC trend-setting opportunities. This blended learning concept - online courses, self study, and on-site events helps participants expand their floral design potential.
Learn also about ICE – the Infinite Creative Effect. And, details of the upcoming floral event - DUOlogue in Miami.
Listen to this podcast for details!
How we Bloom podcast is an oasis of flower ideas. Host Sharon McGukin of Smithers-Oasis North America interviews floral guests who dare to do things differently. We listen, learn, explore new opportunities and that's how we bloom!
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Episode Transcript
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Tomas De Bruyne (00:06):
And that's what we give to the students as well.
Yes.
You know how to create visualimpact and you charge.
For your artistry for yourcraftsmanship, but also
commercially wise
Christi Lopez (00:18):
Because at the end of the day nobody wants to
be a starving artist or florist.
Tomas De Bruyne (00:23):
so true
Sharon McGukin (00:28):
Welcome to How We Bloom, an oasis of flower
ideas.
I'm your host, Sharon McGukinAIFD, AAF, PFCI, and I believe
that every great success storystarts with one simple idea.
That's why we interview thosewho dare to do things
differently.
Inspiring people who plantseeds, grow ideas, and bloom to
(00:52):
their full potential.
In this podcast, we listen,Learn and explore new
opportunities.
And that's how we bloom.
Today.
I have an exciting episode toshare with you.
Design visionary, Tomas DeBruyne and business strategist,
(01:15):
Christi Lopez are joining me.
In conversation to talk aboutupcoming trend setting
opportunities of EMC, EuropeanMaster Certification.
Tomas and Christi have the goalof growing EMC participants to
their full potential.
Tomas is based in Belgium andChristi in Northern Virginia.
(01:38):
They offer floral educationwithout borders.
They are here to share with ushow you can experience EMC to
expand your floral designpotential.
Introduce the concept of ICE theInfinite Creative Effect, ICE,
and share the details of how toattend an upcoming floral event
(02:01):
called DUOlogue that takes placein Miami.
Let's get started with theseinteresting details.
Welcome Tomas and Christi.
Christi Lopez (02:13):
Hello there.
Tomas De Bruyne (02:14):
Well, and first of all, thank you for having us.
Christi Lopez (02:17):
Very excited about this.
Sharon McGukin (02:17):
EMC has been such a successful program.
What was the inspiration behinddeveloping the potential of
others.
Tomas De Bruyne (02:27):
Well, there was a search.
I knew that there were peoplesearching for more.
And if you say, what is thecommon factor of our graduates?
The common factor is they shouldbe more.
Knowing this, we came up with acurriculum that we can offer
that more because people want toexplore their own potential and
(02:49):
they know that we can go furtherbecause you know what, you can
always challenge yourself tobecome better than yesterday.
And that's why we come up with acurriculum saying yes, you can
be your own teacher.
You can teach yourself in acertain language and that's the
language of design.
And basically, that was the seedthat you just told us, like
(03:09):
that, that was the start.
Sharon McGukin (03:11):
Very interesting.
Christi Lopez (03:13):
Well, and there was that very fact too, of what
attracted me to it.
Gosh, that was in 2016, was thefact that it was focused around
learning some more aboutEuropean floral design.
And what I found is that itwasn't just.
European.
It was more of a more globalrounded type of curriculum for
(03:39):
me to learn about how I coulddesign with my own creativity
and not just by learningconcepts or copying something in
order to understand how to puttogether different floral
designs.
Tomas De Bruyne (03:52):
The curriculum, it's written by experience
because when I was younger, Iwas looking for, I also wanted
the growth.
I want to be better.
I want to be the designer thatwas in favor for everybody.
But I couldn't find the righteducation or I couldn't find the
(04:13):
right classes.
So I have to educate myself.
And from that experience.
And the fact that I wastraveling around the world, I
picked up all the importantthings that brought me to the
position that I am at thismoment.
And that's what we just give thestudents.
Yes, we give a certain theory,but it's more what is really
(04:34):
relevant being a designer?
What does your clients wantsfrom you?
They don't want to hear how goodyou are in color.
It's cool, right?
you are a color guru, it's nice,really.
We all love you.
But what does it bring on thetable to be a color guru for
your clients?
And that's actually what Christisays.
(04:55):
Christi is good in certainaspects.
So how can you translate this incommercial success?
Sharon McGukin (05:03):
That's very valuable.
How many people do you think youhave led through EMC already?
Christi Lopez (05:10):
Yeah.
Well, we have over 200 alumni atthis point worldwide.
So it's.
Small, but mighty,
Sharon McGukin (05:19):
I think that's a pretty impressive number.
Christi Lopez (05:21):
I forget how many different countries, Tomás, do
you remember?
Yes.
Tomas De Bruyne (05:30):
but yes, we should, we should count, but
think it's over the 20, yes.
And it's not a global thing.
It's not a country thing.
It's like what, what unifieseverybody is like, okay, what I
said is like the ambition andlooking for, how, and that has
nothing to do with yournationality.
And, it's like the people whoare reaching out to EMC, like I
(05:52):
said, they're coming from allthe, world.
And that makes the program alsovery interesting.
Because we learn from, eachother so much, all the different
cultures.
Like we have a huge part of, Ithink we've got like 10 people
from India.
I'm not sure.
Now I'm looking to But whatthose people are bringing onto
the table what, when, how they.
(06:12):
See design and how they see aprocess of making florals.
It teaches us.
And we learn from that people aswell.
We've got some, people fromJapan who are really like into
the detail, immensely into thedetail.
So we learn from each other.
Which enriches us all.
Christi Lopez (06:29):
Yes.
And I, would say too, that whenyou think about it, like for us,
we've started to realize, okay,what's needed and we expanded
and we've translated ourfoundation curriculum into
Spanish and we've also areworking on translating it into
Chinese.
(06:49):
So it's kind of taken a biggergrowth path as well.
For the main, program.
Sharon McGukin (06:57):
under its own power.
Christi Lopez (07:00):
Yes, for sure.
Sharon McGukin (07:02):
can you walk us through the process of if I
decided today that I wouldchoose to be EMC, what would be
the process to attain thatstatus?
Christi Lopez (07:15):
So, the main program we offer is our
certification program, and it'sdivided into three steps.
the great part about that isthat you can do it at your own
pace.
So it's almost like going touniversity, right?
You decide that this is whatyou're going for.
And then you take the classesthat you need to get to that
(07:37):
point.
And so for us, we're like, okay,how did we divide that up?
It's foundation practicum andadvanced.
And because of COVID, God loveCOVID, we were able to put
foundation into an online eightweek.
(07:57):
system where it used to be, likewhen I took it, we had six days
to take in all of theinformation and foundation,
which is foundational ways tolearn how to do floral design.
So we've expanded it into eightweeks and then there's
practicum.
Also, that's building onfoundation where you get to
(08:20):
really implement more andsolidify what you're learning
and being able to grow andthat's over eight weeks online
and then we have advanced, whichis 10 days in Belgium.
To finish out yourcertification, what better way,
right?
So it's a process and we havefound that it's been very
(08:43):
successful.
And I know some people are alittle on the fence, like, how
in the world can you learnfloral design online?
But what we've found is that thecombination of our online with
the coaches, having thatinteraction weekly, doing the
assignments, talking about them,getting the critiques is really,
(09:08):
really producing strongerdesigners.
Are able to really get somevaluable feedback on each of
their designs to find out wherecan I grow?
Do I understand the concept?
Do I, know what it means to workwith proportion?
Do I know what it means to workwith lines?
(09:30):
So, so many great tidbits.
I know I kind of went off on atangent, but it's curriculum.
