 a very good Enterpreneurship Tuesday morning to you. You are watching Why In The Morning, your favorite breakfast show. As you had me do this Mondays to Friday between 7 and 10 a.m. My name is Hilda Wadidzi and for our final interview of the day, this Enterpreneurship Tuesday, we have something very special. For all of you who like to make the spaces that you live in look much better, to make your events look so much better for the first time in studio, today we have a decor consultant. I have the founder of Excellent Frail and I will allow him to say good morning to you and introduce his himself. Matthew Kariuki speaking. I'm a decor consultant and founder of Excellent Frail Enterprises. We do events. That's our major goal. I've trained and I'm a specialist in flowers. That's a course that I did for history. Yeah, so I've measured in flowers, live flowers. Forestry. Most people say that some of these degrees, they don't help us, come back they do. You went and found you're interested. Okay, so what was it about the plants and the flowers that caught your attention? I think it was in me since I was young that I didn't realize it. When I was in high school, I had, I was given like a bid. I was a member of Red Cross Club and we had a project of beautifying the school, high school. I was former year student. Who beautified the school? Wow. Drangiri High School. So I thought about it and since I was planting the flowers at home, I thought of bidding that particular thing because it was just a small job, it was not much. And since I knew how to go about it and getting cashiers to do it and I just manage and I thought it's easy. So when we closed school, after my bid went through, I was the high school teacher who was a friend to me. She was the Red Cross in charge. She was already in charge of Red Cross and I was the secretary of the Red Cross Club. So when I was given the bid, I just took flowers from home. When we closed school, we were off from school. I took the flowers from home, transported them, got cashiers and we did the job. Wow. So from there, since I was informed three by ten, then after my fourth form, I did flowers. I finished the KCSC like this week, the next week I was in for the Florida Street course with the cash that I had saved and I also got sponsors one, two, three and I was good to go. And you were good to go and that's how it started. At least I can see you also got some support and it also sort of came about as a hobby. You started it as a fun thing and then now here you are. I've found and see you all big company. So there were some images, as much as you like to specialize also on how we can make our spaces look better for some of our functions. There are so many issues when it comes to the spaces that we are in. Let's talk about what are some of the mistakes that you can say that we make with our spaces that are not really necessary, like make it look crowded. Like I've gone to some places where you feel like the sitting room is too busy. It's very busy. So what are some of the mistakes that you've seen that we make when we are decorating our own spaces? I think when we go to plants, now the beat of plants instead of life flowers, we can see that some guys, when you're doing our houses, since construction, from construction, from ground zero, we don't do calculations for life plants and our air. People don't take in the... They don't take it seriously. So what is always on our mind is, where are we going to see it, where the table is going to be, where the kitchen is going to be? But that is not so much important. Because if you're in a house, it has got... Yes, the table room is there, the kitchen is there, but there is not like fresh. You know, you can't live in good. You're not good. There is something missing. So I got some pictures online. I wanted you to look at. And I wanted you to tell us how we can make some of these spaces look better. Even with the flowers, where can we include a flower? Is it even necessary? But all it's already there, is it necessary? So please, the director, if you could please have some of those images run through, please. Oh, okay, okay, okay. How's they are getting them? Let's talk about the reception that you got from the public and from your friends and your family. When you decided you wanted to be more or less a florist. And Deco and your Raman, I can imagine. So what kind of response did you get? Not fast, it's not easy. And even if you lose focus, it only takes you like a year before you get the right direction and before you get mentors who are doing the same thing, it takes some time. So were you able to find a mentor? Yeah, I found guys who are doing the same thing. So even if I didn't tell them that you are my mentor, I used to look at what they do and I used to be with them. Okay. So you used to put yourself in the environment where they ask that you can learn a few skills here and there. What can you say has been, over the years has been your toughest, your toughest Deco challenge. Let's put it like that. I think it's the toughest, what I can consider as the toughest is availability of flowers and climate. Yeah, that is the main problem. Cause you know there are times when the weather is not favorable to flowers growing. Like see Valentine's, it can be a Valentine's season. Oh yeah, Valentine's. But you don't have flowers. Very busy. But you have guys who are expecting flowers from you. Your clients are expecting flowers from you, but you don't have flowers. What do you do? So what do you do? No, let us know. When you don't have flowers and the clients have made their demands and stuff and now like you said some of these things cannot be controlled like now the climate. What do you do? Obviously there are some guys that you get, they have the flowers, but the price at which you had expected to get them out is not the same. So the prices might hike. You have to buy them at a higher cost. That is what you do. So you have to spend sleepless nights. Okay, so let's talk about maybe the work that you've done or was it an event or was it a house or whatever that you did and you got a good boost. It keeps you motivated until today. Do you have any specific one that you remember? Yeah, we had... I don't work alone, I have got friends that I work with. We had an event, was it July? July last year. It was a two and a half weeks wedding. So I think that was the toughest event I've ever done. Two and a half week wedding? Yeah, it was an Indian wedding. That's right. So I think that was the toughest thing I've ever done. Working today, tomorrow, the other day without resting. 