5 Fun Facts About Being A Florist

Here are a few fun and serious facts about our Industry, that you may or may not know as yet about being a Florist.

1. Say “Good-bye” to pretty hands…

Our little hands are busy all day: we get them dirty, pricked, wet and chafed and possibly cut….

They will have to “work for you” constantly, all day, every day.

We clean sticky Gum foliage, then de-thorn prickly roses, sink our hands into water to fish out the Oasis bricks, cut and shape them, and so on.

So say goodbye to pretty hands…

There are a hand full of florist out there (excuse the pun) who might actually be able to flaunt some long acrylic nails and make it work, but trust me, the majority of us has to sooner or later give in to the practicality of having short cut nails and don’t even bother putting nail polish on, as it will last perhaps half a day before it looks like a dog’s breakfast…

And we ask ourselves: Why did we even bother? 😉

My advice is to find a good hand cream!!

I love the Clarins one!! But also anything Shea butter based is bliss on my hands. I always go to bed with a thick layer of moisturiser on my poor hands, to give them a break from a hard day’s work.

2. The “Word of Mouth- Phenomenon”

Word spreads like a bush-fire in this Industry.

If you want a job, are looking for a casual position, would like to buy or sell a business or anything to do with anything… and you want the word to spread… just tell a few wholesalers, or florist and you will soon have all of Perth knowing about it.

So on one hand this might be really useful and can get you offers or a new job, but also… be a bit careful about what you let other’s know 😉

3. Dirty is the new clean… Black is the best colour EVER!

Soil, dirt, pollen, thorns, glue and even spider webs! Prepare to get dirty and wet!

We are in a Hands-on profession, and we have already established that we get our hands wet and dirty, but there is also the beauty of wearing black or anything darker instead of beige or crème or mint 😉

We get dirty, we wipe our hands on our aprons, and we wash our working clothes daily (if you don’t have an apron).

We don’t have much time to sit down at all… we stand a lot, we need good shoes, ideally stand on rubber mats, to prevent our joints from hurting after a whole day of standing and walking as a florist.

4. “Playing with the flowers….”

We don’t have much time to ‘play’ with the flowers as some people imagine.

It’s not all about the romance and the ‘having all the time in the world to create…’

Floristry is not a profession for day dreamers!

It’s a busy job, arrangements have to be done in a productive and efficient manner and only rarely do we have the luxury to really ponder over our creations and take our time with the creative process.

We still enjoy what we do, immensely, but we have to be able to work under pressure, time being a big thing here.

We must be resilient to stress factors, like pressures to fulfil the order requirements.

The skill is not just in the practical sense but to have a skilled mind, that doesn’t fluster.

It’s not always about what YOU want to do, but what the customer wants, and it is a bit

like a compromise sometimes.

Only once you have established a good sense of your own style and have portrait it to the clients you have, can you get to the stage, where YOUR style is what the customer wants.

Then you realise you’ve made it

5. Passion is Vital

If you don’t love what you do, don’t think you will learn how to later…

“Love what you do and do what you love.”

The passion and love I have for the materials and products in our Florist industry as a whole, is something that keeps me going, every day!

I love the season changes and the material variety, unusual colours in ordinary flowers.

The scent of our roses, lilac or even Lily-of the Valleys….

All those wonderful beautiful things we are so fortunate to be working with….

It doesn’t get much better that this!!

Keep the passion in your heart- nurture it, it will be the key to your success.

As you are full of passion and professionalism, you have high stakes and a will to strive forward!

You will get there, because you know what?

Your enthusiasm is contagious.

People want to be part of it, they want a piece of the cake

They need to have your flower composition, because they will take that passion and love with them, when they do take the flowers home!

That’s success.

That’s the magic of this beautiful industry.

There’s so many smiles you will see, and you are the reason for them!

Until next time beautiful my Blossoms!

Blossoms & Blessings

 

 

P.S Have you checked out our upcoming courses yet?

• If you’re a beginner our Floristry Foundations is a great place to start. Click here to learn more
• If you’re looking to continue your studies Industry Ready is starting soon!  Click here to learn more

ALSO READ: 5 Fun Facts About Flowers You Probably Didn’t Know

5 Things you may not know about being a Florist

Ever wondered what it really takes to become a Florist? I get messages on a daily basis from wonderful blossoms who unfortunately have an incorrect view of what it takes to be successful in the floristry industry.

Here’s my top 5 Things you may not know about being a Florist

1. You need more than 8 weeks to become a competent Florist

It takes more than just a couple of classes to be competent and confident in this field.

Lots of times I hear questions like” So, after I have completed this 8 week course, will I be able to have my own floristry business? “

Sorry blossoms, the short answer to this is: ‘No’

The longer answer is : Please acknowledge that Floristry is a profession and should be treated as such!

Professionalism comes from knowing not just one or a few different facets of the field, but ideally all of them!

One can’t call themselves a florist, just like that. Just like you would call anyone a doctor after a few weeks.

There is time involved, dedication and hard work to get there. And don’t forget passion!

Learning a new profession takes time, just like learning any new skill.

Floristry is no different and everyone who has started thinking there can’t be that much to it putting a few flowers together will be or has been proven wrong soon after they started their training.

2. There is a lifetime of learning in Floristry

 

There is so much to learn in our wonderful profession, that it takes a good year of part-time studies to maybe getting closer to the goal of being your own boss…

Possibly longer.

In Germany where I did my traineeship, traineeships are 3 full years long for this profession. When you consider that, it then seems crazy to think, we would know it all after a few months!! Right?

If you are a beginner the best starting point at FDS is the Floristry Foundations course which will introduce you to the fundamentals in theory as well as the practical application. This course also is delivered as an intensive.

3. Master the basics of Floristry first

You have to get the basics right first, it is like the foundation of the house: If it isn’t right, everything that comes after it, won’t work that well.

Thats why we go in-depth in our Floristry Foundations course.

The smallest move that is taught the correct way can assist you to be time-efficient in your job or business and will help you take care of your body in the long run!

We can’t take short-cuts when it comes to learning a new skill.

You wouldn’t demand a short cut on a sprouting flower, so be patient on yourself.

It would be like thinking, that you can be a painting artist, but you don’t even know about the different techniques, brushes, preparation of the canvas, mediums, mixing colour etc.

We can’t just “wing it” and just do random things… we will never have a professional product in the end, and it will not represent the rest of the Industry in the right way!

4. Learn the fundamentals of design.

A skilled practitioner with excellent design, in any profession shines through.

The more skilful you are the easier you will make it seem for others but the beauty of your work will be enough to captivate your customers.

But to get there, it takes time, work experience, good tuition, guidance, patience and determination, but also Passion!

5. Floristry is a business.

Being in the Floristry Industry, doesn’t only require you to be a good florist in the practical sense, but also a huge part of it is the business component.

The Marketing strategies, the financials, the stock control, the Human Resources, Staff Management, Payrolls, Tax, Bookkeeping etc.

It’s the whole package, that makes you a true floristry professional.

If you’ve already got some experience in Floristry or would like to become a professional then you will want to check out our 24 week Industry Ready course.

In Summary my blossoms

It takes more than 8 weeks to become a true professional.

In fact there is a lifetime of wonderful learning to be had. You need to first master the basics of design and the fundamentals of floristry.

And realise that this is a business and you need to master this as well to truly flourish as a florist!