Tomas De Bruyne (09:36):
it's, so true because you can ask yourself,
how do you measure a success ofa student?
So basically what we do in thefoundation class and practicum,
we prepare the students to beready for the advanced.
Because there's so much, becausefirst you have to learn the
notes before you start playingwith the notes, before you start
(10:00):
making your own music.
So with the blended learning,because we were one of the
first.
Who was doing this, wediscovered that the students
were more ready on the advancedclass because they came up with
better solutions and they startto get better because it's all
about interaction the elementsof principles of design, it's
(10:21):
all about that, how we combinethem, how we combine your
elements, how do you let theminteract that they lift each
other up and so on and so on.
Also how you communicate.
So we could see in the advancedclass that we dealt with a
higher level of students, whichof course we are very proud of
that we could make a differencewith those people.
(10:43):
And then of course the, thepoints were higher, but also
it's very satisfying that yousee in the exam, because the
last three days two days and ahalf are exams that Christi and
I, we always take the exams fromthe students and we'd say, you
You are somebody who can come upwith a nice design, but you
actually also understand whatyou design, you know, not only
(11:08):
the what, but you know, we askfor, why are you doing this?
And they could explain actually,yes, I use this color, this
color together because I wantedto reach that outcome and that.
gives us so much respect forsomebody who really knows how
and why they're doing something.
Sharon McGukin (11:28):
That's amazing.
Christi Lopez (11:30):
It's, a robust program and I liken it to going
to university and making thatinvestment and Learning how to
design and no matter where youare, what materials you get what
you're given, you can tap intoyour creativity and find the
solutions because you know thefoundation of what design is all
(11:54):
about.
Sharon McGukin (11:55):
And when you say tap in, brings me back to the
concept of ICE, the InfinitiveCreative Effect.
Can you tell me a little aboutthat?
Christi Lopez (12:07):
Tomas is looking at me.
Well.
Basically what we're after inwhat our goal is for designers
in the floral industry is thatthey become a more conscious
creative, that they're not justthrowing flowers into a vase.
And voila, because that's whatthe grocery store people think
(12:30):
that, you know, they can justpick up the flowers.
They know when the averageperson goes to the grocery
store, picks up the flowers andbrings it home and they just
plop it into the vase.
And sometimes they cut it.
Sometimes they may not.
Sometimes they use flower food.
Sometimes they don't.
There's more to it.
And there's a reason why.
What we do is so special andevokes emotions out of people.
(12:55):
It's how do you design?
How do you learn how that comes?
And most creatives have aninstinctual part to them, right?
That's like, I love there'ssomething about it.
There's a passion around it, butthen we also get to know how we
can tap into that even furtherby knowing how to use those
(13:19):
elements and principles.
And it kind of flies in the facea little bit of, I don't need
education because most peopleare learning all the time.
Right?
So why not take the time tolearn some things that are going
to catapult you in your designand how you work with your
(13:43):
clients?
How you can take what they'resaying and just immediately be
able to give them the visionthat they're looking for based
on what they're saying to you.
And you're not searching for apicture, you're not searching
for something that you need tocopy because you're trying to go
back and do something you'vedone before.
(14:05):
it's automatic.
It's tapping into your creativejuices.
Tomas De Bruyne (14:10):
It's all about communication.
That's it in short.
It's like, if you cancommunicate, if my English is
not perfect.
But I can communicate with you,right?
So I can express myself.
So if somebody is coming in yourshop and you can express the
desires, the expectations ofyour clients through your medium
and the medium is actually yourflowers and you know how to
(14:33):
combine them.
You know how to put themtogether color wise, form wise,
botanical wise, and so on.
Then you actually arecommunicating the way what they
want to say.
They want to express certainemotions.
Like Christi said, and it's sotrue.
And it's not only in a flowershop, it's also if you're doing
like events or if you do likesympathy work, that's a huge
(14:55):
one.
If people want today they wantto show more that their grief,
but their sympathy or like,okay, let you can go with
pastels.
You can go with certain flowers.
You can, you can create acertain tribute to the person
who is past away.
So that's how we do it, then youhave to be conscious in
(15:17):
selecting your elements and yourelements are your botanicals are
half elements like the stem,like the shape, like form, like
the color and so on and so on.
So the further you go, the moreand better you can communicate.
Christi Lopez (15:33):
And it sounds a little woo woo, right?
You're like too far up there.
But what this does is brings itdown to a level where you're
like so many aha moments.
Inside the community we have aEMC circle community besides the
regular community, the consciouscreative community, which anyone
can join.
If you're in a particularfoundation or practicum or
(15:55):
advanced, you're in your owngroup in there too.
And.
They get to show their insightsevery week of what did you find
this week?
What, what was it that youlearned?
And it's amazing the things thatcome out of them and what we
hear because you start to see,oh my gosh, that it wasn't even
(16:17):
something that I picked upduring that part of the course,
but I could see that now and Isee how that resonates with you
and that's important because youto pick on people at different
levels.
Tomas De Bruyne (16:32):
And sometimes it's something that we said,
okay, it's so obvious.
But because it's so obvious,it's not obvious for everybody.
Like in the foundation class, Ialso do the critiquing twice and
I come up and then ask, okay,what was your hashtag when tell
us, share with us.
And then somebody said, Oh, Ididn't know about.
(16:54):
That you even can do that withlines.
I don't like, okay, I just putsome flowers and there is like a
stem on some petals and that'sit.
But the potential a stem has,and I can express so many more
things with only one stembecause I was only focused on
the flower.
I never focused on myself on thestem.
(17:15):
But that was the last hashtagwhen a student told with us.
So that really gives us the, theambition to go further, right,
Christi?
Christi Lopez (17:26):
Yes.
Tomas De Bruyne (17:27):
that, is so awesome to hear.
Like, Oh my gosh, we didsomething extra for that person.
We, made a difference for thatperson
Christi Lopez (17:36):
Well, and our coaches and teachers are
amazing.
They are so into their studentsand
Tomas De Bruyne (17:45):
dedicated
Christi Lopez (17:45):
getting them to see the results and that's what
makes a winning team.
Honestly, we wouldn't be able todo what we do without them.
It's a huge asset for us to havethem on our team.
Tomas De Bruyne (18:02):
Yes, but that's true.
And that's why also from thestart, we said, okay, we go for
blended learning.
And we're going to start with apod and a pod could not be
higher than five persons,because if you do like more than
five persons on zoom meeting,you're going to lose
personalities.
You're going to lose thatpersonal contact and so on that,
(18:23):
that coaching part.
So those are all things thatChristi and I, we said, okay, we
don't want to grow like in avery fast way, but we want to
grow in a very like solid,stable way.
And it takes longer, but we,have a very strong foundation
with the right people, with theright products.
(18:45):
Those are my dogs, they want tosay something as well.
So Sorry about that.
They're very friendly.
Do you have a memory of oneperson that perhaps struggled
they came through the processand you're thinking, Oh, this is
going to be difficult for them.
And then all of a sudden theygot it and they just started to
(19:06):
shine
Christi Lopez (19:07):
yes, actually, we talk about this often Tomas and
I see it and we talk with thecoaches too because we have a
biweekly call with the wholeteam.
I do.
And so it's interesting to mebecause we will talk about
different students and we'llsay, okay, this person seems to
be struggling.
It's not really they need somehelp or we're not sure if
(19:30):
they're going to go on topracticum.
They want to do play a littlebit more.
One student comes to mind thatshe was struggling throughout
foundation and She's like, youknow what?
I'm just going to go ahead andgo for it.
I'm going to go into practicumand do practicum and she stuck
(19:51):
with it.
