NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - American Dreaming with José Díaz-Balart: Tariq Farid

Episode Date: June 12, 2021

Tariq Farid, founder of Edible Arrangements, tells José Díaz-Balart how his business bloomed beyond his imagination, and how his family’s search for the American Dream was the leading force in expanding Edible Arrangements from one flower shop to more than 1,000 franchises across the U.S and Canada.

What does the American dream mean to you? For me, it's passing it on because I think as I came here, other immigrants passed it on to me and kind of inspired me. Tarek Farid, what a pleasure to meet you. Jose, it's really nice to be here. It's an honor. Tarek, you know, for so many of us, edible arrangements have been a part of our lives at one time or another. And we don't often kind of think, well, how did this come about? You know, how does edible arrangements start?

And I wanted to take you back, Tarek, to when you were 11 years old. Tell me about that journey. Yeah. So, I mean, as you said, I was 11. And, you know, one day my father says, we're all going to be going to the States. And, you know, we, you know, five brothers, one sister, the whole family kind of loaded up on a plane when and with literally nothing. My father was a machinist here and worked at Burger King and McDonald's and had all these part-time jobs. And we showed up at our uncle's house on August 14, 1981. And what I remember, the most magical thing of that

was what my mother said as we arrived there. She said, my life starts today. And, you know, there's a little bit of a history there. My great-grandfather had come to the U.S. as a laborer. He was recruited in India. He was a farmer. He was recruited and he came to U.S., worked in California in the fields and made about $2,000 by working a year. And with that changed everybody's life back in India. And my mother felt that that was the completion of a journey. And she said, for me, life starts today. And I remember that. And it truly started that day. That's a, that's an amazing story because it's the grandfather who essentially fulfills his American dream.

It's an American dream, Tarek, that is not necessarily based in one geographic location. The United States and America represents so much for so many around the world. And I, you know, as Americans, and I see this in my children, it's so hard to see that, that dream that my mother had back, you know, so my mother never got to see her grandfather because he passed away. But the story was there that he had gone to America and he had built all this wealth. Just imagine $2,000 built out of all this wealth. And he came back and he bought land.

And now they lost everything during the India and Pakistan partition because my mother's family had to go over to the other side. But my mother remembered that that story got handed down about America over and over and over again until when my mother came here, she felt she was continuing that journey and really starting that American dream of completing what my great grandfather couldn't do because he passed away when he had gone back. So the American dream lived in India, in Pakistan, and then it truly became a reality for us when we got here. What is it that for you and your family, this, my life begins, to quote your mother, when you arrived with the United States. Yeah, so, I mean, my father was a farmer, and my mother, you know,

their family lost everything, so whatever that was built, you know, with, you know, things that happened that were beyond their control, they lost everything. And it's just one was the glimpse of what my great grandfather had seen, like the people in this country and the things that had happened. And and two thousand dollars in, you know, 1911 was a lot of money, you know. So with that, I think it was just the opportunity. I think more than anything was the because my my mother saw and my father saw was the opportunity for their kids, I think it was just the opportunity. I think more than anything, it was the opportunity. Because what my mother saw and my father saw was the opportunity for their kids. I think my kids will do better in America. And, you know, that's without any education.

That's without anything. Now, if you layer on all the experiences and the things that we can do here, we have a formula here that doesn't exist anywhere in the world. And sometimes we just don't appreciate it. We just don't see the magic that's here. We have a formula here that doesn't exist anywhere in the world. And sometimes we just don't appreciate it. We just don't see the magic that's here. And, you know, and so many people are able to do that. My family came here with nothing and were able to build things here. And it just continues. You hear it every day. And Tarek, at 11 years old, your father goes to work two and three jobs, right? And you see at an early age the incredible tool that is working for yourself. Yeah. I didn't know it was called entrepreneurship.

