Jenny (00:29)
If you've ever thought about doing workshops as a way to produce revenue for your flower farm, or if you're looking for a way to enhance your workshops that you already do, you're gonna love this episode. I'm sitting down with Nikki Irving of Flourish Flower Farm, and we're diving deep into all things workshops and on-farm experiences. Now, Nikki is an expert in doing this. She has been hosting workshops for over 10 years on her farm, and she has really systematized the whole process.
So during this conversation, we talk about hosting workshops, how to do them, systems, pricing, talking about the costs of doing workshops, staffing, how to handle weather, how to handle people who wanna back out, elevating the whole experience, and so, so, so much more. So if you wanna learn about workshops, this episode is for you. We are gonna dive on in right now.
Jenny (01:23)
Thanks, Nikki, for coming back on the show.
Niki Irving (01:26)
Thanks for having me, Jenny. I'm excited to chat again.
Jenny (01:29)
Yeah,
me too. So today we're going to be talking a lot about workshops and could you just tell us a little bit about your workshops and what you do because they are amazing and everyone here is going to be so lucky to hear from you about what you do in your workshops.
Niki Irving (01:45)
Thanks. Yes, I love hosting workshops. β They've kind of become one of the things, I guess that we're known for a little bit. And we offer three different types of workshops. They've kind of evolved over the years. I would say our bread and butter or like the ones that we've been doing for over 10 years. We call them the on the flower farm workshops. And it's a little bit of everything. β
The guests get to have a guided farm tour. Then they get to have some time where they get to wander around the farm by themselves. We have snacks, we have drinks, and then we kind of transition into a little design portion where I demonstrate making a centerpiece and then they get to go crazy and make their own. And we have tons of buckets of flowers and they can harvest from the fields. So I think those are our most popular.
And then our other two workshops are a little more specific and education focused. We have, similar to what you do, a two day flower farming 101 workshop where it's a small group of people and we really just dive into like everything about flower farming, business, growing, soil prep, succession planting, crop planting, like everything. β And then our other workshop.
It's called Floral Design Essentials and it's a full day jam packed and it's only focused on floral design. We do hand tied bouquets, statement arrangements, which are like really big centerpieces and then foam free installations. So we really pack it in.
Jenny (03:27)
Well,
it's really cool that you have kind of settled on these three different types of workshops because when I first ran workshops at my farm, I tried to do like all these different ones and it was a lot to keep track of like just how they were all so different. So I think that you're really, really smart that you've sort of settled on these sort of three different types. So how many times do you offer?
these workshops throughout the year.
Niki Irving (03:58)
Yeah, so this year it's actually changed a little bit. β So typically we've done one or two a month from April through really just through August because we get so busy in September and October with weddings. β But this year we're shifting it to April and May and then again in September. So I'm really trying to push my farming season like a lot of people are away from summer production.
Mostly because like we could still be busy because we have a lot of tourists in Asheville, β but the fields really just start to look tired. And β like the dahlias especially if they start blooming in July by the time October wedding season rolls around, they're sad. So I really want the farm to look its best when our guests are here. So this is the first year that we're β just hosting April and May and then again in September. So
Jenny (04:37)
Yeah.
Niki Irving (04:57)
β We'll see how it goes, but I'm excited because a lot of people have always asked about fall workshops β and it's not something that we've been able to do before.
Jenny (05:07)
Yeah. So you basically have these three different types of workshops that you just offer to your customers kind of like on repeat all the time. Do you get like repeat customers that come to multiple or come back year, like after year after year, is it more of like a one-time thing for people?
Niki Irving (05:16)
Yep.
Yeah, we get a ton of repeat customers. so, I just feel so thrilled every time somebody comes back. β So every year we'll, it's really sweet, we'll have somebody who comes to like all of our on the flower farm workshops, like every month, cause they want to see the farm. And usually they have told their like spouse, this is what I want for Christmas. And so here you go. We get a lot of like mother, daughters, β friends.
Like we had a workshop last week and somebody had come two times previously and every time she comes she just brings a different person with her, which is really sweet. We like we're hosting our flower farming 101 next week and one of our guests came to a bunch of on the flower farm last year. She was like, okay, I really actually want to learn more about this. So I'm gonna come we call it the big one, you know, I'm gonna come to the big workshop.
Jenny (06:06)
Love that.
β The big
one. That's amazing. So I know that there's probably people listening to this who either do workshops on their farm already, or they want to start doing them. And I know some of them are probably thinking, how do I get people to come back? I can get them to come to one workshop, great. But how do I increase my choice or chances of them coming to another one?
