We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Diana Scafoglio Ducharme a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Diana , thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
Flowers are my medicine, it just took me a while to figure that out.
I haven’t always been an optimistic person. The glass was half empty, or more, for a long time. When I was 16 and a junior in high school, my father decided life was too hard to live anymore, so he gave up and left this earth. Then, at 21, I lost my fist love to a drunk driver. I thought for sure, life was only going to keep knocking me down and serving up the worst it had to offer, that these were the cards that would be in my hand forever.
Before these losses, I had started to dabble in interior design, design clothes, trying to get my creativity going wherever I could , I knew I was going to be a designer of some sort. Then it just shifted, I accepted that I was supposed to get a corporate job to earn money and just get by, dreams didn’t matter. Needless to say, sitting in a cubicle, living paycheck to paycheck, was less than fulfilling and only added to the depressing outlook on life.
In the corporate world I excelled in the business side but the personal side was rough. I was told I was too “excited about things” , too energetic, too loud, etc. I even had an HR manager that continually tried to stop any promotions or opportunities coming my way because he wasn’t a fan of my personality. But then I had a a few individuals come into my life during this time and show me a different side of things. My boss at the time was one of them. He was an incredibly active, optimistic, resilient, and kind man. And life had slapped him so damn hard in the face after an accident left him paralyzed. Bu let me tell you, without him saying a word to me about it, his attitude alone made be straighten up. Who am I to feel sorry for myself and walk around with this attitude that seems to only continually attract the toughest obstacles? Then the company gained a new CEO who’s faith in me to be so much more motivated me to try harder. He gave me a shot on a project and then an SVP said to me “where have we been keeping you?! You are the dark horse of the company!” and she took a chance being a mentor for me. And from that day on, I put one foot in front of the other to be the best I could be at what I was doing.
Ten years and many lessons later, I knew I was where I wanted to be professionally within myself, but the job was still less than fulfilling. So with my husband’s strong encouragement, I started playing with flowers to distract myself on the weekends and not take my corporate baggage home with me. After my first couple of weddings, that feeling I had after seeing my clients faces and knowing I was a part of making this day the most special of their lives, was the feeling I had been chasing with every promotion or salary increase in the corporate world. Two years later I retired from the financial world and have never looked back. Now I start everyday trying to look for the good and beauty in the simple things, and being grateful to do what I love and have so many people find joy in my design.
This outlook has brought me my beautiful son and husband, a family whom I never thought I would be worthy of having when I looked at life half empty.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a custom floral designer who specializes in weddings, photoshoots, and branding. I live to create colorful and intentional artistic designs out of fresh flowers. I want people to see my flowers and immediately smile, feel happy, or want to dance! I like surprising clients with texture and color palettes they didn’t know they needed in our consultations or mockup meetings. It is the greatest honor when my client’s come in wanting one thing, and then end up telling me to do whatever I think will look best! I can confidently say I have had no complaints from any client that has ever granted me creative freedom.
We recently got to be a part of a large event, Show Me Your Bloomers! Which was a live 3 day exhibit in the Heiress Gallery in St. Pete with live floral art installations in the themes of seasons. We had so much fun creating our summer piece and seeing all the other florist’s installations. We came together to put on a great show! This was curated by a fellow florist and all funds go to support a fund being created to assist with health benefits for florists.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think 3 areas of knowledge that were so important for me to learn in this industry are
1. Photographer styles and how they translate to my florals and design- my advice to clients is if you are choosing a specific floral design based on colors, be sure that your photographer’s style lines up with that. Certain florals can translate best with light and airy styles while others are best for moody romantic styles. I try to do my part by asking up front who the photographer is and doing my research before suggesting designs.
2. I won’t be everyone’s style of florist and that’s OKAY, If you are looking for a more traditional look, or a florist who is willing to “paint by numbers’ or exactly replicate a Pinterest photo, I’m probably not your girl. In the first year of my career I forced myself to create these styles and those are some of my only regrets with flowers.
3. Asking for help- Once I stopped trying to do it all alone and brought in my designer and bestie, It allowed space for me to enjoy creating while running the business side of things and growing my family.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
My ideal client would be someone that obviously loves flowers. You would be surprised at the amount of inquiries where people say ” I don’t really like flowers but maybe a lot of candles’ ‘. Someone that wants their flowers to have some bounce and personality. Some dimension and style. They are fun and generous with their creative freedom. They have a vision and trust in us to execute it. I am blessed beyond belief with the clients, brides, and grooms I have crossed paths with. These gracious, trusting, generous, sweet souls, fuel me more than they will ever know. I am so lucky to be a part of the best day of so many people’s lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: petalspresentsandpartes.com
- Instagram: @petalspresentsandpartes
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Petalspresentsandparties
Image Credits
Dewitt For Love Photography Marina Leighann Photography Jessica Cruz Photos
