Wine and dine your career on Valentine's Day

By Helen Isbister

Many people will spend February 14 gazing into their lover's eyes, whispering sweet nothings, devouring truffles and fighting off hordes to get a table at a restaurant that has been booked out for months. But many others will be too focused on their career to get swept away by the romance of Valentine's Day.

Whether they are arranging roses, dreaming up prose to go inside gift cards, hand crafting chocolates, organising romantic getaways, pouring French champagne or creating beautiful meals, they will be working towards making the day as romantic as possible for the starry-eyed lovers.

It's an industry fuelled by love and one with a huge variety of career options, whether it be in sales, marketing, hospitality, travel and tourism, the creative stream or even sky writing!

Rosanna Bramante was an accountant before deciding to trade numbers for romance and get a job in the greetings card game. As the seasonal products manager for John Sands she finds out what people want to say to their loved ones and how to get that message across. 'The job is very challenging as it involves keeping track of all the stages of the season from development to implementation and then all the way through to sales in store,' she says.

Bramante says creativity, fun, organisation and the ability to understand different target markets are essential attributes to success in the greeting card industry. 'What I really enjoy about my job is the fact that it is so dynamic and fast-paced,' she says. 'There is something new happening every day.'

Once the card is taken care of, what would Valentine's Day be without flowers? That's where David Berger comes in. Inspired by his childhood garden and horticultural upbringing, Berger is the chief florist at the Flower Factory. It seems that love is in the air for most of the year, with Berger and his team of six creating over a hundred floral arrangements a day. But things really kick up a notch on Valentines Day, with over 1500 orders coming in!

Despite being kept busy with an abundance of roses, orchids, Siam tulips and oriental lilies, Berger still has time to take up other professional opportunities. He is a Floristry World Cup competitor, an Interflora judge and lectures on floral designs, fashions and trends.

According to Berger, an aspiring florist needs a 'good understanding of design, colour and a real flair. Anyone can go to art school, but something really needs to come from within when you look at the flowers and put them together.'

Flowers, chocolates, a card proclaiming undying love and a table for two sounds like more than enough to woo a lady looking for love, but some budding Casanovas won't be able to resist turning up the romance even further.

Glenn Smith, a seasoned sky writer, says about 25 per cent of requests are romantically inclined and that Valentine's Day is the busiest day on his Calender.

A love for flying and a passion for general aerial advertising, such as banners, towing, skydiving and airshow displays has made Smith the authority on proclaiming love in the skies. 'My advice to couples in love is to not get too carried away and try to write something like 'I love you Betty Lou,' but rather just put a big love heart in the sky – it looks absolutely magnificent,' he says.