Niki Irving (06:27)
You
Yeah. So I think the most important thing is you have to provide a quality experience. Like we are all about the details and just, want everything to feel special. And so I think when you make people feel really special, they automatically have that connection to you. β as you know, and if anybody's
heard me before, my farm is my house, my fields are my yard, so we host the workshops on the porch. β And so I think, no matter if it's at your home or not, but people get that sense that they know you and that they're spending time with you. For me, they know they're spending time at my house, but even if it's your farm or somewhere else, you really want them to feel like you're hosting them.
for this event. So I think a personal connection is the best way to have people think about coming back. And then I think making the experience a little bit different. So our On the Flower Farm workshops every month has a different focus flower. it's something, it's a favorite. It's that everybody wants to come see and it's what's in season. So in April,
our focus flower is Ranunculus. They see the Ranunculus growing. We talk more specifically about how to grow them and then we design with them. In May is Peonies and then September are the Dahlia's. we kind of people that gives people a little bit of a like, well this year I did Ranunculus next year I want to do Dahlia's. β So you're kind of giving them some choice. And then I would say the last
or maybe not the last thing that we do to encourage people to come back is we open up registration first to our returning guests. So if they've come before, they get special access a couple of days before everyone else does. And β I think that lets them know, hey, we really value you coming β and you get first dibs on if you wanna come back.
Jenny (09:07)
That's awesome. Now you said that it's all about the quality and details. Tell us a little bit more about the details that you very consciously put into your workshops because I'm thinking of some things right now that I know that you do that you haven't mentioned. So just tell us a little bit more about some of those little details that you think of to make people feel special and like this is a high quality experience.
Niki Irving (09:32)
Yeah, so I mean the first thing is as soon as someone arrives, they're greeted in the driveway, we point out where the restroom is, because a lot of times people drive far, and then when they come up on the porch to kind of check in, they also have to sign their waiver. β But there's another person like greeting them, welcoming them. We have cold water.
And even with the water, so we have one of those just like inexpensive water dispensers, I just snip like mint that's growing in my garden, put some lemon in there, make it look like spa water. And it just looks a little fancier than like, you know, here's a bottle of water or something. β We also, I work with a local calligrapher. I know her through the wedding industry and she hand letters little name cards for everyone.
And so our table, the workshop table is set with like clippers that they can use. And it also has their little name card. So I think people are always a little bit surprised like, wow, this is my name. And I have a, like I have a seat at the table is kind of what it represents. β I also have a local company that makes little cookies that have the flourish logo on them, which is a really just.
cute extra little thing that they can take home. Yeah, they're pretty cute. And then, you know, I just, spend a lot of time cleaning up the farm. Like that's probably the most time consuming, like mowing and blowing off all the pollen and β just having the flower display look really impressive and full when people arrive. β
Jenny (10:56)
They're adorable. I've seen pictures.
Niki Irving (11:22)
I think it gives them that like, wow, this is so fun to be here and they really put some thought into it. Yeah.
Jenny (11:31)
Yeah, I think all the things that you're talking about just really helped to elevate the experience of being there. And I think people can really feel when you put that kind of effort in. Like I recently went to like a business workshop and they did like a lot of similar details to what you're talking about. And it just like made me feel like so special. And I was like, they put a lot of effort into this and it was, it made me feel like I was money well spent. And so I think that's
So cool. But all of these things we're talking about, there's also a cost associated with them. Like particularly when you said time spent cleaning up for our workshops that we've done on the farm, like it takes a lot of time to, not like our farm is messy, but there's just little things that we need to like clean up and we make sure we mow and we weed whack right before people come and you're putting.
You know, flowers around and doing your own arrangements to make things look nice. And like that time, I feel like has to be taken into account along with these other details that you're spending money on, like the calligrapher and the cookies. So can you walk us through a little bit about how you think about that when you come up with your pricing or like how you think about your costs associated with this kind of sales outlet?
Niki Irving (12:51)
Yeah, absolutely. One of the first things I tell people when they ask about hosting workshops, I'm like, it takes a lot of time and it costs, it's not cheap to host workshops. I mean, I live by spreadsheets for everything. And so that's where I keep track of all the costs. You mentioned mowing, weed whacking.
Weed whacking is the only thing on the whole farm that I outsource to someone else because I hate weed whacking. So that costs me $200 a month when the crew comes to weed whack. β So in terms of labor, I have just a line item on the spreadsheet. I have my expenses and of course I account for my own labor. I mow the grass or my husband does, but that takes time. So I allocate a dollar amount to...
