Girl Flower Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Caroline Oleron of Cherfold Flowers Mar 03, 2022

Show notes

Today we are in conversation with Caroline Oleron of Cherfold flowers. Caroline is a wedding and event florist and a purveyor and seller of beautiful things
Carolines beautiful studio is situated in an old coal yard in Hambledon, filled to brim with other creative businesses
We find out about Carolines beginnings and her journey into flowers
Caroline started growing flowers in her garden, selling them at her garden gate and then to local shops until someone asked her to create their wedding flowers and the rest is history!
Caroline mentions that her business has grown really organically, soon moving to full time after taking on a larger volume of weddings
Caroline soon realised that the floristry side of her business was what made her soul shine and she began to make connections with local growers through Flowers From The Farm
We chat about Caroline's obsession for beautiful things and how she began selling vintage finds from a shed in her garden and then this developed into a swoon worthy webshop
Caroline soon moved from her home studio and into her current unit...two weeks before the pandemic hit. Thankfully, her workshop was suitable for light retail and she began to add a more retail side to her business whilst weddings and events were postponed
Caroline now offers pop up shop days, workshops and concentrates on her weddings and events and loves creating strong relationships with her clients so that their connections continue throughout the years
We cover so much more in this ep, so enjoy and huge thanks to Caroline for chatting with us
xx
To find out more about Caroline and her business please head over to
https://www.cherfoldflowers.com
Go and show her some love on insta
https://www.instagram.com/cherfoldflowers/
To find out about local growers in your area please head over to
https://www.flowersfromthefarm.co.uk

Support the show

Emma Cox of Emma Cox Floristry Feb 17, 2022

Show notes

This week we are in conversation with Emma Cox, founder of Emma Cox Floristry
Emma is a wedding and event florist based in Sheffield
We chat about Emma's journey into flowers and how important Instagram is to her business not only as a portfolio but as a way of marketing
Emma chats about how essential it is that she feels connected to the wedding and event projects that she undertakes; Ensuring that she is engaged in all of the work she creates
There is so much to take out of this episode and huge thanks to Emma for chatting with us!
X
To find out more about Emma and her business please head to
https://emmacoxfloristry.com/
And go and show her some love on insta
www.Instagram.com/emmacoxbrocante

Support the show

Paula Rooney Feb 10, 2022

Show notes

This week we are in conversation with Paula Rooney, founder of Paula Rooney Floral design
Paula is a wedding and events florist based in Hampshire
We find out all about Paulas beginnings and her journey into flowers, her breakthrough moment, her team and her business ethos
We hear about the effect of the pandemic, chat about the wonderful work she does with Four Seasons, Ten Trinity and we learn about the highs and lows of destination weddings
Paula tells us all about her business mentoring service and how important it is to invest in yourself and take time to work on the business as well as in the business
Recently Paula was featured on Channel 4 in a documentary called Billionaire Blooms and previous on A very British Country Home, focussing on an exquisite wedding at Clivedon House
Paula tells us all about the importance of having systems in place to finesse all of her processes. Please find a list below of the software that she mentions in the episode
Dubsado
https://www.dubsado.com
Monday
https://monday.com
Trello
https://trello.com
Canva
https://trello.com
Details Flowers
https://info.detailsflowers.com
Thank you so much for such a brilliant chat Paula!
Helpful Links
https://paularooney.co.uk
https://www.instagram.com/paularooneyfloraldesigner/

Support the show

Claire Brown of Plant Passion Feb 03, 2022

Show notes

This week we are in conversation with Claire Brown of Plant Passion. Claire is a Farmer florist, author and teacher based in East Claydon
We speak about Claire's journey into flowers, what spurred her into creating the wonderful 'British Flowers Book'..the must have flower bible as far as we are concerned. Also, the exciting news that there is a new edition in the pipeline!
One of the biggest subjects covered in this episode is the importance of finding the right clients for your business and understanding, researching and trialling ideas to meet your clients wants and desires
We talk about the impact of Covid and the evolution of the Plant Passion brand through this with the new addition of a 'pick your own' cutting patch and how important it is to market your business strategically to your customer base
We also hear about some of the wonderful courses that Claire offers including 'The business of growing flowers' and 'The business of selling flowers'
There is so much to take from this episode and huge thanks to Claire for giving up your time to chat with us, we could have spoken with you all day!
To find out more about Claire and the courses that she offers please head to the link below
https://www.plantpassion.co.uk
The business of selling flowers course
https://www.thebusinessofsellingflowers.com
The business of growing flowers course
https://www.thebusinessofsellingflowers.com/the-business-of-growing-flowers
And Fan Girl her Insta here
https://www.instagram.com/plantpassion/
The British Flowers Book-Whilst stocks last!
https://www.plantpassion.co.uk/bfb

