Jennie Evans
Which course did you study at Tallulah Rose Flower School?
I studied the four week career change course in April 2016.
What did you enjoy most about the course?
I know everyone must say the same, but truly EVERYTHING. Walking into the schoolroom in the morning, and smelling the flowers before I could even see them. The incredible, no holds barred selection of flowers from which we could choose. Not feeling stressed in the morning before we began or worried about the next day in the evening when I got home. Feeling my confidence build as I finally found something which felt so right and natural for me and my life. Meeting so many wonderful, life long friends. Popping out for lunch and being so excited to get back and carry on working. Being able to be creative, imaginative and feeling there was the glimmer of hope for a successful, creative job.
What was the most important thing that you learnt?
That it is possible to make floristry into a successful career, provided you have the correct business tools, work ethic and mindset. So much of this industry is learned once you hit the ground running, but Tallulah Rose gave me the greatest start for which I could have hoped.
What was your first big break or most memorable moments so far?
I feel every wedding or event I do is memorable because each one means so much to me, both from the amount of work and effort I put in, but also because I never dreamed that my business would be successful and clients would book me consistently for their weddings. I have had two weddings which have been especially successful in terms of reach and feedback; one was a huge ceiling of suspended clouds made from white Gypsophila, and the other was another suspended design using thousands of stems of dried grasses which we bunched and threaded. Both were incredible!
What are you doing now?
Running my business full time. I started my business immediately after leaving TR, and haven’t looked back. I focus on weddings predominantly, and take on 12-15 larger events per year.
Describe a typical floristry day…
My days are spent doing site visits, consultations, paperwork, visual proposals and research, and then everything ramps up a week or so before the wedding when the flowers are ordered and start to arrive. I drive all over the country to source the best flowers, including 3am starts to drive to the market in London and back again before a full day of working at my studio. It is hard, tiring work, but I absolutely love it.
What’s been your highlight to date?
Honestly, I find everything about my life to now be a highlight. I just looked back through my Instagram feed to try and pick out one single job and for every wedding I have done there has been a highlight or something of which I am immensely proud. I am so proud of my business and myself and to be able to call myself a successful, business-owning florist is the best highlight of all.
What advice would you give to a new student starting out?
Get experience whenever and wherever you can. Don’t be scared to ask questions. Take opportunities. Know your worth. Say yes and figure it out later. Be prepared to work harder, be more worried, more excited and more overwhelmed than ever before. If you want your life to change it is only up to you to make that happen. I never thought it could happen for me, but it has and I have never been happier.
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