On May twenty sixth of 2016, I wrote this post and released it on social media.
For the first time in my life my mind and my heart are sort of in a dark place. I have been going through something strange and oddly painful. I finally realized that I could relate this odd feeling to transitional labor, yes like in child birth. I have realized that I have some serious and hard work to do and if I do this work something beautiful and meaningful will be born. I’m working on a document called the “Standards of the Industry”. The industry of floral and event design is completely unregulated. There are very few standards, no documented best business practices, no guidelines. It’s essentially been one man for himself. Thankfully, 8 years ago I started gathering with other like-minded designers and the collective the @chapeldesigners was born. Among us, we began to create a standard or “best” business practices. This has been helpful to those who study with us; however, in order to see a true change in the flower world, we all need to adopt similar or standard business practices. On June 16th I will release a document to my subscriber list of sound business practices, if you’re not a subscriber sign up at www.hopeflowerfarm.com. I hope the content in this document can become a standard in the industry. If we as designers price consistently, fairly and wisely we will protect ourselves and our businesses. If we as designers have boundaries and rules in place to protect us we will flourish. I feel a change coming and I’m going to make that change. Are you with me? I’m coming back into the light! Photo by @emgudephoto #standardsoftheindustry
While I had intended to release the document on the said date, things quickly got out of hand. I received far more feedback and interest than I ever imagined. Also releasing the document via my emailing list seemed a bit daunting, as my emailing list is a combination of brides, those interested in the farm and its activities, as well as designers. After much consideration I have decided to work on the document here with all of you. We will work on this piece in four sections on four different dates. The comments you leave here will help me finalize the work I started. I would rather this be a ‘we’ document then a ‘Holly’ document. So here is the rough agenda realizing that the document and its content may grow as we go. Let’s get started on Monday the 30th of October and finish up before we ring in 2018. Here are the dates and the topics:
10/30/17 Standards Of The Industry, mission and purpose, design pricing
11/13/17 Event Set Up and Breakdown Pricing
11/28/17 Event Design, Rental Pricing, Samples
12/11/18 Respecting Our Fellow Designers/ / kickbacks, commissions, and paid marketing collateral
Lets step into the light and shake things up!! 
Images by Emily Gude Photography