Frances Rawson
Which course did you study at Tallulah Rose and when?
I took the Career Change 4 Week Course, starting in March 2020 – we were interrupted by Covid and finished the last week later in the year.
What did you most enjoy about the course/s?
I felt quite nervous starting the course – coming from full time employment with a “side hustle” of flower growing, I think it took me a while to settle into learning and arranging flowers (and the Covid/news was unsettling too!). I loved having the library of books to read for inspiration, and having a bank of fresh and dried flowers waiting for us to use in the classroom was wonderful. I really enjoyed the photography side; having time to experiment with flowers, light, using props, all against the backdrop of Levens Hall, was really fun.
What has been your most memorable moment since finishing the course?
Since finishing the course, my most memorable moment was handing over flowers I’d grown to be sent to the Coronation of King Charles.
Where are you currently on your floristry / growing journey?
I’m just in year 8 of my business. I also take on gardening work – I started this during Covid as a buffer against wedding postponements, and ended up carrying on because I enjoy it. I supply flowers for local holiday lets, I offer locally delivered bouquets, flower subscriptions, wedding flowers – with a full floristry service or DIY, and flowers for funerals. I’ve also started pressing flowers and running workshops (mostly for hen parties) using pressed flowers to decorate wedding stationery, make pictures or illuminated letters. This in turn led to learning calligraphy, so I now offer wedding stationery mixing pressed flowers and calligraphy.
Describe a typical day in your floristry life?
Each day is different – a typical Monday might look like: watering the greenhouses, scheduling a weeks or months worth of social media, dealing with enquiries from the weekend, planning the week ahead and messaging holiday lets to see who wants what this week. Then there’s washing buckets/weeding/seedling care etc depending on the season!
What was the best piece of advice Rachel gave you?
“Always tell people what you do” i.e. in social situations or business groups…
What makes your floristry and growing business unique?
I am very focussed on sustainability and great customer service. I grow a wide variety of flowers, so you get a real “wild style garden” feel from my designs. My most asked for bouquet style is a wild style cascade, which I learnt at Tallulah Rose, in fact it was one of the reasons I signed up with Tallulah!! Colour inspires me, and guides what I grow.
What advice would you give to a student starting out?
Make sure your pricing is right – it’s easier to do a good job if you have a comfortable budget for flowers/materials, also so you feel you can be generous with time and product. Get into the habit of asking for reviews early on! Then if you have a confidence wobble you can look back and see that other jobs you did were fine so the next one is likely to be fine too.
What do you enjoy most about having your own business?
Not having a feeling of doom on Sundays!
What is your favourite British flower you grow and why?
Sweet Peas! For the colours, the satisfaction of growing long stems, they do well in Cumbria and if you can smell them they are lovely. They seem to trigger memories with people, of happy times, or childhood. A good conversation starter at a market! With Pansies being a close second favourite I think, for the colours again, and the sweet little faces. They press so well too, and can be used in small vases or special bouquets. But there’s chrysanthemums too….just when you think the end of growing season is approaching, the chrysanthemums flower like mad and give at least an extra month – again, the colours are gorgeous, the shapes are interesting and they just seem happy and eager to flower even into November in Cumbria.
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