And then about halfway throughpracticum, it was like her
struggle was hanging on toeverything that she had learned
in the past and everything else.
And like trying to put thistogether, how am I going to do
it?
And then it was like, all of asudden she just let it go and
(20:12):
started just designing from.
What she was learning andletting her own creativity shine
through.
And gosh, it just clicked.
Sharon McGukin (20:22):
And that felt like a tremendous to you, didn't
it?
That was worth your investment.
Christi Lopez (20:29):
There are others though.
There's one in particular that Ican remember and Tomas and I
would be like, she's almostthrough advanced and we're like.
She is still holding back.
She has so much potential and wecan tell she's still holding
back and it got to the dayswhere we have the final exams
(20:51):
and they're doing severaldifferent designs and wow, she
broke
Sharon McGukin (20:58):
perfect peak.
Christi Lopez (20:59):
and we were, in the talk where they do a
interpretive design at, from theLouvre in Paris, we take them to
the Louvre and they pick apainting and they have to
interpret that design.
And they, there's several thingsaround that, but she came in and
she started crying.
And it was just impactful forwhat she was doing.
(21:23):
It was like, she's like, Oh mygosh, it finally just,
everything just shed.
Our goal is not for anyone tocry, but
Sharon McGukin (21:33):
If it's success,
Christi Lopez (21:34):
we can just tell like, yeah, yeah.
It was like, yes, you've got it.
This is, it.
So it happens.
Different times, differentpeople.
Tomas De Bruyne (21:46):
those are stories that we hear from
afterwards, like we had thelight bulb happened or during
the advanced, or afterwards, orwe had that moment like.
Oh my God, it really comesbeautiful together now I get it
because that's a little bit ofproblem.
It's not a problem It's not aproblem, but a lot of floral
(22:09):
designers or florists.
They see all the puzzle piecesBut they do not see the whole
puzzle.
So what we try to do is like,okay, let's take all the little
puzzle pieces and put them alltogether.
And then on the end, you willsee everything is interacted.
For instance, like we havesomebody like Jennifer.
She didn't know why should welearn a nomenclature?
(22:32):
It's okay, what's in the name?
Right.
But in nomenclature is like,it's, you have to know your
medium.
The better you know your medium,the better you can play with it.
Better, you are seeing theadvantage, but it's also knowing
the disadvantages and so on.
On the end, she finally said,okay, well, you know what?
I will surrender myself and I'mgoing to learn them.
(22:55):
And she learned and she lostherself in its story of
nomenclature.
She became our nomenclatureguru.
so she up with a whole programabout nomenclature.
Because she could really see howvaluable it was.
Like, a chef in the kitchen, Ialways go for a chef in the
kitchen.
If he doesn't know about thedifference between, or a
(23:15):
sommelier, between the differentwines.
You should know your differentwines.
And the more, you know, the moreyou go in depth and the more you
can communicate, like we just, Ihad that conversation so minutes
ago.
So that makes it all veryinteresting.
Christi Lopez (23:31):
And I always liken it to a painter, right?
When, when I'm painting, if Idon't know the difference
between using oils or acrylics.
Boy, I'm in for a real lesson.
So how in the world can youdesign if you really don't know
your medium and know what thingscould be substituted, what
(23:52):
things work, we just dive intoit.
We really do.
Tomas De Bruyne (23:57):
But the thing is like in here, we are talking
about more the artistic way.
But on the end is yes, it isreally cool to follow EMC
artistic wise, but on the end Itdoes make a difference
financially.
It makes a difference becauseyou're going to make decisions
that are more efficient, thatgoing to save you lots of money
(24:20):
because you are not using thatmany roses or you're more
efficient in time, or you knowhow to combine, or you work with
negative space and so on.
So this is actually.
Like I said, I do that.
I don't have a flower shopanymore, but I do events.
That's my strength.
I just, I charge for air and airis free, but I do kind of put my
(24:45):
arrangements together that Icreate visual impact.
And that's what we give to thestudents as well.
Yes.
You know how to create visualimpact and you charge.
For your artistry for yourcraftsmanship, but also
commercially wise
Christi Lopez (25:01):
Because at the end of the day that nobody wants
to be a starving artist orflorist.
Tomas De Bruyne (25:05):
so true
Sharon McGukin (25:09):
Thank you so much.
You're giving inspiration tomake people want to expand.
Christi Lopez (25:15):
Well, I guess there's probably two different
ways to look at that from withinwhat we do.
We offer our mastermind.
Experience for the alumni andthat comes every other year now.
And this year is for 2024 and inSeptember is the mastermind
(25:35):
experience where they can comeback.
They come back to Belgium andthey experience.
It differently than they did inadvance.
There's no testing.
There's nothing involved there.
It's really just for them tokind of come back and have a
mastermind with Tomás and we dodifferent things.
(25:57):
They get to re energizethemselves and learn, but then
they also get Some one on onetime with him, taking them
through their journey of wherethey've been through design and
they get to see from his side,where their impacts could be,
(26:19):
and it's really an immersiveexperience.
So there's that when it comes toEMC, but when it comes to what
we would love for, those thathave done things with us before.
An EMC is we always want toencourage them to continue
learning to continue being thatinquisitive, creative and that
(26:39):
conscious creative through allthe things that they do.
We're not the only way to geteducation, but we always want to
encourage education no matterwhat.
If you're a retail florist, wehave DUOlogue in April and in
Miami, so if you're in theUnited States, come to see us
(27:02):
because we're using a differentside of approach and we're
really diving in with utilizingyour creativity a retailer.
And how do you do thatcommercially?
How do you.
Create things and get theresults that you want
financially, profitably, howthis came about was we did a
(27:23):
survey last year on the floraldesign market, like what's going
on, what's on your mind, what'scoming up for you around design.
Half of the questions wereanswered around their business.
Of their design.
So we, you know, we put ourheads together.
That's what we do best.
(27:44):
When we get together, We areworking, remotely all the time.
We come together a few times ayear and we just really dug in
and said, what can we do?
And for retailers, we said,okay, we named it DUOlogue
because it's a duo conversationwhere creativity meets business.
We're using what's best betweenus to help bring business
(28:06):
strategies and creativestrategies to the retailer.
And so that they can maximizehow they design, use their own
signature designs, not having togo necessarily with wire service
designs or things like that.
How can you use your owncreativity and set yourself
apart?
(28:27):
And do that on your website,with your clients and do it
profitably because we all wantmoney in our pocket.
Right.
That's what I said about thatstarving artist.
Nobody wants it.
Sharon McGukin (28:41):
Nobody.
Give us some more details aboutDUOlogue.
If we wanted to attend DUOlogue,tell us how to go about that,
the dates, the times, theexpense.
Christi Lopez (28:56):
Well, there's two different parts to do a log.
There's the workshop that'sthree days, April 12th, 10th
through 12th in Miami, Florida.
And there is the one daydemonstration that you can sign
up for separately if want.
But if you come to the workshop,you automatically get a ticket
(29:18):
to the demonstration.
So, the three day workshop is$2,997 for the three days.
And if you just come to thedemonstration, that's only$47.
And that is where you're goingto see how we're incorporating
how Tomas is going toincorporate trends Into your
(29:40):
business and show you how youcan do that with designs how you
can do that with display and howwe share the business profit
strategies around that whereasthe workshop really digs in
You're able to get your handsinto how this can regenerate
your business, not only just bydoing some hands on designs with
(30:06):
the trends, because this stemsfrom our trend report.
And I'll let Tomas talk aboutour trend report shortly, but
it's going to say, okay.
Here, you're learning how to dosome designs, great, or you're
learning how to incorporate yoursignature style with the trends
so that you can have seasonalityand change up your website,
(30:27):
change up your store display,however way you want to do it
and maximize that, but with howdo you do that?
