0:20

Well , welcome back to our

0:22

podcast , the Wildly Native

0:24

Flower Farm Flower Files

0:27

. I screw it up every week , but

0:33

I screwed up every week because I'm really excited and

0:35

I always just want to like blah , blah , blah , blah , blah , blah . I just want to talk

0:37

. So I'm really excited

0:39

this week because we have a

0:41

super , amazing , special , fantastic

0:43

guest . No pressure , we have

0:46

our fabulous friend with us , carlos

0:48

, who I

0:52

think there's moments in life where serendipity

0:55

happens . People are put in your life for specific

0:57

reasons , and Carlos is one of

0:59

those people who is in

1:01

our lives and anytime

1:03

I talk to him , he makes my day better , and

1:06

he makes everybody's day better when he talks

1:08

to them for sure . So instead

1:11

of me giving the bio , I'm going to ask Carlos

1:13

to give it his bio . Oh , because

1:16

bio is just phenomenal . So tell

1:18

me about you , tell me where you came from , tell

1:20

me all of your stuff .

1:22

Yeah , of course . Hi everybody

1:24

, how are you ? I'm Carlos Lopez

1:26

, and I'm

1:28

super excited to be here . It is a

1:30

pleasure , an honor and , jesus

1:32

Christ , you

1:35

know what we're doing it .

1:36

So ching , ching , ladies , I love

1:38

it , I love it , what everybody ?

1:40

Pick up the tops . I'm going to

1:42

ching , ching . Come on , Lizzy , I love

1:44

it . I love it . There you

1:46

go , fabulous . So I'm

1:48

Carlos . Where

1:50

did I come from ? I have come from so many different

1:52

places .

1:54

You come from Hawaii , you come from up north

1:56

, you come from fitness , you come from events

1:58

, you come from all of these places . Tell

2:01

me all about all of it .

2:02

Of course . So I'm going to walk back

2:05

. I was adopted by

2:07

this beautiful country , the United States

2:09

of America , when I was 16 years old

2:11

. I came from El Salvador and

2:14

I was honored with

2:17

a green card out

2:19

of the spot . So

2:21

I'm very blessed . I have always felt that

2:25

it's my job to honor my

2:28

adapters in this case the United States who

2:30

have given me a lease

2:33

of life and new experiences

2:35

and a wonderful life

2:38

career . I

2:41

do love this country very much

2:43

, so that is , out of the gate

2:45

, my first scenario . I

2:47

came from El Salvador , central America

2:49

, and then I

2:52

was lucky enough to live in Long Island , N

2:54

ew York . I lived in Crane

2:56

Lake and then I went to school

2:59

in SUNY Albany Very

3:02

familiar . So , yeah , interesting

3:05

, we love

3:07

SUNY Albany I did for years . I

3:09

graduated and then I

3:12

decided I was working at the

3:14

time I was working at the newspaper for

3:17

SUNY Albany and so

3:20

that led my job into print

3:22

production , and

3:24

so that was my first job . I worked

3:26

at a company named CMP in Long

3:28

Island , Manhattan , where I was from , and

3:31

I did that for many years . Then

3:34

I got a chance to work in Manhattan , moved

3:36

up and then , so print

3:38

publishing has always been my core

3:40

. In addition to that , I

3:43

workaholic . I love to work .

3:46

Join the club we get it .

3:47

While going to college , I

3:49

also got a job , my first restaurant

3:52

job , which was at a Sistler in

3:55

Northern Boulevard For some

3:57

of you , you may know very well what that is

3:59

and

4:03

I started as a dishwasher and

4:05

I'm really anal and I like putting

4:07

things together , so I became the best dishwasher .

4:11

I was the fastest .

4:12

So yes , what's my favorite game ? Tetris

4:15

. I

4:19

can be on Tetris for hours .

4:21

Oh my God , that's amazing .

4:23

Yeah , and so

4:25

that was that . And

4:27

then about 10 years ago

4:30

, actually , back in 2000

4:32

, the year 2000 , I did mention that I'm really

4:34

workaholic . Okay , yes , I did so

4:36

. Through my print production

4:39

career , I also developed

4:41

a liking and love for

4:44

movement and I became a

4:47

fitness instructor . Somebody

4:49

saw the fire in me and the potential

4:51

in me and once again , somebody took

4:53

an opportunity , which is going to be the

4:56

chain that holds this whole process

4:58

. Somebody many , many people this

5:00

country gave me an opportunity . Somebody

5:03

saw me and said he can be an

5:05

instructor , and so that's how my fitness

5:07

career started . And

5:09

while doing that , I also started

5:12

loving catering and

5:15

events . And

5:18

so you know , a kid from El

5:20

Salvador in Manhattan trying

5:23

to pay your rent . The best advice

5:26

that I can give somebody who is

5:28

young lives in Manhattan make

5:31

sure that you are becoming a

5:33

caterer , because you get food for free

5:35

or

5:38

you must be going to every

5:40

gallery opening Guess

5:42

what Foods for free and

5:44

drinks . So that was that , and

5:52

I'm going to make it a little bit shorter because

5:54

I don't want to take the whole time , but 10 years

5:56

ago I was

5:59

living in Los Angeles , I

6:03

still work in print production for

6:06

Variety Magazine , and

6:09

I was also working in fitness

6:11

for Equinax . I

6:14

did that for a decade and

6:17

then decided to move back up to New York

6:19

, where my partner and I , john

6:21

, decided to work , take

6:24

his elementary school , and

6:27

we decided to make it a small

6:29

boutique hotel , and

6:31

thus that is what the Sherman

6:34

Inn is , or what is

6:36

still is . So

6:38

seven years later , 24

6:41

hours before COVID , we were able to

6:43

sell the business and the building .

