Tiera M. George, owner and chief designer of TG Floristry in Raleigh, talks about the thrill of seeing her flowers featured on national television.
SCHNEIDER, YOU CAN WAIT. >> I’M NOT IN A HURRY. >> FOR MANY BUYERS, SPRING COULD BE AS FRUSTRATING AS LAST YEAR. >>> IT’S COOL, A LOCAL FLORIST HAS HUNDREDS OF HER FLOWERS ON A RECENT EPISODE OF FOX’S “OUR KIND OF PEOPLE” IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL 16 FEET CIRCLE MADE OF RED AND WHITE ROSES. TODAY THE OWNER OF TG FORESTRY JOINS US FOR OUR CHANGEMAKERS SEGMENT. THANKS FOR BEING HERE WITH US. FIRST OF ALL, I LOVE THE SHOW. I LOVE THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO BE ON HER. BEFORE TALKING ABOUT YOUR START, TELL US ABOUT YOUR COMPANY IN THE LAST TWO YEARS. >> BUSINESS IS GOOD, IT’S INTERESTING. DURING THE PANDEMIC THERE WAS A CHANGE WHERE PEOPLE WANTED FLOWERS IN THEIR HOUSES BECAUSE EVERYONE WAS AT HOME SO WE HAD MADE LOTS MORE DELIVERIES THAN NORMAL SO EVERYTHING WAS PRETTY OK. AND THEN WE JUST MOVED TO OUR PHYSICAL LOCATION ON OCTOBER 2ND. >> THIS IS SO INTERESTING, WE KNOW THAT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC, SO MANY WEDDINGS WERE CANCELLED. DID YOU HAVE AN IMPACT ON YOUR BUSINESS OR WERE YOU ABLE TO MAKE THIS CHANGE? >> A LITTLE. WE HAVE HAD A FEW WEDDINGS THAT WERE CANCELLED, UNFORTUNATELY, BUT WE HAVE STARTED DOING MORE POP-UP EVENTS, WE DO POP-UPS, FARMERS MARKETS, WE MAKE PLACES WHERE WE CAN BE A LOCAL VENDOR, THINGS LIKE THAT, TO KINDLY COMPENSATE YOURSELF. I WAS ALSO IN GRADUATE SCHOOL DURING THE TIME SO I DON’T DO IT COMPLETELY FULL TIME YET SO I HAD A SCHOOL WORK I WAS DOING ALSO SO I WAS NOT TOO FOCUSED COMPLETELY. >> HOW DID THEY DISCOVER YOU FOR THE EPISODE? >> LET’S SEE, MAYBE A MONTH PRIOR TO THAT, I DID A NOMINATING CEREMONY FOR A JUDGE IN DURHAM AT NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL LAW SCHOOL, AND HIS DAUGHTER JUST GOT TO BE PART OF THE SHOW, WORKED WITH DIRECTORS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, SO I THINK MIGHT WAS ON TUESDAY. I THINK IT WAS THE TUESDAY BEFORE, THE TUESDAY BEFORE I HAD RECEIVED A CALL AND IT WAS TONIGHT AROUND 7:00 PM. SHE WAS LIKE HEY, TIERRA, IT’S PORTIA. ON MY K, SHE IS LIKE IS IT POSSIBLE YOU CAN DO THIS? EVERYTHING HAPPENED TO ME VERY QUICKLY, SO I’M LIKE YEAH. SHE’S LIKE OKAY WE NEED THE ESTIMATE AT THIS TIME AND IT WAS LIKE AN HOUR. I WAS SCARY BUT ALSO CALLING EVERYONE LIKE OH MY GOSH GUESS WHAT HAPPENED? SO, YEAH, I THINK I HAD A DAY TO MIX EVERYTHING. IT WAS ACTUALLY 1600 ROSES WE GATHERED ON THIS WEDNESDAY AND THEN I WAS IN WILMINGTON ON THURSDAY. >> IT’S AMAZING, 15 MINUTES LEFT BUT IT’S VALENTINE’S DAY, 15 SECONDS LEFT. IT’S VALENTINE’S DAY, ARE YOU BUSY? >> WE ARE A LITTLE OVERWHELMED RIGHT NOW, IT WAS HARD FOR ME TO MAKE A CHANGE AND SAY DO THIS, THEN AFTER OMNI DEEP IN BLOOM.
