Picture yourself back in late March 2020 England, the uncertainty of life at that time was scary to say the least. Whilst the majority of us had to stay home on furlough (a word I had personally never heard of), but our amazing keyworkers continued to hold the fort and what a fantastic job they did!
At this time, I was working at a theme park in a Retail job. Whilst I had met my best friends and partner there, I knew this wasn't what I wanted forever. I had so much time in lockdown to think and my mental health was slowly depleting, so I would send myself flowers to cheer myself up! It worked wonders, I felt happier and more focused and knew at that moment that I should look into careers that include blooms. In my 20's I always had an anxiety over what I wanted to do with my life and felt stuck, so to be able to have an idea and a clear goal was just life-saving.
So after some of the restrictions in England were lifted over Summer, I took a trip to a place called the Academy of Floristry to look at courses and the rest is history!
I started in the September doing a 20 week introductory course in the evening whilst still working 5 days a week in Retail. I met so many incredible people at the academy, teachers and other students. We had assessments and art folders to complete, it was exciting and different and I was so shocked with myself at what I could create and what I could remember! There are so many flower names, their official names and common names.
It was November 2020 that I started to offer my bouquets to family and friends, this grew massively (to me anyway) and I started to work more on social media and have a place to display my work. Remembering at this point I'm still in my full time job, it became pretty stressful- especially over Christmas, Valentines Day and Mother's Day. I gave myself plenty of time to think, leaving a job with steady income to a business that I would never know if successful unless I tried. Leaving my comfort zone was the best thing I ever did and to this day even with the hardships and stress, I recommend everyone take some time and do whatever makes them happy.
Lots of Love, Lucy x
