Working With Flowers Can Change Your Life: Here’s How
Heather Payne Photography
You were always drawn to flowers. It's always been easy for you to make time to stop and smell the roses or lovingly arrange blooms in significant patterns for significant purposes.
You knew a career in the floral industry was for you—whether you're just starting, thinking of starting, or a seasoned industry pro. But did you know that so many people cite that working in flowers has been good for them personally?
We surveyed our Team Flower Members about their floral careers, and many of our Members told us how working with flowers changed their life. From having more flexibility and family time to living creatively and feeling happier, the floral industry can allow you to have a life that feels as beautiful as a bundle of fresh blooms.
Here's how working with flowers has changed the lives of our Team Flower Members—and it can do the same for you. If you've been wondering if working with flowers is for you, this might just be the encouragement you need!
Working With Flowers Teaches You to Enjoy Every Moment
Heather Payne Photography
[Working with flowers] brought out my creativity and reminded me to live in the now, enjoying and appreciating every little thing nature provides us with. It keeps me on my feet and active, and I'm completely invested in it. — Iris Eriksdottir of @Iriseriks
It has been wonderful for me, mentally. Each and every time I work with flowers, I am focused only on the natural elements in front of me, and all the other stressors of life seem to disappear. It has also allowed me to meet some truly amazing, inspiring individuals I would have never otherwise had the opportunity to meet. — Amanda Rose of Amanda Day Rose, @amandadayrose
I still think that working with flowers is one of the most punk rock things you can do in a world that's rife with trouble and easy to get distressed about. Curating and caring for such delicate (and often breathtakingly beautiful material) and working tirelessly to help facilitate surprise and delight at the most sacred milestones in the life of the community balances my naturally sad center of gravity and challenges me to stay hopeful, aspirational, and ever-ready to express gratitude. — Hannah Lowery of Edges Wild Studio, @edgeswildstudio
Working With Flowers Helps You Find Purpose in Your Creativity
[Floral design] offers me the opportunity to work with beautiful things, to help other people express themselves in times of sadness and happiness, to create things, and to have flexibility. — Lisa Thornbury of Daisy Hill Flowers, @daisyhillflowers
I graduated with my master's degree in fashion design in 2014. After graduating, I took a job in a startup fashion company as a fashion tech and store manager, along with some tailoring. A couple of years in, I started drifting elsewhere but wasn't sure where. I was doing a lot of desk work and was craving more creativity…. Long story short, from surrounding myself with plants, reading on botany topics for fun, and having no interest in anything but floral patterns, I took a huge leap and gave up my fashion goals, got an internship at a flower shop, and signed up for a two-year floristry degree. Here I am now, never more content with my choice, as I've realized that fashion was only a (great) foundation for my floristry career, and I am so thankful for finding my place. — Iris Eriksdottir of @Iriseriks
It's a therapeutic medium, despite it also being a sales job of sorts with clients who can oftentimes be quite invested and emotional. It's inspiring to watch designs come to life from paper and words to reality, and it spurs us on to go bigger and do better. We can see the direct results of our hard work, and it's a major motivator. — Rachel Bridgwood and Lauren Anderson of Sweet Root Village, @sweetrootvillage
[Working with flowers has given me] an opportunity to be creative, flexibility (SO important!), and a chance to challenge myself in how well I can serve others. — Janine Harris of Bundles & Blooms and Team Flower Staff Member, @bundlesandblooms
Heather Payne Photography
Working With Flowers Can Strengthen Emotional, Mental, Spiritual, and Physical Health
[Through working in floristry,] I learned to achieve balance and to free my mind and heart. Your creations reflect your state of mind. And unhappy people cannot create nice floral arrangements. — Carolyn Khiu of Flowers Always, @flowers_always_sg
[In working with flowers, I've been most surprised by] how that during the most depressed, horrible moments of my life, getting into my studio and making something seemed to be the only thing that could possibly make me feel better. — Kalin Sheick of Sweetwater Floral, @sweetwaterfloral
[Floral work has] taught me flexibility and patience, as flowers are not always predictable. It's taught me that perfectionism is an unrealistic standard and that I can make greater strides in my work when setting [perfectionism] aside! — Meagan Cooley of Meadow House Floral Design, @meadowhousefloral and Team Flower Staff Member
I used to suffer from insomnia. During the height of the growing season, I collapse into bed and sleep like a rock. That's just a tangible example of how being a flower farmer has provided me with a health benefit. Emotionally and spiritually, I feel like I am using my time and talents for a worthy career that gives to others. — Kaley Deffinbaugh of Long Table Farms, @longtablefarms
Working with flowers—whether it's designing, planning, gardening—has brought me so much joy! It has been a way for me to present myself to the world in a creative and beautiful way. I am able to have my own niche, my own purpose on this earth. It has been a way for me to serve others, to make others happy by this artful and natural process. It eases my anxieties and makes me feel so much peace and love from God because I know that this gift was given to me by Him. — Jacelyn Bolton of The Flora Club and Team Flower Staff, @thefloraclub
Go out there and love the world through flowers! Not only can the beauty of flowers impact your community, but it can also greatly impact your own life as well. You have magic in you that you must share with others—and we cannot wait to see it!
Are you a floral pro who has words of wisdom to add to the conversation? How has working with flowers changed your life? Make sure to share your thoughts with us in the Team Flower Community!
