How I became a flower farmer

If you had told me years ago that I’d be running a flower farm, I’m not sure I would have believed you. My career started in a world far removed from fields of flowers, I worked in compliance and risk within financial services, navigating regulations and ensuring everything was in order. It was structured, corporate, and for a while, it suited me.

Then life shifted. When I was expecting my second daughter, the company I worked for was being acquired, and I was about to go on maternity leave. I was offered voluntary redundancy, a rare opportunity to step away from corporate life and spend more time with my young children. Those years at home were precious, and I’m so grateful I had them, but over time, I felt the pull to do something new, something that challenged me in a different way. I wanted work that fit around family life, that let me be there for the school runs and the everyday moments, but also gave me a sense of purpose.

So, I started a business. A stylish children’s party store, curated, creative, designed to make things easier for parents who wanted something special. It grew, evolved, and gave me the flexibility I needed, but deep down, I knew it wasn’t my passion. I enjoyed the creativity and the challenge, but it never quite felt like the thing I was meant to do.

The real change came when we moved to Birch Farm. At first, I wasn’t looking for a new business, I was just drawn to the land. I started growing flowers, not with any grand plan, just because it felt good. There was something about the rhythm of it, the seasons, the soil, the way flowers quietly mark the passage of time, that made sense to me in a way nothing else had. It was different from anything I’d done before, yet it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

And so, Birch Farm Flowers began. What started as a small project quickly grew into something bigger, rooted in seasonality, sustainability, and creativity. I found joy not just in growing flowers, but in arranging them, in sharing them, in creating experiences that bring people closer to nature.

Looking back, my path has been anything but straightforward. For a long time, I thought that changing direction so many times meant I lacked focus, that I should have just stuck with something. But now, I see it differently. Each shift was a step forward, a lesson, a piece of the puzzle that led me here. And this - growing flowers, sharing them, inviting people into this world - is where I feel most at home.

I hope, in some small way, I’m showing my daughters that it’s okay to change, to take risks, to walk away from things that don’t feel right and towards things that do. We don’t have to have it all figured out, there’s always room to grow and change.