Welcome to The Florist Academy!

I'm Sarah, a qualified florist with over 20 years experience, and I created The florist Academy to share some of my knowledge with you!

A bit more about me..

I began my floristry training in 2002, after I decided a change of career was in order to protect my sanity. I have always been a creative person, and realised that factory jobs and fast food outlets were not fulfilling enough for me. I needed to do something where I created things I could be proud of, where I helped people who appreciated what I was doing, and got recognition when I made something lovely.

I didn't know I wanted to be a florist, I didn't even know you could train to be a florist! I happened upon a taster course by chance when I went to the careers office and their computer told me I should be a traffic warden 🤣 then swiftly enrolled to begin learning that September.

I qualified with flying colours, and began my floristry career which started by working for other people, moved on to owning my own shop for a number of years, had a tiny gap in the middle when my husband died and I sold my business, then went back to working for someone else in a shop where I am to this day.

What is it like?

Being a florist is lovely, but not as easy as people imagine.

If I had a pound for every person who has said to me

Oooh, I'd love to play with flowers all day!

I would be a rich woman.

The reality of working in a florist shop is that it's really cold (you can't have the heating on as it will make the flowers open up too quickly), you are on your feet all day and can literally walk miles whilst you are working. At peak times like Christmas and Mother's Day you can work nearly a fortnight straight, doing 12-14 hour days (sometimes more), you have to lug heavy boxes of flowers or full buckets of water around, your hands are constantly wet and cold. Despite whatever mood you are in you have to be kind and compassionate to everyone that comes through the door, whether they are elated because they are newly engaged, or inconsolable because of a recent bereavement.

Despite all that, it's a fabulous job and career. Every day I get to do something creative and make people smile.

Why teach floristry?

The industry has changed a lot over the last 20 years, most significantly with the rise of online flower delivery companies, and the supermarket takeover of the budget end of the market.

It's made it difficult for a lot of florist shops to survive, as more people choose cost over quality. We cannot compete with supermarkets on price, as they not only have the buying power to buy in mass quantities, they can afford to make a loss if their fresh produce doesn't sell. The larger companies also (as they do with fruit & veg) have contracts with growers to supply directly to them at a ridiculously low set price, meaning that they can source their flowers that cheaply AND cut out the middle man (the wholesaler) they can sell their flowers cheaper than we can buy them!!

This has meant that more and more of our customers simply go to the supermarket and get a bunch of flowers with their weekly shop.

It's heartbreaking for us, but it's reality.

I figured I could either keep moaning about it, or teach people what to do with their flowers once they had got them from wherever they bought them from, or even grew their own.

Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man To Fish, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime

You can pay a florist for their knowledge and expertise and get them to make you a beautiful bouquet for an anniversary, a fitting tribute for a funeral, or your wedding flowers for your big day - or you can learn how to do those things, and have the skills and knowledge for the rest of your life!

...you might even decide to make a career out of it!!!!!

What next?

My repertoire of training courses is slowly being developed, and you can be the first to know of all new releases by signing up to my newsletter..

subscribe here

If you are getting married, and would like to make your own wedding flowers, I have a lovely little space just for you! It's a free Facebook group membership, with it's own newsletter, and a supportive community of likeminded people. There's lots of help and information in there, and I will offer some free training alongside my paid courses..

join here

I hope you've enjoyed reading a bit more about me. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments, and stay tuned for the next instalment 😊

With love,