Profitably.
How do you create, you'll get atoolkit that you walk away with.
That is a business toolkit, notlike physical tools, you know,
for cutting and stuff like that,but actual business toolkit.
(30:50):
So you can implement that anduse it on your website.
You can use things in your workroom to help you with pricing
and things like that.
And I'll let Tomas talk aboutthe trends and how that
incorporates and how they getresults from that.
Tomas De Bruyne (31:09):
I'm trend guy.
Okay, cool, well, yes every timewe come up with a trend report
and it's not what I like or whatI think will be trendy.
We work with a trend agency inEurope that works for.
The car industry and the carpetindustry and so on and so on.
So it's broad, it's not onlylike a very small industry, they
(31:33):
are working also in the perfumeindustry, which is one of the
biggest actually.
So we get the trends from thereand we translate them like what
is interesting for the floralindustry in general.
Of course, the colors, what kindof florals, botanicals will fit
in what kind of vases what kindof textures we're going to use
(31:53):
and so on.
So we come with a, a trendreport that should work.
In practice, it's not like atheoretical something that we
come up with, like I, I do itfrom experience, by the way, we
did the trends for a company inAustria.
So we, developed trend boxes asfrom them.
(32:15):
So we always go from what isactually working on the market.
So in this case, we are workingwith four different trends.
And this is a Color trend.
This is a Classic trend.
A Modern trend and actually thea little bit the more Avant
Garde.
So we see what is possible Andwe came up with a trend report
(32:36):
in March and we already knewthat, the trend color of the
year would be in the range ofpeach orange, red, because we
have a very.
Strong trend.
We call it Celestian.
That was like, we could see thattrend will be very, very, very
big.
So in this case, Duologue, goingto about this.
(33:00):
That's a little bit the trendthread creative wise.
We're going to show youdifferent trends.
We're going to show you toimplement them because you don't
have to implement all thetrends.
You have to implement the trendwhere you feel good at.
And that means also, if you workin your shop with that certain
trend, going to attract peoplewho like you likes your trend
(33:20):
because some florists, they wantto sell to everybody.
The first thing you should do inyour flower shop is position
yourself.
Okay.
Who am I?
Who are my clients or no, that'sthe wrong question it's who do I
want as a client?
That's something
Christi Lopez (33:35):
Who do I want to serve?
Tomas De Bruyne (33:37):
Correct.
So in this and that's beautifulon the DUOlogue here.
I'm the creative and I'm sohappy that I have Christie.
Joining that because Christie isthe person who says, okay, yes,
there is more because you canmake the most beautiful things
seller, but if you do not putthem in the window they will
never sell.
(33:58):
So Christie will tell like,okay, how should you sell or how
should you profile yourselfinto, or social media or street
or whatever.
So it's very beautiful likeChristie said,"do a lot between
creativity and and business,"
Sharon McGukin (34:16):
And how would someone register for this?
Christi Lopez (34:18):
They can register on our website at
europeanmastercertification.
com duologue and it's d u o l og u e.
Sharon McGukin (34:30):
Very good.
Christi Lopez (34:31):
If you're going on our Instagram page at EMC
program, you can always see iton our links there too, and
you'll be able to check it out.
We've also created a small guidethat you can download and just
get a taste of kind of whatwe're doing and seeing about it
along with a special offer, ifyou download the guide that we
(34:52):
have a special offer, if youdecide to sign up within 48
hours, you get a couple extrathings here that are additional
onto coming to the workshop.
We're excited to work with thosethat want to see a difference in
their business moving forwardand.
We know that there's so muchpotential, Tomas and I both had
(35:16):
successful flower shops.
I had two here in the WashingtonDC area.
And it's possible to beprofitable., We don't have to be
in a place of wondering howwe're going to deal with the
rising prices in the suppliesand things like that.
There's always a bright thing tolook at and look forward to
(35:39):
we're always caught up in theweeds, right?
We don't like to work withweeds, but we get caught up in
the weeds of our business everyday as retailers So we want to
bring them a fresh perspectivethat they can really utilize not
just imagine but actually putinto practice when they're
(35:59):
leaving.
And we actually have some thingsextended for them.
There's some coaching calls thatthey're going to be able to come
to after the workshop is over toanswer questions.
How you're implementing.
Is there something that's asticking point for you or where
you're having trouble?
Let's get that worked out.
So it's not just this, you know,coming for fun.
(36:20):
It is going to be fun becausewherever we are, we have fun,
right, Tomás?
Tomas De Bruyne (36:24):
right?
Christi Lopez (36:26):
No, it's never a boring time.
And you know, we both have comefrom backgrounds of putting
things together, even with mypast, Mid Atlantic Floral
Association presidency and beingon that board and knowing how to
put together a convention anddoing workshops.
It's a vibrant workshop and wewant them to see a major
(36:49):
difference in their businessgoing forward.
Tomas De Bruyne (36:52):
It's actually, if you're in our business, but
not only in the floral business,but as an entrepreneur, it's all
about making the right choices.
Christi Lopez (36:59):
Mm hmm.
Tomas De Bruyne (36:59):
have so many choices in life, but what are
the right choices?
What are the ones that are nottaking you as fast as possible
to your goals?
And that's why we want to sharewith the people, okay, if you
make certain choices.
You will reach your goalsquicker and more efficient money
(37:20):
wise as well.
Of course, creative wise.
Well, in my case, creative wisein Christi's case business wise.
And that's why DUOlogue that'sthe message we want to give to
the people.
Sharon McGukin (37:31):
Fantastic.
This has been so veryinteresting and I can't wait to
share it with our audiences Wedo, of course, do a podcast and
blog of the same informationbecause some of our people like
to read and some like to listen.
We try to reach both We're realexcited to share this with them.
If there is one closing, word ofadvice that you would like to
(37:55):
share, from your heart, whatwould be your one best piece of
advice?
Christi, you go first.
Christi Lopez (38:05):
Thanks.
My best piece of advice would beinstinctively know that you want
more.
So why not take the leap and dothat this year in one form or
another.
(38:26):
Go with your gut and start toexpand your horizons and grow.
Beyond what you think you cando.
Sharon McGukin (38:33):
Go with the gut and grow.
That's a great one.
Tomas.
Tomas De Bruyne (38:40):
Damn, you took mine.
No, what I said, you know, whatwe have so much potential in
ourselves, we don't even knowhow much potentiality we have in
our body.
So it is possible to grow.
And if you grow, it's not aboutsuccess because success is given
(39:01):
by other people.
Satisfaction is given byyourself.
So if you just grow and you cansatisfy yourself you become
better and it's not becomingbetter only in what you do But
how you feel and that's allpossible because we have a huge
potentiality In ourselves keepon growing discover your
(39:21):
potential
Sharon McGukin (39:23):
Fabulous.
That's the best advice, I think,that allows each person to feel
that success within becausethey've done it in their own
way.
Fantastic.
We thank you both so much fortaking time with us today.
Tell me again that websiteaddress.
Christi Lopez (39:41):
They can register on our website at
europeanmastercertification.
com duologue and it's d u o l og u e.
Sharon McGukin (39:52):
Well, that's fantastic.
So our audience will know whereto visit with you next.
To our audience, Smithers OasisNorth Christi, Tomas, and want
to thank you for joining ustoday.
If you've enjoyed this episode,please share it with a friend
and be sure to hit.
(40:14):
You don't want to miss theinspired solutions our upcoming
guests will share with you foryour personal or business
growth.
If you have topics or guests youwant to hear, please message me.
We'd love to hear from you.
