APPARENTLY in the Philippines, this type of occupation is considered “feminine,” thus, most of those who run and own flower shops or do flower arrangements are women. And if there were male florists, they'd be presumed gay.
However, this floral designer is different.
Reynaldo Laparan Jr., despite being a graduate of criminology, has decided to leave the crime-stopping business to his colleagues and pursued what was in his heart; floral designing.
Laparan, also known as “Jun,” has been into floral designing since he was a kid, watching his mother and grandmother work in the family-owned flower shop.
“Amo siyang livelihood nga business from my grandmother, daun giabot sa akong mother, then until karon (It’s been our livelihood business, from my grandmother to my mother and now to me),” Laparan said.
Jun added that floral designing has been in his blood, a passion he found happiness from.
“Kini ang akong napilian, una, dinhi man gud ang akong passion. Even though daghan ang gapangutana, na-passion naman gud nako. Murag malipay ko nga ga decorate ko like sa weddings decoration. Murag sa ako lang, malipayon ko nga kini ang akong gibuhat (I chose this because this is where my passion is. Even though there are people who questions my decision, this is my passion. I find happiness in decorating like in weddings. For me, I am happy with what I am doing),” he said.
Jun shared that throughout his career, he has clients who were wondering whether he's actually gay or not.
“Maraming client nagtatanong bakit daw hindi ako babae, bakit daw hindi ako bakla, lalaki ako. Kasi ito na yung nakasanayan namin (There are several clients asking why I'm not a woman, why I'm not gay, that I'm a man. It's because I grew up with this business),” Jun said.
After he graduated college, Laparan said he started working as a freelance floral designer and even had the opportunity to work in Saudi Arabia years before he was able to open his own flower and accessories shop in 2011.
At present, Laparan is a proud owner of the Jun Flower Shop and Accessories located in Pacano corner Capistrano Street, Cagayan de Oro City.
Upon visiting the flower shop, you may notice the small stature of the place and the lack of flower arrangement, unlike other flower shops which has tons of flowers displayed by their glass windows.
According to Jun, they don't need a bigger space as the place is only used as their office and all his flowers are kept in their storage.
“Dili na siya kinahanglan og dako kay unang-una pang opisina lang sya. Ang ako mang gud is more on decoration. So dili pwede ang tanang stock and accessories, dili kinahanglan naa diri. So naa sa among storage o bodega (We don't need a big space because it’s only an office. I'm more into decoration. So it’s not necessary to have all my flowers and accessories be displayed in the shop. They are kept in our storage),” Jun said, adding that he usually orders 100 to 200 dozens of flowers. Too much for one small flower shop to accommodate.
Like all business owners, Jun also encountered challenges and problems in his career. One of which involves his clients who hire him in the last minute of the event.
Jun shared how a client hired him 3 hours before their wedding after they backed out from their initially picked decorator.
As an experienced floral designer, Jun said he was able to overcome such challenges by always being prepared, especially in terms of the flowers and accessories they kept in their storage.
“Naa may decoration or wala, mag stock ko og flowers. Anytime nga naay magpa decorate or wala, so at least naa koy flowers (Whether we have a booking or not, I keep stock of my flowers. At least I have flowers available in case someone needs my services),” he added.
Even though he does the floral decors in events, Jun said he also enlists help from his brother and on-call workers who are all men. This goes to say that despite the stereotype feminine nature of the job, a man's masculinity does not diminish.
Jun is just one of the several males who break the stereotype idea of flowers equals girls. Just like how women can do what a man can do; men can also do things that women can.