In honor of International Women's Day, our CEO, Corrine Heck, was featured on the first episode of The Flower Focus by Rosaprima. If you have not listened to the interview, here is a look into the conversation!
What inspired you to start Details Flowers Software, and how has being a woman impacted you in entrepreneurship?
Before starting the software, I was an event designer, so I did that for 15 years in Central Florida. I worked with countless brides, families, and corporate clients to bring together a beautiful event, and I learned so much during that time. Before that, I worked for an import company out of Miami selling boxes of flowers, so I saw all sides of the industry. As you know, how wide varieties of flowers there are and how many sources they come from, it was like all this information was constantly flowing in and out of my head, and it wasn't something that lived anywhere where I could use that data. Hence, it sat with me for a long time that there needed a solution to help those struggling people in the same space as me, so I kept refining my process.
About ten years ago, I set out to develop software-- it was close to 14 because it took me a few years to do it! We now have beautiful software that helps over 800 event companies throughout the United States and eighteen countries. So, it's been beautiful to find that the pain points I recognized were valid and to see so many people utilizing the software now. I would say being an entrepreneur in the space was a bit intimidating. When you start attending large industry events, especially more on the import side, at least ten years ago, I found very few women operating in these like spaces or even in the tech space. When I would go to pitch my business, I would often be the only female contestant of sorts in these different pitch competitions, so it was a lot of pressure. I felt like I had to be very put together. I was representing, you know, a whole gender against 20 men!
How do you prioritize women's participation within your company? We know that Details Flowers workers are women.
A few men are behind the scenes, like The Wizard of Oz! I would say the leading developers are men, but the women are the ones who are out there on the front lines interacting with all the customers. I chose people who spoke the same language as me because I wanted our customer service to be how I would like to be spoken to by a customer service rep. Most of the people that I do think run floral businesses are heavily dominated by women so it is nice to kind of understand their pain points.
When we put our applications out in my area of Ormond Beach, most men do not apply for a flower-related job. It is more women who are like, oh, I want to work for a flower company. Yeah, that sounds great, so I think that has definite bonuses for women! It's a beautiful industry that we work in, but once you get into the wholesale and farm sides, you realize it's very male-dominated, too.
What strategies have you implemented as a female leader to foster a supportive and empowering work culture for women in your organization?
I feel like we're a family here. We know a lot about everything going on in everybody's life, so we focus highly on company culture and the different things we do here to make it more of a team. When we travel, we try to incorporate travel adventures with our team so that we explore together. We are always looking for fun, fresh ways to introduce new strategies. Recently, as part of our strategy, we've been partnering with higher-level education institutions like universities and different flower schools to encourage the next generation to look into the floral industry for careers. We realize that our goal is to ensure that the next generation feels empowered and knows where they can go for certain tools or that they'll know how to start a business. So, I feel it's creating and fostering a supportive community. When I talk to different High schools implementing Details in their classroom, it is incredible how many ways we have helped teachers and students excel in their programming.
How do you leverage your unique perspective and experiences as a woman in the floral industry to innovate and differentiate Details Flowers Software in the Market?
We have a competitive edge--I feel like our customer service shines. When I call a company, maybe I have a problem with my phone or something, and I hate being on hold and unable to talk to someone who understands my issues. So, we've made accessibility the number one priority. Having been an event designer and having done so many events in my history, I have understood the pain points of the general problem from both sides of preparing those orders and then procuring the products. If you're working with 50 different flowers, they might come from 50 different countries; that is a lot of coordination! All the features we have been creating and working on assist in both aspects.
Being a woman in this business, I can see how juggling so many areas of life can be so difficult; you're supposed to be a good mom, and you're supposed to be a good wife, and you're also supposed to be a good business owner. We want to create tools that make florists' lives easier so they can have more time to spend in these areas, so I feel like that's been a huge commitment we've made.
Showing up is how we're setting our company apart from our competitors. Many people don't show up, but attending these events is where we network, create relationships, and receive valuable feedback.
Can you share any advice for aspiring female entrepreneurs looking to start their own business?
I would say that the best quality that you can have as an entrepreneur, man or woman, is to be prepared. Do your research, understand who you're talking to, and go into it with a confident point of view. But also be open to listening! Stay focused on what is possible, and work at those opportunities when they come. I always say timing is everything -- if it's not now, then it will be later, and never try to close any doors. I've gotten told a lot, no a lot. When you're doing something new, it's never easy to say no, but I know it will eventually turn into a yes, be very patient.
What are your goals for the future of Details Flowers Software, and how do you envision continuing to pave the way for women in entrepreneurship and technology within the floral sector?
I just had a preview of one of the new features we will launch, and I love it! It will give our florist insights into the analytics of traffic visiting their page, when they're looking at their invoice, and how long people spend looking at it. It gives you a lot of insight and data on your customers to better understand leads. We're also offering a tip component, so when our florists send out invoices, they can get paid a tip right with a click of a button. In America, it's common to tip service providers, and I don't think many florists get tips or gratuities for their good work. So I'm hoping that when the Father of the Bride pays that invoice, he will see that tipping component, and we can help increase our customer's bottom lines by 15 to 25%.
We are looking to integrate with all leading companies to give insights into our customers' buying behaviors to help them grow the right product at the right time. I am excited because now we have an army of florists behind us who really love it and tell their florist friends it is a great place to be at Details!
If you want to listen to the whole interview, click the thumbnail below!
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