Comedy Chocolate V - Flying Dutchmen! Medal-Winning Florists!
Some businesses like to wind-down or even close-down over the summer, but not us workaholics at Arena Flowers! Recently, Will, Steve and Elsa headed to what has now become our second home at Noordwijkerhout, on the west coast of the Netherlands for an extended stay to oversee some of the operational stuff going on for our Dutch language site, Arena Bloemen.
On their return, they brought with them a lovely box of some particularly yummy chocolates (featuring in true comedy chocolate style a local landmark (in this case Amsterdam’s Central Station) - perfect comfort food for the rubbish weather we’ve experienced in the UK this summer! And of course, our intrepid trio offered the perfect opportunity initiate me into this ‘Comedy Chocolate’ malarkey that seems to have carved itself into the Arena psyche…
The only question - which bod at Flowers HQ to tie-up and interrogate?! Having previously jumped Ruth, Vanessa, Damian and Ronald, we thought it was about time Andrzej (or “Andre”, as we call him in these parts!) and his team of amazing award-winning, hard-grafting florists (pictured above) received a thorough ‘going over’ and put under the spotlight. Plus, as the new academic year is almost upon us, each of our experienced florists offer career advice for ‘budding’ (geddit?!) florists…
Andrzej joined us way back in November 2006 when ArenaFlowers.com was a mere seedling. With ten years under his belt as a florist, Andrzej favourite activity at Flowers HQ is creating new flower designs and fulfilling bespoke arrangements. His favourite flowers to work with are sunflowers, amaryllis, tulips, hydrangea and “exotic flowers”. Andrzej became a professional florist after visiting and helping out at his friend’s flower shop. A passion for flowers soon bloomed (!) and Andrzej opened his own florists which he ran for eight years before joining Arena Flowers.
Andrzej’s career tip: “Don’t be afraid to experiment with flower arrangements, and listen and learn from experienced florists.”
Judith has been with Arena Flowers since - practically - the very beginning. Carving herself an unrivalled reputation for her wedding flowers, Judith always rises to the challenge of creating show-stopping flower designs with her favourite stems of ranunculus, lily of the valley, tulips, calla lilies, peonies and “many more.” Judith tells us that she actually fell into floral design “accidentally” as she wanted to utilise her creativity. Having considered fashion and interior design, Judith finally settled on floristry.
Judith’s career tip: “Don’t be scared if it doesn’t meet your expectations and choose the people you want to learn from carefully!”
Paulina, at just 22, is the relative youngster of the Arena Flowers floristry team but flower design is in her blood. Starting out by helping with her sister’s flower shop, Paulina soon picked up the skills to enable her to embark on a career as a florist on her arrival in London. Paulina joined Arena Flowers in July 2007 and particularly enjoys working with tulips, hydrangea, roses and calla lilies. Her favourite Arena bouquet is A Dozen Red Roses.
Paulina’s career tip: “Go for it if you’re passionate about flowers - even if it seems hard at the beginning.”
Ela started at Arena Flowers around the same time as Paulina and loves working with our luxury bouquets, especially Luxury White and Mass of Red Roses. Ela tells us that she “always knew she would one day become a florist as she was always very active in home decoration for different occasions.” After studying, Ela decided to try her real passion, so here she is…
Ela’s career tip: “Although it is hard work, your satisfaction and motivation rises when you see the happiness on the recipients’ faces.”
Kristina has been with Arena Flowers for nearly a year and originates from the Czech Republic. Her favourite Arena bouquets are Lovely in Lilac and A Dozen Peach Roses. Freesias, orchids and peach roses feature among some of the many flowers favoured by Kristina to work with.
Similar posts: If you enjoyed this dose of comedy chocolate and meeting some of our team, you might also enjoy the four previous comedy chocolate posts.
Filed under: Floristry, Flowers, General, International Flowers, Operations, Weddings on August 28th, 2008
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