Okay, I'll pay myself 20 bucks an hour, say, to mow the grass. β So everything just has a line item. We have to set up all the tables and chairs for every workshop, and we put out the vases, the clippers, we have to harvest. So I have all of that labor kind of included in the prep. β
as a line item. Then I have labor for the day of because I can't do it by myself. I need helpers. β And then obviously the food costs, the drinks, the name cards. β And then in terms of flowers, I think that's the hardest one to figure out how to allocate cost. And what I do is just treat it like how I create budgets for a wedding. β So,
this might be getting in the weeds a little bit, but for every design, you know, I'm trying to include a focal, a supporting focal, line, filler, whimsy, greenery. So I have a separate spreadsheet where every month I look at what flowers I'm going to use. And I know that we're probably going to use four focal flowers. And so I allocate a dollar amount per focal, whether it's a peony or a Dahlia, they generally, you know, can all be like,
$3.50. So I figure out how many approximately stems I'm gonna allow the guests to use. I mean, they can kind of have free range. And I figure out what that arrangement, like wholesale cost is going to be. And I was just talking with someone yesterday who was interested in workshops and I was like, I spend about $80 a person on flowers for the workshop. And they were like, wow.
And it surprises me kind of the opposite way when I see people hosting workshops and charging only $85. Because I'm like, how are you making any money? Are you giving them only five flowers? So all that to say, I really dive into the costs before and I set budgets. I may not know exactly what food we're going to have, but I'm going to spend $18 a person on food or whatever that is.
And then of course I revisit it at the end of the season and see if I went over or for example, hard goods like vases, the cost has gone up a lot in recent years. I used to be able to spend $5 a vase and now it's more like $8 or $9 a vase. And these are all wholesale costs. So I look at what everything costs and then I look at like, okay, I need to make a profit. So how can I also like,
add in built-in profit per each ticket price β while keeping it in something that people are willing to pay. So I know our workshops are not the cheapest, but I think the fact that we have a lot of people come back shows that they get some value out of it.
Jenny (16:53)
They may not be the cheapest, but they're probably the best. I mean, I think you have that reputation, Nikki. β I, I think everything you just talked about is so important when you're considering, I mean, anytime you consider doing, selling any kind of product or experience, but with workshops specifically, I do think a lot of people sort of glaze over.
Niki Irving (16:56)
I don't know.
Jenny (17:21)
or miss some of the expenses associated with hosting them. And it can be easy to think that, you know, they're profitable, but when you actually go through all the line items, like you're saying, it's a lot, it's a lot, but it's also super fun and rewarding for a lot of people. And I actually, I wanted to ask you this earlier and I forgot to, but we might just like go off in a slight tangent, but what made you want to decide to do workshops?
Niki Irving (17:33)
Mm-hmm. β
Jenny (17:49)
in the first place, because you live where your farm is and you host your workshops at your farm. And I think a lot of times people get dissuaded from that. So was that a factor when you first started doing workshops that you thought about or what just made you decide to start doing them?
Niki Irving (18:04)
Yeah, great question. So I started hosting workshops even before I lived on my farm. this is, you know my whole story, but the brief version is I farmed three different properties. So I started off on leased land where there was no bathroom, no, and like it was part of a native plant nursery and I just, had land and that was it. So it really wasn't conducive to having visitors and probably everyone who has a flower farm.
that people are always asking, can I come visit? And you just, most of us are like, no, you can't, because I'm working. β So I found myself saying no all of the time at the beginning on this leased land. And this has been kind of my mentality as a business owner, but if multiple people are asking for something and I keep saying no, I need to step back and figure out how I can say yes, because...
If they're asking for it, they want it and they're willing to pay money for it. β So that was what was happening with workshops is people wanted to come to the farm. I didn't have any infrastructure for people to visit. I was working completely by myself. So visitors weren't feasible. And so I just started hosting workshops. I rented a porta potty. I rented a tent, tables and chairs. mean, honestly, those first years of hosting workshops are probably.
made almost no money. But I worked out the systems. β And so I kind of learned a good flow. And now even though the farm is at my house, I'm still not able to have visitors because it's my home. there's, there's just, it's, it's really not conducive to visitors. β So I love that instead of saying, no, you can't come to the farm. say,
you can come during these times or you can come to our farm stand. So that's really what it came out of was people asking to come to the farm. And I wanted to figure out a way to let them experience a little bit of like the beauty and the magic that we, β we get to see every day, even, even when we're like weeding and slogging along or we're tired of harvesting, I'm harvesting peonies three times a day right now, like,
Having other people come to the farm makes me step back and see really how special it is what we get to do β and get to like just to see their smile and how excited they are to be around the flowers. It reminds us why we love this job too.
Jenny (20:47)
I love that. That's such a
good outlook on it. It really is. Now you said that when you first started doing workshops, I feel like I started the same way. We don't really do workshops too often anymore, but we like bought a 10 rented tables and chairs, rented a porta potty, and eventually like we built a barn to host them in and it's everyone starts somewhere, right? But
One thing I liked that you said was that it allowed you to work out the systems. And I know now that you have really good systems in place for running your workshops and running them really efficiently. So do you have any tips for people on how they can really incorporate systems into how they run their workshops? So not only they're more profitable, but they run more smoothly. β So they are more efficient. Do you have any tips for them?
Niki Irving (21:43)
Yeah, absolutely. I think writing it all down. So we have SOPs, standard operating procedures. I have two very part-time employees, actually three. One person only works like three hours a week. So it's not that complicated to communicate what has to be done to people, but we have it written down like the day before a workshop, all the prep that needs to be done, down to like...
how to clean the bathroom and what my expectations are with that. β How to exactly set up the tables and chairs and I have photos of that in the SOP like binder. And then we have a separate page just for the morning of the workshop. Exactly all the things that need to be done. And then we don't really have to use it anymore because I'm really lucky that one of my employees, Jamie, has helped me for...
several years now in the workshop. she, in some ways she knows like certain aspects of it better than I do. But I wrote down all of the jobs that have to happen at different times. So at nine o'clock the workshop starts, here's your list of expectations of what you're gonna be doing at nine o'clock. Then, you know, while we go on the farm tour at nine 30, she's getting the food ready. Here's the list of expectations. And I have this for,
available for everyone and even for me sometimes like getting back into the groove. I'm like, what are we, what do we do again? β right. It's written down. So it even helps me just to be able to reference it β and know like what it is that we're, what we're striving for. β It's kind of like a, just a giant to-do list, but it's really, really helpful. And, and it, it allows me to delegate because instead of everybody having to come to me to ask,
Well, when does this need to happen? Or do I take the trash out when I clean the bathroom or whatever? Like it's written down. They can just read it instead of tracking me down and asking.
Jenny (23:50)
Yeah, tell us a little bit more about like your staff and how you learned that you needed help to run these workshops. And actually, as a part of that question, could you also answer roughly how many workshop, I guess students is the right term you have at a time per workshop?
Niki Irving (24:10)
Yeah, so we have 15 workshop guests at a time and we'll occasionally bump it up to 17 or 18 if somebody signed up and then they said, oh, my mom's going to be in town. I really want to bring her. And so we'll add a few more. that my biggest limiting factor is parking so I can park 12 car. That is it. So I found that any more guests than that and like it would just be too many cars.
β That number of people fits really well. I have a covered porch at my house and that's where we host the workshops. β And then I also feel like with that number, I can really talk to everyone and give them like individual feedback if they want it about their arrangement. It's just a nice like intimate number. β We have a lot β of, we're doing less this year, but for years we've done two workshops in a day.
We'll do a morning and then we'll do an afternoon because the farm looks great. I've mowed the grass. We've hauled the tables up here and we're harvesting anyways. And so really like it's my energy that is the hardest to like replenish between the workshops. β But it's, it's because it's a lot more profitable because we're really like maximizing.
all the effort of getting the farm ready. β So let's see, and your other question was about the staff. think very, like from the very first workshop I hosted, I knew I needed help. I just asked friends to help me. And I don't know if this happened for you, but in my early years, my friends wanted to be involved in everything. Like they'd come to the farmer's market with me. They would help do wedding flowers in my basement.
I really could not have started this business without the help of my friends. so they would just come and I would kind of treat them the same way that I treat my employees now. Like, okay, if you want to help, here's what I need you to do. And they loved it. And I sent them home with tons of flowers and they got food and had a good time. So now it's just become like kind of a job that,
Mostly it's fallen on like one employee. She loves helping me. We have a great system. β But there have occasionally over the years been people who have helped with workshops for a while and then they like, they're like, I kind of don't want to do this anymore. I would rather just go weed and be by myself. Like they're, they've done enough people-ing, which is fair. And then I have some helpers or employees who could talk like all day long and.
That's great for me because sometimes it's less talking that I have to do.
Jenny (27:05)
Yeah.
Yeah. It's one of the things you said was your energy. Like that's something that I have felt is really tough for me because traditionally we've done like two day workshops on the, excuse me, on the farm and they're, they're long days. And it's like all the prep work before is kind of a lot. And if you don't really protect that energy and have the help, like it could
make the workshop not as great for your guests or something like that. yeah, having those people there to help is really, really great.
Niki Irving (27:40)
Yeah, and removing yourself from the tasks that someone else can do is a great way to preserve that. So I have certain times where I know, like, okay, they're doing their self-guided tour. I'm gonna go inside. I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I'm gonna drink some water and just be silent for a few minutes. the day, so we're actually hosting a workshop tomorrow. And I did...
none of the prep for it actually. It's all done. And that way I feel like I'm not burnt out when it comes time to do it tomorrow. I know that everything's done and I can double check the list, but I personally have not been preparing for it for, you know, two days. I'm just, I kind of get to come in and talk. And I have, like you said, saved up my energy.
