Presenting

6 November | 2021 welcome T is the season! As the holiday shopping frenzy begins, I want to take a moment to express my gratitude for the blessings I've enjoyed this year. In January, I set about my plan to build a strong internal team that could help me deliver a quality publication worthy of Florists' Review's 124-year history. Having owned a magazine media company for 10 years, I'm quite familiar with putting together publications. I love the entire process: the selection of stories; deciding which writers and which voices will be included in those stories; and the pictures—oh, the pictures. Many of you may not know, but I design more than half of the publication myself; it's my creative outlet. As you can probably tell, I'm dedicated to good photography. I even have a degree in it—although my 35 mm skills are of little use today. e pictures and the words are equally important to me. e quality of a story and the way it lands with our audience has everything to do with presentation—right down to the quality of the paper and the printing itself. I'm immensely proud of has everything to do with presentation—right down to the quality of the paper and the printing itself. I'm immensely proud of the issues my talented team and I have created this year. We've poured our hearts and souls onto those pages with the hope that sharing some amazing people's advice and talents will help you on your journey in this wonderfully joyful industry. In this issue, for example, on the design side, we have incredible photos of spectacular fl ower installations from fl oral designers around the world, to provide inspiration for future store and window displays as well as for wedding décor ; creative and modern holiday design ideas; and a primer on our fi ve favorite types of orchids. On the business side, we off er practical, usable tips on a range of topics including increasing your holiday sales volume, planning and hosting fl ower arranging workshops, creating a cohesive social media marketing plan and upping your customer service game—to name just a few. I feel it's a great privilege to work in the fl oral industry ; it isn't as if we must push nuts and bolts! How fortunate are we that we get to sell fl owers that make people happy? I've noticed a trend in the people who work in the fl oral industry : Many have former careers in extremely lucrative industries, but somewhere along the way, they decided quality of life is more important than the golden handcuff s of some high-paying jobs. ere is undoubtedly joy in fl owers; you can see it in people's eyes, you can hear it in their voices, you can feel the excitement at shows. Every time I get a delivery of fl owers, I can't help but giggle; it's always exciting! I'm eternally thankful for the journey off ered to me in January 2021, and I will be forever grateful for generous welcome the industry gave me and the amazing work my tiny but mighty team has delivered. We hope you enjoy the read and have a happy, healthy holiday season with your colleagues, friends and family! Kindest Regards, Jules Lewis Gibson President & Creative Director Florists' Review Media Group Rose compliments of Alexandra Farms

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