6:46

Wow .

6:47

At that time I

6:50

had a being

6:52

an entrepreneur and owning your

6:54

own business , not only the boutique

6:57

side . But then I realized

6:59

very quickly that we needed to make a lot

7:01

more money , because a school , it's

7:03

a school building and

7:05

so there is a lot of caring that

7:08

takes , that needs to be placed

7:11

onto that business . And so suddenly

7:14

I realized that I needed

7:16

to start teaching classes , which I did

7:18

in the auditorium , and

7:20

then we converted that space into

7:22

an event space and

7:25

we were really proud to be

7:27

able to provide an

7:30

elementary school experience

7:32

to all our guests that

7:34

now they can sleep in their classrooms

7:37

. Now you can get married at your

7:39

school , and

7:43

so it was kind of fun and

7:47

that's how my whole

7:49

again going back and thinking

7:51

about catering . You

7:53

know , when I was in my 20s , my 30s and

7:55

my 40s , everything that I

7:57

have done had led me to this one

8:00

spot . Three years

8:02

ago , we sold the business right before

8:04

COVID hit us . I

8:06

was we were lucky enough to do that and then

8:08

I got a job with a fabulous

8:11

family owned business Emma

8:13

Spencer Living and they made

8:15

me part of their family , their work family , and

8:18

I was in charge of one of their locations

8:20

in Palm Springs . So

8:23

I went back to California , which I always

8:25

wanted to do . That was my dream to

8:27

go back , and so I did that for

8:29

about a year and a half . And

8:32

then the property that I was managing

8:35

we were able to sell it and

8:37

at that time I got an invitation to go back

8:40

and live in Hawaii . So

8:42

Emma Spencer Living has properties

8:44

in Hawaii , guatemala and

8:47

Palm Springs . Now no longer they

8:49

only have properties in Hawaii and

8:51

Guatemala and I was lucky

8:54

enough to be able to travel through all

8:56

the different sites and help out , and

8:58

that's how I ended up in Hawaii

9:00

About a

9:02

year ago actually , not

9:04

even a year ago , yeah , almost a year now

9:06

. November 17th

9:09

was my anniversary as Eastern

9:12

Shore Chestert own person

9:14

o

9:17

ne year anniversary . So

9:23

I took a leap of faith and

9:25

decided that Hawaii was no longer a

9:28

place for me . Creatively

9:32

and

9:35

as a , we were trying to develop

9:37

our wedding business and it just kept

9:40

getting stopped after stop . So

9:43

Chestertown was who

9:46

was calling at the time , and they invited

9:48

me here and so here .

9:49

I am . I love

9:51

it , I love it I love it .

9:52

It must be so different seeing

9:54

the seasons change as opposed to

9:57

being where it's kind of the same

9:59

all the time .

10:00

Right , right , it is amazing and

10:03

that's the one thing that I've been lucky enough . You know , I lived

10:05

on the East Coast , I lived on the West

10:07

Coast and I lived in Hawaii , and

10:10

but everything is , it's

10:13

very similar

10:15

, but they're not , and I'm so

10:17

grateful once again . You know , I hit the

10:19

jackpot by being able to have this amazing

10:22

career in this beautiful country

10:24

that we call the United States . So

10:27

, yeah , no , I'm

10:29

very proud and very honored to

10:32

be a part of it and to be able to create

10:35

magic for our guests , for

10:38

our weddings , for our every single

10:40

event that we have

10:43

. I am part of Haven

10:45

Harbor Marina Resorts . Now I

10:47

am running the inn , I'm in charge of that and

10:50

you know , I believe I know

10:53

that collaborations are extremely

10:55

important , and thus that's one of the

10:57

reasons why

10:59

I seeked out and I reached out to you

11:01

, remember , back in November , December

11:03

.

11:04

Yeah , I remember .

11:06

Yeah .

11:07

I remember for sure .

11:08

And from our first meeting I just felt that

11:10

you were a kind

11:12

soul that welcomed my little

11:14

spirit and you were like oh

11:16

well okay , this one we're gonna keep and

11:19

we're just gonna let him go , let

11:23

him , go , let him do his thing .

11:27

We did , we are , we continue to do so

11:29

, and that collaboration is just

11:32

, it's so important . And

11:34

I love the fact that I can bounce ideas off

11:36

of you and you have

11:38

the same experiences sometimes when it comes

11:40

to like salt , but we'll talk about that

11:42

later . But

11:46

there's so many different things

11:49

and I just I'm

11:51

fascinated with your career path and

11:53

the experiences you've

11:55

had . How do the

11:58

different locations so

12:00

you've been East Coast , west Coast and

12:02

Hawaii how do some of those

12:04

different locations

12:06

differ and how they actually

12:08

do events ?