Until next time, I'm SharonMcGukin, reminding you that like
the unfurling petals of aflower, we grow by changing
form, soaking inspiration inlike rain Absorbing energy from
(40:41):
others like warmth from the sun.
This growth opens us up to newideas and that's how we bloom.
And that's what we give to the students as well.
Yes.
You know how to create visualimpact and you charge.
For your artistry for yourcraftsmanship, but also
commercially wise
Christi Lopez (00:18):
Because at the end of the day nobody wants to
be a starving artist or florist.
Tomas De Bruyne (00:23):
so true
Sharon McGukin (00:28):
Welcome to How We Bloom, an oasis of flower
ideas.
I'm your host, Sharon McGukinAIFD, AAF, PFCI, and I believe
that every great success storystarts with one simple idea.
That's why we interview thosewho dare to do things
differently.
Inspiring people who plantseeds, grow ideas, and bloom to
(00:52):
their full potential.
In this podcast, we listen,Learn and explore new
opportunities.
And that's how we bloom.
Today.
I have an exciting episode toshare with you.
Design visionary, Tomas DeBruyne and business strategist,
(01:15):
Christi Lopez are joining me.
In conversation to talk aboutupcoming trend setting
opportunities of EMC, EuropeanMaster Certification.
Tomas and Christi have the goalof growing EMC participants to
their full potential.
Tomas is based in Belgium andChristi in Northern Virginia.
(01:38):
They offer floral educationwithout borders.
They are here to share with ushow you can experience EMC to
expand your floral designpotential.
Introduce the concept of ICE theInfinite Creative Effect, ICE,
and share the details of how toattend an upcoming floral event
(02:01):
called DUOlogue that takes placein Miami.
Let's get started with theseinteresting details.
Welcome Tomas and Christi.
Christi Lopez (02:13):
Hello there.
Tomas De Bruyne (02:14):
Well, and first of all, thank you for having us.
Christi Lopez (02:17):
Very excited about this.
Sharon McGukin (02:17):
EMC has been such a successful program.
What was the inspiration behinddeveloping the potential of
others.
Tomas De Bruyne (02:27):
Well, there was a search.
I knew that there were peoplesearching for more.
And if you say, what is thecommon factor of our graduates?
The common factor is they shouldbe more.
Knowing this, we came up with acurriculum that we can offer
that more because people want toexplore their own potential and
(02:49):
they know that we can go furtherbecause you know what, you can
always challenge yourself tobecome better than yesterday.
And that's why we come up with acurriculum saying yes, you can
be your own teacher.
You can teach yourself in acertain language and that's the
language of design.
And basically, that was the seedthat you just told us, like
(03:09):
that, that was the start.
Sharon McGukin (03:11):
Very interesting.
Christi Lopez (03:13):
Well, and there was that very fact too, of what
attracted me to it.
Gosh, that was in 2016, was thefact that it was focused around
learning some more aboutEuropean floral design.
And what I found is that itwasn't just.
European.
It was more of a more globalrounded type of curriculum for
(03:39):
me to learn about how I coulddesign with my own creativity
and not just by learningconcepts or copying something in
order to understand how to puttogether different floral
designs.
Tomas De Bruyne (03:52):
The curriculum, it's written by experience
because when I was younger, Iwas looking for, I also wanted
the growth.
I want to be better.
I want to be the designer thatwas in favor for everybody.
But I couldn't find the righteducation or I couldn't find the
(04:13):
right classes.
So I have to educate myself.
And from that experience.
And the fact that I wastraveling around the world, I
picked up all the importantthings that brought me to the
position that I am at thismoment.
And that's what we just give thestudents.
Yes, we give a certain theory,but it's more what is really
(04:34):
relevant being a designer?
What does your clients wantsfrom you?
They don't want to hear how goodyou are in color.
It's cool, right?
you are a color guru, it's nice,really.
We all love you.
But what does it bring on thetable to be a color guru for
your clients?
And that's actually what Christisays.
(04:55):
Christi is good in certainaspects.
So how can you translate this incommercial success?
Sharon McGukin (05:03):
That's very valuable.
How many people do you think youhave led through EMC already?
Christi Lopez (05:10):
Yeah.
Well, we have over 200 alumni atthis point worldwide.
So it's.
Small, but mighty,
Sharon McGukin (05:19):
I think that's a pretty impressive number.
Christi Lopez (05:21):
I forget how many different countries, Tomás, do
you remember?
Yes.
Tomas De Bruyne (05:30):
but yes, we should, we should count, but
think it's over the 20, yes.
And it's not a global thing.
It's not a country thing.
It's like what, what unifieseverybody is like, okay, what I
said is like the ambition andlooking for, how, and that has
nothing to do with yournationality.
And, it's like the people whoare reaching out to EMC, like I
(05:52):
said, they're coming from allthe, world.
And that makes the program alsovery interesting.
Because we learn from, eachother so much, all the different
cultures.
Like we have a huge part of, Ithink we've got like 10 people
from India.
I'm not sure.
Now I'm looking to But whatthose people are bringing onto
the table what, when, how they.
(06:12):
See design and how they see aprocess of making florals.
It teaches us.
And we learn from that people aswell.
We've got some, people fromJapan who are really like into
the detail, immensely into thedetail.
So we learn from each other.
Which enriches us all.
Christi Lopez (06:29):
Yes.
And I, would say too, that whenyou think about it, like for us,
we've started to realize, okay,what's needed and we expanded
and we've translated ourfoundation curriculum into
Spanish and we've also areworking on translating it into
Chinese.
(06:49):
So it's kind of taken a biggergrowth path as well.
For the main, program.
Sharon McGukin (06:57):
under its own power.
Christi Lopez (07:00):
Yes, for sure.
Sharon McGukin (07:02):
can you walk us through the process of if I
decided today that I wouldchoose to be EMC, what would be
the process to attain thatstatus?
Christi Lopez (07:15):
So, the main program we offer is our
certification program, and it'sdivided into three steps.
the great part about that isthat you can do it at your own
pace.
So it's almost like going touniversity, right?
You decide that this is whatyou're going for.
And then you take the classesthat you need to get to that
(07:37):
point.
And so for us, we're like, okay,how did we divide that up?
It's foundation practicum andadvanced.
And because of COVID, God loveCOVID, we were able to put
foundation into an online eightweek.
(07:57):
system where it used to be, likewhen I took it, we had six days
to take in all of theinformation and foundation,
which is foundational ways tolearn how to do floral design.
So we've expanded it into eightweeks and then there's
practicum.
Also, that's building onfoundation where you get to
(08:20):
really implement more andsolidify what you're learning
and being able to grow andthat's over eight weeks online
and then we have advanced, whichis 10 days in Belgium.
To finish out yourcertification, what better way,
right?
So it's a process and we havefound that it's been very
(08:43):
successful.
And I know some people are alittle on the fence, like, how
in the world can you learnfloral design online?
But what we've found is that thecombination of our online with
the coaches, having thatinteraction weekly, doing the
assignments, talking about them,getting the critiques is really,
(09:08):
really producing strongerdesigners.
Are able to really get somevaluable feedback on each of
their designs to find out wherecan I grow?
Do I understand the concept?
Do I, know what it means to workwith proportion?
Do I know what it means to workwith lines?
(09:30):
So, so many great tidbits.
I know I kind of went off on atangent, but it's curriculum.
Tomas De Bruyne (09:36):
it's, so true because you can ask yourself,
how do you measure a success ofa student?
So basically what we do in thefoundation class and practicum,
we prepare the students to beready for the advanced.
Because there's so much, becausefirst you have to learn the
notes before you start playingwith the notes, before you start
(10:00):
making your own music.