All I saw was owning it. My father always wanted to own a business because he saw many others who had owned a business. And I, at about 12, started delivering newspapers. And in my paper route, there was a gentleman who owned a flower shop named Charlie Fariselli and just stopped. I asked him one day, do you have a job? I think it was a very cold day in December. And in that great American spirit, he felt bad. And he said, you know what, kid, come on down and you could kind of water some plants, get out of the cold. And that changed everything for me, because at that point, I started working for this amazing entrepreneur whose family had gone through the same thing, you know, an Italian family that

come here, build small business. And then, you know then he started teaching us. He started teaching a 13-year-old just by doing what business is. And so at that point, I just wanted to be in business. Yeah. But Tarek, there's something about you, which all successful people have. There's always a value added. There's a plus. So you were delivering newspapers. Paper routes are historic American realities. Paper boys have been around as long as this republic has been around. And yet in your 300 deliveries, you wouldn't just throw the paper. You'd go and knock on the door and give the paper. So there's that extra added push. What was that push? I think it's as for a 12-old, it started out with tips.

I think what it was was that when you delivered the paper to the house, most people will complain about how people are cheap. All my customers used to be very generous. And I would tell them, you know, I love my route. And I had 60, 70 papers I would deliver. I got it up to 300. And the magic, it took me a little longer, but drop it off, understand who the person is, say hello, check in on them. And they always give you a tip.

You don't make much from a newspaper route. It's everything else is where you make the money. It's like $1.25 a week. But then they would give you $2, $2.50. And by the end of the week, you had pretty good money. And then I wanted to do other stuff. I wanted to cut their grass. I wanted to clean their snow. And so at that point, I learned that when you really take care of your customer, your customer takes care of you. And so my customers always took care of me. And they were an inspiration. I had this lady named

Mary, who I used to deliver to. And she used to tell me, you know, that, hey, honey, if you keep working this hard, you'll be a millionaire. I'm 12 years old and I love the ring of that. And she's like, if you keep working this hard, by the time you're 35, you'll be a millionaire. And that whenever I thought I was working very hard and things weren't going good, I remember what Mary said. I just started working harder and it worked. Mary was right. You were really following in the footsteps of your parents and of your grandparents and of people who know the merit and the worth of work, of hard work. And so I want to take you back to that opportunity through your paper route, once again, of meeting someone that has a flower shop. And how does that change your life? through your paper route, once again, of meeting someone that has a flower shop. And how does that change your life? I think the opportunity of being in a business and watching a small business owner operate, you know, I always wanted to be a doctor. I mean, right from seven years old, my grandmother used to be very sick and she would call me her doctor. And then I always wanted

to be a doctor, but I knew that my family couldn't afford it. So at that point, my father was a machinist. He made $8 an hour. And then he had a part-time job at Berkeley making $4 an hour. Here I am working for an entrepreneur. He owns an old business. He has a really nice car and he would inspire you. He's like, you know, you can do this. This is not hard. And it's all about the customer. And he was a very, very, very hardworking person. And I realized at that point that it's hard work more than anything. And just focused on hard work and just being creative, taking care of the customer, meeting the customer where the customer is, not vice versa. So I think that what changed

for me is just being able to be under somebody's shadow. My mother used to always say, knowledge is like water. It flows downhill. Lower yourself in front of it. So when you see somebody knowledgeable, learn from them. And so I think for me, that part was the defining moment for the rest of my life. I worked very hard. I delivered newspapers. I cut grass. I did everything. But once I started working in a business and seeing an entrepreneur, that changed everything. And then at 17, then there's another step in your life, in your journey that changes.

Yes. My father kept looking for businesses. By then, I had gotten a job at McDonald's, one of the best jobs I ever had. I loved it, going there, working every shift that I could take while going to high school. And one day, my father comes and says, hey, there's a flower shop for sale. And the criteria was that it had to be, we couldn't afford much. It had to be cheap. So he saw something for sale for $6,000.

And next day, we show up. And it was for $6,000. And next day we show up and it was actually going out of business and they were actually selling their equipment. They wanted to, you know, they were liquidating and we went and we asked them, we'll buy the shop. And my father, you know, said we don't have the money. So we approached his boss, you know, Denise and Bill Holberg, and they gave ayear-old a $6,000 loan. Now, this is the American spirit that we talk about. My father's boss, who's probably making maybe $12, $13 an hour, gives me a $6,000 to $7,000 loan to go open a flower shop and doesn't even blink an eye. He says, oh, why? Because he saw that this kid works hard., you know, he gives me the loan and within a year I pay him back, you know, but that so we were able to buy a business, 600 square feet flower shop in the beginning doing $70 a day in sales.

And I thought I was on top of the moon. You know, sometimes one is fortunate enough in life that someone comes along that will give you a helping hand. And yet there are a lot of people who never get that opportunity. And it really depends on your own personal work ethic and what you do with the lot you're given in life. You can always change your destiny, but it has to come from you. That's right. That's right. It is. People have to see it. You have to put in the effort, right? You have to go put in the effort and then things will come together. I mean, I have been blessed that at every, I didn't know much about flower business when I opened my flower shop. Where do I buy the flowers? As you go around and people see you're working hard, they'll cut you a break. Like, oh, you know,

kid, you work hard. You know, the first wholesaler that I had, I froze the flowers when I opened my first business because I didn't know what temperature a cooler should be set up. And I went back to, and I had, and I can only buy cash. I didn't have any more money. I went back to the wholesaler and he gave me credit. He said, no problem. Take whatever you need. I think you're good for it. And I didn't, I walked out kind of like almost with tears in my eyes thinking I'm good for

it. You don't even know me how. So there was something there that this person saw in me. And you're so right, Jose, that, that if you make the effort, you will meet those angels. I call them those angels and those people along the journey that will help you, that if you make the effort, you will meet those angels. I call them those angels and those people along the journey that will help you, that will pick you up, that will support you, that'll push you over the, you know, pull you, push you over the wall to make sure you're successful. And I am a result of that. And then from flowers, and you're already working so hard,

a 17-year-old kid owning a flower shop, essentially working 24 hours a day. Your family is helping you. And then in 1999, you think, hmm, what about edible flowers, essentially? Where does that come from? So with the flower business, I started an IT business that was putting POS systems in flower shops when there was no POS systems. In the journey, I saw this fruit bouquet business come out there, and we wanted to diversify within the flower shop. I saw a lot of potential in it right from the beginning, but we wanted to make it more like the flower business, right? That it's similar to the flower business, give our customers a choice. So we took a small section of our flower shop, about 400 square feet, 500 square feet, and the same journey, you know, wrote a business plan, thought I could get a loan. By then I thought I was a very sophisticated business person. I had four

flower shops. I had an IT business. But as soon as I put the idea in front of the people, I was rejected for the loan. So we opened up a tiny little shop on the side of our store, sent out brochures, made the brochures ourselves, bootstrapped the whole thing, sent out some brochures to our customers. And people just, you know, the phone started ringing off the hook. Like, when can I order one? And so the first Easter, we started in Easter of 99. And the first Easter, we had 28 orders and it took us all day to make them because we

had no tools at that time. We used to cut everything by hand. So right on the first day was a success. You know, it just, we were sitting there, we were expecting a few orders and we got 28. And after that, it just blossomed. And then from that little 500 square foot area in your flower shop where you're cutting fruits by hand to make them look like flowers to over a thousand franchises around the world. The first, it was kind of accidental. A customer showed up and says, I live in Boston. Can I buy a franchise? And one thing I always tell entrepreneurs is that when that opportunity comes, God sometimes

sends you a gift, fake it until you make it. As soon as you hear that, don't say, oh, I don't know what that is. I turned around and I said, well, that sounds great. Let's do it. Then we ended up building our first store in 2001 in Boston. And from there, from somebody in Boston visiting Boston saw, was visiting from Atlanta, saw our shop. And then next thing we know, we went to Atlanta.

And most of this was bootstrapped in the beginning, but it's just more of the tenacity and just got surrounded by great team members to kind of just never say no and just build and dream bigger than you are. Always dream bigger than you are. And then as you get bigger, I guess for many people, as you get bigger, the logical for some people response is to kind of sit back and enjoy the fruit, to use no pun intended, of your labor. And yet, Tarek, you have spent a lot of your time going to the different places and making sure that the quality is there and that the standards are kept. So you have to be very involved in your business. I'm lucky enough now that I have some amazing team members that do, that carry that tradition. For me, you have to be at our

