This week’s guests introduce us to the American Institute of Floral Designers, AIFD.

The mission of this organization is to advance the art of professional floral design through education, service and leadership, and to recognize the achievement of excellence in this art form.

AIFD was established in 1965 and today is one of the leading nonprofit organizations in the floral industry, with a focus on professional development, accreditation and education.

I’ve known floral designers over the years who have achieved that coveted AIFD credentialing after their names and to be honest, I was a little intimidated. However, after getting to know these amazing talents and understanding how driven they are to elevate the profession, well, I have a different attitude now.

One of those people who’s helped me get to know AIFD is today’s guest, Stacey Carleton, owner of The Floraculturist .

I first met Stacey virtually when I was writing an article about Jeanie McKewan, a wonderful flower farmer who owns Brightflower Farm in Stockton, Illinois. I asked Jeanie to connect me with some of her customers and one was Stacey, then a floral manager at a Chicago Whole Foods.

I was so delighted with Stacey’s response when I interviewed her — she was so committed to sourcing locally-grown flowers from farms like Brightflower and her comments enhanced the article by giving industry validation Jeanie’s practices, product and relationships.

And as these things go, Stacey and I became Facebook friends, but we’d never met in person. Now, she is the Marketing Chair for AIFD and I recently sat down with her for an interview about the organization.

AIFD’s National Symposium is coming to Seattle, July 1 through 5 and since it’s in my own backyard, I plan on attending for a few days. You’ll hear us discussing the program and the various ways you can also attend — one need not be a member to take advantage of this incredible opportunity to hear from world class speakers like my friend Arthur Williams of Denver’s Babylon Floral Design, featured in a chapter of The 50 Mile Bouquet.

Here’s a bit more about Stacey:

Stacey Carlton AIFD is a second generation floral designer and educator residing in Chicago. Her extensive educational journey is supported by her life-long training in floristry, horticulture, and visual arts. Inducted into The American Institute of Floral Designers in 2010, she is an internationally published artist most recently in the highly coveted 2016/2017 International Floral Art Book by Stitching Kunstboek.

Stacey is celebrating a three year consecutive win from Fusion Flower Magazine’s International Designer of the Year competition with four medals in 2016. Her freelance work has taken her across the country to different markets of the industry most notably in California designing for elite clientele in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Santa Barbara, and Montecito.

She prefers to demonstrate her natural modern design aesthetic in large scale installations, wedding and event decor, visual editorials, floral fashion, and street art. Stacey has also developed a fabulous Aromatherapy “Bar” program to incorporate in her clients’ special events, and I’ll share the link to that innovative project, as well.

Follow Stacey at these social places:

The Floraculturist on Facebook

The Floraculturist on Instagram

The Floraculturist on Pinterest

We actually met in person to record this interview. Stacey was in Los Angeles to freelance for Brad Austin Imaginative Florals and I had traveled to SoCal to ultimately teach at In Bloom, for Flower Hill Promenade in Del Mar. I found her working in the most glorious setting, Brad’s home studio that’s imbedded in his beautiful courtyard and garden.

We took a moment to turn on the recorder and it was fun to add a bonus guest, Anthony Vigliotta, the current AIFD president who is based in Los Angeles and frequently freelances for Brad Austin, as well.

Both are clearly passionate about advancing the artistry of the floral and horticulture industry by supporting design education and encouraging individual style and techniques.

Follow Anthony on Facebook

Enjoy our conversation and follow this link to connect with AIFD when you’re in Seattle. I’m hoping that people coming to attend the Slow Flowers SUMMIT on Sunday, July 2nd, will consider hanging around for a few days to take in AIFD’s offerings.

Thanks so much for joining us today. You’ll find me at the AIFD Symposium on Monday, July 3rd at the downtown Seattle Sheraton, where Slow Flowers will have an exhibit during the morning Partners Expo — gotta get the word out about Slowflowers.com and the new model of floral design, right?!

Find AIFD at these social places:

AIFD Symposium Facebook Page

AIFD on Instagram

Conference Registration

Conference Full Program

The Slow Flowers Podcast has been downloaded more than 196,000 times by listeners like you. THANK YOU to each one of you for downloading, listening, commenting and sharing. It means so much. If you value the content you receive each week, I invite you to show your thanks and support the Slow Flowers Podcast with a donation — the button can be found on our home page in the right column. Your contributions will help make it possible to transcribe future episodes of the Podcast.

Don’t forget to register for the Slow Flowers Summit — it’s less than 4 weeks away and tickets are selling at a brisk pace. The information you will gain in a single day at the Summit is an incredible value for just $175 — and members of slow flowers receive a great thank-you rate  of $135/ Your registration includes all lectures and coffee/light breakfast, lunch and a cocktail reception with speakers — plus a flower lovers’ swag bag and chance to network with the doers and thinkers in our botanical universe.

I can’t wait for you to join us in Seattle on July 2 during the heart of American Flowers Week!

Thank you to family of sponsors:

And thank you to our lead sponsor for 2017: Certified American Grown Flowers. The Certified American-Grown program and label provide a guarantee for designers and consumers on the source of their flowers. Take pride in your flowers and buy with confidence, ask for Certified American Grown Flowers.  To learn more visit americangrownflowers.org.

Arctic Alaska Peonies, a cooperative of 50 family farms in the heart of Alaska providing high quality, American Grown peony flowers during the months of July and August. Visit them today at arcticalaskapeonies.com

Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Find them at seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com

Longfield Gardens provides home gardeners with high quality flower bulbs and perennials. Their online store offers plants for every region and every season, from tulips and daffodils to dahlias, caladiums and amaryllis. Visit them at lfgardens.com.

Syndicate Sales, an American manufacturer of vases and accessories for the professional florist. Look for the American Flag Icon to find Syndicate’s USA-made products and join the Syndicate Stars loyalty program at syndicatesales.com.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds, an employee-owned company that provides our industry the best flower, herb and vegetable seeds — supplied to farms large and small and even backyard cutting gardens like mine. Check them out at johnnysseeds.com.

Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. Formed in 1988, ASCFG was created to educate, unite, and support commercial cut flower growers. It mission is to help growers produce high-quality floral material, and to foster and promote the local availability of that product. Learn more at ascfg.org

I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Podcast. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more American grown flowers on the table, one vase at a time. And if you like what you hear, please consider logging onto Itunes and posting a listener review.

The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization.

The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. Learn more about his work at KineticTreeFitness.com.

 

 

Music Credits: