Instructor Biographies 

Anyone who meets Don Waltho would immediately notice his unique dedication for the floral trade. There’s a reason for it. Waltho has a lifetime of experience in the floral industry and he brings all of his versatility, enthusiasm and expertise to his role as the Founder and President of the Canadian Institute of Floral Design.

Waltho comes by his talent naturally. Son of floral master Bill Waltho, he found himself drawn to the family business at age eight, eagerly assisting with every chore at the Toronto-based Avenue Flower Shop, from filling Floralife envelopes to making deliveries by bicycle.

In 1976, he made his career choice official by taking floral training with design expert Bob Ross, as well as attending the design schools of FTD, UFC and Flowers Canada. He naturally benefited from years of his father’s expertise: in 1981, Waltho Sr. was honored as Teleflora’s Florist of the Year and then went on to the UK to place second in the world competition. The Waltho family subsequently operated three successful flower shops in Sydney, Australia.

Since 1976, Don Waltho has created for himself one of the most well rounded careers in the Canadian florist industry, one that serves him well in his leadership of the CIFD. He worked five years as a retail florist in Mississauga, then as a highly successful sales rep for wholesale florists with Highland Evergreen & Supply and Dales’-William Corrigan.

Throughout the years, he has continued as a freelance floral designer, incorporating The Waltho Floral Collection. He has done floral design for performances by Harry Belafonte and Red Skelton at the O’Keefe Centre in Toronto (now the Hummingbird Centre) and he worked with the prestigious design team at Toronto’s highly regarded Eaton’s Flower Shop on countless society weddings and events.

In 1984, Waltho decided to share his enthusiasm for floral design with students, becoming a floral instructor with the Toronto School of Floral Design. In 1988, he founded the Canadian Institute of Floral Design, a private career college registered and approved by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. Waltho, a member of the National Flowers Canada Education Committee, the National Association of Career Colleges, is proud to have recently joined the prestigious AIFD, American Institute of Floral Designers as an Educational Partner.

Don Waltho continues to open new international venues in the floral world. Appearing in Dubai as an instructor/consultant, recently training 38 florists in the Middle East. And also as a guest speaker at the Seven Star Hotel Conference in Dubai UAE.

Inta Taurins knew from a very early age that a career in floral design was for her.  Floral training began in 1976 while she was still in high school and there was an opening in her sister’s flower shop to work part time.  This experience encouraged Inta to learn more and acquire additional skills leading her to take further instruction at The Pauline School of Floral Design, Toronto; Seneca College’s Floral Program and then on to majoring in Fine Arts at the University of Toronto.

Having acquired ten years of retail floristry experience as both designer and entrepreneur Inta continued to seek additional education.  She has attended floral courses throughout North America, earning the FTD Master Florist Certificate and in 1999 accreditation to the Canadian Academy of Floral Art (CAFA).

Her love for the industry motivates her to be actively involved in a number of related organizations such as Flowers Canada, Toronto Chapter; The Canadian Tulip Festival; The World Flower Council Summit.  In this way, she is able to participate and offer her experience as a designer and judge and is now the current President of CAFA.

She has won numerous awards, has taught Visual Merchandising and Display at Seneca College and continues to lead workshops and special interest courses. Currently managing a large floral business in Toronto, Inta’s passion to ‘learn more’ continues as well as her desire to mentor future floral designers.

The Canadian Institute of Floral Design is pleased to have Inta join as a faculty team member.

Nemo Nauta is a Floral Art Dutch Master from the Netherlands.

Nemo has established diverse floral experiences and coveted floral design awards, spread over thirty years in the industry. Traveling and consulting in far-flung destinations such as China, Taiwan, Greece, Poland, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Russia, Spain, Ecuador, Bogotá, Australia and England. Owning and managing high-end flower shops in Holland, establishing dignified corporate floral accounts, renowned for trend setting floral exhibition designs, attained championships in Holland for rarefied hand-tied bouquets, also for creating outstanding floral art pieces. His designs have an eclectic quality, which is married with a skill level that is rarely seen in this part of the world.

