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| Power Style Wellness Connections |
inspiring minds ~ Brenda Woodling
By Lucy M. Pritchett
Two surprises greet the customer entering Barbara’s Florist on Frankfort Ave.
The first is the extravagant array of lavender, white, magenta, and pink orchids
living luxuriously in the warm, muggy clime of the shop.
The second is that there is no Barbara here. Instead, you have owner Brenda
Woodling standing behind the small counter ready to talk flowers.
This is no ordinary floral shop. Indeed, one can step from the orchids’ tropical
atmosphere into the flower room where the temperature hovers at about 34
degrees. Here, white buckets of vibrantly colored poseys — daisies, iris, asters,
mums, and lilies — await the customer’s pleasure. Pick your own bouquet and
Brenda will wrap your stems in red or purple paper and off you go. Or perhaps,
if you wish, she will help you pick out a vase and you can leave with a more
traditional arrangement. Either way, you have brightened your day.Flowers
inspire her:
They are the essence of living. The color is what makes you feel good. One
stem or a giant bouquet — it doesn’t take a lot. I never get sick of looking at
fresh flowers.
About plants:
I love plants too. I try to carry some unusual ones — bromeliads or Euphorbia
from Madagascar. If you want your home or workplace to be more hospitable, a
plant will add warmth and change the whole effect of the room.
About creativity:
I love helping people solve their problems. To help them put together what they
are looking for. To make it beautiful and simply put together. A lovely bouquet
should look like it was just picked out of a garden and held in your hand. It is
not so perfect as a contrived arrangement.
Her stock:
I have a gigantic cutting garden in my yard. I grow 1,000 tulips and 1,000 lilies
each year and use them to supplement the ones I buy from my suppliers.
Wants to meet:
R.S. Fuchs. He is the premier orchid grower and breeder in the world. He is
president of R.F. Orchids in Homestead, Fla.
On floral design:
It is really something you can either do or not do. It isn’t something you can
learn in a class. I have seen 16-year-olds come up with wonderful ideas.
First job:
I was a teacher but didn’t like it. Then I went to work for Philip Morris. I was one
of the many white-collar female workers in the ‘70s that weren’t going anywhere.
Defining moment:
My supervisor at Phillip Morris told me that “women had no place in
management.” That propelled me into owning my own business.
Best ideas come:
Really early in the morning. My two best ideas were to have my own cutting
garden and to start carrying orchids. That has made the biggest change in my
business.
No one is better than she is:
At being self-sufficient.
Fifteen free minutes:
I would go into an orchid grower’s operation and choose all the strangest plants
for myself.
Enemy of creativity:
Balancing the quantity of the product to achieve a beautiful thing and selling it
for what is in it.
Knows now:
Location is the defining factor of your business.
The creative process:
It is something that comes out of your head and not from a book. It comes from
within you.
Favorite orchid:
The swamp orchid. It is not hybridized. It has a small purple flower with green
petals and is fragrant. It looks just like it does in the wild.
Creating a bouquet:
Choosing primary colors will give the greatest color impact. But a
monochromatic bouquet has a certain impact too. Yellow will add a punch of
color. Even the biggest, burliest guy can pick out a beautiful bouquet.
The world would be a better place:
If people respected Nature and the great things she gives us.
Lucy M. Pritchett (lucy@iamtodayswoman.com is a regular writer for Today’s
Woman.
By Lucy M. Pritchett
Two surprises greet the customer entering Barbara’s Florist on Frankfort Ave.
The first is the extravagant array of lavender, white, magenta, and pink orchids
living luxuriously in the warm, muggy clime of the shop.
The second is that there is no Barbara here. Instead, you have owner Brenda
Woodling standing behind the small counter ready to talk flowers.
This is no ordinary floral shop. Indeed, one can step from the orchids’ tropical
atmosphere into the flower room where the temperature hovers at about 34
degrees. Here, white buckets of vibrantly colored poseys — daisies, iris, asters,
mums, and lilies — await the customer’s pleasure. Pick your own bouquet and
Brenda will wrap your stems in red or purple paper and off you go. Or perhaps,
if you wish, she will help you pick out a vase and you can leave with a more
traditional arrangement. Either way, you have brightened your day.Flowers
inspire her:
They are the essence of living. The color is what makes you feel good. One
stem or a giant bouquet — it doesn’t take a lot. I never get sick of looking at
fresh flowers.
About plants:
I love plants too. I try to carry some unusual ones — bromeliads or Euphorbia
from Madagascar. If you want your home or workplace to be more hospitable, a
plant will add warmth and change the whole effect of the room.
About creativity:
I love helping people solve their problems. To help them put together what they
are looking for. To make it beautiful and simply put together. A lovely bouquet
should look like it was just picked out of a garden and held in your hand. It is
not so perfect as a contrived arrangement.
Her stock:
I have a gigantic cutting garden in my yard. I grow 1,000 tulips and 1,000 lilies
each year and use them to supplement the ones I buy from my suppliers.
Wants to meet:
R.S. Fuchs. He is the premier orchid grower and breeder in the world. He is
president of R.F. Orchids in Homestead, Fla.
On floral design:
It is really something you can either do or not do. It isn’t something you can
learn in a class. I have seen 16-year-olds come up with wonderful ideas.
First job:
I was a teacher but didn’t like it. Then I went to work for Philip Morris. I was one
of the many white-collar female workers in the ‘70s that weren’t going anywhere.
Defining moment:
My supervisor at Phillip Morris told me that “women had no place in
management.” That propelled me into owning my own business.
Best ideas come:
Really early in the morning. My two best ideas were to have my own cutting
garden and to start carrying orchids. That has made the biggest change in my
business.
No one is better than she is:
At being self-sufficient.
Fifteen free minutes:
I would go into an orchid grower’s operation and choose all the strangest plants
for myself.
Enemy of creativity:
Balancing the quantity of the product to achieve a beautiful thing and selling it
for what is in it.
Knows now:
Location is the defining factor of your business.
The creative process:
It is something that comes out of your head and not from a book. It comes from
within you.
Favorite orchid:
The swamp orchid. It is not hybridized. It has a small purple flower with green
petals and is fragrant. It looks just like it does in the wild.
Creating a bouquet:
Choosing primary colors will give the greatest color impact. But a
monochromatic bouquet has a certain impact too. Yellow will add a punch of
color. Even the biggest, burliest guy can pick out a beautiful bouquet.
The world would be a better place:
If people respected Nature and the great things she gives us.
Lucy M. Pritchett (lucy@iamtodayswoman.com is a regular writer for Today’s
Woman.