12:11

So the main thing , what

12:16

is really interesting to me , is

12:19

that in New York

12:21

, in Ogdensburg , new York , when I had my

12:23

own business , I lived

12:26

in an area . I

12:29

lived in Ogdensburg , which was the only city

12:31

on the St Lawrence River , but

12:34

everything , and actually not pretty

12:37

much everything , was 45 minutes for way

12:39

to an hour . When

12:42

I lived in Palm Springs , that was different . I lived

12:44

right in the middle of the city . When I

12:46

lived in Hawaii , it was exactly the same

12:48

thing . You had to go . I

12:51

lived in a Volcano National Park by

12:53

next to the national park and everything

12:55

. You had to go either up 45

12:58

minutes to the volcano or

13:01

down into Hilo and purchase

13:03

all your things . Here we

13:05

are in Chestertown . I

13:08

need to drive 45 minutes to an hour

13:11

. Christiana

13:13

Mall, or,

13:14

Yup , 45 minutes to Dover . 45 minutes

13:17

to Dover , exactly everything is 45

13:19

minutes .

13:20

I'm like what happened ? Magic number , the

13:23

past 10 years have been this

13:25

one little bubble and

13:27

what I find , what I really find that

13:29

I can bring into it , and it's the

13:32

events that we had in Palm Springs . They

13:34

were easier because everything was

13:36

accessible . You really

13:38

did not well , you did have to drive a little bit , but

13:41

you didn't really have to rely on the fact

13:43

that we need to become

13:45

what our guests need

13:48

. We need to become the center

13:50

point for our brides

13:52

and they need to know that we

13:55

are able to provide everything

13:57

, absolutely everything that they need

13:59

from a seamstress , from

14:02

a , from flowers

14:04

from making sure that we have

14:06

somebody that forgot their shirts

14:09

, and I'm gonna

14:11

probably start stacking shirts , because it

14:13

did happen to me three times this summer . Wow

14:15

, the government forgot their shirts , their white

14:18

shirts , or they drank too much and they pour wine

14:20

over it .

14:21

Red wine , I was like

14:24

thats not coming out . Yeah

14:29

.

14:30

Ah so , but I think it's essential

14:33

to be able to be , to

14:36

provide and to

14:39

be able to create the core essence

14:41

of everything that

14:43

an event needs . That's

14:46

what I think is also really important , especially

14:48

on a small community like ours , which

14:51

, again it translates from

14:53

10 years ago Ogden's Bird

14:55

, New York , Hawaii . I think

14:58

now Chestertown or Rock Hall

15:00

.

15:01

Yeah , absolutely .

15:02

So you know , we have this 45 minutes , and

15:04

that's what I think it's essential , because we need

15:06

to be the glue

15:09

that holds every event . We

15:11

need to reach out to our flowers

15:14

, to our dresses , to our

15:17

caterers our tents . Yep .

15:21

Every event is different and unique and

15:23

reflects the personality of

15:25

that couple .

15:27

And .

15:27

I think that's what makes it so

15:29

unique , Right , right right . You

15:33

know , you can have so many different things

15:35

, but we've never done a wedding

15:38

in seven years that's

15:40

, oh , it's just like that one . Yeah

15:42

right , Everything is different and

15:45

they're like yeah .

15:46

And that's what I think that you know , being

15:49

an in-keeper

15:51

, being in hospitality , you know perfectly

15:53

well that not one single day is

15:55

going to be the same . I'm pretty

15:58

sure that you guys experience the same experiences

16:02

, that you have your clients

16:04

and they're asking you to

16:06

pick up black flowers and you're like yep

16:08

, we'll do it . Yep absolutely .

16:09

We don't know where we're gonna get them .

16:11

We're gonna get them , so every

16:13

event is special in that sense . We

16:15

just need to be able to remain calm

16:17

, creative and consistent

16:20

and deliver . But we

16:22

, I think that , as a small business

16:25

owner and entrepreneurs

16:28

, we need to be able to

16:30

think five

16:33

steps ahead . Because we

16:35

need to be able to . It's almost

16:38

, and I feel very comfortable

16:40

at this age and at this point in my

16:42

life , that I'm able to see , foresee

16:44

what could possibly happen , which

16:46

is when I was in my 20s I

16:48

was not really able to see that .

16:50

I couldn't really step behind or follow and react

16:52

calmly , not to be

16:55

like oh my gosh , you're not going to believe , or

16:57

just be like , okay , we'll take care of

16:59

it . Inside , you may be dying

17:01

and being like what

17:04

are we going to do Right ? Exactly Having that

17:06

persona and being able to put that out there . It's

17:08

like , oh , it's no big deal , we've got this .

17:10

When you have .

17:11

And I don't know about you , but it always

17:13

seems like the fathers

17:15

, the fathers of the brides , don't

17:18

have a job , they don't have a thing

17:20

. So they're very like pacey

17:22

, they're very like .

