Send us a text In this week's special episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers the Fern, Mike & the Fatty Gang sit down with Monica Michelle, CEO and Co-Founder of BloomTV. We hear all about Monica's past and path to owner of a media company, how she moved to a remote island to build the company, plans for the future, and more! Throughout the episode, we pitch Monica a bunch of new show ideas (hence the episode title). Listen in and enjoy! BloomTV is a streaming TV network for all things floral. F...
Sep 29, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 84
Send us a text Get ready for an all-new, blooming episode of "2 Fat Guys Talking Flowers"! In Episode 83, your favorite flower enthusiasts Mike and Fern are joined by the one and only industry legend, Howard Levine, Account Executive of Esmeralda Farms. Joining the lively studio crew of Mike, Fern, Ryan, Mimi, and Joel, Howard Levine brings his wealth of experience and insights to the table. If you've been following our journey, you won't want to miss this fun conversation with Howard. In this e...
Sep 22, 2023•1 hr 45 min•Season 1Ep. 83
Send us a text This week's podcast is all about our recap of the 2023 SAF Annual Convention! Jet Fresh Flower Distributors recently joined 470 floral industry professionals at the Society of American Florist (SAF) Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. The event, spanning four days, featured competitions, panel discussions, a supplier expo, and networking opportunities. Notably, Jet Fresh earned accolades for their Candlelight and Funky Cold Medina roses in the Outstanding Varieties Competition, showca...
Sep 15, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 82
Send us a text The Fat Guys had a full recording studio during this week's episode including Mike, Fern, Ryan, Mimi, Joel and our special guest, Assistant Sales Captain and Buyer, Casey Black. Some of you may have heard Casey during our special " Brothers Episode " but we finally got him to sit down for a long overdue full epsiode. In this episode the gang talks about Mike & Casey's recent trip to Canada where they went on a farm-a-thon for 4 days visiting 12 different Canadain growers and f...
Sep 08, 2023•1 hr 30 min•Season 1Ep. 81
Send us a text The Fat Guy Gang is back (minus Ryan & Mimi, who were on a much-needed post-Fresh Fest day off.). In episode 80 we Fern, Joel & Mike sit down with Paul Hoogenboom of Holex Flower. Holex Flower BV was founded in 1982 and is located at the VBA south-complex of the FloraHolland flower auction in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands. Holex is Holland's market leader when it comes to export of fresh-cut flowers to distant destinations serviced by air freight. The most important markets ar...
Sep 01, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 80
Send us a text Our first-ever #FreshFest2023 took place on August 18 at the Rubell Museum in Miami, FL, and boy was it a huge success!! In this episode, we recap the entire event from the inaugural Blooms & Birdies Golf tournament, the day 1 Happy Hour, and of course the full-day event that is being referred to as "the best flower event of all time!" We are joined this week, by Fresh Fest guest speakers, Ace Berry, AIFD of Fulshear Floral Design in Houston, TX, Andy Arthur aka "Sourced for y...
Aug 25, 2023•1 hr 35 min•Season 1Ep. 79
Send us a text Another fresh week and another fresh episode come with it! No guests this week, as we recorded this episode in the midst of all the tireless Fresh Fest 2023 prep work. But that doesn't stop Mike, Fern, Mimi, Ryan, and Joel from bringing you a fun and interesting conversation surrounding all the Fresh Fest excitement. Ranging from Fern's trip to WFFSA's Dev X in Niagara Falls, Fresh Fest's plans and details, and more importantly Mike's hot takes on the recent alien activity and ann...
Aug 18, 2023•1 hr 30 min•Season 1Ep. 78
Send us a text This week the Fat Guys are 1 Fat Guy down, as Fern attends WFFSA's Dev-X in Niagara Falls. Luckily we brought in industry legend, Lenny Walker t o fill in for the week. Walker, VP of Sales & Operations and longtime team member of Kennicott Brothers Company. Mike, Ryan, Mimi, Joel, and Lenny cover a wide range of topics including the similarities of the Chicago and NY flower scene, profit calculator tools, the difference of sauce vs gravy, grinder sandwiches and more! Kennicott...
Aug 11, 2023•1 hr 41 min•Season 1Ep. 77
Send us a text We're back with another fresh episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers! In this episode, we sit down with Talicia McCall owner of Ambiance By Lovie in Montgomery, Alabama. Talicia is a self-proclaimed "baby bloomer" and is relatively new to the industry, but is already making a splash as a celebration florist in her area of Alabama. We first met Talicia when she presented "How I did it, overcoming obstacles and Achieving a dream" at the 2023 Next Gen LIVE! event in Miami, FL. And in thi...
Aug 04, 2023•1 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 76
Send us a text This week we celebrate a milestone even we're surprised we hit, episode 75!!! And for episode 75, the Fat Guys Gang is joined by Scott Blumenthal. Scott, who has more than 35 years of expertise in the cut floral industry, has spent the last few weeks as the newest member of Chrysal Americas as their new General Manager and plans to contribute to the company’s continued success. The conversation heads in all sorts of directions including Scott's past, Fern's trip up to the cabin, F...
