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Mature study and retraining

Talk to other Mumsnetters who are considering a career change or are mature students.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Retraining as a florist mid 40s

17 replies

Coffeebean2020 · 22/09/2021 12:08

I’m looking to retrain and do something creative to my previous jobs (before children) I’ve worked as a nurse over 20 years, mostly clinical, have no desire to go into management.
As my youngest will be starting nursery after Christmas and I’m thinking of doing a floristry course.
Has anyone retrained in their 40s? Any advice please.

OP posts:
EdmontinaDonsAutumnalHues · 22/09/2021 12:23

Lots of people have! Come and join us here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/site_stuff/4327788-Is-there-a-specific-Mature-Study-Retraining-board?msgid=110096218

Plumtree391 · 22/09/2021 12:29

That's a very good idea, I hope you are successful and enjoy floristry.

Coffeebean2020 · 23/09/2021 21:57

Thank you @EdmontinaDonsAutumnalHues I shall pop over to that thread.

OP posts:
EdmontinaDonsAutumnalHues · 23/09/2021 22:01

There’s also this one (nothing to do with me):

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4356577-University-in-my-50s-Am-I-mad

I do wish MNHQ could have allowed us a dedicated board …

StarryStarrySocks · 23/09/2021 22:07

Sounds great! When I was a teenager I really wanted to be a florist (I'm not, by the way).

As well as the course, I'd have a think about how you want to use your newfound skills, i.e. in a shop/your own business/weddings and events etc. Then you can be investigating how to learn other things you might need to know such as running a business/building your own website etc.

If you don't already, follow as many florists as you can on Instagram/Pinterest to get ideas/inspiration.

All the best!

PeriChristmas · 23/09/2021 22:19

@Coffeebean2020

I’m looking to retrain and do something creative to my previous jobs (before children) I’ve worked as a nurse over 20 years, mostly clinical, have no desire to go into management. As my youngest will be starting nursery after Christmas and I’m thinking of doing a floristry course. Has anyone retrained in their 40s? Any advice please.
I really want to do this too!!!
PeriChristmas · 27/09/2021 15:31

@Coffeebean2020 have you found a course you want to do?

Coffeebean2020 · 28/09/2021 05:59

@PeriChristmas I’ve seen a few courses in and around central London (live in London) but there are quite pricey. They are intensive course so I guess that’s why, also they are very popular! Seems like quite a few people are retraining in this area.
Still looking as I’ll probably do a week course first as see how it fits around the children.
Ideally I’d love to set up my own little shop but thinking of the overheads etc… so may look for a job locally and develop skills and then see what happens.

Would love to hear from others who have done this/doing this right now/or planning to do 😁

OP posts:
EccentricaGalumbits · 28/09/2021 06:10

A friend of mine has been a florist for 30 years. I'm not trying to put you off at all but thought you might want some insider info on the downsides. It's such a lovely feelgood profession in some ways but there are definitely pitfalls to be aware of.

Firstly, her hands are a mess. Dry, chapped, covered in cuts, she can't get them clean. Often very painful and infected.

Second, she had a long bout of chronic fatigue and suffers from an autoimmune disease which her Drs suspect is linked to her exposure to high levels of pesticides.

Finally, the emotional side can be tough in ways she didn't expect. In particular dealing with the recently bereaved, she has some very harrowing stories for example writing messages on cards from people who have lost someone in horrible, high profile crimes.

EdmontinaDonsAutumnalHues · 30/09/2021 12:31

OP we now have a brand new Mature Study and Retraining board! It can be found within Education.

I’m encouraging everyone with an existing relevant thread to ask MNHQ to move it to the new board - where there will gradually be a mass of support of advice. I hope you’ll feel this might be helpful to you.

Coffeebean2020 · 02/10/2021 06:50

@EccentricaGalumbits I have also thought about some of the points you’ve made.

Hands being one and the emotional side. It’s a lot to think about I agree. I think I’m going to do a short course maybe, even just focusing on hand ties and then take it from there.

@EdmontinaDonsAutumnalHues
Thank you, I’ll request for thread to be moved over.

@MNHQ can you please move my thread over to the Mature study and retraining board, thank you.

OP posts:
FauxFox · 02/10/2021 06:56

Why don’t you see if you can get some unpaid work experience or a Saturday job at a local florist before you spend £££ on courses - it’s the best way to see what it’s really like and whether it’s something you’d want to do long term - good luck!