17:25

Yeah , yeah , yeah . The last

17:27

wedding that we had . Yeah

17:29

, the father was special

17:32

.

17:36

Capital S .

17:41

So yeah , no , but I think that , to

17:43

answer your question , it's

17:47

interesting . You

17:50

know , we have to love what we do

17:52

because it is unexpected

17:54

. Not one single day it's going

17:56

to be the same . Not one single

17:58

bride is going to ask for the same

18:00

thing . Not one single groom

18:03

will ask . The grooms have become very

18:05

interesting , in my opinion

18:08

. They have an opinion now

18:10

.

18:11

Yeah , they're like oh , where

18:13

did that ?

18:13

one come out Especially with flowers

18:16

. Sometimes the guys come in and they're like

18:18

no , if I don't like that color . And then other

18:20

times the grooms come in and

18:23

they're in here together and they're

18:25

like that's not enough flowers .

18:28

I'm like wait what Huh ?

18:29

Okay , I'm like okay . It's

18:32

crazy . Now I'm going to reverse the question

18:34

. I'm going to ask you what do you see

18:36

? What's in your experiences

18:38

? What do you see the difference ? What

18:41

do you see in the seven years

18:43

that you guys have done weddings ?

18:45

Well , I think when we first started , I

20:01

think there's a huge learning curve . I mean that's

20:04

with anything .

20:05

Right in anything .

20:06

You know , we were excited the first year when we were

20:08

like woohoo , we've got , like you know , 20

20:11

weddings this year and now it's like woohoo , we have

20:13

20 weddings in a month .

20:15

Yeah .

20:16

We've definitely grown and

20:18

learned , and

20:21

the fact that we're a farm is

20:23

also different , because this year

20:25

the Dahlia's out in the field are

20:27

stunning . Yeah , perfect , oh

20:30

my gosh , we're in the past we

20:32

were afraid to grow them because they're a fussy

20:34

flower .

20:35

No , no , no , yeah , they're not that bad

20:37

. No , but

20:39

I think my favorite part about being

20:42

in the business but being in such a

20:44

small , not like vicinity , because we do

20:46

drive up to the Poconos , but like we

20:49

build relationships with venues

20:51

and with people where , like at

20:53

Kent Island Resort , we've been there at least

20:56

10 times this year already and that's to

20:58

them that's probably nothing , because they have

21:00

three weddings , four you know

21:03

, multiples in a weekend , but

21:06

we have the planners phone members . We were like hey

21:08

, we're running like 15 minutes late , just giving you

21:10

a heads up and not like showing up and

21:13

then them being stressed about like

21:15

or like just having them remember

21:17

your face is

21:19

so relieving and then having that

21:21

personal connection with

21:23

them just adds that extra like , not

21:25

stress free , but less of a stress of like . Okay

21:28

, I know she's got this . Like it's

21:30

just so helpful , especially with the planners

21:33

and just everything

21:35

.

21:36

And the caterers , like when they know , us

21:38

, that's even better Like oh

21:40

my gosh . Well , and for the record , if we're everly

21:43

, it's usually traffic and bridge related , absolutely

21:45

.

21:46

Trust me , I have been now

21:48

that I have before . My commute

21:51

was really not that long . Now that I

21:53

have to drive all the way to Rock Hall

21:55

, if I get stuck behind

21:57

that ginormous

21:59

, gigantic truck

22:02

that's going 20 miles an hour

22:04

, I've learned there's no

22:06

passing .

22:07

Yeah , there's no passing you can

22:09

you just yep , no , Yep

22:11

, you're just gonna enjoy the scenery .

22:14

Yeah .

22:16

Oh , get there , when I get there and I know now .

22:18

I'm being controlled as well .

22:20

And then the funny thing is that you may have your staff

22:22

and they're like well , we're right behind

22:24

you , so don't worry , we're all

22:26

gonna be in that area , yeah 110%

22:30

correct . So yeah .

22:32

I also think , I also think , you know

22:35

, every season is different

22:37

. You know there's so many things . I'm

22:39

so excited that the baby's

22:41

breath trend is like dying

22:44

. It's going away like these long

22:46

things . So there's certain things

22:48

where like , hey , we really love this trend .

22:50

A nd the pampas grass .

22:53

There's no more pampas grass .

22:58

So seeing how things change and

23:00

seeing how different venues change

23:03

as well , you know , even through

23:06

the season , right and

23:08

just . I think it's all . For us it's

23:10

always been about relationships and

23:13

I know it's so cliche , but it truly

23:15

is . I know I could call you and be like , oh

23:17

my gosh , I have a problem , I need help with

23:19

these things .

23:20

Right .

23:21

You'd be like great , you know what do you need . You

23:23

know , and we've

23:26

had other people do that to us you know

23:28

.

23:28

Yeah , hello , how many times have

23:30

I called you ? LIZA I need help,

23:32

I need flowers today , please

23:35

help me ! Well , I'm

23:37

actually not there , I'm in Eastern , but

23:40

I definitely speed up and get

23:42

there as fast as I can so

23:44

I can have it done for you . And then

23:46

you're like uh-huh , yup , and

23:49

I'm like , okay , I know she's going to save the day ! So

23:52

, thank you , thank you , but it

23:54

is that important relationship , that

23:58

bridge , that we have to make with

24:01

every single vendor

24:04

and everybody

24:06

. I mean , we are a community .

24:09

I don't know if . Where do you ?

24:11

guys , you're in Chestertown

24:13

, right , so you're not really in Rock Hall .

24:16

We're kind of in between . It's kind of like You're in between

24:18

exactly Exactly , yeah Right , but

24:21

it's knowing the vendors and knowing people

24:23

locally , so that if somebody is looking

24:25

, for instance , for a specific liquor

24:28

, you know like , okay , I know these different

24:30

people who either grow access

24:32

, do their own , you know , do

24:34

you want hard liquor , do you want wine , do

24:36

you want what you want ? And you

24:38

have those connections and hey , let me talk

24:40

to this person .

24:42

You know it's . It's not what you know to you know

24:44

.

24:45

It's not what . Yes , you nailed it

24:47

. Wow All the time

24:49

.

24:51

It's not what you know , it's who you know .

24:55

Exactly . That should be the name of our postcard Podcast

24:58

.

24:58

That should be it .

25:03

So now that you're here and

25:06

you're on the water and you're Chesapeake Bay

25:08

focused and all of that kind of stuff , what

25:11

are some of the things that you've been excited

25:13

to do ? That's a little bit different . I mean

25:15

, Hawaii you've got the tropics , you've

25:17

got all these fish and phenomenal

25:19

florals and all of this kind of stuff . And

25:21

listen , I'm not knocking the bay , by any means

25:23

.

25:23

Yeah , no .

25:25

It's a different type of feel . It's

25:27

sea , glass and driftwood and grasses

25:30

and things like that .

25:31

Blue crabs yes

25:35

. Blue crabs , very one , I love it , I love

25:37

it , I love it , I love it , I

25:42

love it . I mean , I think you

25:45

know , being

25:47

at Haven Harbor

25:49

Marina Resorts , which is really

25:51

, you know , the mothership

25:54

, really is the marina . The

25:56

inn is just a little tiny venue

26:02

where we are able to host

26:04

our guests and

26:06

our brides and their families . To

26:09

me , the most exciting

26:11

thing are

26:13

buyouts . And

26:15

those are the occasions when somebody

26:18

will come in and they will literally

26:20

rent the entire property . And

26:22

it's my job . It's just

26:24

so fantastic to be able

26:26

to get all the keys . I'm going to show you

26:28

my little Barbie key . I

26:31

go to you . You

26:37

want to do your wedding here , your keys for all your

26:39

guests . But

26:43

it's the best job because you really get to know

26:45

the families , you get to chat

26:48

with them , you do breakfast for them

26:50

. A lot of the times we do the

26:53

rehearsal dinner

26:55

at Sunset on Friday night . So

26:58

we have , you know , this little trend that

27:01

happens those brides will get to the property

27:03

on a Wednesday , their

27:05

families will get there on a Thursday and

27:07

then all their guests arrive on a Friday and

27:12

then event is on Saturday and

27:14

then we feed them and we send them home on Sunday

27:16

.

27:17

So , that being said , okay

27:19

, do you like the small events

27:22

or do you like the big events ? Because

27:24

those are two different feels .

27:26

They're two different monsters . Right , I'm

27:29

at Haven Harbor in

27:32

my 10 years experience

27:34

now . Well

27:37

, covid really threw a monkey

27:39

at us it changed everything

27:41

I

27:44

am . I have experienced

27:46

a lot in the past three

27:48

and a half years a lot more intimate

27:51

, a lot more elopements . I

27:57

just don't want to spend that kind of money on

27:59

a huge wedding and

28:03

I think that you know the

28:06

300 guests , 400 guests it's

28:09

gone down . I think that

28:11

you're more appreciative of the people

28:13

that you love and you want to have

28:15

in your intimate wedding . 150

28:18

, I think it's comfortable . 200

28:21

gets a little too much , but you know

28:23

it's manageable . But

28:26

I think that that's kind of like the trend

28:28

which

28:31

is very interesting . But I think COVID really

28:33

, you know , did it .

28:35

I think it changed . I mean , covid changed

28:37

a lot of things , but I think it definitely changed

28:39

this industry heavily , heavily . You

28:44

know , it's not a show

28:46

off anymore , it's more thoughtful

28:48

, if that makes sense . I don't

28:50

know how to explain it .

28:52

It's made people more empathetic , right

28:55

, right .

28:55

Absolutely , absolutely

28:58

.

29:00

So you've owned your own business , you've done all

29:03

of those types of things and you

29:05

still kind of do . You just

29:07

kind of are doing it with them

29:10

, in a sense . What would

29:12

be a piece of advice that you would give

29:14

to somebody who is running their own business

29:16

? What's the one thing that you were

29:18

like ? Aha .