Jenny (28:34)
Yeah. And I mean, that's where your talents are is in teaching and engaging with these people. And so that's what your energy should be preserved for. So, β yeah. Now, one other question you just talked about, like when the guests are on their self guided tour, you'll like take a little mini break. When you do the self guided tour, I mean, are they just able to wander around the farm at will? Because I know that that
makes some people nervous, like some farmers nervous to like just let the public loose around on their farm. So tell me about how you handle that and how that situation goes.
Niki Irving (29:14)
Yeah, so one, they sign a waiver when they arrive and it's just like a liability release. So I do have that. And then during my kind of introduction and housekeeping, I just said a few parameters, like I mentioned any places where they can't go, which is mostly inside my house. And I asked,
I specifically ask people to respect our space. And I think by just saying that out loud and looking people in the eye, they realize like I'm a person and I'm looking out for your safety, but I'm also trying to protect my privacy too. And so in over 10 years, I've never had anyone like be really nosy and poke around or go places they're not. But I think because we do the more formal tour before the self-guided tour,
they have areas where they know that they wanna go back and spend a little bit more time. So we walk through our tunnels. I point out our perennial garden, and then we usually go, depending on what's blooming, to either the peonies or the dahlias or the annual field. I show them our little greenhouse. So they have a sense of where things are anyways. so I think that...
maybe reigns it in a little bit. And the way that my farm is situated, I know you've been here, but I'm on a huge hill. So it kind of naturally deters people from like wanting to walk way down the hill, which is where our barn is and where all like the tools and equipment are. I do have a shed near the field that has tools, but people aren't normally like bold enough to just go open it up. β
So I tried it and like we start off the tour in my flower studio which has all the vases and flower food and I tell them like you can poke around all you want in here. So I think by showing them like where they can go makes them not want to go somewhere that they're not allowed and they only have like 15 or 20 minutes which is not enough time to get into any trouble.
Jenny (31:36)
Not to go find trouble around the farm. Now, because you host these workshops on your farm, do you feel like you plan the fields differently or what you plant or what you leave or keep in the field differently than if you did not host these workshops? So I know for me personally, there was a point where we used to do a lot of these workshops with our farmers market customers and our CSA customers. But.
Niki Irving (31:39)
Yeah.
Jenny (32:04)
I felt like the farm needed to look differently to meet their expectations. Like we would cut everything in the field to sell. There wouldn't be like a lot out there. And they imagine these like rolling hills of flowers. And I came to a decision point where I was like, we either need to like plant the farm differently and treat it a little differently if we're going to keep doing these workshops or like it's not a good fit right now for our farm. And we ended up not just basically stopping doing them. So do you feel like that changes like
how you plan or not really.
Niki Irving (32:35)
Absolutely. It's so it is probably one of the most difficult parts like no one wants to come to a flower farm and not see flowers. So I'm pretty I won I only plan them for when I'm pretty certain we're gonna have flowers. And you know, through photos and harvest records, I can see what was blooming when but
Jenny (32:45)
Right.
Niki Irving (33:03)
Yeah, we have to harvest what's out there, but I really always want to leave something for people to see. And so for me, that's ended up being like any dead heading that needs to happen. So for example, our like hummingbird poppies are blooming right now. You know, with poppies, if you don't, have to pick them like twice a day. So it's just inevitable that some of them get missed because we're not picking them twice a day. β
So I leave all the ones that are open out there for the guests to see in the tunnel. And then after the farm tour is over, I have someone who works and she goes in and she like harvests and deadheads kind of like literally right behind us. So I do that with peonies as well. You know, we harvest probably 80 % of our peonies, but we have plenty. So I don't need to pick every single stem. And so I do leave instead of,
deadheading or cutting every single stem, I leave something out there for people to see. β But it is pretty stressful. I'm always looking at what patches I can leave versus the entire Dahlia field. I'll maybe choose two varieties not to harvest as heavily. And then as soon as the farm tour is done, the workshop's over, we go out and we harvest behind them.
So it does definitely take extra planning, but I think people would be very disappointed if they came here and there was nothing to see. But like there's certain things right now, like they're not gonna see any fox glove that's ready because we've picked it all because I needed to sell it.
Jenny (34:39)
Yeah.
Yeah, I know some people who do workshops or like on farm or pick your own, they sometimes plant an entirely separate area or a separate field that's just for guests to come and see the flowers and they have a separate cutting field or cutting area where they have for production. And so I think for me, that was always like, I don't know, I never did that. But for some people, I know that's a solution if they can, you know, make it work.
financially if they're doing enough workshops or you picks or whatever for that to be seen. So β I think that's something that people might not always think about if they want to get into hosting workshops on their farm, something just to consider.
