Tell us about yourself and how you moved into the floristry industry.

Gosh well, I guess I have always been creative since being a child, I must inherit that from my mum! Since childhood, I have always been in awe of my natural landscapes whether that being in England or New Zealand.

As kids growing up in the UK, we did a lot of country walks, and you would always find me picking wildflowers and pressing them into my mum's old art history books at home. 

After school, I moved into Spatial Design which then organically led me into floristry at the ripe age of 22. I very quickly fell in love with my new medium being flowers, and from there, my passion just continued to grow. 

However, being the driven character I am. I did decide to take a change in path at 25 and this is when I trained to be a children’s nurse. Nursing was an incredible career and gave me immense satisfaction and purpose, and to be honest, without my nursing background, I don’t think I would have launched RFF. 

As time passed working as an ED nurse, the pullback to flowers became more apparent and I decided to transition back into flowers and this is when RFF was launched in 2020.

My aim is, to build an art-driven brand that specialises in weddings and events nationwide! 

For me, having these polar opposite careers has helped me refine myself as a woman! I feel empowered from my journey, and I often encourage young florists who are seeking guidance, to develop as many skills as they can because broad skills are always transferable. 

We first met you in our shop, buying jewellery and you were a nurse at that point. Tell us how you fell in love with floristry.

Oh yes, I remember first meeting Zoë and I remember just instantly feeling at ease and in awe of her presence!  

Zoë has helped me over the years to curate a very special & timeless collection of her jewels that I will treasure for eternity. I hope to pass these precious pieces down to my future daughter and so on. 

At this stage, I was in my nursing element and I do remember at some point saying to Zoë that I wanted to transition back into flowers.  She always seemed so positive towards me whether that being flowers or nursing, but that’s her she’s just the most incredible soul. 

My love for flowers at this stage was still very much alive despite being in the trenches of nursing, and during this time I was making the manifestations to transition back and how that could look for me. 

I wanted to bring a unique and contemporary feel to the floral industry, so I had to take some time to really manifest what I wanted. 

The floral industry can be challenging in NZ and for me taking some time to further develop my character and skills was a part of my journey to becoming the business owner I am today. 

How do you give and receive love in your personal and professional life?

Oh, this is such a good question. 

I am currently very focused on creating a beautiful community both personally and professionally, and I really do love to hold these select people very close to me. 

My love language is quality time and words of affirmation, so I like to think that I inject these acts back into both areas of my life.

I want my community to feel empowered, nurtured and above all supported. 

In terms of receiving love, this has to be quality time. 

My partner Jackson is very similar to me in some ways and we often like to enjoy our weekends snuggled up at Piha. 

We love the simplicity of life which for us includes; family, epic food and of course adventure. 

Do you have any upcoming floral trends that you think will be big this year for our lovers?

I am so passionate about all the little details on a wedding day. It really is in the details… 

Sometimes it means pushing creative boundaries to where we are comfortable, but having the freedom to add a little drama is something that I am really passionate about. 

So for this year,  you can likely expect the ribbon era to soften and some really fun NEW styling touches which will add so much edge to my up-and-coming floral briefs. 

 

Tell us about one of your favourite setups either for a wedding or event.

Oh, this is a tough one…. 

It would have to be a wedding which we did back in November which was ‘Alice and Wonderland’ inspired. 

The couple was magnificent, energetic and just so lovely to work with. 

Riley, the bride, really wanted to have an eccentric yet timeless vibe so we opted for a ‘Vogue-inspired’ garden party with an Alice and Wonderland twist. 

We rooted strawberry plants as table arrangements, created edible fruit towers and really fun table styling. 

Not to mention Riley's incredible bearded iris bouquet which has made quite the show on Tiktok! 

We love your weekly visits to our shops and the way you express yourself through fashion and flowers. Have you always loved beautiful things, or is this something you’ve nurtured in life? 

I love my weekly visits too!! 

Yes, I think I have always loved beautiful pieces, even as a child. Whether that be fashion, art or design…. 

My mum would always say to me growing up that I was like a magpie - always drawn to pretty things! 

As I get older, I am really trying to focus on timeless pieces that I will treasure forever and be passed on for generations. 

I like to support local artists who hold a good ethos towards our planet. 

Some of my current favourite NZ designers are; Devon Made Glass who works with glass as her medium, of course, Zoe & Morgan for my treasured jewels & Mahsa for the most comfortable cotton shirts.