I have wanted to be a florist for as long as I can remember and I was fortunate that in 2016 I came to a point in my life when training to become one was possible.
With a background and interest in psychology, I worked as a lecturer of psychology for a few years. A colleague of mine at the time was a florist and often asked me to help her with weddings she was working on which only increased my desire to become a florist. In 2016, I made the decision to leave education to embark upon a new role as a therapist. Over the course of the six months I worked in this capacity I was incredibly unhappy and started to reflect on what I valued most and what would make me happy. It sounds incredibly cliché but it was because of this that I decided to finally train as a florist. Although I have an incredibly supportive family and network of friends, the risk I was taking was huge (as I have a mortgage to pay). I had essentially left a successful teaching career and promising therapeutic role within the NHS to train to become a florist, all within a 6-month period. Therefore, it will come as no surprise to anyone that I had many periods of doubt and often had to remind myself why I was doing this. To finance all of the floristry training I returned to teaching on a part-time basis but also decided, due to my love of working with people, to volunteer for a mental health charity and the local youth offending team.
This is how The Foraged Flower Co. came into existence. Since the beginning of 2018 I have designed and arranged the flowers for a number of weddings and run countless workshops in and around Somerset.
Having just started the Foraged Flower Co, and because I am also completing my PHD in Educational Psychology at The University of Exeter, everything at The Foraged Flower Co. is organised and planned by myself from the comfort of my kitchen. It is my intention that in 2019 the number and type of workshops I run will be more varied, to offer those with an interest in flower arranging more opportunity to develop their skills.
Although I am not yet working as a full time florist I am hopeful that in the future ( after working as an educational psychologist for a period) I will have my own land from which I can grow my own flowers and a shop to sell them in - on a full time basis.