Niki Irving (35:23)
Mm-hmm.
Right, you can also time
your harvesting. So we harvest for workshops on Tuesdays. Our workshops are normally on like Friday, Saturday. So usually there's like another flush of something ready by the time that rolls around. It's just hard to time the harvesting afterwards because it's like the afternoon or I'm getting to the point where I don't really want to work weekends. So I don't want to be out there harvesting all day Saturday after a workshop.
Jenny (36:02)
Right. So how do you think that hosting these workshops does it impact your other sales channels? Cause you do weddings and you have a farm stand. Are those basically your three sales outlets right now, And wholesale.
Niki Irving (36:14)
do some wholesale and I'm actually doing
more. used to do a ton of wholesale the last few years. I've really only sold to like one shop. I'm selling a little bit more this year. β But I think they actually go pretty well together because especially the wedding clients in the workshops, I get a lot of wedding clients who come to our workshops β either before or after their wedding or like the following year.
Jenny (36:38)
How cool.
Niki Irving (36:43)
And it's a really neat way for them to kind of like re-experience the flowers that they got from us. So that's kind of fun.
Jenny (36:53)
I love that actually, that's so cool. β What about, are there any other logistical challenges that you would maybe want someone to know about if they were thinking about doing workshops? Like what's the biggest logistical challenge? Is it like trying to fit workshops in between the harvesting or is it something else?
Niki Irving (37:16)
Yeah, I would say that it's probably figuring out the heart, your harvest schedule, like leaving something for people to look at and having enough flowers. So this may not be for everyone, but a lot of times I end up supplementing what we grow on the farm β with like other farms. like other local farms or regional, I end up ordering in extra flowers.
and you know, it, it, adds another layer of like, of cost and stress. But if I were to heart cut every single like, ranunculus from my tunnel, I don't grow a ton. I don't grow as many, nearly as many as you do. But, β anyways, I don't want to chop, I don't want to like pick them all because then there's literally nothing for people to see. So I've ordered like, you know, some extra bunches of ranunculus from another farm.
And those are the ones that people can use in their designs because when they show up at the workshop, we have all the flowers ready for them. And then I tell people, if you want, you can go pick like one or two. Most people are very conservative because we have so many flowers ready for them. β So I would say logistically, like figuring that out is the hardest. β
But that's also if you want to do like a design component, which there's a lot of ways to do workshops without having a design component. You could just let people give them like a small cup and let them, you know, you could tour and then let them pick flowers. Um, you could just give a tour. I do think there's something fun and special about getting to, um, make arrangements. People love taking that home and, and caring for it.
and then I think the other biggest challenge is the weather. So always. Yeah. So I've had some April so my covered porch like faces the field and then my house is on one side so we are sheltered. But if the wind comes up from the field, which it often does
Jenny (39:19)
yeah, that's a good, we should talk about that. β
Niki Irving (39:41)
it can be super windy on the porch. And I've had a couple April workshops where I've either pulled out every blanket from my house for people to like bundle up in. Or we've had to move down into the flower studio, which is my garage. And it's not it's not quite big enough for 15 people. But everyone was so cold. And I could just you know, when everyone like they're not moving and they're in the I was like this is
Jenny (39:53)
Aww.
all hunched
up.
Niki Irving (40:10)
were all hunched up and
we were just about to start making our arrangements and I was like, do you guys want to move downstairs in the garage? And they're like, yes, please, can we? And so like they got to see the pretty table and like they knew what it could be. But then it was just like chaos moving everything down into the garage, but they were cold. so I think keeping people comfortable.
is so, so, so important because otherwise their memory is gonna be, the workshop was great, but I was really cold. But if you can do something about it or bring blankets β in the summertime, it gets really hot. So we installed ceiling fans on the porch. Like we don't really need them, but the workshop guests do. And we bring up extra.
like box fans so that if somebody just needs to go stand in front of it, they can. So I think keeping people comfortable is just like really up there. Like, that's what they're gonna take away with them. If they were uncomfortable, that's what they're gonna remember. β Having a nice comfortable potty, as non glamorous as that is like a lot of.
Jenny (41:29)
You
essential.
Niki Irving (41:32)
A lot of our
workshop guests are mostly women of a certain age and like, you know, we put flowers in the bathroom and I have my like homemade lavender spray and it just, they feel comfortable.
Jenny (41:46)
Yeah, I would say one of my number one priority before we had our new barn and studio built was like legitimate nice bathroom. Because all women working on the farm too, and then we have these guests, and we always were like, we were renting like nice porta potties. it was very high on my to do list early on in the flower farm.
