Sandra Lang jokes her curriculum vitae would not look very good.
For if it came to writing down her employment history, Mrs Lang has spent her 30-year working career at the same business, although she has moved from employee to owner of Marguerita Florist in Dunedin.
While she acknowledges times are challenging in the floristry industry and there have been dramatic changes through the years, it still provides plenty of job satisfaction.
From creating a posy to be presented to Princess Anne during her visit to Dunedin in 1989, to arranging flowers for countless weddings, funerals, special and everyday occasions, the engaging florist loves her job.
Like hairdressers, in whom clients confided, Mrs Lang and her staff had "seen it all", she said.
Originally from Roxburgh, where her parents also operated a seven-days-a-week business, a tearooms, she later attended boarding school in Dunedin.
At the Labour Exchange, she had to write down three jobs she would like to do. She still does not know why she wrote floristry, but she did.
It was not a great surprise, as she had always loved gardening and many thought she would pursue a career in horticulture.
Next she got a phone call to say she had an interview at Marguerita Florist which, at that stage, was in premises in Hanover St and was owned by Arthur Barnett.
The business, which was established 75- 80 years ago, was named after the original owner's niece, Margaret.
Mrs Lang was trained under Joyce Innes, the second owner, who then sold to Arthur Barnett.
Mrs Lang later bought the business.
She sat professional floristry exams, which "opened a lot of doors" to meet and work with designers from throughout the world.
She was president of Teleflora New Zealand - the first network of florists in New Zealand, which started in 1926 - and was on the board for eight years. She was also on the board of New Zealand Professional Florists.
She found being on the Teleflora board interesting and it made her realise what a good shop she had, she said.
While there is the usual everyday work, sometimes a different request will be made - for a teddy bear out of flowers, or an anchor - or flowers for royalty. And she never knows who is going to walk through the door.
For the past few years, a Dunedin couple have brought their two children in at Christmas to buy three bunches of flowers to give randomly to strangers. And there are the "gorgeous wee kids" with $5, or even $2, to spend on their mother for Mother's Day.
One of the jobs she finds most special is doing funeral flowers, a task she takes seriously as it is the last gift being given to a loved one.
Families in today's society were often very complex and a florist had to be diplomatic and provide a listening ear, she said.
By listening, they could get an understanding of what the person was like, while sometimes families needed direction.
"When families come back and say to you 'thank you very much for the casket spray you created for Mum or Dad', it's just all worth it."
Both funeral and wedding flowers have changed dramatically through the years and often now funeral notices ask for no flowers, but she believes flowers help soften the occasion.
"I understand people want donations given to this or that but I still don't think you can go past a beautiful bouquet to a bereaved family."
Through the years, she has worked with some "lovely brides and fantastic weddings".
Her favourite bride was one who came into the shop and said 'this is what I want, I don't care what it costs, just do it". She also appreciates those who are happy to go with what the florist, as the professional, suggests.
Often, friends or family members do the wedding flowers and she is sometimes called upon at the last-minute and asked to fix an amateur job.
The biggest change she has seen in the industry is non-professional people putting together flowers and being able to sell them to the public.
Floristry is one of the few industries with no regulations, which is why supermarkets now sell flowers.
Non-trained people did not have the techniques of trained florists, she said.
While she said she had been very well trained, unfortunately that sort of training did not happen often now and it was a loss to the industry.
When Mrs Lang first started work at Marguerita Florist, there were three senior, two intermediate and two junior florists, along with the boss.
They used to make between 10 and 20 wreaths daily for funerals.
Now there are three staff, including herself, and a part-time worker.
The business had also become very commercially focused, she said and, first and foremost, she had to be a retailer. The product itself was secondary.
Another change has been the move to a more contemporary look in floral designs.
While not wanting to be negative, Mrs Lang said it was currently the hardest time she had known in her 30-year career.
Although people still had money, she believed they were choosing to spend their discretionary dollar more carefully.
She hoped Marguerita Florist would still be around in another 70 years "but who knows in this economic climate?"
It would be a sad day when there was not a "lovely, colourful flower shop" in towns and cities and it would be interesting to see what happened to the industry in New Zealand during the next five to 10 years, she said.
Mrs Lang believes a lot of values, like going to a flower shop and purchasing flowers for a special person, are being lost.
"We need to be teaching our sons and daughters that it's OK to go to a florist shop and purchase flowers.
"It's teaching your children these nice traditions that are getting lost. It's like manners."
There were some traditions that should never stop, and buying flowers - whether for a girlfriend, someone feeling a bit down, for a mother on Mother's Day, or for a grieving person - was one of those, she said.
"If you don't know what to say to someone, buy a bunch of flowers and arrive at [their] house with it. That's all that needs to be said. You don't need to say anything."
Valentine's Day is the shop's biggest day of the year, while Mother's Day is the biggest financial week, with Christmas on a par.
It is hard work, particularly being on her feet all day.
"You can't be creative and sit down in a florist's job. You've got to have movement around you.
"It's a lovely job, you meet wonderful people, but behind the scenes, like any job, it's hard wear on your body.
Moving to the Meridian Mall had been a "real bonus" and good for business through the years, she said.
She has ideas and plans about the future - "for us to continue, we need to change the way we market and sell flowers" - and there will be changes at the shop.- "another exciting part of life".
"I know the e-commerce is going to be a big thing, but I'm going to be there.
"I still believe people want to come and see what they are purchasing to give to that person.
"They want advice and you don't get advice off an e-commerce site, or the personal service.
"It just doesn't happen."