Jul 28, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Season 1Ep. 75
Send us a text The Fat Guys are back with another fresh episode, with another friend and industry legend of a guest. This week we are joined by Bob Tucker, AIFD, CFD, CFEJ, FSMD (LMNOP) owner of Miss Daisy's Flowers & Gifts, a full-service wedding and event florist that serves Leesburg, FL, and the surrounding areas. As well as, an accredited member of the American Institute of Floral Design, certified evaluator and floral design judge, executive director of the Florida State Florists Associ...
Jul 21, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 72
Send us a text The Fat Guys have a great guest this week! Chris Drummond, AAF, PFCI Owner of Penny's by Plaza Flowers is a flower lover of all sorts, who has worked in various roles throughout his lifelong career in the industry. Drummond is extremely involved and dedicated to both the industry and his family. He attended his first Society of American Florists' CAD at 19 years old, served on the SAF board including president during the Covid years, and helped create Next Gen and Seed Your Future...
Jul 14, 2023•1 hr 59 min•Season 1Ep. 73
Send us a text Fatty fans have been eagerly awaiting this week's episode! A couple of months ago we sent our blossoming Cash & Carry sales rep, Kris aka "Pinky" Yllescas on a 3-week European flower boot-camp. The goal of the trip was to educate Kris on the quality, technology, strategies, scale and work-ethic of the European flower industry. And to see how big of a difference it is from the US market. Also featured on today's episode are Marc Janssen, (Co-owner & Head Purchasing) and Ger...
Jul 07, 2023•1 hr 41 min•Season 1Ep. 72
Send us a text In this week's episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers we were lucky enough to get a visit from our friend, Alejandro Pérez! Alex, the Founder & Chief Innovation Officer of Komet Sales already graced our podcast with an amazing episode in our early days. So we jumped at the opportunity to sit down with him and hear all about all the exciting changes coming to Komet Sales and Alex's life! Alejandro has a lot of wisdom to share, and the conversation this week ranged from Ai topics, h...
Jun 30, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 71
Send us a text The Fat Guys are all back together in the same room for this special episode with our good friend and Next Gen leader, Cameron Pappas. Pappas, also known as "2 Plaques," owner and President of Norton's Florist, Inc. is a long-time #Fatty fan and the Vice President of the #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers Fan Club. And we got the chance to talk with him right after we wrapped up SAF's Next Gen Live 2023 event in Miami. Since 1921, Norton's Florist has been providing quality flowers and unbea...
Jun 23, 2023•1 hr 54 min•Season 1Ep. 70
Send us a text In this week's special extended cut episode, we chop it up with our long-time friend Bill Schaffer AIFD, AAF, PFCI of Schaffer Designs. Bill is a renowned, 3rd generation floral designer who literally grew up in the floral industry. Together with his wife, Kris Kratt AIFD, PFCI, they run Shaffer Designs out of Philadelphia, PA. Bill & Kris' work includes multiple Gold Medal & Best0-in-Show award-winning exhibits at the Philly Flower Show, years of industry-leading trend fo...
Jun 16, 2023•2 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 69
Send us a text In this week's episode, we sit down AGAIN with F.J. Trzuskowski VP of Sales - Continental Floral Greens. Fatty fans should remember the Joel memory card mishap. That lost memory card held the original F.J. episode, but as it turns out, this recording came out better! So good news for Joel. Listen in as we discuss everything from SAF CAD, massive Christmas greens production, health benefits of Eucalyptus, how many football field equivalent of farms and forests CFG manages, and so m...
Jun 09, 2023•1 hr 36 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Send us a text In this episode, we sit down with the brains behind the Memorial Day Flower Foundation. An amazing organization where volunteers hand out thousands of donated flowers for placement at veteran gravesites at Arlington National Cemetery and cemeteries across the country. The volunteers place a flower in front of each headstone while quietly reading the inscription and then thanking the person for their service. Ramiro Penaherrera, Executive Director and Bernardo Beate, Director of Op...
Jun 02, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 67
Send us a text We're back with another fantastic episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers! In this episode, Mike & Fern chop it up with Ryan, Mimi, Joel & Emilia aka the Fantastic Four of the Jet Fresh marketing department! The marketing team spent 3 days together on our farm in Ecuador, Jet Fresh Growers, creating new content and building a stronger team bond. Listen in for a full recap of the trip, including our llama updates, new developments on the farm, how Mimi hurt her ankle and did Joe...
May 26, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 66
Send us a text Sorry, we're a little late with this week's episode. But we promise it's worth it! In this episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers we had a room full of friends from the SAF Next Gen Committee including Stephanie Brady and Amanda Jedlinsky of SAF and Melanie Spilbeler of Freshpath Marketing as we get excited for the upcoming event. The Society of American Florist's 2nd annual Next Gen event is dedicated to the new talent, rising stars and future floral industry leaders. Taking place Ju...