Niki Irving (41:57)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, people really
appreciate a comfortable bathroom.
Jenny (42:15)
Yes. β Do you ever do rain dates or severe weather dates, or is it rain or shine for your workshops?
Niki Irving (42:23)
It's
rain or shine and it keeps like brings back PTSD thinking one. This was when I was on the least farm and I had tents. I bought a tent off of, I don't know, one of those online sites and it was not the sturdiest. I set it up the day before I had it like, you know, right. Everything was ready to go and I, or maybe I set it up two days before I came out the next morning and it was like had been
blown over and just broke into bits and I was panicking. So I had to call a rental company and get like a more expensive kind of like tent like a rental company has and thankfully they had one available but I've always done rain or shine because logistically like rescheduling is really hard. Even if you say here's a rain date.
For people to reserve two days on their schedule is kind of a lot to ask. β So we put it on the website, we put it in their confirmation, we send an email two weeks before the workshop reminding people, hey, bring a rain jacket, bring layers, wear comfortable shoes. We even tell them to like bring a little box to transport their arrangement home. Cause people have these flowers and they're like,
What do I do with this in my car?
Jenny (43:53)
Yeah.
I think of all the details. Yeah. How do you handle, I was just thinking about the weather and like, if somebody sees it's going to be really rainy or terrible weather, if they want to back out or if they have something happen, it seems it's inevitable. Every workshop we've ever hosted, there's always someone at the very last minute who's like, I can't come, can I get a refund? How do you handle that with your workshops?
Niki Irving (44:23)
We have it written everywhere that they are nonrefundable and not transferable to another date, but they can transfer it to another person if they want to. But it's in bold letters on the website. It's in bold letters on their confirmation page that's emailed to them after they check out. So I feel like it rarely happens, but
Every year we'll get somebody who says, I booked this a couple months ago and now I can't come. We just refer back to the places where it says it's non-refundable, non-transferable. And we'll say like, well, we'll be glad to make an exception and let you have someone else come in your place. So you feel like you're giving a little bit, but my biggest challenge used to be like, or maybe still is people.
registering for one and thinking like, well, I can't go in April. It's two days before the workshop. Maybe I can go in May. And I'm sitting here thinking the workshops in two days. I can't resell your space. Like that's not, it doesn't work like that. So we hold a pretty strict boundary, which doesn't feel good. I hate it when people push boundaries when you've been really clear, but it's just the world that we live in.
Jenny (45:48)
I think it's just what it is to be a business owner is what it is sometimes. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. β speaking of exceptions, I think I know I talked to a lot of flower farmers who are excited about doing workshops, running workshops. think it'll be fun and it is fun and it can be a really
Niki Irving (45:52)
Yeah, everyone thinks they're an exception.
Jenny (46:12)
fun way to earn income for your flower farm business. And I think that a lot of people can make it happen. Even people who think that they can't because they live on the top of a hill like you, or they have to do out of their house like you. But do you think that there's anybody or any situations where people should not be offering workshops or should be very seriously considering how they offer workshops?
Niki Irving (46:37)
think if you don't like people, don't host workshops. I know that sounds funny, but a lot of people, I'm an introvert, but I still like people. But a lot of us get into farming because we love being alone and we love the quiet. So I would say really think about your personality and if you can't be welcoming and friendly and like genuine, because people know when you're faking it. β
Jenny (46:40)
You
Niki Irving (47:05)
And then I think if for some reason you're, can't, again, you can't keep people comfortable, that that is, that would probably be a no-go. like people say, β I'm gonna host workshops, but I'm not gonna get a tent or I don't have a space. I'm just gonna hope for good weather. To me, that is setting yourself up for disaster. could rain, it could be really hot and people don't have shade.
β So I think if you can't take care of people or you're not willing to spend the money, don't do it. Like it's not gonna be successful.
Jenny (47:47)
All Now, I think my last, one of my last questions for you, Nikki, is around marketing workshops. β How do you approach marketing, these types of experiences on your farm, or how can people think about getting the word out there about these kinds of things?
Niki Irving (48:07)
So I think in this day and age, I think one of the best ways when you're starting out is to invite, I hate to use this word, but like an influencer, someone with a following who kind of aligns with your target audience. think first think about who you want to have come so that you know who you're marketing to.