So with the blended learning,because we were one of the
first.
Who was doing this, wediscovered that the students
were more ready on the advancedclass because they came up with
better solutions and they startto get better because it's all
about interaction the elementsof principles of design, it's
(10:21):
all about that, how we combinethem, how we combine your
elements, how do you let theminteract that they lift each
other up and so on and so on.
Also how you communicate.
So we could see in the advancedclass that we dealt with a
higher level of students, whichof course we are very proud of
that we could make a differencewith those people.
(10:43):
And then of course the, thepoints were higher, but also
it's very satisfying that yousee in the exam, because the
last three days two days and ahalf are exams that Christi and
I, we always take the exams fromthe students and we'd say, you
You are somebody who can come upwith a nice design, but you
actually also understand whatyou design, you know, not only
(11:08):
the what, but you know, we askfor, why are you doing this?
And they could explain actually,yes, I use this color, this
color together because I wantedto reach that outcome and that.
gives us so much respect forsomebody who really knows how
and why they're doing something.
Sharon McGukin (11:28):
That's amazing.
Christi Lopez (11:30):
It's, a robust program and I liken it to going
to university and making thatinvestment and Learning how to
design and no matter where youare, what materials you get what
you're given, you can tap intoyour creativity and find the
solutions because you know thefoundation of what design is all
(11:54):
about.
Sharon McGukin (11:55):
And when you say tap in, brings me back to the
concept of ICE, the InfinitiveCreative Effect.
Can you tell me a little aboutthat?
Christi Lopez (12:07):
Tomas is looking at me.
Well.
Basically what we're after inwhat our goal is for designers
in the floral industry is thatthey become a more conscious
creative, that they're not justthrowing flowers into a vase.
And voila, because that's whatthe grocery store people think
(12:30):
that, you know, they can justpick up the flowers.
They know when the averageperson goes to the grocery
store, picks up the flowers andbrings it home and they just
plop it into the vase.
And sometimes they cut it.
Sometimes they may not.
Sometimes they use flower food.
Sometimes they don't.
There's more to it.
And there's a reason why.
What we do is so special andevokes emotions out of people.
(12:55):
It's how do you design?
How do you learn how that comes?
And most creatives have aninstinctual part to them, right?
That's like, I love there'ssomething about it.
There's a passion around it, butthen we also get to know how we
can tap into that even furtherby knowing how to use those
(13:19):
elements and principles.
And it kind of flies in the facea little bit of, I don't need
education because most peopleare learning all the time.
Right?
So why not take the time tolearn some things that are going
to catapult you in your designand how you work with your
(13:43):
clients?
How you can take what they'resaying and just immediately be
able to give them the visionthat they're looking for based
on what they're saying to you.
And you're not searching for apicture, you're not searching
for something that you need tocopy because you're trying to go
back and do something you'vedone before.
(14:05):
it's automatic.
It's tapping into your creativejuices.
Tomas De Bruyne (14:10):
It's all about communication.
That's it in short.
It's like, if you cancommunicate, if my English is
not perfect.
But I can communicate with you,right?
So I can express myself.
So if somebody is coming in yourshop and you can express the
desires, the expectations ofyour clients through your medium
and the medium is actually yourflowers and you know how to
(14:33):
combine them.
You know how to put themtogether color wise, form wise,
botanical wise, and so on.
Then you actually arecommunicating the way what they
want to say.
They want to express certainemotions.
Like Christi said, and it's sotrue.
And it's not only in a flowershop, it's also if you're doing
like events or if you do likesympathy work, that's a huge
(14:55):
one.
If people want today they wantto show more that their grief,
but their sympathy or like,okay, let you can go with
pastels.
You can go with certain flowers.
You can, you can create acertain tribute to the person
who is past away.
So that's how we do it, then youhave to be conscious in
(15:17):
selecting your elements and yourelements are your botanicals are
half elements like the stem,like the shape, like form, like
the color and so on and so on.
So the further you go, the moreand better you can communicate.
Christi Lopez (15:33):
And it sounds a little woo woo, right?
You're like too far up there.
But what this does is brings itdown to a level where you're
like so many aha moments.
Inside the community we have aEMC circle community besides the
regular community, the consciouscreative community, which anyone
can join.
If you're in a particularfoundation or practicum or
(15:55):
advanced, you're in your owngroup in there too.
And.
They get to show their insightsevery week of what did you find
this week?
What, what was it that youlearned?
And it's amazing the things thatcome out of them and what we
hear because you start to see,oh my gosh, that it wasn't even
(16:17):
something that I picked upduring that part of the course,
but I could see that now and Isee how that resonates with you
and that's important because youto pick on people at different
levels.
Tomas De Bruyne (16:32):
And sometimes it's something that we said,
okay, it's so obvious.
But because it's so obvious,it's not obvious for everybody.
Like in the foundation class, Ialso do the critiquing twice and
I come up and then ask, okay,what was your hashtag when tell
us, share with us.
And then somebody said, Oh, Ididn't know about.
(16:54):
That you even can do that withlines.
I don't like, okay, I just putsome flowers and there is like a
stem on some petals and that'sit.
But the potential a stem has,and I can express so many more
things with only one stembecause I was only focused on
the flower.
I never focused on myself on thestem.
(17:15):
But that was the last hashtagwhen a student told with us.
So that really gives us the, theambition to go further, right,
Christi?
Christi Lopez (17:26):
Yes.
Tomas De Bruyne (17:27):
that, is so awesome to hear.
Like, Oh my gosh, we didsomething extra for that person.
We, made a difference for thatperson
Christi Lopez (17:36):
Well, and our coaches and teachers are
amazing.
They are so into their studentsand
Tomas De Bruyne (17:45):
dedicated
Christi Lopez (17:45):
getting them to see the results and that's what
makes a winning team.
Honestly, we wouldn't be able todo what we do without them.
It's a huge asset for us to havethem on our team.
Tomas De Bruyne (18:02):
Yes, but that's true.
And that's why also from thestart, we said, okay, we go for
blended learning.
And we're going to start with apod and a pod could not be
higher than five persons,because if you do like more than
five persons on zoom meeting,you're going to lose
personalities.
You're going to lose thatpersonal contact and so on that,
(18:23):
that coaching part.
So those are all things thatChristi and I, we said, okay, we
don't want to grow like in avery fast way, but we want to
grow in a very like solid,stable way.
And it takes longer, but we,have a very strong foundation
with the right people, with theright products.
(18:45):
Those are my dogs, they want tosay something as well.
So Sorry about that.
They're very friendly.
Do you have a memory of oneperson that perhaps struggled
they came through the processand you're thinking, Oh, this is
going to be difficult for them.
And then all of a sudden theygot it and they just started to
(19:06):
shine
Christi Lopez (19:07):
yes, actually, we talk about this often Tomas and
I see it and we talk with thecoaches too because we have a
biweekly call with the wholeteam.
I do.
And so it's interesting to mebecause we will talk about
different students and we'llsay, okay, this person seems to
be struggling.
It's not really they need somehelp or we're not sure if
(19:30):
they're going to go on topracticum.
They want to do play a littlebit more.
One student comes to mind thatshe was struggling throughout
foundation and She's like, youknow what?
I'm just going to go ahead andgo for it.
I'm going to go into practicumand do practicum and she stuck
(19:51):
with it.
And then about halfway throughpracticum, it was like her
struggle was hanging on toeverything that she had learned
in the past and everything else.
And like trying to put thistogether, how am I going to do
it?
And then it was like, all of asudden she just let it go and
(20:12):
started just designing from.
What she was learning andletting her own creativity shine
through.
