An immigrant from Colombia, Juan Palacio arrived in Miami at the age of 25 with a heavy accent and limited knowledge of English. Undeterred, he began selling flowers to hotels door-to-door, eventually starting a couple of companies, including his most recent, BloomsyBox.com.
Juan launched BloomsyBox in 2015, but the genesis of the company goes back to when he arrived in Miami in 2001 and began selling flowers to hotels door-to-door.
Juan Palacio: "It was completely unplanned. I grew up surrounded by flowers—I was used to seeing them everywhere. But, during a trip to Miami Beach, I noticed that most of the hotels didn’t have flowers anywhere, or in the rare case that they did, the bouquets looked sub-par and unoriginal. I immediately contacted a few floral industry contacts back in Colombia and decided to try to fill this gap by offering high-quality, beautiful flowers to hotels. After this idea developed, I grew more passionate about flowers and every aspect of the floral industry."
He adds: "I learned a lot of important lessons during my time at BoutiqueHotels.com. The travel industry is one of the most competitive verticals, so it was necessary to really move the needle from an online marketing perspective. There were a few fundamentals in particular that I have carried with me, including delegation and culture.
I also learned that you have to invest in culture. Of all the lessons I learned while working for a larger organization with more people and resources, this may be the most relevant. I feel that employee satisfaction is a key driver of a company’s overall success."
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