Extra Post May: FINALE...Life, whats next?

This is the picture that did not show up on one of my slides. This is a piece that I designed and created on my own for a wedding fruit buffet table centerpiece. I loved making this because of the branch that was centered in the middle, it was a great focal point to place the roses around. I also added elegance by putting in the diamond pins. 

This picture (no lie) contains the most influential friends I had in my 2 years of iPoly, not to mention some of my best friends. I just want to give them a shout out, this is the only picture I have of proof for my senior project due to my stress. Thanks to each of you for helping me, even if it was to lower my nervousness or stress levels. I can not express my appreciation enough. I will miss seeing you all almost every day. 

I found this picture from 1800Flowers Twitter Page. I just thought it was perfect because I can graduate now, since I am done with my senior project! I am so excited to move on from high school and onto my dream university.

This is a baby goat that I would like to own one day. 

I am extremely excited for UCI. I never gave myself high hopes of accepting this institution as my dream, in case I would not get in. But (Alhamdulilah) I made it! 

People that have made this possible, whether it be motivation, love, or prayers: 

My Parents (first and foremost)- Ibrahim and Fariha Baggia

My Grandparents- Nani and Nana

My favorite teacher/Second Mother- Mrs. La Russa

My Counselor- Mr. Goode

My Friends- Aman Shamim, Justine Solorio, Marissa Jasso

Blog 23: Senior Project Reflection

1. Positive Statement:

I am actually proud of many things:
I was extremely proud of overall pulling and executing my activity and presentation together. I was proud of how my activity with the flower arrangements resulted in students having amazing feedback. I am proud that I did a project that is relevant to my life and my family business. I am ultimately proud that I will be able to use this project and implement it into my life when I go on to college.

2. Questions to Consider:

A. I would give myself an AE for my block presentation.

B. I would give myself an AE for my overall senior project.

3. What worked for you in your senior project?

In my senior presentation-
My activity worked, which was actually initially my biggest concern. Teaching how to be a florist in 10 minutes is really hard, it took me 2 whole months and I am still not a master now. But luckily my class actually listened to my third answer and when it was time for the activity I walked around to help. My content lecture also worked, I provided debriefs and sources after each answer to bring all the ideas together. I also think students loved my memes/puns, it kept them engaged and since it was a morning presentation I needed something like that to wake my students up. Lastly, I placed students in season groups with their friends.

In my overall senior project-
The fact that I worked with my parents as my mentors, in a comfortable environment.

4. What did not work for you in your senior project?

In my senior presentation-
I think mostly everything worked, if I had feedback from my students on what did not work that would have been helpful.One picture did not show up on a slide.

In my senior project-
Deadlines did not work for me, but that's a "me" problem.

5. Finding Value

This senior project has been helpful in getting me a job. Starting in the summer, my parents will add me to their pay roll sheets and make me an official employee so I can start paying for college.
I do not need to work in the fast food industry, I finally have a skill that I can actually use in the workplace. Speaking of skills: customer service, employee management, floriology and marketing.
Even though my future major in college does not consist of business, after doing this project I want to do a minor in Business. With a minor in Business I will be able to start my own company and become a CEO (my dream career!).

Mentorship

LITERAL:

Hours have been completed.

Ibrahim Baggia, Sweet Fruit Arrangements 

INTERPRETIVE:

This senior project has been an amazing journey for me, I learned more about myself and my parents as my mentors. I was able to love the work I did especially designing and creating floral pieces. In the beginning of this project I wanted to do what I thought was right for me to do. But I ended up discovering something entirely different. I actually enjoy the long hours spent on the busiest holidays of the year; working with the smell of flowers is priceless. The most important thing I have gained from this experience is being better leader and employee, a more creative designer and more knowledgeable about the field I work in. My parents have also noticed my growth and offered me a part time owner-manager position for the summer and when I attend college.

APPLIED:

I was able to answer my Essential Question by working in the stores and doing research. At first research seems extremely overwhelming and worthless but it is super important. I actually enjoyed collecting my thoughts in the I-Search paper and writing about my research with it, it helped my project come together and overall make a lot more sense. My Essential Question is actually actively helping my parents and their business because as my mentors taught me, I also showed them what I discovered and what they overlooked about small business growth. 

Exit Interview

1) What is your Essential Question?

How can a fruit and flower shop owner-manager best grow her family business?
ANSWER 1: By organizing in-store operations such as the partnership with 1800Flowers and relationship with employees and drivers.
ANSWER 2: By creating an appealing social media presence to attract customers.
ANSWER 3: Our stores need to be unique by designing new arrangements or product lines.

