Why I Value Professional Development
Taking this plunge into growing fresh cut flowers and floral design has awakened something inside of me and has left me wanting so much more. Some days I feel completely defeated thinking what in the world am doing? There is no way I know enough and can do this but then....I look at where I was two years ago at this time. I was taking my very first class from Jennie Love of Love'n Fresh Flowers. I had no clue what I was doing. I knew nothing at all about seeding, landscape fabric, growing, weddings, csa's, irrigation. I mean nothing. All I knew was that I wanted to start a business from our farm, I have always loved receiving flowers over jewelry as a gift and this just seemed like the perfect fit. So off I went to big ole' Philadelphia and my world was rocked. She gave me the know how and confidence in one short day to feel like I could actually figure this out and do this. Here I am two years later in my third season growing and actually doing it. I truly do not think I would have been able to take the plunge into this without Jennie's advice and knowledge. I think I would have become very discouraged at all of my mistakes and the never ending bumps along the way.
Last year I took a class from Andrea Gagnon at LynnVale and again the little birdy was kicked out of the nest. She took us to the next level discussing and demonstrating wedding designs, tips and tricks. Due to that class I feel ready to jump in and do several small weddings this year. I truly have some really awesome brides who are willing to let me use my creativity and are just wonderfully relaxed about the whole thing.
This year my husband and I decided that I would hold off on taking any classes towards professional development and instead invest that money into infrastructure, supplies, seeds and landscape fabric to bump up our production. In turn I told myself if I could not travel somewhere to learn I would read as much as I could and scour the internet for the oodles of information that could help our business. In doing so, late last year I came across a website called Team Flower. I was instantly drawn to Kelly and her teaching method. They have a lot of classes available for purchase but they also have a ton of FREE videos, articles and tutorials to learn from. I would sit at my sons wrestling matches in the hallways this winter watching videos and trying to soak up every ounce that I could in between matches.
This brings me to why I am posting this blog. Team Flower is giving away two scholarships, one on bouquets and personals and the other on centerpieces & reception design. I would love to receive a scholarship for either of these workshops. Being that I am still so new to this industry and learning floral design I feel like attending one of these intensive workshops would take my business to the next level. Attending a Team Flower workshop would give me the confidence to not just take things up a notch in regards of different types of bouquet & centerpiece designs but also in regards to making sure that I am pricing correctly and not undercutting myself, learning stem counts, shape & style but also would help me better prepare for what to grow and planning my field map.
As I type this and reflect upon where these classes have led me, from knowing nothing to actually producing income, I realize just how far I have come in two short years and am excited to think where Back Mountain Flower Farm will be in two more years!
Thank you all for taking a few minutes to read and understand how important taking classes/workshops from the professionals in the industry are to me. I hope that one day I can do the same for others. Check out Kelly and her crew at www.teamflower.org.
-Katie