Support the show

Sarah Reed of Sarah Harper Floral Design Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

Today we are in conversation with Sarah Harper of Sarah Harper Floral Design.
Sarah's studio is in North Oxfordshire and she creates wedding & event flowers, holds both 1:1 workshops for florists and also for those who love flowers and provides local flower deliveries for clients in her area
We find out all about Sarahs's beginnings, from her first Chelsea Gold medal to starting her own business and how she has navigated the pandemic
Sarah is very clear on the direction of her business, ensuring that she works with only her ideal clients, hand picking the clients that she most would like to work with. We speak about her vetting process and all about 'The Hive' the bespoke online portal Sarah uses to finesse the client experience
Although Sarah has a minimum spend in place for her full-service weddings, she also offers an intimate wedding package to cover clients who love her work but who are looking for a lower ideal spending requirement
We talk in depth about the development of her brand across her website and social media and how vital it has been to outsource certain aspects of this to those who have the knowledge and experience to push her vision forward. It has been fundamental to the success of her business
We speak about photographing your flowers & some hints and tips to take great shots and how having a brand aesthetic throughout all of your channels will elevate your brand
We have taken some really important points from this conversation about how Sarah approaches her business and if you would like to find out more then please head over to
https://sarahharperfloraldesign.co.uk
Fan girl here on insta
https://www.instagram.com/sarahharperflowers/
Sarah's Website was designed by
https://beckylord.co.uk

Website copywriting by
https://jackdaweditorial.com
Huge thanks Sarah, we absolutely loved chatting with you
x

Support the show

Sustainability Special With Cel Robertson of Forever Green Flower Company Jan 20, 2022

Show notes

Today we are in conversation with Cel Robertson of Forever Green Flower Company for our sustainability special
This is a MUST LISTEN for not just Florists and Growers; but to everyone who lives on our glorious planet.
We can't thank you enough for chatting with us Cel, your knowledge and passion for a greener planet always blows us away and we know that our listeners will take away so much from this discussion
We have been given some incredible links below by Cel, if you would like to delve further into any of the issues discussed today
To find out more about the courses that Cel offers please head over to her website
https://www.forevergreenflowerco.co.uk
“Do the best you can until you know better and then when you know better, do better”
Maya Angelou

The Sustainable Floristry Network

https://www.sustainablefloristry.org

The Sustainable Floristry Network on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/sustainablefloristry/

Floral Foam – from the Sustainable Floristry Network

https://www.sustainablefloristry.org/blog-index/aboutfloralfoam

The Sustainable Cut Flower Project at Coventry University

https://sustainableflowers.coventry.domains

Sustainable Cut Flowers – a guide for florists

https://sustainableflowers.coventry.domains/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Booklet-Sustainable-Cut-flowers-2020.pdf

Ellen Macarthur Foundation

https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org

Fairtrade – Flowers and Plants

https://www.fairtrade.net/product/flowers-and-plants

Rainforest Alliance Certified Ferns and Cut Flowers

https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/insights/rainforest-alliance-certified-ferns-flowers/

Offshoring emissions is passing the buck: a zero-carbon future requires leadership and transparency

https://blogs.coventry.ac.uk/researchblog/offshoring-emissions-is-passing-the-buck-a-zero-carbon-future-requires-leadership-and-transparency/
What is Greenwashing?

https://earth.org/what-is-greenwashing/

Ethical Consumer Magazine

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org

The problem with Carbon Offsetting

https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/the-biggest-problem-with-carbon-offsetting-is-that-it-doesnt-really-work/

The European Association for Flower Growers Conference – 11-13 February 2022 - online

http://eafg.org

How Bad are Bananas? The carbon footprint of everything

Author – Mike Berners-Lee

https://www.waterstones.com/book/how-bad-are-bananas/mike-berners-lee/9781788163811

