Flower Friend Spotlight - Kelly Girard from Mayesh
In my world, Kelly is a pretty famous person. She has been my sales rep/therapist/sounding board/favorite person for the last seven years. She is amazing at what she does; she has saved the day for me countless times, and she is the one to credit for all of the beautiful blooms I get in every week. She is such a fun, genuine, passionate person. I can’t say enough great things about Kelly. I know you will all love this interview!
You are pretty famous for your “pulls”. What goes into putting them together?
L.O.V.E. So cheesy, but it's true. I genuinely love being a flower fairy for my customers!
In the beginning, it was a lot of research. Trial and error, successes and failures that had to be reworked. At this point, I've done just about every major color palette, during every different season, about 100 times lol. It took a lot of practice and a ton of patience but thankfully now, I have a pretty good handle on what combinations work together and it's super easy to put these projects together for my customers!
How did you decide to start doing the pulls? What is your favorite part about putting them together?
The "Mayesh Pull” has been around since long before my time! This pull initially started in the shipping division of Mayesh LAX. The idea came from the basis that our shipping customers didn't have the same access to our sales floor as our local customers. Rather than sending a thousand pics of our extensive inventory, we started putting collections together specifically for their needs. Essentially becoming their personal shoppers! As the momentum picked up,people started realizing their sales reps were putting together boxes full of things they had never seen before, or would have never thought to ask for. Over time this program has carried over into all 19 Mayesh locations across the country.
We have so many talented people here! In my first few years I was mediocre at best, but I had a number of wonderfully creative people to learn from, and some of the most amazing flowers a girl could dream of! Hard not to be passionate when you are surrounded by so much beauty.
My favorite part about the pulls is arranging the racks. It's like a giant jigsaw puzzle and it only works when all the pieces are put together properly. Insert OCD here!
How did you get into the wholesale floral side of the business? Believe it or not, I was working in a Togo's Sandwich shop! The sales manager for Mayesh used to frequently come in for lunch. After numerous attempts to upsell her on combos, add-ons, and about anything else I could think of - she offered me a job.
Young kid, zero life experience, didn't even know how to check email or use a fax machine. Remember when those were a thing? It was that long ago. It's funny because I've never been a super "salesy" person. My approach to helping customers has always been to identify and understand what they are going for,and put together ideas that take their project over the top. If you build it, they will come!
What is your favorite part about the wholesale end? And how long have you been doing it for?
I've been doing this for 12 years! My favorite part about the wholesale end is getting to see so many different flowers. We get weekly shipments from all over the world. It's easy to get bogged down when you live in a town where all anyone ever asks for is roses and baby's breath. I think part of how the creative aspect has grown so much for us, is just by being inspired by the abundance at our fingertips. I also really love the rush of a busy day, and we rarely have a slow one. There are so many logistical and technical aspects that come with shipping flowers, and I love a good challenge!
Do you have a favorite flower? A favorite color palette?
Favorite flower would have to be lilies, with hellebores as a close runner-up. I know lilies are a bit antiquated, but for me there's nothing better than big showy blooms and walking into a room full of that gorgeous smell! Plus they are right on point with all my antique Victorian furniture ha! Favorite color palette has got to be sherberts. But I also really love all the between-spectrum shades. Antique corals, muddy lavenders, bronzey peaches, anything outside of primary.
What does a day in the life of Kelly look like at Mayesh?
Like the old school Seattle fish market, times a thousand. Things are flying, people are hollering - it's awesome! In the busy season, which is now April-October, we ship about 150 orders per day. We receive hundreds of boxes, buckets, and pallets full of flowers that have to get broken down, inspected, allocated, pulled, packed, and shipped - daily. When alllll of that is done, we have about 50-75 emails per day that need to be addressed. This job is not for the faint of heart, but if you survive, it is a wonderful and wild ride!
Thanks so much for taking the time to read all about Kelly Girad from Mayesh! I know I certainly learned a lot from this interview and I hope you did too! Stay tuned for my next Flower Friend Spotlight blog.
