In the Spotlight: Featured uBloomer, Leanne Kesler, AIFD

Leanne is the owner/operator/lead instructor of the Floral Design Institute , a highly regarded floral design school with locations in both Portland, OR and Seattle, WA. As one of uBloom’s Flower Experts, you can see Leanne in action by watching her floral design webisodes on the FlowerSchool Channel or read about her latest fun floral adventures in her Blog on uBloom. She lives with her husband David (who is the Creative Director at FDI) in "The Pearl" district of Portland, OR. David and Leanne are active in their community and can regularly be seen riding bikes around the city, sampling items at local sidewalk cafe’s, and participating in community events being held in the Portland area.When did you first "discover" flowers? I have always loved flowers and my earliest memories as a child are of growing and gathering flowers. The discovery of Floral Design was a fortunate accident. I was a spoiled girl with an overly indulgent father. When I discovered that a required biology class in high school involved dissecting a frog I refused to go to class and my father took on the school and defended my position. It created quite a hubbub for the school board.Finally, I was offered an alternative class called horticulture. At the time I did not even know what horticulture was but I did know that it did not include dissecting frogs. You could say that a frog is responsible for my career. You will find a porcelain frog on my desk.When did you realize that working with flowers was something that you wanted to do for a career?My poor horticulture teacher…Dave Lambert quickly learned that not only did I avoid frogs but I pretty much did not like dirt, worms, fertilizer or most anything that he was teaching in horticulture. Dave was a very special person and a wonderful teacher. He created a floriculture program within the horticulture base and I “blossomed” so to speak. It was a wondrous discovery for me.How did you get your "start" in the industry?Again, Dave Lambert helped me out. He set up a work experience program with a local florist. Each day at lunch I would leave school and go work in the flower shop. Oh, my! What fun! I was not on payroll and mostly cleaned buckets, watered flowers and wired roses (yes, we wired all the roses in those days) but I was having a ball. At last, Cindy (the owner) told me they would add me to the payroll. A true paying job as a florist! Alas, it was not meant to be. They closed and disappeared in the middle of the night just before payday. Yes, they were a small and slightly shady operation.Who played a significant role in mentoring or encouraging your floral industry pursuits and education?I would have to say my Dad. He believed in me and supported my dreams to be florist and never, ever doubted that I would succeed. Of course, I would have to list Dave Lambert who still stays in touch. And then, there are two more very important people. For six years I managed the Flower Shop, “Farrell & Herring” owned by Carla Herring and Bob Farrell. Yes, the same Bob Farrell who founded “Farrell’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor”, wrote the motivational business book “Give ‘Em the Pickle”, and still (in his eighties) tours as a motivational speaker. Bob taught me merchandising, marketing and sales. Carla, (who was an accountant) taught me how to run a profitable and financially stable business. For six years I often went home in tears after a difficult lesson. But, those lessons were so valuable and I cherish the experiences.Talk a little about your years in the brick and mortar florist shop(s).I loved retail but upon purchasing the Floral Design Institute in 1988, I was thrilled to be out of the holiday frenzy and last minute order chaos. I swore I would never go back. Never-say-never… Absence makes the heart grow fonder and I quickly felt left out and wanted back into the retail world. In 1993 I opened a small office building flower shop called “Flowers in the Park”. We catered to the 2000 people working in the building. It was like a small town florist – just vertical. All of our deliveries were made by elevator. We specialized in “cute little things for a desk top”. I quickly became queen of the under $20 arrangement. We also ran a full espresso/coffee business in the same space called “Crazy Aunt Lanny’s”. This is where I fed my addiction for caffeine. Obviously with the school and the flower shop and the coffee shop I needed lots of caffeine. The business was astonishingly successful. For five years we were the highest volume independent espresso business in Portland.In 1994 David (my husband) retired from the corporate world and joined me in running the Floral Design Institute. We expanded into Seattle in 1996 and began our on-line, home study instruction in 2001. Our life was busy and wonderful but we were starting to get tired. In 2007 we finally decided to sell the flower shop and coffee shop. There was just not enough time in the day to do all the things we wanted to do and the passion of owning the retail store had faded.What are some of the most important observations you made and information you gleaned from your "florist shop" years?My wisest observation has to be: “Make it Fun!” Purchasing flowers should be a joyous experience. We loved our customers, loved to make them laugh and loved to play with them. Our flower shop was set up to be the kindergarten playroom for the office building and I was the room mother. We would have Easter egg hunts, pumpkin carving contests, Halloween costume contests and pet photo exhibitions. I found that happy customers lead to more and higher sales. And that leads to a happy flower shop owner. Although, the last year of hiding Easter eggs throughout the office building at 4:00 in the morning did get a little wearing. You start to wonder if you are really having fun!The hardest lesson and most important was learning to focus and say no. We ran our flower shop with lots of “no’s” so that when we said “yes”, we did it well. Our “no’s” included… no special orders, no deliveries, no weddings, no fancy stuff. Just straight forward, wonderful fresh flowers ready for your desk or to take home.What are some things you wish you could do over OR What are some things you wished you had learned?I wish I had studied harder in the beginning and truly learned the basics of floral design. I thought I knew it all – my dad said I did. It was not until Ernie Rancor of Main Street Florist in Vancouver (yes, I am naming names) fired me that I figured out that I was not perfect. He hired me and fired me in less than 4 hours. Ouch! Unfortunately, he was right. I had a lot to learn. Starting over from the beginning is hard but I am glad I did. Now I have a strong foundation and realize that I will never know it all.Talk about your transition from B&M Florist to Educator. When/why did you decide to start/buy FDI?In 1986 I had started teaching nights for the Floral Design Institute. I found that teaching was natural to me and I fell in love with it. Fortunately for me, Terri was ready to move on and wanted to sell the school. In 1988 I took ownership and have not regretted it for a moment.You have students from all over the world come to learn floral design at FDI. Talk about the school’s design philosophy and what students can expect to learn at FDI.The goal in all of our classes is to guide students as they explore their passion for flowers, discover their creative style and begin the rewarding journey in a floral design career. Our teaching is based upon the elements and principles of floral design with a compliment of care and handling, mechanics and of course, the understanding of pricing and profitability in the flower business. I believe the greatest gift we can give our students is a firm understanding of the theories of design. Once that is accomplished, there is no limit to where their creativity will take them. Throughout our program, we include job skills and business pointers. Nothing makes me happier than to see one of our graduates follow their dreams, succeed in their floral career and do something they love.Are there certain "signs" that you can pick up on that will let you know right away that a particular student is exceptionally gifted in design?A gifted student seems to communicate with the flower. They have an ease about them and a passionate love for each blossom. You can quickly see this love and respect for flowers in their eyes.What’s next for FDI?Oh my goodness… I’m doing far more now than I every dreamed possible. However, each day is filled with discoveries and we never fail to explore new ways to reach students and teach floral design.As an industry expert and educator, you are an inspiration to many. Who do YOU look to for inspiration?I learn from our students each and every day. I also spend as much time as possible in the out-of-doors. Jack Richards AIFD taught me to study the natural world for creative inspiration.What are some resources you use to keep a close eye on trends in color and design?We subscribe to about sixty different publications embracing everything from architecture to fashion, art, photography, graphics and science and read voraciously. We do not have a television, telephone or computer in our home. It is amazing the time that this frees up for us. We seek out opportunities to observe and study with other designers. The AIFD National Symposium is one of the greatest resources available to all floral designers.What is your favorite flower? (hard, I know. Maybe just narrow it down to 3 or so. lol!)Daffodil! One time I had to be out of town for 3 weeks. When I returned, David had filled the house with one thousand of the bright yellow blooms. It was a daffodil paradise!What is the most memorable design you have ever made?I would have to say it was a funeral design I made years ago. A young mother had lost her son and never had the opportunity to buy him a teddy bear. She asked me to make him a floral teddy bear for his funeral. Needless to say, I sobbed the whole time. What an honor to help her give this loving gift to her son.Describe your personal design style and favorite type of design to create.I would have to say a mass style design filled with colors, flowers and textures that convey the essence of the season.About 5 or 6 years ago, you added AIFD to the end of your name. What was the "testing" like and what surprised you most?Oh, my goodness! It was horribly nerve racking and hard! It was also the most wonderful thing I have ever done for myself. The testing itself was so horrible. I had knots in my stomach and basically froze at the table and could do nothing – absolutely nothing. Now, that is not going to get me anywhere. What’s a girl to do? I crawled under the table and sat on the floor creating my floral head piece. By the time I finished this bit of hand work in my private “cave” I was ready to stand up and finish the testing. Whew!When you aren’t teaching or designing, what do you enjoy doing? Oh, so many things. Life is full of opportunity. I do love flowers and that fills much of my time. I also knit, run, bike, explore and eat! I love to find new restaurants – especially outdoor sidewalk cafesWhat songs would we be hearing if we walked into the training center or listened to your ipod?What an eclectic mix it would be… Sheryl Crow, Pink Martini, Tears for Fears, Johnny Cash, Robert Cray, Stolen Sweets, D’Jango Reinhardt, Louis Armstrong and Pachabel. And, to the dismay of many, most any time of the year I love schmaltzy Christmas music.What was the last...Book you read?“Coop: a Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting by Michael Perry”Restaurant you ate at?I can’t name just one. Oba, Andina, Café Nell, Stepping Stones, The Daily Café, Paragon, TearDrop, EaT… all of this if I am not eating at Chez David. Yes, I am married to a brilliant chef that loves to cook for me. And no, I do not cook at all!Movie you watched?Mama Mia, the sing along version. We have a local neighborhood theater which serves food and has a bar. Yes, you can eat, drink to excess and sing badly along with Meryl Streep and 200 other crazy people. What a blast…