Flo skilling workshops

To say that Rose Bazaar is an organisation fueled by women is a bit of an understatement. Although we love and appreciate all our wonderful male employees, the industry of puja flowers is one that is historically dominated by ladies and our founding team of two sisters and our powerhouse manager Geetha has skewed the gender ratio from day one. 

We are also working to disrupt the traditional delivery model by introducing delivery ladies the traditional arena of delivery boys, so we are constantly trying to recruit women who are willing to take on a challenge and do something a little bit different. And as we try to skill, reskill and upskill more women, we rely on partners to help us reach our ambitious goals. 

FICCI Flo is the ideal platform for this - it is powered by women who are bold, passionate and fiercely hard working. And they give life to the famous adage that if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. That’s why when they started these skilling workshops, we knew we had to jump onboard. This wouldn’t be a fledgling effort, or a one off PR event: we knew that with FICCI Flo this would be a sustained commitment to bettering livelihoods, which would have measurable impact. 

Standing on the shoulders of this wonderful organisation, we are working with Parikrama to reach a wide network of women who are looking for a way to empower themselves. Garland making is just the first step - we also teach these women how we package our flowers, how to measure them, simple bouquet making and more. Our motto is simple: invest in your people. That means constantly up-skilling the people you bring into your organisation, as well as pushing them to try new things. 

The laughing camaraderie, the enthusiasm and the little innovations - adding a splash of color, combining different varieties, playing with the method of weaving - once these ladies get started, there’s no stopping their creativity. That’s what we find at every workshop we attend, and that’s what we find in our office as well: packing time is a happy time with everyone pitching in, passing flowers around and picking out only the freshest of the batch to be included in the boxes. 

And to those who are our customers, if you ever get a little something extra that surprises you - the little bit of bilpatre on Mondays, the extra lotus for friday puja, a jasmine mala with rose petals breaking up the white - it’s these ladies you can thank. They are after all our final line of defense - after extensive sourcing, a meticulous process of cold chain management and a logistics team working literally day and night to get the flowers to you in a 24-hour period - it is these ladies who are our hands and eyes who will make sure you get nothing but the best in your morning box.

Read more about the amazing work they do and initiatives taken by Flo here: http://www.ficciflo.com/initiatives/