Often we don’t have to reinvent the wheel to learn something new – we can just ask experts in the field who can draw on their experience to enlighten us. Below, we’ve shared insights insiders from various industries have shared with us.

HUNTRESS Florals | San Diego based Floral Design Studio | Weddings, Events, Installations, & freelance offerings

It’s likely hard to imagine the number of hands that touch the flowers before they’re sold as a final event design or purchased in a flower shop. There is an invaluable number of humans involved in this process behind-the-scenes! It all begins with the growers and farmers who plant, tend, and harvest the seeds into stunning blooms. Then to the vendors who source, package, and ship (some blossoms get flown in from all areas of the globe) to ensure the highest quality product is available in the wholesale markets. Once there, those vendors maintain the flowers, while fulfilling orders and assisting designers in choosing and purchasing the best product to bridge client conceptions and color palettes into reality. There are also buyers who select, negotiate and deliver flower orders to florists and design studios. And FINALLY, to the designers who create the gorgeous arrangements that fill the grocery store shelves, enhance a wedding day, corporate, or life event to celebrate and honor whatever the special occasion is. Read more>>

Sandy Young | Vice President, J. Walcher Communications

When people hear “PR” or “public relations,” they usually think of something glamourous with parties or celebrities or maybe political damage control. These can all be components of PR, but what most people don’t realize is that PR plays a part in a lot of the media — traditional and social — surrounding you every day. That chef cooking on your favorite local morning news program? Most likely coordinated by a PR professional. That review or feature story on the latest iGadget? Either coordinated or compiled with information and images provided by a PR person. That feature story in your major daily newspaper on that real estate development, nonprofit fundraiser or high-profile visiting speaker? A PR person probably helped put that together. The company responding to your Yelp review or comment on Facebook? Very possibly someone in PR. Our job is to be invisible, doing the behind-the-scenes work, to make our clients — organizations and companies of all sizes — highly visible. Read more>>

Trina Pham | Photographer & Filmmaker

What people don’t realize is that artists and creatives are constantly exploited, sometimes unknowingly to both parties. Art has historically been one of the prominent features that define an era. Making art is the reason why artists live. We want to continue to work and exist while making art for ourselves as well as for everyone else. Other than the upper tiers of creatives, working for little to no pay has been the industry standard. Many times, companies and/or employers ask creatives to work for free for “the exposure”, to get your name out, or they will offer a “chance for you to collaborate with a cool brand”.  Every artist experiences exploitation differently, these exploitative practices make it impossible for artists to advance their career and make a living. When hiring an artist, you’re paying for experience, expensive software, research, education, licensing knowledge, individual creative style, time, effort, and so much more. In this industry, artists feel disrespected, undervalued, and exploited. We need to collectively figure out how to support creatives when their efforts to sustain a business are met with (mostly) free labor. Read more>>