From Graphic Designer to Florist With Leigh Chappell

#032 - Florist Leigh Chappell shares her small business story. Originally a graphic designer, she took up a friend's suggestion to take a floristry course and then decided to change career. She now creates wedding flower designs, runs workshops and is also co-organising the upcoming Strawberry Hill Flower Festival. Growing up in Wales, Leigh studied botanical illustration at Swansea Art College. She then moved to London and worked for graphic design companies. She relished working in a team and to a brief. A friend asked her if she'd like to do a floristry course, which happened to have a horticultural element. And she absolutely loved it. So much so that she started freelancing for an event florist. In 2006, the florist told Leigh that she was moving away and asked if she'd like to take over her 20 weddings. So she partnered with a friend and they did all the weddings. They then set up a website and put together leather portfolios featuring photos of all their floral designs, which they showed to prospective clients. Nowadays, Leigh works on her own and continues to create wedding flowers, but also runs group workshops and 121s. She shares how she now uses Instagram as her digital portfolio and her reasons for choosing a dark aesthetic for her photographs. She talks about the services she currently offers including weddings and workshops. And how important she feels that Instagram is for marketing her business. Leigh shares details about the upcoming Strawberry Hill Flower Festival, which she's jointly organising with Janne Ford. She describes what visitors can expect to see at the event.  Plus she shares details of an installation which she'll be co-creating at the Oriel Myrddin Gallery in Wales. Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Leigh is about using flowers as a medium to create designs and how important she feels Instagram is for promoting her business. At the end of the podcast, you'll discover her practical tips, which I'm sure you'll find very inspiring. Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode32