My Small Business & Me

#62 -  British Cut Flowers Wholesaler James Cock from Cornwall-based Flowers by Clowance shares his small business journey. 

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode62

Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#61 -  Creativity Coach, Author, Writer and Speaker Richard Holman discusses a wide range of practical tips on how to be more creative. He also shares an insight into the 10 different demons featured in his new book, 'Creative Demons and How to Slay Them'. 

Creative Demons and How to Slay Them Book by Richard Holman* | https://amzn.to/3Nr1srV

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode61

Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

*Affiliate Link

#60 -  WordPress Expert and Web Developer, Kelly Sparkes from Opal & Onyx is back to share masses of hints and tips about how to spring-clean your website. She not only shares advice regarding the front-end but also the back-end of your online presence. 

Kelly is giving one lucky listener a free place on her workshop ‘Spring Clean your WordPress Website with Kelly’ on 12th May 2022. Just enter your details below to sign up to the waiting list and enter the competition, which closes on 10th May 2022.  The winner will be notified by email.  

https://opalandonyxstudio.com/spring-clean-your-website-podcast/

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode60

Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#59 -  Have you heard about the 'FLOWERS FOR UKRAINE' online floristry fund-raising event with Shane Connolly, which is taking place on Wednesday, 6th April 2022? 

Shane is asking for donations of at least £10 on his JustGiving page. And when you donate, you'll be invited to join him live on Wednesday evening from 7pm-8pm UK time. 

He'll be creating sustainable floral designs using British flowers, donated by members of Flowers From The Farm. If you would like to take part, simply head over to Shane's Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ukraineshane

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/epsiode59

#58 -  Floral Designer & Flower School Owner Sarah Diligent from Floribunda Rose shares her small business journey. Based in Hampshire, she provides British flowers for weddings and events, plus runs courses. She's also co-written the book, 'A Guide to Floral Mechanics'.

Whilst working abroad as a nanny, she started planning her UK wedding in 2013. Wishing to contribute to her big day, her Mum suggested that she did some of her wedding flowers. So, they went on a floristry course at Green & Gorgeous.

Although she didn't have any plans to become a florist, the course piqued her interest in flowers and she decided to enrol on an 'Introductory to Floristry' course at Merrist Wood. She tried to get work experience in a florist shop in London, but unfortunately to no avail.

On moving to Hampshire, she met Sybil, a Floristry Specialist at Hobbycraft. Their conversation led to her teaching Sarah every week for six months. Then under Sybil's guidance, Sarah started to do weddings.

In April 2014, Floribunda Rose was born.  She knew that she wanted to only use British Flowers and practise sustainable floristry without floral foam. As well as selling bouquets in a local farm shop, she began to do more weddings and events.

She started to run workshops, which she really enjoyed, so much so that she set up a flower school, where she teaches sustainable floral design. She discusses the background of how her book with William Mazuch, 'A Guide to Floral Mechanics', came about, the process involved and now how it's selling all over the world. And she also shares her plans for 2022.

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Sarah is about sustainable floristry and British flowers. I'm sure you'll really enjoy the interview!

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode58

Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#57 - Wedding & Event Floral Designer Emma Hewlett shares her small business journey. Based in Devon, she set up Emma Hewlett Floral Design in 2010, And she specialises in hanging floral installations and lighting, assisted by her husband James. 

With a background in theatre, Emma sidelined into event management in London. Whilst working in the capital, she spent a lot of her spare time visiting art museums and attending flower schools.

On moving back to London, during the day she worked for a marketing agency and in the evening, she worked at a theatre. And that’s where she met her husband James. She’d never come across somebody who loved their job so much. And she was really envious, as she didn’t have that in her job at the time. 

Emma’s always been a creative person and so as her relationship with James progressed, she started to do more floristry outside of her day job. Initially, attending workshops, then working with Sabine Darrall. And she loved working in the world of floristry. 

When she fell pregnant with her first child, James and Sabine encouraged her to set up her own floristry business. She got in touch with a local magazine and did some photoshoots. And she also got in touch with local venues and built a website. Her driving force was that she wanted to find a job that she loved. And her business has grown organically. 

She specialises not only in wedding and event floristry, but also installations. For example, hanging chandeliers, flower clouds, oversize mantelpieces, staircases, archways and garlands. James, Emma's husband, who is a freelance production electrician, helps her with the installations and also lighting. 

James and Emma discuss several of the installations that they've worked on together. 
She shares the impact of the pandemic on her business, how she cared for her couples, created dried flower kits and a dried wedding flowers package. 

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate is about working in the wedding and event industry, together with creating large-scale floral installations. I'm sure you'll really enjoy the interview!

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode57

Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#56 - Flower farmer Georgie Newbery from Common Farm Flowers shares her small business journey. Following a career in fashion in France, she set up her flower farm in Somerset. She now sells her flowers locally, provides flowers for weddings and runs workshops online and in person.

Georgie's background is fashion and writing. And she started her career in the 1990s working in Paris for American Vogue and John Galliano. Then she began writing novels and moved back to the UK. There, she met her husband and ended up living in a tumbledown farmhouse with 7 acres of land in Somerset. 

Georgie learned how to garden from her mother and she began to grow flowers, selling sweet peas in front of the house in a barrow. Then in 2010, a neighbour sent her a bouquet of flowers and she decided to set up a business growing flowers and selling them. Initially, she sold her flowers to a local wholesaler. Then, with the aid of the internet, a website and social media, she began to sell her flowers direct to consumers nationwide. 

She discusses the impact of the pandemic on her business and the changes it triggered to the way she works. She has stopped nationwide delivery and now runs online workshops and online demos. 

She talks about how her YouTube channel came about, her technical set-up, her filming and editing process. She's really enjoying creating videos for her channel and they've been instrumental in attracting people to her online workshops. 

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Georgie is about growing flowers and running a small business. I'm sure you'll really enjoy the interview!

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode56

Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#55 - Brand Manager, Art Director & Photographer Sundari Ferris shares her small business journey. Creativity runs through all the threads of her career, initially working in the wedding industry, she now provides art direction, photography and branding for businesses. She also creates beautiful handmade, textured painted backdrops, which are used by photographers and florists.

Whilst she was studying architecture, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge got married. And Sundari developed an interest in the wedding industry and set up her blog, The Wedding Stylist. The next step was getting an internship at luxury bridal designer Phillipa Lepley in London, where she later worked full-time. 

In her early 20s and becoming redundant on Valentine's Day, her father suggested that she set up her own business. The Wedding Stylist was born. She ran the business for 4-5 years. But during the last few years, she started being booked for editorials and campaigns, and also as an art director. So she decided to close the business and concentrate on these new revenue streams. However she still continues to freelance for wedding planners and photographs weddings. 

One evening she painted a wall in her studio with a mottled effect as she found it plain and boring. She shared the results on Instagram and people started to ask whether they could buy her work. So she created a collection of painted backdrops, which she launched in 2018.

She describes her typical week, her photography journey, the impact of the pandemic on her business, together with her 2022 plans. 

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Sundari is about creating visuals and following your own path. And I'm sure you'll really enjoy the interview!

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode55

Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#54 - Organic flower grower Polly Nicholson from Bayntun Flowers shares her small business journey. Passionate about tulips, she also grows narcissi, alliums, peonies, clematis, sweet peas, bearded irises, delphiniums, zinnias and dahlias. She supplies wholesale flowers to florists, runs workshops and is also in-house florist for residential properties locally. 

Growing up in the countryside, her parents grew very few flowers in their garden. So Polly used to go and pick wildflowers, and developed a lifelong passion for picking flowers. 

After university, she worked as an antiquarian book specialist at Sotheby's in London.  As part of her role, she catalogued a gardening catalogue, which built on her childhood passion for picking and foraging.   Once married and having had children, she signed up for a course in Practical Horticulture, which The English Gardening School were running at Chelsea Physic Garden.  And she found the course life-changing. 

Fifteen years ago, she and her family moved to Blacklands, a Georgian house in North West Wiltshire, which has a series of walled gardens. Missing the flowers she'd been used to buying at New Covent Garden Flower Market in London, Polly decided to begin growing her own.  And she started by planting tulip bulbs.  

Five years later, Bayntun Flowers was born. Initially, she was selling hand-tied bunches and floral designs for small events locally. Polly brought in Arne Maynard to help with the design of the garden. And he suggested that she took on a Head Gardener. 

Polly discusses the different varieties of tulips that she currently grows, including an annual crop and historic tulips. The latter have recently been awarded National Collection status with Plant Heritage. 

She also discusses her numerous sustainability practices, the range of workshops that she has planned for this year and her incredible press coverage. She talks about the impact of the pandemic on her business, together with her 2022 plans. 

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Polly is about sustainability and growing flowers, in particular tulips. And I'm sure you'll really enjoy the interview!

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode54

Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#53 - Floral Designer Emily Baylis from June in March shares her small business journey.  After setting up her floristry business in Hong Kong in 2016, she relocated to London. And now she specialises in floral art design, event design, interior design and set design, not just in the UK, but also in Europe.

Born in the French Alps, Emily originally worked for many years in the hospitality industry. On having her daughter, she considered changing career. And having always had a passion for flowers, she decided to start making floral arrangements for friends, followed by setting up a flower subscription service, whilst she was living in Hong Kong. She also began doing subscriptions for restaurants, plus flowers for weddings and small events.

After 12 months, she moved to London and her first task was to find a small studio for her floristry business. Due to her experience in hospitality, she already knew people in the hotel and restaurant industry, together with spirits company Bacardi, and quickly attracted work.

Initially, her designs featured only fresh flowers. Then she started to get contacted by architects and design companies, who asked her to create perennial installations using preserved and dried floral material. She discusses the type of preserved flowers that she uses. For example, for her work for the Big Mamma Group, which takes her and her team across Europe.

Emily discusses the origin of her business name, the impact of the pandemic on her business, her plans for 2022, and her why.

Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Emily is about the importance of building and nurturing relationships not only with clients, but also with suppliers and her team. I'm sure you'll really enjoy the interview!

Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode53

Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version