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Struggling to turn your floral design talent into a profitable, scalable, and stress-free business? Welcome to The Floral CEO® Podcast—the ultimate audio destination for wedding and event florists, flower-shop owners, and creative entrepreneurs who want to book bigger budgets, price with confidence, and lead like a true CEO.
Hosted by Jeni Becht, award-winning wedding florist, event designer, and floral business coach with 25 + years in the industry, each weekly episode dives into:
Profitable pricing strategies: markup formulas and minimums fine-tuned for weddings & events
Magnetic marketing & local-SEO hacks: social posts, blogs, and Google tricks that attract high-budget couples and planners
High-converting sales funnels: inquiry replies, proposals, and follow-up scripts that turn curious leads into dream clients
Streamlined systems & smart outsourcing: workflows, templates, and hiring tips that free you from the design bench
CEO mindset & sustainable growth: leadership habits and eco-friendly practices that keep both you and your business flourishing
Jeni pairs real-world success stories with actionable strategies you can implement today, so you’ll spend less time hustling and more time designing breathtaking bouquets, installations, and arrangements.
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Turn your passion for flowers into the six-figure floral business you deserve—one episode at a time.
Website- floralceo.com
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Hello, fire friends. This is Jen, and I know I did an episode that was surrounding the mental load earlier, but it's never. Been, I think, heavier for me. And so I thought just in case some of you with school now being back on for a couple months and you're probably just did conferences and you know, we're, we're getting near the end of wedding season, so I always think things feel heavy, at least.
For me near the end of wedding season, I saw all these memes on Instagram and Facebook about it was like a skeleton and the skeleton was like holding flowers and it was like basically talking about florists at the end of wedding season. And so I want, today I wanna talk a little bit. About less. I talk so much about pricing and profit and how to run a successful business, but I wanna talk a little bit more about what it feels like to carry that all.
Because being a business owner is already a lot. I mean, it's, it's. You know, you never really know, am I doing this right? What do people think of me? Am I being successful? Is this working? Am I going to have to get a job? What if this doesn't work? What do, what does my family think? What do my friends think?
And then doing. Motherhood or if you're not a mother, maybe you're a partner or maybe you are working full-time. And a lot of times if you are doing multiple things, that mental load, people do not see that and it can feel really heavy. I know that, I worked full time, had a kiddo and had a business and.
I was, you know, I was younger. I feel like as I've gotten older, my bullshit tolerance level has gone down. I say no to things way easier. I put boundaries in place on things that don't feel good, way easier. I think. I've also learned that if I don't take care of my mental health, that nobody else. Is, and I hope like you, you heard that if I don't take care of my mental health and if I don't make sure that I'm okay, nobody else is.
Sure people can care, but they can't fix you. They can't take stress out of your brain. They can't, yeah. Of course they can do things to help. But nothing is going to fix you. You are in control. And a lot of the core thing themes that, that, i I wanna cover today is for one, the invisible weight.
Not only am I a mom, I'm a mom of a special needs child that today. I was talking to her therapist about how things are feeling really hard at school. I was being told basically all of these things that I should be saying to the school and that I had just fucking talked to them about last week. And then on top of it, her anxiety is creeping up and I've noticed she's picking, she is a picker.
She starts like scratching and um, when she gets an ey she picks at it more. And so, like I can see my daughter is struggling, but on top of that I have my son who is like a little tornado fighting with his best friend hanging up with on him, him hanging up on Bodhi and them, him saying he doesn't wanna be best friends with his friends that he's been friends with since he was three.
And he is almost seven. And then there's animal issues. And then my husband, they're having a bunch of layoffs at his work and I can see the stress and I can see this big pro he's word working on and like I feel that whole weight for my family. And so that is emotional bandwidth. It's literally like I am getting plugged into everyone's light socket because when something happens, and it happened twice, even today, actually three times, two times with my daughter, I want my mom, and it's really hard to step back and be like, honestly, they're my most important thing in the whole world.
So that fucking email is going to have to wait. Ordering those flowers is going to have to wait, but in my head, that mental load of like all of a sudden shit, I need to invoice my client. I met with my business coach this week, and I should be doing a million things different. I want to put together some free workshops and webinars for you guys to, to show you a sample of how amazing the floral CEO Mastermind is.
I'm going, I have all three dates for in my workshops and I wanna put those out. And then I really wanna update all of these things. Uh, I mean like. You guys think you have mental to-do lists? It's like mental fuckery in my head. 'cause not only are we, I counted, I have 32 4 legged critters. I take care of 32.
I take care of my children. I would say 80 to 90% of the time, except when I'm at weddings, like I literally clock out other than when I get a phone call and they wanna kill each other. So that mental load is so real and with being a business owner, like even when you're really trying to be present with your family, your kids, or if you're at a day job, like I, I remember sitting at my job and, I liked my job, but I was thinking about all of the shit that I needed to do for my business.
And this is was before I even did fucking Instagram. I can't even, I probably would've just been in my office on fricking Instagram thinking of shit, making reels and stuff and just being ridiculous. 'cause it would've been that much more. So it's not just about time management, it's literally about your emotional battery, your emotional bandwidth just is.
