By Sally Sola, Founder, Cheltenham Flower School
Once I finished collage it took a little while to find the right job and settle down. By Christmas 1998 I was working in a small flower shop called Chasing Rainbows, in a small Shropshire market town. I found my first small but lovely floristry family, where I had to do everything from bleaching buckets, conditioning flowers and driving the delivery van. In time I was given more responsibility and soon became a useful cog in their machine.
I think I worked there for about 3 years or so before life took me to another floristry job. This one was fundamentally different because it was in a garden centre. I was with this company for about 3 years too, but it was here I learned about how to manage economies and buying in large quantities. Gone where my van driving days (for now). I was also part of the Christmas buying team alongside my floral duties. This was, I believe, an important part of my journey. I was immersed in colour combinations, different themes and how to work on a much bigger scale. This was also my first introduction to being promoted though the ranks to become Head of Floristry. I know, I had to be careful not to get dizzy from my lofty heights!
But life took a different turn from here when I met my now husband. I left my job, one that I had worked so hard for and to prove myself in, I was only in my mid 20s, to move to the north of Scotland to be with him. As he was serving in the RAF there was no other option if our relationship was to develop. I had quite a bump back to earth, where I had to go back to the bottom of the industry, back to van driving and basic jobs. Not to mention finding my way around in rural Scotland on my delivery round alongside learning how to pronounce some of the more challenging Scottish town and village names.
But the key thing here is this; without this move and this job I would never have found my way into event floristry and all that part of the industry had to offer. It was here I flourished the most, learnt the most (sometimes the hard way) and grew as a florist. I was exposed to so much experience and other professionals in the industry too. I was hooked. I worked with this company for 7 years, again making my way through the ranks to become their manager and be an integral part of several high-end events for oil companies and weddings like you wouldn’t believe. There was even a celebrity or two thrown in there for good measure! I had found my place, and I loved it! My events floral family have become lifelong friends, I wouldn’t change any of it.
So, why did I give that up? My boys came along, my priorities changed, and I realised I could no longer offer the commitment that world needed. Do you know what? I was okay with that. It was time; time to move on to the next stage, however that looked.
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