🗄️ six of pentacles reversed, in action

The Context: A friend of mine owns the most artistic, beautiful and wildly loved flower shop in a major city (honestly, to simply call it a flower shop, or her a florist feels understated).

At the last minute, she received a same-day request to fill an emergency order (I’m talking 11:30am when the order needed to be delivered by 1:30pm). A woman was getting married and her original florist was traveling in from another city 4+ hours away, was stuck in traffic and was absolutely not going to make it in time. And the woman getting married? Well, she needed bouquets ASAP.

My friend loves a good challenge (and is also the most generous person on the planet), so she said yes and got right to work. But because it was a same-day big order (on a Saturday, no less), she didn’t have time to make or receive an order from any of her wholesalers. So she ran to trader joes and created something beautiful, something in the bridal colors, and something that could be delivered right in the knick of time.

The Juice: I asked her “how much did you charge for this last minute, emergency, rushed, literal-save-the-day, wedding bouquets?”

First, she evaded the question. So I asked again. “But how much did you charge?”

“I haven’t sent the invoice because I’m wrestling with what to charge.”

**Me, immediately pulling a tarot card and seeing the six of pentacles**

Me: What are the numbers you’re wrestling with? And, how much would you normally charge for bouquets?

[insert her braindump on why she was planning to charge less than half of what she would normally charge, despite having to close the shop for a period of time to pick up, make and deliver the flowers on time. Her reasoning being

• the surplus is more than she would have made during the small window of closing the shop,

• her hourly rate is X for renting out the shop, and she doubled it to account for a rush fee. ]

But again, this rate was still less than half of what she would have charged for receiving an order for an event in advance. And on some accounts, it makes sense because the quality of the flowers is no where near the same (and Trader Joe’s flowers are definitely no where near the cost of custom wholesale flowers).

So I asked, “Can I suggest a number to you? And can I frame this from a perspective outside of the time it took you, and the cost of the goods?”

After she said yes, I said, “I would not charge them less than X” (X being double her original number).

She said she felt wrong for charging that much when she knows how poorly the bouquets were made (in comparison to her usual work). “It feels unethical more than it feels like undercharging because of empathy. It feels like I’m taking advantage of their circumstance.”

Fair. So I said, “Say more. Why does it feel like you are taking advantage of their circumstance? (when you are literally bending yourself backwards, closing down your shop, and going above and beyond to make something happen for a customer that you’ve never worked with, have no ties to, and requested the unimaginable with a 3 hour timeline. Note: most other shops would have simply said no.)

“Because I know the quality of the product they received is not of that value. If I were in their shoes and charged X+ for those flowers, I would feel disheartened and question the ethics of the florist.”

So I said, “Is the price based on the product alone?” And then I added, “This is how I would feel if I were in their shoes. I would be totally panicked when an important part of my dream day was not going to make it in time and then wildly grateful when suddenly someone could step in and make it happen. I would be happy, ECSTATIC, to pay someone premium who cared enough to shift their entire day, close their shop to source, make and deliver flowers, just so that I could have the experience that I originally envisioned (or very close to that vision).”

“Second, people don’t hire you for flowers. They hire you for what you do with the flowers. They hire you for your artistry, your energy, your generosity, your desire and follow-through in going above and beyond, your attention, your love, and for everything it takes for you to be able to show up the way you do every day. They hire you for your YEARS of experience, your expertise, your eye for design, your collaboration, your intuition, your ability to not just bring someone’s vision alive - but to elevate it. They hire you for YOU. YOU are the gift. Which is a lot more than just cost of flowers.”

And. “Your time and attention are the most valuable resources you have and can offer to anyone. They should be the most expensive. What is the value of that to you?”

And we continued to go back and forth for a bit, but the seeds had been planted.

She decided that next time she would state the price up-front (to avoid any weird feels), charge what she originally thought was fair but add in an option for a tip, and take this as a learning for the future.”

Her customer paid the invoice immediately (despite being a newlywed on honeymoon AKA could not have appreciated her work more). And of course, she got a fat tip.

But my favorite part about this story is not how much she ended up charging, not charging, or will be charging going forward. It’s this:

Her seeing, understanding, and valuing herself and what she brings to her work and to the world in a way that will forever change how she shows up in her work and in the world.

This is the power of coaching (and of the tarot. We see you six of pentacles 👀).

It’s not about dollars made, or metrics hit, the promotion or whatever external outcome you seek. It’s about the internal shifts that make the external outcomes inevitable. Because when we are aligned and in integrity with the beliefs that fundamentally serve us, we move through our work and the world differently.

The outcomes become a byproduct, and they no longer feel like something we need to reach for, because they are already there.

It just makes sense.

Read more about the six of pentacles (reversed) here.

And reach out if a reading (or coaching) speaks to you.