Ashley Waltho brings a fresh outlook to Canadian Institute of Floral Design as she carries on the tradition as a third generation Waltho florist.  Her inherent fascination with the floral industry stems back to when she was 15 years old; and started her first job as a flower shop assistant for Clargreen Gardens.  Her natural talent and interest led her to pursue and graduate from the full 105-hour CIFD professional daytime program, in March 1999. Ashley has since continued to work within the retail floral industry, including assisting at the family operation, the Waltho Floral Collection.

In 2003, Ashley joined the CIFD team as an administrative / teaching assistant for both the full and part time classes. She has continued to contribute her own passion and growing knowledge of the industry to CIFD as a junior member of the faculty.

In addition, Ashley has been sought after to create the flower arrangements for several weddings and upscale events.  Her exceptional knack and novel ideas for design make her a choice florist for the contemporary bride.

Ashley completed her post-secondary education in the Business Marketing program at Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning.

The CIFD educational team is proud to have Ashley applying her dedication, experience, education and ever-growing aptitude for the industry to our institute.  She brings an innovative angle and is a significant addition to our faculty.

Tamae Shioguchi | http://tamae.ca/

CIFD is delighted to introduce Tamae Shioguchi as a part of our team and specialized Ikebana Sensei / Instructor.  Tamae has a great deal of practice and experience behind her.  She was brought up in Kyoto, exposing her to the natural beauty of Japan for most of her life.  She has an appreciation for beauty in everything.  In addition to Ikebana, Tamae has a love for all the arts, including music, painting, sculpting, pottery, landscape, architecture, photography and modeling.  She has always been creative and has a passion for design.

Tamae graduated from the Kyoto College of Art and Design.  She worked for the Kawasaki Architect Structure Institute in Osaka Japan, and then worked in Tokyo as a director of her own photography studio.

In 2001, Tamae moved to Canada, first living in Montreal where she taught Ikebana and became an active member of the Japanese Cultural Association.  She demonstrated her Japanese culture in numerous ways including teaching origami, how to wear a kimono, and demonstrating Ikebana at the Montreal Botanical Gardens, Ikebana International and many other art exhibitions. 

Tamae is a graduate from the Canadian Institute of Floral Design, and has continued to work within the retail floral industry and freelancing in floral design events.  She is excited to instruct Ikebana at CIFD and prepare lessons for students to create their own balance of nature and human life into floral design based on traditional Zen philosophy.

Millie Wong AIFD CAFA is the newest member to join the CIFD faculty, bringing with her a prestigious design calibre and expertise as a Floral Master.

The multi-talented Millie Wong realized her passion for the floral industry after working first as a medical technologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.  Millie then decided to concede her love of the floral industry by enrolling at Canadian Institute of Floral Design in 1993. She completed the professional daytime 105-hour program and went on to graduate from the advanced classes the subsequent year.

In 1995 she opened her own successful flower shop, “Millie’s Flowers” which continues to operate at Times’ Square Mall, in Richmond Hill, Ontario.  She has since become a credited member of both the CAFA, Canadian Academy of Floral Art, and the AIFD American Institute of Floral Designers.

Millie has mastered some of Toronto’s largest & most glamorous weddings and events.Some so extravagant, worth over one quarter of a million dollars. The CIFD team was able to work along side Millie to complete them!

Millie has received numerous design honours recognizing her skill and flair in the floral industry including back-to-back Gold Cup awards: Beyond the Millennium, 1999, and Year of the Dragon, 2000.  She has also been the featured designer in Canadian Florist magazine and participated at Canada Blooms.

Her eye for design has been recognized by Royal Green Enterprises, whom she is the principal designer since 2005.  Royal Green appointed Millie to design and set up trade shows across North America, including cities; Montreal, Edmonton, Vancouver, New York, Atlanta, Dallas and Boston.

Donald Waltho, Managing Director of Canadian Institute of Floral Design, welcomes all of Millie’s creative ideas and is fortunate to have her as part of the educational team.