Check out my interview below.

 As I sit here on the eve of the premiere party for "The Arrangement" TV show in which I have been fortunate to participate, I find myself reflecting on the past 20 months of my life.  What a ride it has been!

Phillips Flowers

Living my entire life surrounded by the floral industry has made it grow into a major part of  who I am. My family founded All American Phillip’s Flowers in Chicago in 1923 so I grew up learning every aspect of the flower world. My father was a second generation owner so I did what came naturally – follow in dad’s footsteps. I worked part-time in the flower shops throughout high school and college, basically whenever I was home from school or had free time.  In 1986 began my full time career with the Phillip’s Flowers.

After 20+ years of working with the family business and running things as they had done for decades before me, I wanted to expand the flower company in sync with the trends of our culture. In 2008, I organized my ideas for an online bridal flower planning website that, I thought, would allow the family to take Phillip’s Flowers to new heights. I brought the concept of this online community to certain members of our family and I was denied approval to move forward with this ground breaking project. Maybe it was their lack of understanding of the opportunities to expand online or maybe they just didn’t like my ideas. Either way, I started the project on my own anyway.

I discussed my ideas with some web developers I met through a friend and they all loved the concept.  They wanted in and wanted to work for me to bring this business to life. From here the dream of bringing Your Bridal Flowers (YBF) to life was now a reality.

I was still working for the family business out my office in Chicago and the team working on the new project was based in Detroit. The employees I hired to work on YBF consisted of a Director, Creative director, three writers, two programmers, an advertising sales representative and marketing manager.   This allowed me to continue running the multimillion dollar operation for the family business while bringing my dream to life.

I worked night and day on this web company working to make this entrepreneurial dream come true.  It was quite the juggle managing both businesses, my family, and what little time I had left for a social life. Especially since the new business required me to travel to Detroit.

Leaving Phillips Flowers

In September of 2008, my family discovered I was working on my own business and the reaction was not well received.  Long story short, pursuing this dream basically ended my relationship with my family. The family said, they did not think I should be the captain of two ships and asked that I resign after a lifetime of working for the family business.  I was told to   clear out my office by the end of the week. After over 20 years of work and a lifetime of being a close-knit family, they gave me three days to pack my things and be gone. To this day I no longer have any real relationship with any of my family who worked within our family business.

Unfortunately, by the time I left Phillips Flowers,  I was also preparing to close YBF too.  The team just could not deliver what I needed. I was nearly fed-up when the second development team I hired still couldn’t produce what I wanted after the sites were rebuilt for the second time, they were still far from what my vision was for the business.However, my partner, Myra Love and I were able to work together to design a new site and a new vision was born for our entrepreneurial success.  My determination to be successful pushed me harder and hard to find the team that would make this dream come true.Another year later and thousands of dollars later, Your Bridal Flowers was revised and recreated.  I built an entirely new team with Myra and built the ultimate bridal flower planning membership website. YourBridalFlowers.com is now alive and was packed with everything needed for planning the perfect wedding flowers.

Beyond all the bumps in the road I have come along way to get my businesses to the point that they are at today. Besides YBF, The Russ On Flowers Network (ROF) is a network of businesses operating in the floral industry that serve both consumer and business niche opportunities.

•             www.RussWholesaleFlowers.com – A direct-to-consumer flower wholesale company offering flowers and floral supplies from all over the world.

•             www.RussOnFlowers.com – Online flower blog educating visitors with all the knowledge and expertise of flower expert, Russ Phillip.

•             www.YourBridalFlowers.com – An extensive bridal flower website featuring detailed information and a variety tools for planning wedding flowers.

•             www.FlowerHookup.com – The exclusive place for hip, rugged, and new-age flower arrangements designed by Russ Phillip.

This entrepreneurial path I chose has cost me nearly $500,000 in personal investments, my relationship with my family, my relationship with my wife, as we are now divorced, and relationships with anyone who would not stand behind me as I have striven to make my dreams come true. I have learned many hard lessons that have sculpted me into the person I am today; and I am proud that with all the difficult obstacles life thrown my way, I am still standing here stronger than ever.

• Life After Phillips Flowers -  Following My Passion to Build a New Dreams
• Chicago Flowers
• Chicago Wedding Flowers

First you pay a visit to the Chicago florist and explain your needs. You might look through a book that contains pictures of various flower arrangements and potted plants. It’s thoughtful to spend a little time selecting an arrangement that fits the occasion. It should express your sentiments and take into account the tastes of the person receiving the flowers.

For example, you could celebrate the arrival of a baby girl with a joyful arrangement of alstroemeria, gerbera daisies, and lilies in shades of pink and lavender. To express love and devotion, you might choose flowers associated with romance, such as roses and orchids. If you were sending sympathy flowers, you would probably select an arrangement that uses traditional flowers of mourning, such as white lilies, white roses, and white freesias. You can see how it’s easy to tailor the floral arrangement to the event.