100%? Yeah, day and night. So what do you do to keep the plants alive? Because you know, as a lady, I know this one is going to look like it just came out of nowhere, but now that you're a florist, let me ask. When we receive the flowers, they look alive. And then when we have them just for the next 24 hours, they start to look strange. So what is the mistake that we are making like when it comes to maintaining some of these natural plants and flowers that we get? I think handling is one of the important things that guys don't know about. Because for instance, you can give someone a bouquet, but they don't have a vase. Where do you expect them to put the flowers? So I think the first thing that we should, one, when giving a flower should consider is handling. Should first maybe buy a vase and keep it in her house. Even if you're not saying why the vase or what the vase is for. Oh, that's clever. Then later you set the flowers. Maybe that evening you can visit and put the flowers in the vase. Show her how to do it. So if anyone is giving away the plants, they also need to think about handling it and how to keep it well for the person that you're giving. Plants, maintenance and water go hand in hand. Maintenance and water? Because plants and flowers, it's all about water. They go hand in hand. Well, most people would argue that they don't have the time. Like that's why even like you mentioned, like when they are constructing their homes or they are decorating their rooms, they're like, who has the time to take care of all these plants and why should I have them? What are some of the hacks that you can, and some of the myths that you can dissect that it's not true, maybe they're easy to handle? Okay, about that. To the guys who don't have the time to handle their plants or maintain their stuff, we have guys who do that. So we like hire out, we offer those services. Like planting, landscaping and all that stuff. So you don't have to be there. You have like to set our bills monthly. Then we'll just do the maintenance for you. Once a plant dies, we just repress with another one. How is that cost effective for you? Like if I need someone to be maintaining it for me daily, how do I make that cost effective? It depends with how many plants there are. Yeah, but it's not expensive. It is not expensive? Yeah, because it's either you want something or you don't want it. If you want it, you have to meet the cost. I like that. Quite focused, quite decided. Okay, so I'm hearing the invaders are now ready so we can look at some of them and then we can talk about it. Yes, let's look at this particular living room. I can't see even a single plant. Oh, I think I can see one, but it's somewhere in the corner over there. What can you do to make this look better? What can you say are some of the mistakes that you can identify over here that can be improved or worked on? I think the room, when you look at it, it's more of a rustic thing because you can see the stones and the artwork done in there. It's more of a rustic thing. And again, if you see these, I think these Amasai thing look. So I think we can do plants at the corner, that other corner there. Where the wall looks plain? Yes, on that other corner, besides the window. Then on this other edge, we can do a plant in a tree. A plant in a tree? Yes, maybe running from this end to that end. So when you look at it from this side, it's natural, it looks like a forest. Oh, okay, so can we have a look at the next one? Oh, there we have a kitchen, a dining room, an open-plant kitchen and a dining room. What can we make better here? Where do we include the plants? You see, from this top to that top, we can do plants in small pots, running that way in ceramic white pots because when you look at the background, it's white. So you can't do black containers on that platform. Oh, so even the colors can make a big difference? Color is another thing. Like there are colors that don't go. It's like fixing pink and yellow. I also don't think pink and yellow is cute, but anyway, that's just my opinion. So color is another thing. Now here we have, yes, now we have the outdoors. What can you say that this person has gotten right and what have they gotten wrong? They've gotten right about these two stands. They are cute and those are climbers. Meaning after it all, they'll climb on top of those two stands. Oh, yeah, the plants underneath the, oh! Yeah, they are climbers. But the problem is maintenance. The hedges are not trimmed. Here they could have put maybe white gravels or something. So I think maintenance here is losing focus. The maintenance of? Yeah, because the hedges should be straight. Well, if I'm having an event, for example, or a birthday for my child, and maybe this is the only garden space that I have, what decor would you recommend? How can I play with this garden and make it look good? For guys who would like, you want a tent on it or something. Even if it's balloons or whatever, or candles, I think people are coming up with all sorts of things. We can do a stretch tent. A stretch tent? Yes, on top of the whole garden. Then down here, according to the space that we have, we first put lights, because one, when you put a stretch tent, it will be dark, definitely. We do lights, then timbers and chairs down there. Now on the tables, we can do the candles, we can do some florals or something. Okay. Yeah, then maybe we can use this as the high table or the other side. It depends on how you'd like as a client. There's something else interesting I bumped to online when it came to this particular topic, and it was the paths. The paths, like towards when you're going to your garden or to your event or whatever. What are some of the hacks that you can have to make your path look interesting? Because I can see someone has put some grass in me too. Yeah, what are some of the hacks that you can use when it comes to the paths that you are working on? I think the motherers that they've used, those are motherer stones, I think they are nice. That's one thing, they are nice. And on the sides here, instead of seeing this grass, you can either decide to do plant covers, the soil covers. Soil covers? Soil covers are small plants that will cover the soil. So that when, even if it rains, the soil cannot spill onto the stones. So your path will not be muddy? Yeah, it can't be muddy. Even if it rains. That's a very interesting hack, especially when it comes to the weddings, because I see this happening a lot. It rains and rains and then now everything and all the mud and everything is all over the paths and there was things down there, there was tambas and all that. So I like that you can put soil cover plants. Like that side, that's a soil cover. You see the soil is covered. Oh yeah. Okay, so this can make it so much better and also in terms of maintaining how clean the place looks like. Wow, but this is what we had for you when it comes some of the images that we thought you could make better. So from somebody at home who wants to join this particular industry, what words do you have for them? I think one is be ready to be persistent. Cause it takes time. It's an industry that you just joined. You don't know anybody, you don't know of anything. So you have to be persistent and ready to learn. So where can they find you on social media as well? On social media, we have a Facebook page, XR and Frail Deco. Then on IG, Instagram, we have XR and Frail and Enterprise is shortcut. Oh, I thank you so much for coming to studio today. At least I've learned a few hacks when it comes to some of the ways I can play with my garden and my indoors. I think it's a pleasure to meet you Matthew. I think it's about time we leave. My name is Hilda Vadidi. Please do not go anywhere. You're watching Why in the Morning.