DawnMumsnet · 02/10/2021 09:10

We're just moving this thread over to our shiny new Mature Study & Retraining topic for the OP. Smile

flowersmakeitbetter · 02/10/2021 12:01

What appeals to you about floristry? Is it the 'little flower shop' that you're aiming for? What is your set up at home? Do you have family? Do you need a work/life balance? Do you need to earn a living?

The perception and the reality of floristry is generally quite different.

If you want to 'play' at flowers, have a semblance of work/life balance and aren't worried about making money then you can work for someone else for a few hours a week, freelance on weddings or just do bits and pieces for friends and family.

If you want to earn a living (i.e. run that little florist shop) then you must be commercial and prepared to work very hard. My friend has just sold her (successful) flower shop but she was working 80 hours over 7 days a week. Rising flower prices and Brexit have also made life very difficult for florists. It will not make you rich.

Yes, it is creative but that is just a fairly small part. Overall it is very very hard work. It is dirty. It is often cold. It is very physical and there is a lot of heavy lifting. It is also stressful. Things regularly go wrong on weddings; things fall over, things break, flowers turn up on the delivery in the wrong colour or they get left off the delivery, the lorry with your flowers on gets stuck in the tunnel. I could go on and on and on............

In the first instance, I would tell you to go and get some experience in a shop or workshop first before shelling out on a course. Go and see what it's really like. Go and condition flowers, scrub buckets and sweep the floor. Speak to the owner and the people that work there. Winter is approaching so see how you get on working in the cold. The last shop I worked in we worked with no heating and the door open. It was a killer!

If you love it and want to do a course then get some proper old fashioned training (i.e. horticulture college). You will then learn the right way to construct arrangements, use the right tools and materials, wire properly, etc. I would be careful with some of the commercial courses. Yes, there are some great courses but equally there are lots of people who decide to become a florist, do a couple of two hour workshops and the next minute they are running workshops themselves. These are NOT the people you want to be training with.

I've worked as a florist for a long time. I also freelance. Initially I did a bit of work and they did a 1:1 course with a London florist who was well established. I still speak to him now. That course taught me a very small bit of what I needed to know. In all honesty, it has taken me a very long time to be what I would call a 'good' florist. You need the basics (i.e. decent course/training) then you need to work with people who know what they are doing and learn on the job. I honestly don't think you can do this yourself initially. There are a lot of people out there who do a career course then set up on their own. I thought this is what I would do but I'll be honest the people that generally do this aren't producing particularly good work when you look at it from an experienced view. It's rife at the moment because people tend to think it's an easy job. I also know having freelanced with loads of people that have done this is that they've not made money on jobs. In fact, someone I spoke to tried to do Mother's Day on their own actually lost money.

I'm not putting you off. I love being a florist. I'm just trying to be realistic about it all if you think it would be lovely to be creative and do a non-stressy job that you fit in around your family because frankly those things it ain't!

EdmontinaDonsAutumnalHues · 06/10/2021 10:35

My impression - from Insta observation - is that the most apparently successful new florists are primarily selling their identity. It’s not enough to run a little flower shop - it has to be the first little flower shop run by ‘person unusual for one modish reason or another’. Do you have a marketable personal quality, OP? (Grin sort of …)

Or they’re selling something non-traditional, culturally or scientifically never seen before. (While typing this I’ve had a brilliant idea …Two, actually!)

Coffeebean2020 · 12/10/2021 21:54

@flowersmakeitbetter thank you for your in-depth advice. I’ve been giving this idea a lot of thought over the last few weeks and looking at my circumstances (single mum to two under 5) . I think I just wanted to undertake something totally different and far away from nursing, where I could put my own stamp on (does that make sense?).
Yes, a lot of the courses are expensive and very intense training in short space of time. And seeing how the last couple of weeks my kids have come down with this horrid bug going around, it made me think of a lot regarding childcare.
Realistically if I were to become a florist, I’d probably only want to work a couple days a week or so and probably for someone else.

Well I’ll keep thinking 🤔 maybe another direction is needed.

All the advice and suggestions have been very much welcomed, it’s made me think deeply. Thank you.

OP posts:
EdmontinaTiresofNameFlipping · 28/10/2021 08:06

I wonder what does work best for most people - a short, intense period of study/training, or a few hours a week over several years?

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