MEET the Designers Susan Ayala AIFD, PFCI How do you manage a successful career as a freelance designer? “You have to be flexible,” says Susie, who has been freelancing since 1995. “You’re there to do what the employer is requesting of you, and you have to adapt to their style. Sometimes you can bring new ideas to the table, but basically you’re there to help out and make things go more smoothly.” That adaptability and practicality are qualities that Susie also brings to her work
as a Teleflora Education Specialist. Her versatility as a designer has given her the opportunity to travel the nation and the world, working in all kinds of jobs—not only designing in shops but doing merchandising and showroom setup for industry suppliers, working at the Rose Parade, or teaching American floral design in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. Susie has also worked in product development for floral-industry suppliers in China. She credits her active involvement with the American Institute of Floral Designers—she is a past president—as an important arena for her professional development, providing helpful connections and visibility along with mentoring and fellowship. Susie got a great start in floral design working after school in the shop owned and operated by her mom—industry icon Rocky Pollitz AIFD, AAF, PFCI. For a time after Rocky went to work for Teleflora as Vice President of Industry Relations, Susie managed the shop. Knowing so well the day-to-day realities of many different flower shops keeps her grounded as a floral artist and teacher, even while she loves to stretch her wings. “When I was a kid I thought I was going to be a ballet dancer,” she says. At age 16, a car accident forestalled that career path. “But I guess it shows that I was prepared to work hard and devote myself completely to something, because you can’t become a dancer without putting your whole heart into it.” Today she puts her whole heart into floral design—as both an art and a daily business. Bert Ford AIFD, PFCI Known for his wry sense of humor along with a classic elegance in floral design, Bert owns and operates, together with his wife Susan, Ford Flower Company in
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Salem, New Hampshire. A shop profile in the August 2014 issue of Flowers& reveals a destination shop where expert displays invite customers to linger, get inspired, and take away a little piece of the beauty they find around them. For the past 11 years, Bert has shared merchandising tips and Christmas decorating trends in the annual Holiday Planning issue of Flowers&. With a high-profile client list for weddings and other celebrations, he has also created stunning décor for Flowers& wedding issues. Thanks, Bert! You’re the best! John Hosek AIFD, PFCI, CF, CAFA Like another of Teleflora’s Education Specialists (Tom Simmons AIFD, CCF), John has a degree in engineering; at one time, he thought that would be his career. He was working at General Motors when colleagues discovered his not-so-secret hobby: arranging flowers. “I used to make a new design with silk flowers for the lobby every month. People would ask to buy them, so I guess that told me maybe I could do this for a living,” John remembers. The two fields—engineering and floral design—aren’t as far apart as you might think, he says. At General Motors, he dealt with color charts, line and texture, and in