And gosh, it just clicked.
Sharon McGukin (20:22):
And that felt like a tremendous to you, didn't
it?
That was worth your investment.
Christi Lopez (20:29):
There are others though.
There's one in particular that Ican remember and Tomas and I
would be like, she's almostthrough advanced and we're like.
She is still holding back.
She has so much potential and wecan tell she's still holding
back and it got to the dayswhere we have the final exams
(20:51):
and they're doing severaldifferent designs and wow, she
broke
Sharon McGukin (20:58):
perfect peak.
Christi Lopez (20:59):
and we were, in the talk where they do a
interpretive design at, from theLouvre in Paris, we take them to
the Louvre and they pick apainting and they have to
interpret that design.
And they, there's several thingsaround that, but she came in and
she started crying.
And it was just impactful forwhat she was doing.
(21:23):
It was like, she's like, Oh mygosh, it finally just,
everything just shed.
Our goal is not for anyone tocry, but
Sharon McGukin (21:33):
If it's success,
Christi Lopez (21:34):
we can just tell like, yeah, yeah.
It was like, yes, you've got it.
This is, it.
So it happens.
Different times, differentpeople.
Tomas De Bruyne (21:46):
those are stories that we hear from
afterwards, like we had thelight bulb happened or during
the advanced, or afterwards, orwe had that moment like.
Oh my God, it really comesbeautiful together now I get it
because that's a little bit ofproblem.
It's not a problem It's not aproblem, but a lot of floral
(22:09):
designers or florists.
They see all the puzzle piecesBut they do not see the whole
puzzle.
So what we try to do is like,okay, let's take all the little
puzzle pieces and put them alltogether.
And then on the end, you willsee everything is interacted.
For instance, like we havesomebody like Jennifer.
She didn't know why should welearn a nomenclature?
(22:32):
It's okay, what's in the name?
Right.
But in nomenclature is like,it's, you have to know your
medium.
The better you know your medium,the better you can play with it.
Better, you are seeing theadvantage, but it's also knowing
the disadvantages and so on.
On the end, she finally said,okay, well, you know what?
I will surrender myself and I'mgoing to learn them.
(22:55):
And she learned and she lostherself in its story of
nomenclature.
She became our nomenclatureguru.
so she up with a whole programabout nomenclature.
Because she could really see howvaluable it was.
Like, a chef in the kitchen, Ialways go for a chef in the
kitchen.
If he doesn't know about thedifference between, or a
(23:15):
sommelier, between the differentwines.
You should know your differentwines.
And the more, you know, the moreyou go in depth and the more you
can communicate, like we just, Ihad that conversation so minutes
ago.
So that makes it all veryinteresting.
Christi Lopez (23:31):
And I always liken it to a painter, right?
When, when I'm painting, if Idon't know the difference
between using oils or acrylics.
Boy, I'm in for a real lesson.
So how in the world can youdesign if you really don't know
your medium and know what thingscould be substituted, what
(23:52):
things work, we just dive intoit.
We really do.
Tomas De Bruyne (23:57):
But the thing is like in here, we are talking
about more the artistic way.
But on the end is yes, it isreally cool to follow EMC
artistic wise, but on the end Itdoes make a difference
financially.
It makes a difference becauseyou're going to make decisions
that are more efficient, thatgoing to save you lots of money
(24:20):
because you are not using thatmany roses or you're more
efficient in time, or you knowhow to combine, or you work with
negative space and so on.
So this is actually.
Like I said, I do that.
I don't have a flower shopanymore, but I do events.
That's my strength.
I just, I charge for air and airis free, but I do kind of put my
(24:45):
arrangements together that Icreate visual impact.
And that's what we give to thestudents as well.
Yes.
You know how to create visualimpact and you charge.
For your artistry for yourcraftsmanship, but also
commercially wise
Christi Lopez (25:01):
Because at the end of the day that nobody wants
to be a starving artist orflorist.
Tomas De Bruyne (25:05):
so true
Sharon McGukin (25:09):
Thank you so much.
You're giving inspiration tomake people want to expand.
Christi Lopez (25:15):
Well, I guess there's probably two different
ways to look at that from withinwhat we do.
We offer our mastermind.
Experience for the alumni andthat comes every other year now.
And this year is for 2024 and inSeptember is the mastermind
(25:35):
experience where they can comeback.
They come back to Belgium andthey experience.
It differently than they did inadvance.
There's no testing.
There's nothing involved there.
It's really just for them tokind of come back and have a
mastermind with Tomás and we dodifferent things.
(25:57):
They get to re energizethemselves and learn, but then
they also get Some one on onetime with him, taking them
through their journey of wherethey've been through design and
they get to see from his side,where their impacts could be,
(26:19):
and it's really an immersiveexperience.
So there's that when it comes toEMC, but when it comes to what
we would love for, those thathave done things with us before.
An EMC is we always want toencourage them to continue
learning to continue being thatinquisitive, creative and that
(26:39):
conscious creative through allthe things that they do.
We're not the only way to geteducation, but we always want to
encourage education no matterwhat.
If you're a retail florist, wehave DUOlogue in April and in
Miami, so if you're in theUnited States, come to see us
(27:02):
because we're using a differentside of approach and we're
really diving in with utilizingyour creativity a retailer.
And how do you do thatcommercially?
How do you.
Create things and get theresults that you want
financially, profitably, howthis came about was we did a
(27:23):
survey last year on the floraldesign market, like what's going
on, what's on your mind, what'scoming up for you around design.
Half of the questions wereanswered around their business.
Of their design.
So we, you know, we put ourheads together.
That's what we do best.
(27:44):
When we get together, We areworking, remotely all the time.
We come together a few times ayear and we just really dug in
and said, what can we do?
And for retailers, we said,okay, we named it DUOlogue
because it's a duo conversationwhere creativity meets business.
We're using what's best betweenus to help bring business
(28:06):
strategies and creativestrategies to the retailer.
And so that they can maximizehow they design, use their own
signature designs, not having togo necessarily with wire service
designs or things like that.
How can you use your owncreativity and set yourself
apart?
(28:27):
And do that on your website,with your clients and do it
profitably because we all wantmoney in our pocket.
Right.
That's what I said about thatstarving artist.
Nobody wants it.
Sharon McGukin (28:41):
Nobody.
Give us some more details aboutDUOlogue.
If we wanted to attend DUOlogue,tell us how to go about that,
the dates, the times, theexpense.
Christi Lopez (28:56):
Well, there's two different parts to do a log.
There's the workshop that'sthree days, April 12th, 10th
through 12th in Miami, Florida.
And there is the one daydemonstration that you can sign
up for separately if want.
But if you come to the workshop,you automatically get a ticket
(29:18):
to the demonstration.
So, the three day workshop is$2,997 for the three days.
And if you just come to thedemonstration, that's only$47.
And that is where you're goingto see how we're incorporating
how Tomas is going toincorporate trends Into your
(29:40):
business and show you how youcan do that with designs how you
can do that with display and howwe share the business profit
strategies around that whereasthe workshop really digs in
You're able to get your handsinto how this can regenerate
your business, not only just bydoing some hands on designs with
(30:06):
the trends, because this stemsfrom our trend report.
And I'll let Tomas talk aboutour trend report shortly, but
it's going to say, okay.
Here, you're learning how to dosome designs, great, or you're
learning how to incorporate yoursignature style with the trends
so that you can have seasonalityand change up your website,
(30:27):
change up your store display,however way you want to do it
and maximize that, but with howdo you do that?
Profitably.
How do you create, you'll get atoolkit that you walk away with.
That is a business toolkit, notlike physical tools, you know,
for cutting and stuff like that,but actual business toolkit.