β I'm sure you teach that as like identify your target audience. So like you start there and then I think yeah, one way is finding an influencer, inviting them to join for free so that they can share about the experience. I think like if there's a local tourism board or β maybe the Chamber of Commerce to some degree, but
Those can be good ways to get the word out. In our area, we have a lot of kind of local, like, Asheville, what's happening type of like newsletters and social media accounts. sharing with them what you have going on and inviting someone to join you. Because if someone is sharing about their experience with you firsthand, that's always...
a lot more credible than me saying, let me tell you what you're going to do, but if someone else is saying, let me tell you about what a great time I had. And then hire a photographer. Like we do it every year still, but in those early years, that was so important to have really good photos of capturing the experience, like people's hands on flowers and
all the flowers around and even what it looks like on a farm tour. There's certain things that are hard, like it's really hard to get a good farm tour photo, but I'm always walking around like people when they're snipping or looking at the flowers, just even if I don't have a photographer, they're just trying to capture some of that β so that people can just see what the experience is like.
Jenny (50:23)
Yeah, I think photography is so incredibly important for these kinds of things. And I actually had a photographer come out to one of our workshops last year, and they did, I didn't get a single good picture from it, and it was so disappointing. I was like, no. So we're gonna try again this year, but it's all good. One of the things you said that I think is so powerful nowadays is the whole local influencer thing. Like it seems intimidating,
Niki Irving (50:36)
Bye.
Jenny (50:53)
But in my area, there are so many of these local Instagram accounts. There's one that's rock the city with hope. And it's just this creator who just goes around and highlights different businesses and different restaurants, like new places to eat, things to do with kids. There's a lot of food ones, which I don't know, if you have food at your workshop, maybe you can weave it in that way. β
I just think doing some kind of partnership and inviting one of those people could be so huge to just get the word out about what you're doing. So I love that piece of advice that you gave. So cool. β So Nikki, are there any last tips or tricks or pieces of advice that you would give to people who are thinking about doing workshops or who want to enhance their workshop experiences that they have?
Niki Irving (51:49)
Hmm. I think we covered so many things. I guess my biggest advice is like just Don't be afraid to charge enough to make money cover not just cover your costs Because it's a lot of work and it's really not worth it unless you're gonna make some money β
Yeah, I think it would just be really easy to do workshops and have it kind of be a loss. And in my mind, it's really, it's just not worth it. And then I guess maybe lastly, like, don't just learn from your mistakes. Like we seem, we have great systems now, but this is 10 years in the making. Like I've had 10 years to be like,
Wow, my my inexpensive little tent that I bought off of some random website did not hold up to the wind. I'll never do that again. Or man, it's expensive to buy to rent tables and chairs. Let me just look into what it would cost to buy them. β Or if you feel like the experience was subpar to your guests, just acknowledge it like, hey, I'm sorry, we ran out of the chicken salad things that we were having like
Jenny (52:43)
Hahaha!
Niki Irving (53:04)
are bad, you know, like just I think apologize just like anything in business if you think that you could have done better. It doesn't mean the whole experience was bad. It just means that there's room for improvement.
Jenny (53:19)
that.
Niki Irving (53:19)
And
then I guess if you have people helping you ask how it goes from their perspective because they may be able to help fine-tune something behind the scenes or they may overhear a conversation about something that people loved or that they didn't love. β You know, I'm in my own head and I'm having my own experience and Jamie's hearing totally different things and seeing different things.
Jenny (53:43)
Yeah, I think that is so underrated because I know people who come to our workshops, they talk to our staff sometimes more than they talk to me. And then they'll like, you know, tell me what they were talking about. And it's really valuable to get their opinions on what they're hearing and seeing. So super underrated. β Nikki, thank you so much for doing this with me today. I know people are going to get so much value out of this. And can we just wrap up with you telling people where they can find you and maybe sign up?
to an experience, workshop with you on their own.
Niki Irving (54:14)
Sure, yes. So we're Flourish Flower Farm. can find us. Our website is FlourishFlowerFarm.com. We're on Instagram, same name, Flourish Flower Farm. We do have a few spaces left for our September Dahlia workshops. Love to have anybody join us.
Jenny (54:34)
Awesome. I will link that in the show notes too for if anyone wants a quick link over to Nikki's website. But thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it, Nikki. And I'm always just so impressed with you and your business acumen. It's just so refreshing. So thank you again. All right.
Niki Irving (54:49)
Thanks Jenny.
Jenny (54:51)
Real quick, if you've got 17 tabs open in your brain right now, just trying to figure out your next move, please do yourself a favor and close them and go grab your personalized profit roadmap instead. It's just a short assessment that will tell you what stage your farm is in and what actually deserves your attention right now to move forward quickly. Because more information isn't usually the answer.
focusing on the real problem that's holding you back is. It's free, it's fast, and it's probably more helpful than scrolling Instagram for another hour. So go grab it at trademarkfarmer.com forward slash roadmap. That's trademarkfarmer.com forward slash roadmap. You can also grab this link in the show notes.
Jenny (55:38)
We'll see everyone next time. Don't forget we publish new episodes every Monday. So we'll see you next time. Same time, same place. Bye for now.
