Meet Kasey Kruft

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kasey Kruft a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kasey, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

Having started at Sweet Peas so young, I was working for the previous owners, Tony and Debbie Alvarez. Both of them were very active in our industry and instilled in all of us how important our contribution is to people’s lives. Flowers and the Floral industry have been around for a very long time and it is a privilege to get to provide a luxury item. It is a gift to be able to work in a thriving industry that is not essential at the end of the day. Flowers are a luxury item so you need to be appreciative that people want what you have to offer. Put out a good product so that people will continue to come back. We work very hard to maintain our reputation and a high standard that our customers have come to expect.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I started working at Sweet Peas Flowers when I was 15 years old.. 35 years later, I am still here. I bought the shop 22 years ago and it has been an incredible adventure. I thought I knew everything when I bought the shop. I had worked there for 13 years and you always think you can “do it better”. My first year of ownership was humbling to say the least. Learning do’s and don’ts, being the first one in and the last one out, being the last one paid, it was overwhelming at best. Time and effort and a strong stubborn pride is what got me through. I did not want to just own a flower shop, I wanted to own the best flower shop I could and put out the best product that I could. I certainly have not done it alone. I have had incredible help throughout the years. A couple sketchy ones! Ha ha, but I have had incredible designers and incredible staff throughout the last 20+ years. I care about this town and my community and I am very proud to be their chosen florist. I don’t take it lightly. We are there for some of the most important events in people’s lives. Weddings, celebrations, someone’s final flowers for their funeral. These are big moments in people’s lives and we take our responsibilities in that very seriously.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Know that everything that goes out the door is your business card. Your product is your advertising. Better than any commercial or magazine ad. Put out a good product and it will sell itself.
2. Give people a minute of your time. If someone is going to take the time to call your business to place an order, have the time to talk with them and take the order. The biggest complaint we hear about other shops is that they felt rushed and not to listened to. That is always surprising to us. People patron our business during really emotional times. Sadness because there has been a death in the family or a celebration that they are excited to share. Take the time and listen to them. It is a huge part of the process and for goodness sake, be nice!
3. Expect to put in long hours. Expect to be uncomfortable and you need to put in the time. Just because you are open from 9 to 5 does not mean that those are your hours. You will have to be there early and you will have to be there late. Create a comfortable work environment for yourself and your employees as best you can so that it doesn’t feel like a chore. Create a friendship with your business. It is your partner. Get to know it and get to like it. Work on the relationship with your business like you would any other relationship in your life. I look forward to spending time with my business.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

A customer that will let us do “our thing” will truly get you the best outcome. Giving us a guideline such as price and general idea like colors they love or favorite flowers, or telling us something you don’t care for, but then letting us take it from there! It will always get you a better result in the end. Trying to pick a picture for us to follow or trying to select every single flower is never going to end up the way you want. Give creative freedom and trust the process. We want you to have the very best just as much as you do!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Sweetpeasflowersandgifts
• Facebook: Sweet Peas Flowers and Gifts

Image Credits

Leslie Joy