Advertise on podcast: My Small Business & Me

#61 -  Creativity Coach, Author, Writer and Speaker Richard Holman discusses a wide range of practical tips on how to be more creative. He also shares an insight into the 10 different demons featured in his new book, 'Creative Demons and How to Slay Them'.  Creative Demons and How to Slay Them Book by Richard Holman* | https://amzn.to/3Nr1srV Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode61 Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version *Affiliate Link

#60 -  WordPress Expert and Web Developer, Kelly Sparkes from Opal & Onyx is back to share masses of hints and tips about how to spring-clean your website. She not only shares advice regarding the front-end but also the back-end of your online presence.  Kelly is giving one lucky listener a free place on her workshop ‘Spring Clean your WordPress Website with Kelly’ on 12th May 2022. Just enter your details below to sign up to the waiting list and enter the competition, which closes on 10th May 2022.  The winner will be notified by email.   https://opalandonyxstudio.com/spring-clean-your-website-podcast/ Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode60 Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#59 -  Have you heard about the 'FLOWERS FOR UKRAINE' online floristry fund-raising event with Shane Connolly, which is taking place on Wednesday, 6th April 2022?  Shane is asking for donations of at least £10 on his JustGiving page. And when you donate, you'll be invited to join him live on Wednesday evening from 7pm-8pm UK time.  He'll be creating sustainable floral designs using British flowers, donated by members of Flowers From The Farm. If you would like to take part, simply head over to Shane's Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ukraineshane Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/epsiode59

#58 -  Floral Designer & Flower School Owner Sarah Diligent from Floribunda Rose shares her small business journey. Based in Hampshire, she provides British flowers for weddings and events, plus runs courses. She's also co-written the book, 'A Guide to Floral Mechanics'. Whilst working abroad as a nanny, she started planning her UK wedding in 2013. Wishing to contribute to her big day, her Mum suggested that she did some of her wedding flowers. So, they went on a floristry course at Green & Gorgeous. Although she didn't have any plans to become a florist, the course piqued her interest in flowers and she decided to enrol on an 'Introductory to Floristry' course at Merrist Wood. She tried to get work experience in a florist shop in London, but unfortunately to no avail. On moving to Hampshire, she met Sybil, a Floristry Specialist at Hobbycraft. Their conversation led to her teaching Sarah every week for six months. Then under Sybil's guidance, Sarah started to do weddings. In April 2014, Floribunda Rose was born.  She knew that she wanted to only use British Flowers and practise sustainable floristry without floral foam. As well as selling bouquets in a local farm shop, she began to do more weddings and events. She started to run workshops, which she really enjoyed, so much so that she set up a flower school, where she teaches sustainable floral design. She discusses the background of how her book with William Mazuch, 'A Guide to Floral Mechanics', came about, the process involved and now how it's selling all over the world. And she also shares her plans for 2022. Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Sarah is about sustainable floristry and British flowers. I'm sure you'll really enjoy the interview! Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode58 Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#57 - Wedding & Event Floral Designer Emma Hewlett shares her small business journey. Based in Devon, she set up Emma Hewlett Floral Design in 2010, And she specialises in hanging floral installations and lighting, assisted by her husband James.  With a background in theatre, Emma sidelined into event management in London. Whilst working in the capital, she spent a lot of her spare time visiting art museums and attending flower schools. On moving back to London, during the day she worked for a marketing agency and in the evening, she worked at a theatre. And that’s where she met her husband James. She’d never come across somebody who loved their job so much. And she was really envious, as she didn’t have that in her job at the time.  Emma’s always been a creative person and so as her relationship with James progressed, she started to do more floristry outside of her day job. Initially, attending workshops, then working with Sabine Darrall. And she loved working in the world of floristry.  When she fell pregnant with her first child, James and Sabine encouraged her to set up her own floristry business. She got in touch with a local magazine and did some photoshoots. And she also got in touch with local venues and built a website. Her driving force was that she wanted to find a job that she loved. And her business has grown organically.  She specialises not only in wedding and event floristry, but also installations. For example, hanging chandeliers, flower clouds, oversize mantelpieces, staircases, archways and garlands. James, Emma's husband, who is a freelance production electrician, helps her with the installations and also lighting.  James and Emma discuss several of the installations that they've worked on together.  She shares the impact of the pandemic on her business, how she cared for her couples, created dried flower kits and a dried wedding flowers package.  Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate is about working in the wedding and event industry, together with creating large-scale floral installations. I'm sure you'll really enjoy the interview! Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode57 Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#56 - Flower farmer Georgie Newbery from Common Farm Flowers shares her small business journey. Following a career in fashion in France, she set up her flower farm in Somerset. She now sells her flowers locally, provides flowers for weddings and runs workshops online and in person. Georgie's background is fashion and writing. And she started her career in the 1990s working in Paris for American Vogue and John Galliano. Then she began writing novels and moved back to the UK. There, she met her husband and ended up living in a tumbledown farmhouse with 7 acres of land in Somerset.  Georgie learned how to garden from her mother and she began to grow flowers, selling sweet peas in front of the house in a barrow. Then in 2010, a neighbour sent her a bouquet of flowers and she decided to set up a business growing flowers and selling them. Initially, she sold her flowers to a local wholesaler. Then, with the aid of the internet, a website and social media, she began to sell her flowers direct to consumers nationwide.  She discusses the impact of the pandemic on her business and the changes it triggered to the way she works. She has stopped nationwide delivery and now runs online workshops and online demos.  She talks about how her YouTube channel came about, her technical set-up, her filming and editing process. She's really enjoying creating videos for her channel and they've been instrumental in attracting people to her online workshops.  Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Georgie is about growing flowers and running a small business. I'm sure you'll really enjoy the interview! Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode56 Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#55 - Brand Manager, Art Director & Photographer Sundari Ferris shares her small business journey. Creativity runs through all the threads of her career, initially working in the wedding industry, she now provides art direction, photography and branding for businesses. She also creates beautiful handmade, textured painted backdrops, which are used by photographers and florists. Whilst she was studying architecture, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge got married. And Sundari developed an interest in the wedding industry and set up her blog, The Wedding Stylist. The next step was getting an internship at luxury bridal designer Phillipa Lepley in London, where she later worked full-time.  In her early 20s and becoming redundant on Valentine's Day, her father suggested that she set up her own business. The Wedding Stylist was born. She ran the business for 4-5 years. But during the last few years, she started being booked for editorials and campaigns, and also as an art director. So she decided to close the business and concentrate on these new revenue streams. However she still continues to freelance for wedding planners and photographs weddings.  One evening she painted a wall in her studio with a mottled effect as she found it plain and boring. She shared the results on Instagram and people started to ask whether they could buy her work. So she created a collection of painted backdrops, which she launched in 2018. She describes her typical week, her photography journey, the impact of the pandemic on her business, together with her 2022 plans.  Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Sundari is about creating visuals and following your own path. And I'm sure you'll really enjoy the interview! Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode55 Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#54 - Organic flower grower Polly Nicholson from Bayntun Flowers shares her small business journey. Passionate about tulips, she also grows narcissi, alliums, peonies, clematis, sweet peas, bearded irises, delphiniums, zinnias and dahlias. She supplies wholesale flowers to florists, runs workshops and is also in-house florist for residential properties locally.  Growing up in the countryside, her parents grew very few flowers in their garden. So Polly used to go and pick wildflowers, and developed a lifelong passion for picking flowers.  After university, she worked as an antiquarian book specialist at Sotheby's in London.  As part of her role, she catalogued a gardening catalogue, which built on her childhood passion for picking and foraging.   Once married and having had children, she signed up for a course in Practical Horticulture, which The English Gardening School were running at Chelsea Physic Garden.  And she found the course life-changing.  Fifteen years ago, she and her family moved to Blacklands, a Georgian house in North West Wiltshire, which has a series of walled gardens. Missing the flowers she'd been used to buying at New Covent Garden Flower Market in London, Polly decided to begin growing her own.  And she started by planting tulip bulbs.   Five years later, Bayntun Flowers was born. Initially, she was selling hand-tied bunches and floral designs for small events locally. Polly brought in Arne Maynard to help with the design of the garden. And he suggested that she took on a Head Gardener.  Polly discusses the different varieties of tulips that she currently grows, including an annual crop and historic tulips. The latter have recently been awarded National Collection status with Plant Heritage.  She also discusses her numerous sustainability practices, the range of workshops that she has planned for this year and her incredible press coverage. She talks about the impact of the pandemic on her business, together with her 2022 plans.  Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Polly is about sustainability and growing flowers, in particular tulips. And I'm sure you'll really enjoy the interview! Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode54 Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#53 - Floral Designer Emily Baylis from June in March shares her small business journey.  After setting up her floristry business in Hong Kong in 2016, she relocated to London. And now she specialises in floral art design, event design, interior design and set design, not just in the UK, but also in Europe. Born in the French Alps, Emily originally worked for many years in the hospitality industry. On having her daughter, she considered changing career. And having always had a passion for flowers, she decided to start making floral arrangements for friends, followed by setting up a flower subscription service, whilst she was living in Hong Kong. She also began doing subscriptions for restaurants, plus flowers for weddings and small events. After 12 months, she moved to London and her first task was to find a small studio for her floristry business. Due to her experience in hospitality, she already knew people in the hotel and restaurant industry, together with spirits company Bacardi, and quickly attracted work. Initially, her designs featured only fresh flowers. Then she started to get contacted by architects and design companies, who asked her to create perennial installations using preserved and dried floral material. She discusses the type of preserved flowers that she uses. For example, for her work for the Big Mamma Group, which takes her and her team across Europe. Emily discusses the origin of her business name, the impact of the pandemic on her business, her plans for 2022, and her why. Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Emily is about the importance of building and nurturing relationships not only with clients, but also with suppliers and her team. I'm sure you'll really enjoy the interview! Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode53 Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#52 - Flower Farmer Fiona Haser Bizony from the Electric Daisy Flower Farm shares her small business journey. Having originally worked as a ceramicist, then as an Artistic Director at an Arts Centre, she now runs her flower growing business in Somerset and a flower shop in London.  From an early age, Fiona was keen to take charge of her own destiny. As a teenager, she managed to sort out a work experience placement at a local art college, instead of working in a bank. After A Levels, she did a degree in Three Dimensional Design at Brighton and majored in Ceramics.  In the 1990s, she moved to London and in her studio, created ceramic garden pots. On spending time in Spain, she met her German husband-to-be, a painter. They moved to Germany, started a family and got married. Back then, they were already eco-conscious and interested in sustainability.  Missing England, she moved back with her children before deciding to travel around the world for a year. On returning to the UK,  she set up a gallery and artist studios. Then aged 40, she started working as an Artistic Director at an arts centre.  Gardening leave then followed and she felt that she should do something calming. Having always been interested in growing, she decided to do an RHS Horticulture Course. Then she began researching flower growing and also went on several flower growing and floristry courses.  She decided to set up a flower farm, initially starting by renting a walled garden from a local farmer. Three years later, she found her current patch. She began creating floral designs for weddings and events. And was also asked to be an RHS Floral Artist in Residence. With her arts background, she realised that she needed to do something to stand out in the floristry world. And she made calendars featuring flower crowns she'd created every month.  A couple of years ago, she was approached to open a shop in Highgate, London. It opened in February 2020. Then the pandemic took hold. Fiona talks about the impact of COVID-19 on her business. She shares her 2022 plans including holding workshops, documenting the flower farm on video and creating another calendar, before sharing her three tips.  Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Fiona is about British flowers, flower growing and sustainability. I'm sure you'll find the interview hugely inspiring! Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode52 Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#51 - Mother and daughter team, Caroline Beck and Roisin Taylor from Verde Flower Co share their small business journey. Having worked as a garden writer for many years, Caroline started to grow flowers and during the pandemic, Roisin joined the business part-time.  Growing up Caroline remembers flowers picked from the hedgerow by her grandmother being displayed around her home. After initially working as a BBC news journalist, on having her first daughter Roisin, Caroline became a garden writer.  Aged 50, in 2015 she made an impromptu decision to start growing flowers. From having an allotment for many years, she had experience growing. Plus she gained gardening knowledge from all the people she'd interviewed such as garden designers, plants people and head gardeners.  Verde started to offer wedding flowers after Caroline's best friend asked her if she'd like to do the flowers for her son's wedding. And weddings now take up a large share of their revenue. In December 2019, Caroline moved the business from a farm to a Victorian walled garden, growing wildflowers in a cultivated way.  For example, Larkspur, Ammi visnaga and Dill. Following her Masters degree, Roisin worked in the Conservation/NGO Sector, followed by Climate Change Control. She continues to work in this area. When she was furloughed during the first lockdown, she spent several months working in the garden. And realised that she wanted to spend more time outside, connecting with her family and nature.  The ladies discuss the impact of the pandemic on their business and the silver linings which appeared including offering workshops. Plus they share their social media plans for 2022, which include branching out into TikTok and YouTube.  Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Caroline and Roisin are about flower growing, sustainable floristry and the special relationships that they have with their wedding couples. I'm sure you'll find the interview hugely inspiring! Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode51 Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version

#50 - Owner of Botanique Workshop, Alice Howard shares her small business journey. Initially setting up a shop focused on upcycling, later adding plants and then flowers to her offering led to the creation of her current florist and artisan gift store based in London. After studying Business Management at university, she did a ski season as a ski host before training to be a professional sailor. Aged 24, she realised that she wanted to set up a business making things. Her first shop 'In With The Old' was born. She upcycled vintage bits and bobs. And as well as stocking her own products, also stocked items from other makers.  As her interests changed, the shop evolved. She started to stock plants, initially because she was selling hand-thrown Victorian pots. She began selling more and more plants. And then started selling flowers.  In October 2016, a shop nearby became vacant and she decided to do a pop-up. She created a moodboard for the premises and this was the foundation of Botanique Workshop. A friend of a friend was an experienced florist and she joined Alice, later becoming her business partner.  When the pop-up was ending, she decided to close 'In With The Old' and continue with Botanique. She now stocks cut flowers, dried flowers, houseplants, candles, stationery, pressed flower art, handmade ceramics and jewellery.  Alice talks about the origins of her business name, her own brand product range and the impact of the pandemic on her business. Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate she is about being creative and making her own products, together with working with her wonderful team.  Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode50 Flower Photography (iPhone Version) Online Course: https://learn.flowerona.com/flower-photography-iphone-version