{"id":3405,"date":"2022-04-20T17:06:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T17:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afe.epicenter1.com\/news\/practicing-what-we-preach-our-new-intern-gracie-alvarez"},"modified":"2024-03-15T21:43:50","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T21:43:50","slug":"practicing-what-we-preach-our-new-intern-gracie-alvarez","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/es\/news\/practicing-what-we-preach-our-new-intern-gracie-alvarez","title":{"rendered":"Practicing What We Preach \u2013 Our New Intern, Gracie Alvarez"},"content":{"rendered":"

At AFE, we\u2019re a big advocate for practicing what we preach. \u201cFunding the Future of Floriculture\u201d means many things to us, including investing in our industry\u2019s young professionals through scholarships, internships, and professional development opportunities. AFE has had tremendous success with past interns, having brought our last onto the team full-time. Through thoughtful consideration and understanding of the importance of hands-on experience for young professionals, we\u2019ve hired Gracie Alvarez of the University of Missouri as our new intern \u2013 a passionate and prepared member of the floral industry.<\/span><\/p>

Get to know Gracie in her personal note to the industry below, as she shares her path, passions, and enthusiasm for her new role.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\"\"I\u2019ve only been involved with the floral industry since the beginning of 2019, but I\u2019ve fallen in love with it enough to know I want to stay in the world of flowers for a long, long time. My journey with the floral industry has taken me on a whirlwind path from an inexperienced, naive freshman at the University of Missouri School of Journalism to my current role as Social Media Intern for the American Floral Endowment.<\/span><\/p>

I grew up in North Little Rock, Arkansas. During high school, I was Co-Editor in Chief of the school\u2019s student-run digital and print newspaper. This opportunity is where I first became interested in journalism, writing, and storytelling. Ultimately, it led me to the University of Missouri\u2019s School of Journalism in 2018. During my first semester of college, I found myself applying to all kinds of jobs around and on-campus. Throughout high school, I had a part-time job (at Starbucks, where I also acquired a caffeine addiction and a bit of a prestigious taste for good coffee). Once I arrived on campus, I missed the productivity, teamwork, and ability to make my own money.<\/span><\/p>

\"\"By luck, I found and applied to Tiger Garden, the University of Missouri\u2019s student-operated, full-service floral shop. By a stroke of even further luck, the manager at the time picked my application and asked me to interview. Despite having no floral experience, they hired me. I started work mid-January of my first year at Missouri. Anyone involved or adjacent to the floral industry probably recognizes this season as Valentine\u2019s Day preparation. I was thrown into the true thick of it\u2014 and surprisingly, I loved every minute. In those first few months, I learned a lot about what goes into operating a floral shop, from planning and executing huge marketing promotions, to the basic principles of floral design. I was amazed by how extremely hard-working, motivated, and driven everyone I met in the industry was.<\/span><\/p>

I eventually took five different floral design classes in the University of Missouri\u2019s Floral Design program, which taught me everything I needed to know about design elements, everyday floral work, special occasion floral work, retail shop management, and wedding design. Concurrently, I was working at the Tiger Garden and was asked to run their social media. I also became a student leader, which is like Tiger Garden\u2019s version of a shift manager. Tiger Garden\u2019s unique set-up allows students to learn all the nitty-gritty of working in the floral industry; from care and handling, delivering all over town (and the state, sometimes), floral design styles and occasions, to hiring, training, working with, and\/or managing a team, consulting with clients, planning events, keeping track of budgets, ordering new products\u2026the list goes on. Working at Tiger Garden has given me an invaluable education in the floral industry.<\/span><\/p>

\"\"By another stroke of luck (which, at this point, seems like the pull of the floral industry), I found the American Floral Endowment and their Social Media Internship position. I knew of AFE through work and word-of-mouth, as coworkers and friends of mine have received internships and scholarships through their programs. I knew they served a critical role in the floral community to provide resources, support, and funding to benefit and grow the industry as a whole. My experience running Tiger Garden\u2019s social media, education with University of Missouri\u2019s School of Journalism, and reporting at the Columbia Missourian Newspaper led me to apply for the position.<\/span><\/p>

I am privileged to now serve as the current Social Media Intern for the American Floral Endowment. In just a few short weeks, I have already learned a lot about what goes into the communications side of a non-profit organization. I was instantly amazed by how kind, welcoming, and extremely hard-working everyone was again. I am so motivated and encouraged by AFE\u2019s focus on the growth and professional development of young professionals in the industry. I hope to one day own my own floral business; I feel confident and encouraged knowing I will always have AFE as a resource and support system along the way.<\/span><\/p>

I am beyond excited to continue working in the floral industry and connect with more people on social media. I feel extremely lucky to be a new part of AFE\u2019s team and to have the chance to keep learning and develop professionally in the world of flowers.<\/span><\/p>

AFE has lots of exciting things coming up and I have so many ideas for fun, new strategies we can try! Give AFE a follow on<\/span> Instagram<\/a>,<\/span> Facebook<\/a>,<\/span> Linkedin<\/a>, y<\/span> Twitter<\/a> if you want to see where those ideas go (and help out a new social media intern who\u2019s trying to grow our friends\/followers while you\u2019re at it!)<\/span><\/p>

Learn more about AFE\u2019s pasant\u00eda<\/a> and scholarship<\/a> programs.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"template":"","news-categories":[50,31,29],"class_list":["post-3405","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news-categories-internship","news-categories-latest-news","news-categories-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPracticing What We Preach - Our New Intern, Gracie Alvarez - AFE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Through thoughtful consideration we\u2019ve hired Gracie Alvarez of the University of Missouri as our new intern.Through thoughtful consideration we\u2019ve hired Gracie Alvarez of the University of Missouri as our new intern.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/endowment.org\/es\/news\/practicing-what-we-preach-our-new-intern-gracie-alvarez\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Practicing What We Preach - 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