29:21

That's a great question . I

29:24

mean , I can answer that in many different ways

29:26

. So

29:31

I think I'm going to relate

29:33

that to what my mother-in-law

29:36

did to me , john's

29:38

mother , kathy Wayne .

29:40

I'm going to say this before

29:42

I go into this business ?

29:45

Oh my God , I think I have it somewhere in here

29:47

. Hold on , hold on . Of

29:50

course I don't have it because I try to get organized

29:52

today . So

29:54

she said you want to open a school , and

29:56

what are you going to do with the school ? I said it's going

29:58

to be a become . It's going to be a chic boutique

30:01

hotel . How's that ? She

30:03

was like here . Here's your gift

30:05

. She gave me a

30:08

book . She said make

30:10

sure you read this from page one till

30:12

the end . I said what

30:14

is this ? She goes how

30:16

to run an inn for dummies . I

30:23

said why do you have that ? She goes because I bought

30:25

it for myself . Kathy

30:27

Wayne was an excellent example

30:29

. In a small town in Augmansburg

30:31

, New York , that had never been a BNB period

30:34

and

30:37

she challenged that at

30:40

age 75 . And

30:43

she said and everybody was making fun

30:45

of her and laughing and she said I'm going to prove you

30:47

all wrong . She ended up three

30:49

years later with three BNBs

30:51

Wow . Running

30:53

them correctly Doing

30:56

it with the all calendar . That's

30:59

where she will write the people's phone numbers . I

31:01

was like you never send them a reservation

31:03

. She's like I talked to

31:05

them . That's the reservation . Wow

31:08

, I mean you're

31:10

like , oh my God , so yeah , yeah

31:12

. So that's one advice if

31:14

you want to run an events

31:16

business , or if you want to run it in

31:19

by how to run

31:21

events by dummies or how

31:23

to run it in by dummies . It is

31:25

quite exciting , very

31:28

, really wonderful ideas and they tell

31:30

you everything that you need to do . I

31:33

actually did read how

31:36

to run it in for dummies from

31:38

page one until the end , and then

31:40

I decided to run to buy and purchase

31:43

how to run events and

31:45

it makes all the sense in the world . They

31:47

tell you everything that you need to do

31:49

in order to how to

31:51

run an event properly Working

31:55

. At the end , in

31:57

New York , I did make it my business to try to create

32:00

that cohesive property

32:03

that would really take care of everything . So

32:05

it was my job to make sure that I had

32:08

connections , that I had created all those bridges

32:10

with my flowers

32:12

, my seamstress

32:14

because you never know , that dress may pop and

32:17

rip on the day of the wedding . Tuxedos

32:20

, music it is simply

32:22

as one calls

32:24

it . We need to

32:26

be a one-stop shop and

32:30

once you create that , people

32:34

will notice . And then

32:37

make your menu simple . Make

32:40

it how much you wanna

32:42

spend for the food

32:44

. You're

32:46

a developer . Those are some indicators , yeah

32:49

, because at one point or another , you're not gonna

32:51

be able to do all the food for

32:53

200 guests for a wedding .

32:56

Good lord , I couldn't do it for 20 .

33:02

So it is about creating relationships , and I think

33:04

that the most important thing is having

33:07

good relationships , even with your mother-in-law

33:10

who throw ? At you the

33:12

book . But

33:14

yeah , no , think that even

33:17

in large , New

33:21

York city, Los Angeles, it is the people you know and the relationships

33:23

that you have that are going

33:25

to save you, help you . Promote you, I'm all about promoting, and talking to everybody because it just makes you know, the whole experience just so much better .

33:44

What is a consistent theme

33:48

? I don't know if theme is the right word , but

33:50

consistently , what I hear from you

33:52

is you are humble . You

33:56

are so incredibly humble and

33:58

I'm so proud

34:01

that you are here in

34:03

our area and you set

34:05

such an example for so many people

34:07

and form those connections

34:09

and people want to work with

34:11

you because

34:14

you know how to connect .

34:15

You know how to connect and it

34:17

is . It is just , you know it is

34:19

. Thank you , by the way , for that . It

34:26

is like I said , I'll never win the lotto

34:28

, but I have won the lot

34:31

of a second that this country allowed me

34:33

to step in and save me from a war , and

34:36

I don't take that lightly and I

34:38

am respectful and I

34:41

know where I stand . You

34:43

know a country that gives you freedom

34:45

and

34:47

where you can .

34:50

Yeah , exactly .

34:52

You can create whoever you want . Because this

34:54

did not come this had

34:56

a lot of years to be created

34:59

.

35:00

You know .

35:01

I think that you know you're grateful . I

35:04

think that as you get older , you also become more

35:06

humble , because you realize what

35:10

you know and what you can share and who you're gonna share

35:13

that with . And

35:15

you

35:17

know , I wake up every morning and I'm like well , how

35:19

am I gonna make my guests happier ? Better

35:22

, I think that we're

35:24

caregivers .

35:26

And .

35:27

I don't take that lightly . We provide

35:29

, in my , you know , nine to five job

35:31

, I provide a service , I provide a

35:33

room .

35:34

You're funny . Nine to five You're funny .