Support the show

Milli Proust Jan 10, 2022

Show notes

Today we are in conversation with Milli Proust of Milli Proust Flowers
Milli is a Florist/Grower based in West Sussex. Milli grows her beautiful flowers for a selection of weddings, events & commissions. She also sells her own seeds throughout the year and holds a series of seasonal workshops.
Keep your eyes peeled for some new products available to buy through her webshop in 2022
We hear about Milli's journey into flowers, how covid pushed her to drive her business forward and pivot her offerings
We chat about photography and about the art of story telling and all about Milli's approach to designing and growing
Milli has a book launching today!!!
We feel so grateful to be the first to chat with Milli all about her labour of love 'From Seed to Bloom' with amazing photography from Eva Nemeth.
It is available to pre-order today via Milli's website, all good bookshops and Amazon.
We have been lucky enough to see some sneak peeks and it is incredible, we can't wait to bag our copies asap
Listen to our episode today to hear all about it!
Huge thank to Milli for such a wonderful conversation, we absolutely loved chatting with you TWICE!
To find out more about Milli and place your pre-order for "From Seed To Bloom' please head over to
https://www.milliproust.com/about
and go and show her some insta love here
https://www.instagram.com/milliproust/

Support the show

Festive Finale with Liz of Blue Sky Flowers Dec 16, 2021

Show notes

It's our season finale and instead of just us two rambling along we thought it would be fun to get our friend Liz from Blue Sky Flowers on board to chat about 2021, it's obstacles and the fun things that happened despite of the ongoing pandemic (and a complete list of our favourite boards game purchases for Christmas apparently....spolier alert...Liz loves a puzzle)
What a year it has been for us all as an industry, there have been tears, joy...tears of joy and many more emotions in-between and we are so grateful that you have all been here along with us on this journey
Huge thanks to our listeners for your support over the last two years, we couldn't feel more proud!!
We will be back bigger and better in 2022 so watch this space
Love to you all and we wish you a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to come
Much Love
Vic & Jess
xx

Support the show

Karen Barnes of Karen Barnes Floral Industry Consultancy Dec 09, 2021

Show notes

Today we are chatting with Karen Barnes, founder of Karen Barnes floral industry consultancy.
Karen is a wedding and events florist and teacher, works in product development & trend prediction for various global companies in the industry and is an international competition judge
She also is a two-time RHS Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner
We find out about Karens beginnings and how the many facets of her business work
We chat about her product development/trend prediction roles and how these have seen her travel the world. We also touch on how she came into this type of work from her time as Head of product development for Interflora
We talk about the rise of career change students coming into the industry and why we may have seen a large drop in entry level British school leavers hoping to have a career in flowers opting for traditional college floristry courses such as City & Guilds and National Diplomas
We speak about floristry competitions, what it's like to be a judge, how competition wins can benefit your profile, what the judges are looking for and her advice to those who would like to get into competition work
(and lots more!)
To find out more about Karen and her work please head over to
https://www.karenbarnesconsultancy.com
Find her on insta
https://www.instagram.com/karenbarnes_kbc/
To find out more about floristry competitions please head to
https://www.floristryjudgesguild.co.uk/competitions.htm
https://www.britishfloristassociation.org/?s=competitions
Thank you to Karen for such a wonderful conversation

Support the show

Stephanie Gillespie of Smithers-Oasis Dec 02, 2021

Show notes

Today we chat with Stephanie Gillespie, marketing and sustainability specialist at Smithers-Oasis
This chat is all about floral foam. We also find out about their new product developments with the design media they produce and also the company's plan to move to more sustainable practices within their sites
We understand that not all of your questions may have been answered so as Stephanie mentioned, please feel free to get in touch with her directly and she will be happy to answer any burning questions you may have
Thank you for chatting with us Stephanie
Aside from producing floral foam, Smithers-Oasis have many other product lines available for the floral industry, if you would like to find out more please pop over here
https://www.oasisfloral.co.uk
To find out more about The Big Green Plan click here
https://www.oasisfloral.co.uk/oasis-and-sustainability
If you have any further questions for Smithers Oasis then please direct your enquiries here and mark for the attention of Stephanie Gillespie
contactuk@oasisfloral.co.uk
or use the contact form here
https://www.oasisfloral.co.uk/contact/

Support the show

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Girl Flower Podcast

Related Podcasts

1

2

3

4

5

6