On the other hand, instead of choosing the arrangement yourself, you could simply request something appropriate within a certain price range. You may not know much about flowers, but you can rely on a trained florist to design exquisite and tasteful floral arrangements for any occasion. To get the best value, ask the florist to use whatever blooms are in season or looking especially lovely at the moment.

You will also provide a message for the card that accompanies the flowers. Make sure the Chicago florist gets it exactly right, including the spelling of names. Finally, you choose when you want the arrangement to be delivered. It’s not always possible to request a specific delivery time. It depends on the purpose of the flowers and how busy the florist is. You can usually name a particular day and be confident that it will arrive as intended.

When you’ve ironed out the details and paid for your order, the Chicago florist will relay it to a local florist in the destination city (or as close to it as possible). That florist accepts the order and fills it according to the specifications. If he doesn’t have a certain flower in stock, he will substitute another flower of equal or greater value. The arrangement goes out in his delivery van. And finally it lands on your loved one’s doorstep. The process works in reverse as well. The Chicago florist fills orders from across the country and delivers them locally.

Being able to send flowers anywhere, anytime, is a wonderful convenience. It’s nice to know that your favorite Chicago florist can arrange for flowers to be delivered to your grandmother in San Diego, your sister-in-law in Topeka, and your aunt in Talahassee, all on the same day.

Chicago Florist Russ Phillip Jr.

If you have a florist in town that you like to deal with, you can place an order through him. He might show you a book of floral arrangements and ask you to choose something. He will also take down the message that you want on the card.

Your florist doesn’t actually fill the order himself with the flowers in his shop. Instead, he will immediately relay the order to a florist in Chicago who will create the arrangement and deliver it.

Will the Chicago flowers be exactly the same as the flowers you picked out in San Diego? Possibly not.

When you choose a floral arrangement from a book, you should know that the recipient may not get exactly what was pictured. The photograph is more of a guideline for color, flower types, style, and theme. The florist in Chicago will try to create something very close to what you saw. But if a certain bloom is not available, she will substitute another flower.

The availability of flowers always varies from city to city. This is particularly true when you compare flower shops on opposite sides of the country or in different climate zones. A flower may be out of season, in high demand, or simply not grown in that part of the country. The florist will do the best she can with what she currently has in stock.

Another option you have is to call a florist in the destination city and place an order over the phone. In fact, sometimes the direct route is the best way to go. You can save extra handling and service fees by placing an order with the florist who will be delivering the Chicago flowers.

Here are a few tips for getting the nicest flowers. Ask the florist to put the value of your order into the flowers and to use an inexpensive container instead of something fancy. Don’t be too rigid about the type of flowers you want. Give the florist some leeway to choose whichever Chicago flowers are fresh and blooming. Also inquire whether the florist has any in-house specials going on.

Don’t wait until the last minute to order flowers, especially when you are sending flowers for a holiday. If you always send your mother in Chicago flowers for Mother’s Day, it isn’t exactly an unexpected event. Why not order the bouquet a week or more in advance? The earlier you place the order, the more time the florist has to create something pretty. And by ordering early you are more likely to get the exact flowers you want before they are sold out.

For many of us, the customs that surround the major events in our lives are meaningful and comforting. Giving flowers is one of those customs that just feels right. Thanks to the network of florists around the world, you can send someone in Chicago flowers, a plant, or even a funeral wreath, and you will know the floral gift will arrive within a short period of time, no matter how far away you might be.

Chicago Flowers with Russ Phillip Jr.

After searching the globe for the best way to bring the flowershop experience to your home, we finally found the grower that tops all others. Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of others out there that have terrific flowers but none with the exception quality and service that we found working with Mike Mooney at Dramm & Echter. Yes we use other great growers that allow us to carry such a wide variety of flowers but D&E supplies about 90% of all the fresh flowers that we send out.

Did you realize that when you receive your flowers from us, they were probably still growing in the field close to 24-36 hours ago? Here’s a little about the great company that allows us to do this for you.

Based in Encintas California, Dramm & Echter grows thousands upon thousands of the most beautiful flowers anywhere in the world. They use both outdoor growing fields and massive indoor greenhouses to provide all types of flowers. And whatever they don’t grow in-house, our dear friend Mike searches all across the California flower markets to find.

To strengthen our relationship with Mike and D&E, we recently took a special trip to visit our friends on the west coast.

Mike Mooney, the top flower guy at D&E, works extremely hard each day to make sure your flowers arrive more beautiful that you expect. He and I are two of a kind in that by looking at us, you would never guess that flowers flow through our veins.  You can probably tell that I hit the gym a few more days of the week than he does, but that’s because he’s our hands-on guy who spends all of his time with the flowers.

I just wanted to throw a huge shot out to Mike and his team out on the west coast. Keep rockin’ and helping us give our customers exactly what they want, wholesale flower pricing without the whole sale quantity.