W totally used up and even small things pile up. Like today I made seven phone calls on like I would say house management issues like that just piles up. But as I tucked my children in bed and they told me that they loved me, and I walked out to my studio and I saw these beautiful flowers for this event that's on Friday, that's a corporate event.
Like I still, and I, I actually right when I was walking per one of my donkeys that just has found their hee-haw, I call it, they found their hee-haw 'cause they're babies. And I'm just so grateful for being here. But that doesn't change the invisible weight that this feels. And so. Some things that I've really adapted, and I think even today as I am putting together this big event, I'm the director of programs for wipa, which is a wedding industry professionals association that we just launched here in the Minneapolis market.
And I was parting the steering committee. 'cause you guys, even though things are so busy, I know how important networking is. And so I've prioritized making WPA. Happen for me, and I've been putting together this big, beautiful event. And with that, I had a meeting and I have another meeting tomorrow that I have to go to.
And I finally, today was talking with someone and I was just like, you know, I, I have less patience for somebody who thinks that they're equally as busy as me. Or think they're busier than me or thinks that their world is falling apart when I know that I've done my job and. I know as a business owner it's really hard because you always wanna be nice.
And so one of the biggest things I think that sometimes as a business owner, especially when you're ran thin, is that I think it's okay for you to be direct and when things feel heavier, I definitely feel like I put my direct hat on and I also. Really institute when people are in this pursuit of perfection, that it's okay that that doesn't happen.
And I know that this event coming up is going to be magical, but I'm not the person who had this vision of how to execute it. But it's not going to make it any less magical 'cause it's not the blueprint that was in their head, but. That doesn't change, that it weighs on you, and this happens with a wedding.
When I work with certain planners that they're so specific. I have one coming up in two weeks that this person is so specific and I've basically ended up, because I was getting to this. Invisible weight of how this was feeling. Telling her, I totally understand that you want this to be perfect. From a florist perspective, this is a extremely hard color palette to do in November with the textures and all of the colors that you're looking to pull in.
Sometimes you just have to tell someone that I'm doing my best. And I know that more often than not done is so much better than perfect because perfectionism is often rooted in this fear of being less than, this fear of failing, this fear of judgment. And so I want you to think next time. Done keeps my business moving forward and perfect.
Keeps me paralyzed. I am choosing to move my business, my life forward. I am not choosing to be paralyzed. I don't. I can't even afford to be paralyzed from a time perspective. I don't want that to hold me back, but I have seen time and time again, so many business owners get held back, get paralyzed by perfection.
So the next thing as I'm talking about all of these things that just have felt really heavy for me lately is. Today I went and I went to CrossFit. Then I went to the doctor and I like just, I, it was a neurologist. I was into a car accidents when I was younger. Somebody rear-ended me and somebody t-boned me.
And so my body has just been. Just since I was younger, I've had neck issues and back issues, and as I'm getting older I'm shoveling more poop around here. I'm starting to have hip issues and, and so I am, I just like, instead of going into this PT session with my CrossFit gym owner, I was just like, I feel like shit today.
And I would really just like to stretch and to feel relaxed when I leave here. So I wanted to create a space that I wasn't leaving exhausted, I wasn't leaving hurting, and that I just wanted to feel good when I left. And so often I. We think that creating space for ourself is indulgent. We think that we're being extra, that we're asking for too much, and you deserve space.
If you are any of which I described on caring, taking care of children, taking care of your household, running your business, all those things, even if you're not. Totally crushing it in your business yet, and you're just building things. You're in a a growth phase. You deserve your own space. If dad leaves or if your husband leaves and just thinks that you're eating bond bonds, putting your feet up and watching days of our lives while you're snuggling your child, that is so far from the truth and they need a serious awakening, but.
That is sometimes what they think. They think that because they don't know, they don't. I literally explain to my husband like, what the mental load was that not only today did I handle these 15 things for our children because I do take care of the majority of the things, but here are the 25 things that I'm worried about with them in the next 20, like month.
Like making sure that they have winter boots, making sure that they bring their hat to school, making sure that they bring their gloves, making sure that they have their snacks, making sure Bella didn't burn through all of her money in her lunch fund. Like these are thing as women. That are very real for us.
Like I'm always also worried like I need to be walking the donkeys. I need to be, I went out and I fricking tackled practically my alpaca and got a harness. And harness led her and I led her over to her baby in the other pen. 'cause the boys are being weaned right now. And so they could see each other so that it was a reward for her and like.
But like I feel the weight that I should be walking all these animals every day, and I should be snuggling with things, and I should be snuggling. My husband and I should be spending a bunch of quality time with him and doing all these things. This is the mental load ladies and the majority of the world has no clue what yours looks like.
And so we need to, for one. Stop. I, I, I stopped caring for him to understand my mental load, and I knew that I was the one, just like I said earlier, nobody's coming to save you except yourself. You need to make sure that you are creating the space, you are creating the boundaries to make yourself happy.