35:36

I wanna provide everything that you can possibly

35:38

. That can possibly go wrong . I'm

35:40

gonna try to catch it . And

35:42

again , we are in this industry that we know

35:45

and that we love , and we

35:47

know that it's going

35:49

. It's gonna take a lot of hard

35:51

work , a lot of legwork , and

35:54

we do it all , but we do it with

35:56

care , love and satisfaction

36:00

. Because , it does make it better

36:02

. At the end of the day , when I go to sleep , I

36:04

need to know and smile and reflect . One

36:07

must reflect every single day . As a business

36:09

owner , you must reflect every single

36:11

day . Get up in the morning , set up your

36:14

agenda , get ready and

36:16

know that nothing's going to be the same

36:18

. They're gonna throw so many monkeys at

36:20

you and you're gonna be like ah , Ah

36:23

, Ah . And at the end of the day

36:26

you need to say I caught all the monkeys

36:28

and I can go to sleep and I'll

36:30

have my wine .

36:31

Ah , I feel like I'm a zookeeper yeah

36:35

, exactly , oh , my God , I

36:37

love it . This is my circus and these are

36:39

my monkeys .

36:40

Yes , exactly yeah . No , it's a circus

36:42

. It really is it , is it

36:44

really is .

36:45

It is , it is , it is . Oh my God , I'm gonna get

36:47

me started on that one . Absolutely , I love it .

36:49

All right .

36:50

so last question

36:52

, probably one of my favorites If

36:55

you were a flower , what

36:57

flower would you be ?

36:58

Ha ha , ha , ha ha .

37:00

Ha ha ha ha ha .

37:01

A sunflower .

37:03

Really , we match . Ha , ha , ha ha . Yup

37:06

, are you a sunflower too , amber

37:09

? Yeah , ha , ha , ha , ha ha . I

37:11

can't .

37:13

I love them . Something

37:15

about them

37:18

they're ginormous number

37:20

one .

37:21

Mm-hmm .

37:22

They're beautiful . They tell you that they have soaked

37:24

up all this sun in the world and

37:26

thus they wanna look like the sun To

37:29

me . Some flowers look like the sun

37:31

in a smaller version , with a little

37:33

stem . They

37:37

have always made me happy and

37:40

a little secret sometimes

37:42

my nickname some people call me Sunrise

37:44

Sunshine , ah , ah , sunshine

37:48

, sunflower . They're kind of the same in a

37:50

way .

37:50

I love it I love it I love it In your mind

37:52

. I love it . I love it

37:54

, I love it .

37:55

What's your favorite flower , Missy

37:57

? If you were

37:59

a flower , what would you ?

38:00

be , I would

38:02

be eucalyptus , little little little

38:05

, really yeah .

38:06

Yeah , that would be that she

38:09

sings to it in the field , don't tell

38:11

me .

38:12

Really .

38:13

Ha , ha , ha , ha ha Amber

38:18

.

38:19

You just spilled the beans on your boss

38:21

!

38:28

I would probably be a dahlia , because they're so

38:30

fluffy and pretty and they come in so many

38:32

different colors and they're just they're

38:35

perfectly like . They're petals and everything

38:37

. You're just amazing .

38:38

You've got to go grab one from the cooler and show them . Yeah

38:40

, yeah , yeah , ha , ha ha .

38:43

Do it . That's so funny . Oh

38:45

my gosh . They come in

38:48

so many different colors and sizes

38:50

and shapes . They're incredible .

38:52

They really are .

38:53

They are pretty cool .

38:53

Right , what was , in

38:55

your experience , the most

38:58

? Yeah , they're beautiful . Yeah

39:01

, it's a special place and

39:04

everyone's heart . Yeah , what

39:07

was your 2023

39:11

? And it's funny that we're reflecting on 2023

39:13

. But it is October , almost

39:15

November , so we need to see

39:17

the trends , the things that we learned . What

39:20

could have been done better , what did we were

39:22

really successful ? What do you guys can share

39:25

about that with me ?

39:30

I think we have learned as

39:32

a team that it's OK to say no

39:35

, yeah , yes .

39:37

My favorite word is no .

39:39

Yeah , for

39:41

a long time it's been . Well

39:44

, we can figure that out . Yeah , we can do that . Yeah

39:46

, we can . And we

39:48

all have reached a point this year where we're like , no

39:52

, that doesn't fit , that doesn't work

39:54

.

39:55

We've previously overbooked our and I don't

39:57

mean like the businesses overbook themselves , but like all

40:00

of us individually have overbooked ourselves and

40:02

we've overextended ourselves to

40:04

provide to people to

40:07

the point of burnout At the end of the season

40:09

. We are just done . But this year , yeah

40:12

, this year we've definitely been able to take

40:14

a step back and say no , this

40:16

weekend I'm not working .

40:18

Yeah .

40:18

Right , right .

40:20

All of us as a team .

