Fighting the January Blues ~Ital Florist

We are in the thick of it. The dreaded January Blues.

As owners of a small business, one of the every day concerns is how to keep team morale up. At Ital Florist our team is made up of  people from all walks of life. All from various cultural backgrounds including Jamaica, Japan, England, Portugal, Italy, China and Poland just to name a few. This wonderful mosaic of individuals is a true testament to the multiculturalism that is Canada. Colorful, inclusive and full of life.

Our team works extremely hard... long hours on your feet kind of "hard". At a time like Christmas, they band together and fill thousands of orders for our clients. Over the course of this season, we spend a lot of time together. And we share. We share stories, traditions, gift ideas.. and food; sweets in particular. There is never a shortage of delicious home made sweets and by the time it's all over, the team is complaining about how much weight everyone has gained. In come the January Blues.

To help with this dilemma and to keep team morale up, my brother had a great idea and started The Biggest Loser contest. Anyone who wants to participate puts in $5.00 and weighs in. My brother and I have matched the pot. Every Friday, the participants weigh in (confidentially only to Italo) and by the end of the contest which is on Good Friday April 18, the winner will be announced.
The contest has not only given way to healthier eating habits, but the fun and friendly jokes that have begun are a welcomed distraction from the frigid cold that bellows outside.

This is part of our philosophy. We all have to work. We all have families that depend on us. Every day we come to work together to make a living. But with that also comes a certain responsibility on our part to try and create an atmosphere that is positive. A place where despite the fact that they have to come, they do so and actually like it here. We foster an exchange of mutual respect, constant communication and compassion and sometimes most importantly of all, we try and have FUN.

January will come and go and those blues will pass eventually. With a little creativity and imagination, maybe we can make it pass more memorably, more enjoyably.. and along the way...lose a few pounds too. Bonus!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go weigh in...YIKES!