Best Answer?
The processes that I took to arrive to this answer are working in the store and my research. While doing mentorship, I created my own designs for new floral pieces. The most interesting thing I came across through all my research was when John Brant said “You can’t teach creativity. You can learn how to cut a stem correctly, but that’s not going to make you a good designer.” This quote stays with me to this day because I know exactly what he means. All the employees we hire mean nothing if they are not able to be creative and outside of the box, just because you know the standards of making an arrangement look the same every time does not mean you are a professional floral designer. I started out as the stem-cutter with no idea how to create an arrangement or be creative, but as I researched more about our products I was able to do more than just sit around delegating tasks. I strongly believe that as an owner-manager like John Grant, I would need that creativity to increase our growth rate.
3) What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?

The problems I faced reaching this answer was how to thoroughly explain my combined research and personal experiences in writing. I had a general idea of uniqueness and product lines but wording it out was difficult since I am not the best writer. I resolved this by talking about it with my mentor who in return helped me articulate my speech onto paper.

2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

Making our store unique by designing new arrangements or product lines, I believe this is my best answer because I noticed that in the fruit and flower industry there is a lot of competition and to beat this we have to be innovative. One example is Edible Arrangements, they just announced their Hello Kitty products which is a new and unique product that our store does not provide, we would need to create a better product.

4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?
Lisa Gutierrez brought me into the lives of two co-owners of a flower shop, their words and experiences were inspiration.
Professors Keiko Ishihara, Ryo Nakagawa, Shigekazu Ishihara and Mitsuo Nagamachi had research that was simple enough for me to understand the basics of how to create a new floral arrangement.

1. Gutierrez, Lisa. "Business is Blooming: Florists Need Flowers, Creativity--and a Whole Lot of Muscle." Career World, a Weekly Reader Publication, 38.3 (2009): 11-15.
2. Ishihara, Keiko, Ryo Nakagawa, Shigekazu Ishihara, and Mitsuo Nagamachi. "An E-commerce Site for Gift Flower Arrangements That Fit Kansei and Social Manners." The TQM Journal, 20.4 (2008): 338-347.

Extra Post April: EQ Change/ SD Botanical Gardens

I decided to change my Essential Question when I started writing my Research Paper. I discovered that my research was not towards organizing the stores but was more leading towards growth in the stores. The Essential Question was originally: "How can a fruit and flower shop owner-manager best organize and grow her family business?" but now it is "How can a fruit and flower shop owner-manager best grow her family business?". I removed the word organize and created it my first answer.

EQ: How can a fruit and flower shop owner-manager best grow her family business?

ANSWER 1: By organizing in-store operations such as the partnership with 1800Flowers and relationship with employees and drivers.
ANSWER 2: Creating an appealing social media presence to attract customers.
ANSWER 3: Making our store unique by designing new arrangements or product lines.

My question and answers are approved by Mrs. La Russa.

Ever since I started working with our store and training to become a florist, I have discovered a fascination with flowers. My family and I went to the botanical garden at Balboa Park in San Diego over the weekend and I was just in awe at the different species of plants. Obviously, we cannot create arrangements with such delicate and expensive flowers but it helped me by giving me inspiration. I also noticed the displacement of the flowers at the park, which was very different from the way they are usually placed.

SD Botanical Garden Foundation

Blog 19: Independent Component 2

Literal:
(A) I, Sara Baggia, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 36 hours of work.

(B) The online WIS Int. Course.

(C) Log is updated!

(D) I took an online course from where my mentor works, WIS Int. This course had no textbook because there were online slides and resources. I learned the 5 main roles of effective management: planning, organizing, leading, coaching and mentoring.

Interpretive:

I have a certificate of completion with signatures from the Vice Presidents as well as notes from the class. This component is significant for me to understand how to be a better manager.

Applied:

This component helped me answer my first answer to my new Essential Question, that is to organize the in-store operations. The only way to organize is by learning how to manage my employees first. This class gave me real examples and ideas on how I could start.

Extra Post March: NATURAL PRODUCTS EXPO

 

From March 6th through March 8th, I attended the Natural Foods Expo WEST with both of my mentors. This expo was an opportunity for our company to network with other companies. We found options for more efficient packaging and ways to wash our fruits using healthy and organic fruit wash. I was exposed to ways an owner-manager interacts with marketing reps and CEOs of other companies. At the Expo, there were Large Business such as Chobani and Fage but their were also Small Businesses like ours. I also observed how companies presented themselves to us when we approached their booth. Overall this was a great experience for me that I can take back to my research.

Here is what NPEW has to say about their event:

As an Expo West Exhibitor, you will:

• Meet in-person with buyers of natural, organic, and healthy lifestyle products
• Highlight new products and/or build brand awareness
• Network with the natural products community
• Keep up-to-date on new trends and innovative ideas
• Interact with trade and consumer press
• Boost your presence in the industry
• Strengthen relationships with existing buyers, brokers, and distributors
• Build new business connections