40:22

But you also have to remember that sometimes

40:24

and this is the one thing that

40:27

everybody will

40:29

say , whether you're in Palm Springs , New York

40:31

, Hawaii or

40:33

the Eastern Shore , we

40:37

can find help . So

40:40

sometimes you know

40:42

that you're standing on the edge of that

40:45

. I'm burning down

40:47

completely , I'm not going to be able

40:49

to think about anything because I'm

40:51

done . And you're asked

40:53

for help and you don't have it . And that's

40:55

when it's really important for you to be able

40:57

to say no , no .

41:00

And sometimes we're . I

41:02

made everybody take Monday off . This past week . We

41:05

had four weddings that we did this weekend . It's

41:07

the end of the season , we're all exhausted

41:10

and we attended a wedding . Yeah , yeah , I

41:12

mean it was just . It was we

41:15

all looked at each other and I was like Monday's

41:18

a mandatory day off . I don't care what you do , go

41:20

do something else . And everybody was was grateful

41:23

for that , for sure , and it was

41:25

just . Yeah

41:27

, a little bit of self care here and there . We definitely

41:29

have learned .

41:30

Yeah , that's it . Well , that's the only way that we able

41:32

to nourish ourselves and to be able to

41:34

provide what we're providing . You

41:37

know , I have . I've been on that

41:39

road

41:41

for

41:43

two months now , Non-stop . I

41:45

couldn't find help . I haven't been thinking

41:48

.

41:48

I'm not complaining about my job , no , no no , no , no , no

41:50

, no , no , but it's just the nature .

41:52

I have . I finally just found somebody

41:54

who's fantastic and who's going

41:56

to be able to help me , and and

41:59

so now I do need my two

42:01

days off and I do need

42:03

them in a row . I cannot , because I

42:05

cannot . You

42:08

know , that's another thing that I do . It's

42:11

really important to self care

42:13

when you're a business owner and

42:15

to take the time and say and say no , because

42:18

it's not good for my well-being , no

42:21

, and to be

42:23

able to create a team that is actually that

42:26

you trust , that you know that

42:28

you can laugh with , have fun , because

42:31

of the end of the day , this is

42:33

our livelihood and

42:35

you have to be happy in whatever

42:37

you do , whatever you choose to do . We chose

42:39

to do this .

42:40

Yeah .

42:41

I see you smile and I know that we're tired

42:44

. All that is

42:46

the end and we just get

42:48

in psyched and ready for 2024

42:50

.

42:51

Absolutely .

42:51

And let's bring it on you know what's 2024

42:54

going to bring .

42:55

I see .

42:56

I see so much great energy

42:58

, so

43:00

many really great events . I

43:02

don't know what's going to happen , but I know it's going to be

43:04

fun .

43:05

Absolutely . That's what it's all about . But

43:09

I can tell you self care . You and

43:11

I both have agreed . We are not sitting in

43:13

salt tanks .

43:21

Special place yeah .

43:24

Not for me , not for

43:26

me , I can't Nope , I like , I

43:28

like .

43:28

I still need to . I need to and I'm going to

43:30

make it my business . But you and I , we're going to

43:32

take a bar class together on a Sunday , on

43:35

a Tuesday night . I

43:37

will do that 100%

43:40

.

43:42

I'll do

43:45

it yeah .

43:46

It is those little things you know , exercise

43:48

. Today I was walking home and

43:50

I was like , why am I so tired ? And I

43:52

literally felt like I had just

43:54

took a spinning class and I'm like I

43:57

was just sitting on my desk and I'm like for my life

43:59

, I can't understand it , but I'm self care

44:01

, yeah , yeah , meditate every morning

44:03

, set your day off . You know

44:06

you , you determine how it's going

44:08

to be . I love telling people make

44:11

it a great day , because it's

44:13

in your power , it's in your choices

44:15

, it's your decisions , it's how you

44:17

approach your day , you

44:20

know . And again , it's hospitality

44:23

events . So

44:26

it's , like you said , unexpected

44:29

. Not one day is the same and

44:32

so you really have to come in

44:34

with a positive attitude and and

44:37

and humbleness , and

44:39

and caring 100%

44:41

. You are providing you

44:43

are who you need to be .

44:45

Yep , perfect , perfect

44:51

, perfect . All right , mr Sunshine , I

44:53

love to this . We may have to drag you

44:55

back in a later episode .

44:57

This was incredible .

44:59

Thank you .

44:59

Thank you , thank you .

45:01

I am so grateful , so honored and so

45:04

humbled that you have

45:06

given this little Salvadorian

45:08

a little spot in your fabulous

45:11

, wildly native farm

45:13

life . I'm telling you

45:15

, I told you I will volunteer

45:18

any day . Thank

45:22

you from the bottom of my heart .

45:24

Thank you , my family Thanks you Okay .

45:26

My business . Thanks you , cheers

45:30

, cheers

45:32

, thank you , thank you , thank you Love

45:34

you guys . Talk to you soon .

45:38

All right , guys . Thank you for listening this week . If you want to find us

45:40

on Spotify , apple podcasts , all of the places , you

45:43

can also find us on Instagram , facebook , patreon

45:45

, on the website , at wildly nativecom

45:48

or everywhere on

45:50

social media under the flower files or wildly

45:52

native , we will see you next week . Bye

45:55

guys , bye , bye . Music

45:59

playing .