franchisees who are our customers or the person who's buying the product. A lot of these things were instilled in us by my mother. My mother, when I opened our first flower shop, I was in high school. So I would drop my mom off in the morning and I would go to the store and she would just watch the shop. And she didn't speak English, but she would just kind of keep an eye on what's happening. If customers came in, take their phone number, and I would come back and do that. And I would take care of the orders and take care of the customers. One of the most important things she used to say was that, you know, customers are like blessings. You know, when they come in, they're spending their hard-earned money on your product. You really have to take care of

it and you have to be thankful for your blessings. And to be honest, I really didn't know any better. You know, it's not like, you know, I didn't have the, I only knew hard work. You know, I didn't do much else except work and then spend some time with my friends on the weekends. Even that was limited because I had to run back to the shop. So I think we knew hard work. And whenever the opportunity came, we beat it by working hard. And then one of those pillars of your life, pillars of our lives, our mother's when she passed away in 2000, you decide to keep her legacy alive. What'd you do? So, I mean, I'm not done yet. There's just so much to do. This woman gave us

so much. I mean, you know, she sacrificed so much. She kept the tradition going. She inspired, you know, she came from nothing, you know. She grew up in a village where girls did not go out of the village to study. So she could only do five grades, but she was probably the most brilliant businesswoman I knew. She gave me my first loan when I bought my first building. And when I went to pay it back, she said, give me half, which was for my sister's wedding. And she says, with the other $20,000, do something. It was $40,000 she gave me. And she said, do something in my name.

And so I owe a lot to her. I made a promise to her. So we built a hospital in Pakistan in her name. And we started a foundation. And the objective is to kind of keep that tradition to inspire others and spend a lot of energy in causes towards women and children. Tarek, have you ever thought what you'd like to tell that 11-year-old Pakistani boy who got in that plane and not knowing what the heck his future was going to be? Is there anything you'd like to tell that kid today?

I'm afraid sometimes people, I'm asked that question and sometimes I'm afraid that I may say something where the results may change, you know, however, you know, little knowledge that 11 year old had and kind of the tenacity and the willingness to kind of please and to help, I really wouldn't want to change that. So if there's anything that I would give that would go back is maybe say not be so serious, because in that process, I was very, very serious. And, you know, I was the oldest. So in the family, you're expected to kind of lead. But, you know, the there is really I think I would be disingenuous if I went back and think that that 11 year old could change anything, because I am I am more blessed than I sometimes think I deserve. It is it is amazing what the journey I've had and everything.

And I just want to be a good inspiration for my kids. And I want to be inspiration for other immigrants. I want to be inspiration for others who are looking and are facing that difficulty in the beginning that my parents were facing. My parents, I saw my father couldn't afford to buy something in a grocery store when I was 12 years old. And at that point, I knew I had to help. And there are many other kids knew I had to help. And there are

many other kids that are going through that. And I want to be an inspiration for them to say, keep working hard. As difficult as it seems, you're in an amazing country that your hard work is going to pay off. And you'll sit back 20, 30 years from now and just be in awe of what you've created. So I don't think I could tell that 11 year old anything because I've accomplished more than I can ever imagine. What does the American dream mean to you? I think it's for me, it's passing it on because I think as I came here, other immigrants passed it on to me and kind of inspired me. So I think for me, what the American dream is to leave

it better than the way I found it, you know, to hand it off to the next generation better than I found it and to be thankful for what the what was given to me, to be thankful, be respectful, and to honor that and leave it a little better for the next generation. Neil Postman, and I'm paraphrasing, once said, children are parents' message to a future they will not see. What's the message that you are trying to instill in your children? It's the same message that my grandfather instilled in my mother and my mother instilled in me and my father instilled in me to say never forget where you come from because when you see the difficulties they went through and we'll go back to Pakistan we left that country and we've

been very very blessed in what we were able to create in America I just want them to feel and know how amazing an opportunity they have and how blessed they are. But that blessing requires effort, requires, you know, a lot of effort on their part to make it better, to sustain it, to give back. So I think, you know, that instilling of look where we come from, you know, where I've come from, and these type of, and these talks that we're having right now is a help me to spread that message. So I appreciate that. And for my kids to see that and to hear that story over and over and over again, that my parents came here with nothing, look what they've built. Now imagine what they can build with all the resources they have. So I think don't forget where you come from.

But at the same time, the journey, there's so much more to do. There's so much more to accomplish. Go take it to the next level. It's a relay race, right? I'm passing you the baton. Now you make it better. You know, I wonder often about the, in your case, for example, when you go to a bank with this great concept and idea already written up, thought about, and with a lot of potential, and they say no. In life, we are so many times given no as an answer.

What do you say to people whose entire life has been one interminable series of no's? You know, somebody, I had hired a gentleman who was head of sales and he used to say this one thing, you know, he said, it's not about how many yeses you get, it's how many no's you get. So you got to get comfortable with getting no's. So, you know, I think there really is no choice. Like Jose, we had no choice. It wasn't that when somebody said no, you got disappointed and you got, you know, you said, I'm not going to do this anymore. You very nicely said, thank you very, very much because you wanted to be able to approach them again and said, no problem. And then you moved on and you now got creative on how to make

it happen. Now, the great thing in this country is that there's an even playing field when it comes to entrepreneurship, that if you make the effort, if you keep trying, you will be able to open some type of a business. So I wasn't able to open a $120,000 business. I got a $6,000 business, you know, which was that we bought a business which was going under and turned it around. We had no choice. So I think just this part of not giving up, it comes back. And when you do the right thing, you will get rewarded for it. So I think you have to get comfortable. No, and this happens throughout. This happens in someone's career, not only in business. And it's not really the focus on what the reaction of the others is. It's where you're going.

You have to focus on where you're going. And in the process, you'll get people who may not want to join you in the journey, but just keep going. You will get there. Just keep going. know, success and working hard and seeing that work come to fruition is very, very fulfilling. But of all of the things in your life, what is it that not touches your numbers or growth or success? What are the things in your life that warm your heart? My family, my kids, and the most magical that's happened to me in the last few years is when my daughter entered the business. And she's a VP now, and she's running our e-commerce business. And the most brilliant young lady I know. And I think that has been the greatest

success of my life, you know, and it's no different. My mother used to say the same thing to me to say that I am so honored that I had a kid who look what he's accomplishing, how hard he's working. I never knew what that meant. I would say, oh, mom, you know, yeah, of course I'm working hard. And I thought I owned flower shops and all that other stuff. And so I saw my daughter come in and just have that, that, you know, the style from the beginning, know what to do kind of when you think they weren't listening or they weren't paying attention, you suddenly realize when they start running the business, not only were they paying attention, they were looking to take it to the next level.

So I think that was the most beautiful moment in my life. And now I have my other daughters will be joining pretty soon. So I'm like waiting for that second, you know, the second magical moment. And I am blessed with six kids. So hopefully I'll have six magical moments. So I think that was the defining moment for me, for my daughter entering the business and also having this desire to take it to the next level. And I think she's just continuing the tradition of her grandmother. Are there a few times or a few things in these past 21 years that you said, God, I wish my mom were here to see this. Oh, every single day.

You know, so my mom passed away in 2005, just when we started to take off. Right. And there are times that I would want to give up or have a really, really tough day when I would go home. She had this saying, she goes, oh, honey, as long as you have your health, you'll get through everything. As long as you have your health. But she was tough. She would push you a lot. And, you know, every day, I mean, you know, traveling or you go somewhere and you always wish that she was here to kind of just to be able to experience it because she mostly experienced difficulty, right? Was born, ended up in a refugee camp, lost everything,

you know, couldn't want, wanted to study. I mean, when she got here, she went to school here because she wanted to study but couldn't go out of the village. So, you know, so to be able to see what once she got here, that hard work they did to be able to come here, and what we've been able to accomplish, there isn't a moment that I wouldn't want or I don't say a prayer and say, I hope she's looking down and seeing this, but I think everything, Jose, you know, everything was because of them. And I just wish she had gotten to see when we got to the thousand stores or I got, you know, her pride was her kids. You know, I got the IFA Entrepreneur of the Year Award. I mean,

that would have been an enormous moment for her. And then, you know, the Hall of Fame Award or moments like this. I mean, she'd be glued to the TV just to watch this, to be able to accomplish for a girl who went into a village and came to America and look what America did for her family. She knows. She knows. Yes. Yes. Derek, thank you very much.

It's been a real pleasure speaking with you it's an honor Jose thank you very much thank you for everything that you do