For 17 years he was a surgeon's assistant in open-heart surgery, dealing
with the trauma and the stress of life-and-death operations. At 39, Richard
Rousse looked at his life and decided to make a drastic change.
"I was tired of all the tragedy involved in healing the body," says Rousse.
"I took a sharp turn in a different direction and decided to heal the spirit."
Now, Rousse owns one of the top flower shops in Hollywood.
"If you told me 15 years ago I would have been a florist to the stars,
I would have laughed hysterically. Now, I take it all in stride."
Bob Hope, Natalie Cole, Bea Arthur, David Hasselhoff, Ned Beatty and most
of the cast of ER are just some of Rousse's past or current customers. With clients
from the "who's who" of Hollywood, you have to wonder what Rousse's
secret to success is.
"I treat my customers well. I give them the very best in design, color,
freshness and quality and try to make my arrangements as innovative and personal
as possible," Rousse explains.
Creativity is essential for a good florist and Rousse believes there's
no excuse for boring, lifeless arrangements. "Florists have a wonderful medium
-- flowers. If you can't be creative with something as exquisite and
varied as flowers, then maybe floral design just isn't your thing."
While creativity certainly seems to be one of his strong points, it's
the personal care and attention Rousse gives each of his customers that he's
best known for. In fact, he likes to think of himself as kind of a soul doctor.
"Flowers are used in our society to treat all the emotions -- the sadness
related to the death of a loved one, the joy of a birth or a birthday and
the happiness of any of the holidays. People give flowers for all of these
reasons."
He tries to increase the positive effect of his flowers by caring for each
individual customer's needs. He believes empathy -- the ability to relate
to another person's feelings -- is important for any florist.
"When a person comes in to order a funeral wreath, it's obviously
a very hard time for them. I take them into the back of the store and we have
a cup of tea and sit and talk about the kinds of things the person who died
liked. We talk about who they were and come up with a unique wreath.
"Nobody wants an ugly, typical carnation wreath [for a funeral]. The last
wreath I did was made with bendable branches, daisies, some paper bag ribbon
and a huge sunflower. It's the personal touches that make the difference."
Like Rousse, Janet McCleod tries to help her customers through tough times
with a big bouquet of flowers and some comforting words. "People can come
into the shop and start to cry when ordering flowers for the death of a loved
one. I pass them a box of tissues and let them know there's nothing wrong
with feeling the way they feel," says McCleod, who owns a flower shop.
While McCleod has done her fair share of funeral wreaths, not all of her
creations are for somber occasions. "It's sad when people buy flowers
for funerals, but the next customer might be a bride who is on the ceiling,
she's so happy."
Working as a floral designer isn't just about flowers; it's also
about people. "Being a florist has made me appreciate other people's
situations in all walks of life. Now, I'm always the first person to
stand up and say, 'It's our job to go to that wake. It's not
that hard, we have to go.' I know that if it was my father, I'd
want my friends there.
"It's given me a stronger sense of self -- of the small and beautiful
things that are all around us. We can miss those things in our everyday lives."
The beautiful things around McCleod, however, can take on some pretty unusual
forms. "We've done floral arrangements in red, white and blue for the
Montreal Canadiens [hockey team]. I've done a table center in a loaf
of bread for an Italian wedding. One time I even created a baby novelty for
$200. It was beautiful! I'm just happy to be in an industry that allows
me to travel and to meet such a wide variety of people. I feel fortunate to
be a florist."
Looking back on his career, Rousse feels much the same way. He can't
believe he ever wanted to do anything else with his life. "As a florist, I
get to be there in a small way for all my customers' special occasions.
I can't think of a better way to spend my time."