The Vanda Vase Florist was first established in February 2016 by Head Florist and Designer Samantha Whaley. Which is me...
Owning your own business was always going to be hard, after all, the job roles are never ending. I may be ‘Head Florist and Designer’ (cool right) but I’m also; Delivery driver, Buyer, Manager, Personnel, Social media whiz, bucket scrubber and lets not forget, chief of the mop.
I’ll let you in to a little secret, I actually enjoy the moping. Its just me and the mop-not a care in the world! Its also what I ‘judge’ all my new employees on, so take note should you ever want to work for The Vanda Vase.
Christmas 2015 The Vanda Vase was just a glimmer in my eye, that I was yet to know anything about. I had been enjoying the idea of owning my own florists for years. Ever since the module in college in which we designed our own business name and logo. I even remember coming up with the idea of calling it ‘Floral Stripes!’ (Come on I was 19, and weirdly obsessed with Zebra.) If you ever visit The Vanda Vase you can see where some of the inspiration has left its mark. The Zebra wall paper and mural. Obviously I had better ideas for the name.
Alot had happened in between attending Floristry college and opening my own shop. By the time I had gained my qualifications I was already living alone, and facing the fact that you had to work, pretty damn hard to pay your rent let alone enjoy your life. I found myself in 3 jobs, none of which was a florists. (gaining more than a few days in a florist was, and still is, hard work.) I ended up working my way up in a corporate environment, something that I will admit, taught me some pretty good values and lessons in life. Managing a department of 20 people was challenging everyday, but inevitably not what I had always wanted to do.
My weekends were filled with designing the weddings of close friends but that was it. And I wanted that to change.
I remember vividly the moment I stood in that superstore and announced to myself....”No, I’m not doing this anymore”...(Or words to that affect!) At the age of 23 I Sold my house, quit my job and left my friends and family. All within about 3 weeks.
I had seen a job advertised in Stoke-on-Trent. (further than I thought, as I was originally going to commute.) And I didn’t know how lucky I was until I got there. The florist was contemporary, big, bustling, unusual, clean, organised. Everything that I had brainstormed in my design module. It was perfect. They looked after me over the years, as I was pretty much out there on my own, and the girls became my friends.
The work I got to experience was second to none, the sheer scale of the events, and the sheer volume at our busy peaks (Christmas, Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day) but most of all, the comradery with what are actually your friends. The reason I love being a florist. At 12pm (your 17th hour) when you've still got a stack of orders on your bench, you’re gonna have to giggle with someone.
All good things come to an end! In the first few weeks of 2016 I was visiting my parents back locally in Sandiacre. I drove past Alexandra Street. (What is now our old premises!) and I had a little light bulb moment. I could see it working.
Again within 3 weeks, I had moved out, left my new friends, and signed a lease on my very first flower shop. Now I could get back to the name, oh, and getting a whole shop refit, set up, stock bought etc, to try and open in time for Valentine’s Day. Eeek! But we did it. And I say we because I must credit my parents some where in here! What would we do with out them eh? My mum along with her partner Mick over saw the refit for me, and helped me keep the costs in check. Me and my mum sat and giggled as we tried to open a business bank account without actually having deciding a business name! (which we could not!) So that night, out came the note pad. I wanted something modern, but also catchy. A friend suggested, “why not call it....The Vase?” I liked it. But thought it sounded to much like a trendy wine bar! How could I make it floral? Now ‘Vanda’ is a type of very beautiful Orchid. (Contrary to the popular believe in Stapleford that it is actually my name. Huh?) And I thought it had a lovely ring to it. The Vanda Vase.
2.5 years later, a whole new HUGE premises, 2 members of staff and whole lot of work....We are thankfully, to all our wonderful customers, still here and trading. We’ve had our down months, and want to cry months, but its all part of the journey.
My eyes still light up with joy as I unpack my flower delivery everyday. It feels like Christmas morning everyday. And that’s why I know I’m in my dream job.
Its such a hard environment to get right, to balance. Its so important to keep stock fresh, rotated, and plentiful, But still keep a good availability at them slower times. But most weeks, I tend to get it right and if I don’t, I learn from it!
Well that’s enough about me isn’t It!!
If you haven’t noticed already, The Vanda Vase is a contemporary Florist (for all occasions) Our wedding calender is about fully booked for this year, and filling for next year and 2020! We have got some HUGE events coming up towards the end of the year which we are really excited about.
We’ve made some lovely bespoke (and some pretty bonkers) funeral tributes for our lovely customers.
And you can pretty much always rely on us to have something weird or crazy looking in our store!
We hope to have many more lovely years of trading on our high street.
Sami
(Sorry for all the brackets - Author is not being added to my job roles!)