May 19, 2023•1 hr 31 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Send us a text We're back with another fresh episode! This week we paused the Mother's Day sales to sit down with event designer Al Davis, currently of Daniel Events. Al started on 28th St. NY and moved to Miami to take part in the growing wedding and event industry. Today he is the Creative Director for Daniel Events South and has lots of stories to share from his career. The second half of the episode, Al had to finish setting up the event, so the Fatties remained and discussed a few more hot ...
May 12, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Send us a text In this week's episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers, Mike was out so we asked the newest JF team member, and industry favorite, Mimi Pacheco to sub in for him and make her official podcast debut as a fresher. It ended up working great, as Mimi became instant friends with our guest, Michelle Lewis Owner and Lead Designer of Bluegrass Chic. Listen in as we discuss a wide range of topics from family businesses, starting a business with young kids, Michelle and our Dali's path together,...
May 05, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 63
Send us a text Today's special episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers has been planned and rescheduled a few times. Because we knew it would be much more fun to have our guest, Greg Staby, cut flower buyer for Flora Fresh Wholesale in Sacramento, CA record his episode IN STUDIO vs via Zoom. And we were right! In this special Extended Cut episode Mike, Fern, Ryan, Celine (Greg's long-time Miami sales rep), and Joel all join Greg in our Miami office for a fun episode full of tequila, flan, fathers, fl...
Apr 28, 2023•1 hr 57 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Send us a text Due to human error, we couldn't bring you a new episode last week. So we're coming back strong with a special "4/20" episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers. Those who know us, know we are not ones to hide our love of all things green ! And many of our staff members are self-proclaimed "productive stoners." In this week's episode, we sit down with a few of Jet Fresh's "stoners" including Momma Black, Celine, Pinky and Casey, and talk all things weed-culture. From top stoner movies, bes...
Apr 21, 2023•1 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 61
Send us a text The Fat Guys are back with a fresh episode and a fresh guest, or in this week's case, 2 fresh guests! Takeshi Nakamoto and Monica Miranda join the podcast to discuss their new exciting project, growing exclusive, patented Japanese Sweet Pea varieties all year round in Colombia. The brand name is Bijo, which means "beautiful woman" in Japanese. And they are just about ready to hit the market! Listen in as they take us through their journey of marriage, starting the business, obtain...
Apr 07, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Send us a text This week's episode of 2 Fat Guys Talking Flowers was recorded right after Fern returned from Washington DC after attending the Society of American Florist's Congressional Action Days. Where participants get to walk the halls of congress and meet with US congress to discuss issues within our industry. Our guest, Zoë Gallina, AAF was one of the flower lovers who attended this year's SAF's CAD along with Fernando. Gallina is the Creative Director of Botanica International Design Stu...
Mar 31, 2023•1 hr 43 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Send us a text This week the 2 Fat Guys sat down with our friend Tina Barkley co-founder of Fleurs de Villes to recap the global launch of their new show VOYAGE! Which took place for 10 days at Bal Harbour Shops in Miami, FL this past March where over 20 local florists created floral masterpieces using all Jet Fresh Flowers! Fleurs de Villes combines the love of flowers, local design talent, and bespoke, utterly unique displays, for experiential events like none other. Their name speaks to that ...
Mar 24, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 58
Send us a text Even though we are on episode 57, we are still podcast newbies with lots to learn. Enter this week's special guest, Scott Shepherd, host of the Flower Podcast! We consider the Flower Podcast as the "OG" flower-themed podcast, and we learned a lot from Scott and the amazing list of guests since 2018. Shepherd describes his podcast, " I love flowers and am excited to share the stories of florists, flower farmers, educators, business owners and so much more. In these episodes, you'll...
Mar 17, 2023•1 hr 36 min•Season 1Ep. 57
Send us a text In this week's episode of 2 Fat Guys Talking Flowers, we were a Fatty down, but we had a great guest to fill in his place. Willum Van den Hoogen, Managing Director of Florius Flowers, a family-owned and operated breeder and farm best known for breeding and growing the Smart Veronica and Coco Hypericum series. With over 27 years of experience in cultivating flowers, Florius, supplies an amazing variety of fresh summer flowers grown from the great highlands of Kenya, Ethiopia and no...
Mar 10, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 56
Send us a text The Fatty's are back and excited to discuss all of the fun and busy events, news, sales and parties happening this March! We don't have a full-time guest in this episode, but our friend Martin Otten of Rosa Flora Canada hops on for a brief call to discuss all the fun plans in store for International Gerbera Month! We also talk about one of the industry's favorite trade shows, WFFSA as the fatties reminisce on their first WFFSA shows. Fleurs de Villes also kicks off in Bal Harbor s...
Mar 03, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 55