I see so many people that think that their partner is going to fix something, or they think that, some magical thing is going to fix how they feel, but you're the one that fixes it. So tonight I'm gonna relax in a bath. I'm gonna put really beautiful basalts in there, and I'm just gonna relax, and then I'm gonna work on the computer for a little bit and go to bed.
Yeah. And then tomorrow I'm gonna take time and get emails done. But then when school's done, I'm gonna be there for my kids again. We, and on top of it, I'm gonna have my nanny that comes one day a week, come and help clean the house. And I'm gonna look for solutions that help make things feel easier. I'm gonna look for shortcuts.
I'm gonna look for ways to feel replenished. Even 15 minutes of rest can give you drastically different energy you deserve space. The next thing that I want to talk about, and this is something that I think makes me spend less time on Instagram, is this pressure of, of your business being relevant.
Continuously showing up in all of these ways. Staying trendy, always growing, doing trending reels, all these things. And do I think that there needs to be a layer of, you need to show up in your business? Absolutely. But it needs to feel good. And it needs to be about you being strategic about growing your business.
I don't give two fucks about what another florist is doing anymore. Like I look at something and I'm like, well, that's cool, but my bus business is nothing like theirs. It has to grow in alignment with my life. And honestly, like this year I went into, when we decided to move and buy this house, I went in to saying that it's okay to do less.
If that's what I want and we're actually not ending up that much different, which is even crazier, but it's okay to do less when things are a lot. Your business doesn't have to grow fast or grow big, or even be fucking big for you to be worthy, for you to be relevant, for you to be successful. All of those things are things you defined, and if for some reason something isn't feeling that way, then I'd love for you to spend time and dig in to what would success feel like?
What would it look like? How would I feel in the morning? Do I even have the capacity? I love the conversation I have with coaching clients and they're like, I totally want to hit a million dollars and I'm gonna do all these things. And I'm looking at 'em. I'm like, right now, you know what? From my, what I know about you, like $50,000 is a lot for you right now.
How in the hell is a million dollars gonna work? I am a bump up and build kind of strategist, though I don't enjoy going. I am going to go from a size whatever to a zero a size. I mean, I lost in my weight loss journey. I think I lost like, uh, 65 pounds was my top weight before I had Bodhi. And when I was done delivering I mean, I would say 45 pounds.
I've lost 45 pounds. Over time since delivering Bodhi, but the majority, like 35 pounds of that was in the last two years. And I never go in going, I am going to go after this big audacious goal because that just doesn't work well for me. I love being able, and if you, you've listened to the podcast, I love bite-sized goals.
I love little chewy, little morsels or little ice picks off of it. That is fun for me 'cause I love in Trello, if you guys haven't heard of Trello, it's a project management software that you can take a project and make all these little cards and then when you've gotten a card done, you can slide it on over.
And I love taking a big project and, and dicing it down. I hate going, I am going to hit $400,000 this year and like. That would be a 18% growth or whatever, like right now feels like a lot. And most of the time when I ask someone does do they feel burnt out with where they're at? And a lot of times it's yes, but then they wanna make this big ass goal and then they think that they can do everything else.
My life has had to adjust with all the things that I've done. My, I mean, it's had to, I literally drive a ton now anytime I need to do anything. 'cause it's 45 minutes to an hour away and a lot of times people don't get that. Those things take adjustments somewhere else. I, so I'd love for you to dive in to defining what your version of success is.
What does success look like for you right now? Sometimes success is. I wanna hit a hundred thousand dollars gross. Sometimes it's paying yourself a hundred thousand dollars, so you're netting to yourself a hundred thousand. Sometimes success is making it to bedtime without tears. Sometimes both. Sometimes it's just getting your kids off the bus.
Sometimes it's being able to. Set up a big, beautiful wedding and then go home to your kids. I love like going and doing a wedding setup and stopping to get dinner on the way home. That's just, I, I don't know why. It's just fun. And then to sit down with everybody and tell them about it. I know that so many of us have this mental load, and I also think talking about it.
There are so many, it would be so nice to just sometimes sit down and, and just be like, this is feeling heavy for me right now. And a lot of times these are conversations. 'cause I meet one-on-one with every floral CEO mastermind girl. Um. You know, every other month we have a call. 'cause I wanna make sure that, you know, I touch base one-on-one and that I'm supporting them one-on-one as well.
And then there's an onboarding call. So I really understand your business and like I have heard, like things feel really tough. The, like, all of these things feel heavy. I don't know how to do this and that, and I wanna let you know that like that is very, very real. But I have a million strategies that every day I put into place boundaries that I put into place, not only around my business, but with my husband, with my kids, with myself, because we, space isn't selfish.
It's how we sustain creativity. Your business grows at the pace that feels good to you and grows in alignment with your life. You can be a present mom or a present employee if you work full-time and don't have children yet, and a powerful CEO, but you don't need to try to do both of those perfectly.
Thank you so much for listening, flower Friend. I hope this episode resonated with you. If you're feeling the mental load of motherhood, send me a D. I'd love to hear what's going on with you. I'd love to help support you because we all need more support. Thank you so much for listening, flower Friend, and you have an amazing flower field day.