(30:50):
So you can implement that anduse it on your website.
You can use things in your workroom to help you with pricing
and things like that.
And I'll let Tomas talk aboutthe trends and how that
incorporates and how they getresults from that.
Tomas De Bruyne (31:09):
I'm trend guy.
Okay, cool, well, yes every timewe come up with a trend report
and it's not what I like or whatI think will be trendy.
We work with a trend agency inEurope that works for.
The car industry and the carpetindustry and so on and so on.
So it's broad, it's not onlylike a very small industry, they
(31:33):
are working also in the perfumeindustry, which is one of the
biggest actually.
So we get the trends from thereand we translate them like what
is interesting for the floralindustry in general.
Of course, the colors, what kindof florals, botanicals will fit
in what kind of vases what kindof textures we're going to use
(31:53):
and so on.
So we come with a, a trendreport that should work.
In practice, it's not like atheoretical something that we
come up with, like I, I do itfrom experience, by the way, we
did the trends for a company inAustria.
So we, developed trend boxes asfrom them.
(32:15):
So we always go from what isactually working on the market.
So in this case, we are workingwith four different trends.
And this is a Color trend.
This is a Classic trend.
A Modern trend and actually thea little bit the more Avant
Garde.
So we see what is possible Andwe came up with a trend report
(32:36):
in March and we already knewthat, the trend color of the
year would be in the range ofpeach orange, red, because we
have a very.
Strong trend.
We call it Celestian.
That was like, we could see thattrend will be very, very, very
big.
So in this case, Duologue, goingto about this.
(33:00):
That's a little bit the trendthread creative wise.
We're going to show youdifferent trends.
We're going to show you toimplement them because you don't
have to implement all thetrends.
You have to implement the trendwhere you feel good at.
And that means also, if you workin your shop with that certain
trend, going to attract peoplewho like you likes your trend
(33:20):
because some florists, they wantto sell to everybody.
The first thing you should do inyour flower shop is position
yourself.
Okay.
Who am I?
Who are my clients or no, that'sthe wrong question it's who do I
want as a client?
That's something
Christi Lopez (33:35):
Who do I want to serve?
Tomas De Bruyne (33:37):
Correct.
So in this and that's beautifulon the DUOlogue here.
I'm the creative and I'm sohappy that I have Christie.
Joining that because Christie isthe person who says, okay, yes,
there is more because you canmake the most beautiful things
seller, but if you do not putthem in the window they will
never sell.
(33:58):
So Christie will tell like,okay, how should you sell or how
should you profile yourselfinto, or social media or street
or whatever.
So it's very beautiful likeChristie said,"do a lot between
creativity and and business,"
Sharon McGukin (34:16):
And how would someone register for this?
Christi Lopez (34:18):
They can register on our website at
europeanmastercertification.
com duologue and it's d u o l og u e.
Sharon McGukin (34:30):
Very good.
Christi Lopez (34:31):
If you're going on our Instagram page at EMC
program, you can always see iton our links there too, and
you'll be able to check it out.
We've also created a small guidethat you can download and just
get a taste of kind of whatwe're doing and seeing about it
along with a special offer, ifyou download the guide that we
(34:52):
have a special offer, if youdecide to sign up within 48
hours, you get a couple extrathings here that are additional
onto coming to the workshop.
We're excited to work with thosethat want to see a difference in
their business moving forwardand.
We know that there's so muchpotential, Tomas and I both had
(35:16):
successful flower shops.
I had two here in the WashingtonDC area.
And it's possible to beprofitable., We don't have to be
in a place of wondering howwe're going to deal with the
rising prices in the suppliesand things like that.
There's always a bright thing tolook at and look forward to
(35:39):
we're always caught up in theweeds, right?
We don't like to work withweeds, but we get caught up in
the weeds of our business everyday as retailers So we want to
bring them a fresh perspectivethat they can really utilize not
just imagine but actually putinto practice when they're
(35:59):
leaving.
And we actually have some thingsextended for them.
There's some coaching calls thatthey're going to be able to come
to after the workshop is over toanswer questions.
How you're implementing.
Is there something that's asticking point for you or where
you're having trouble?
Let's get that worked out.
So it's not just this, you know,coming for fun.
(36:20):
It is going to be fun becausewherever we are, we have fun,
right, Tomás?
Tomas De Bruyne (36:24):
right?
Christi Lopez (36:26):
No, it's never a boring time.
And you know, we both have comefrom backgrounds of putting
things together, even with mypast, Mid Atlantic Floral
Association presidency and beingon that board and knowing how to
put together a convention anddoing workshops.
It's a vibrant workshop and wewant them to see a major
(36:49):
difference in their businessgoing forward.
Tomas De Bruyne (36:52):
It's actually, if you're in our business, but
not only in the floral business,but as an entrepreneur, it's all
about making the right choices.
Christi Lopez (36:59):
Mm hmm.
Tomas De Bruyne (36:59):
have so many choices in life, but what are
the right choices?
What are the ones that are nottaking you as fast as possible
to your goals?
And that's why we want to sharewith the people, okay, if you
make certain choices.
You will reach your goalsquicker and more efficient money
(37:20):
wise as well.
Of course, creative wise.
Well, in my case, creative wisein Christi's case business wise.
And that's why DUOlogue that'sthe message we want to give to
the people.
Sharon McGukin (37:31):
Fantastic.
This has been so veryinteresting and I can't wait to
share it with our audiences Wedo, of course, do a podcast and
blog of the same informationbecause some of our people like
to read and some like to listen.
We try to reach both We're realexcited to share this with them.
If there is one closing, word ofadvice that you would like to
(37:55):
share, from your heart, whatwould be your one best piece of
advice?
Christi, you go first.
Christi Lopez (38:05):
Thanks.
My best piece of advice would beinstinctively know that you want
more.
So why not take the leap and dothat this year in one form or
another.
(38:26):
Go with your gut and start toexpand your horizons and grow.
Beyond what you think you cando.
Sharon McGukin (38:33):
Go with the gut and grow.
That's a great one.
Tomas.
Tomas De Bruyne (38:40):
Damn, you took mine.
No, what I said, you know, whatwe have so much potential in
ourselves, we don't even knowhow much potentiality we have in
our body.
So it is possible to grow.
And if you grow, it's not aboutsuccess because success is given
(39:01):
by other people.
Satisfaction is given byyourself.
So if you just grow and you cansatisfy yourself you become
better and it's not becomingbetter only in what you do But
how you feel and that's allpossible because we have a huge
potentiality In ourselves keepon growing discover your
(39:21):
potential
Sharon McGukin (39:23):
Fabulous.
That's the best advice, I think,that allows each person to feel
that success within becausethey've done it in their own
way.
Fantastic.
We thank you both so much fortaking time with us today.
Tell me again that websiteaddress.
Christi Lopez (39:41):
They can register on our website at
europeanmastercertification.
com duologue and it's d u o l og u e.
Sharon McGukin (39:52):
Well, that's fantastic.
So our audience will know whereto visit with you next.
To our audience, Smithers OasisNorth Christi, Tomas, and want
to thank you for joining ustoday.
If you've enjoyed this episode,please share it with a friend
and be sure to hit.
(40:14):
You don't want to miss theinspired solutions our upcoming
guests will share with you foryour personal or business
growth.
If you have topics or guests youwant to hear, please message me.
We'd love to hear from you.
Until next time, I'm SharonMcGukin, reminding you that like
the unfurling petals of aflower, we grow by changing
form, soaking inspiration inlike rain Absorbing energy from
(40:41):
others like warmth from the sun.
This growth opens us up to newideas and that's how we bloom.
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