Why I became a florist — and what I'm building now

Like most people who end up in this industry, I arrived sideways. I was drawn to something creative, something made with my hands — I tried other mediums, other directions. Nothing quite fit. Then I got a part-time job at a local flower shop, almost by accident, and within the first week I knew. This was it.

What got me wasn’t just the flowers — it was everything around them. The fact that the whole palette shifts with the seasons. That what you’re working with in April looks nothing like what you’re working with in October. That flowers show up at every moment that matters in a person’s life — the celebrations, the grief, the ordinary Tuesday that someone decided deserved something beautiful.

It was a living, breathing creative practice. And it felt like home.

I never stopped learning after that first job. I studied at Humber College, won a competition that took me to the Netherlands, trained at Flower School New York, at Saipua, with Jessica Zimmerman, with Sinclair and Moore. Every time I learned something new I immediately wanted to turn around and hand it to someone else. That impulse — to break down what feels intimidating into something anyone can accomplish — has been the thread running through my entire career.

Over the years I’ve taught more than 12,000 students in person and another 6,000 virtually. And the thing that still moves me, every single time, is the moment someone realizes they can do this. That elevated, considered, beautiful design is not reserved for people with formal training or a gift they were born with. It’s a skill. It’s learnable. And it changes how you see your home, your table, your life.

That’s why I built Petal Academy.

Not to replace the in-person experience — I still love teaching in a room full of people with flowers on the table. But because there’s a limit to how many people can fit in that room, and I kept meeting florists and flower lovers who needed this and couldn’t access it. The aspiring designer in a small town. The executive woman who wants creative time that belongs entirely to her. The new shop owner who is figuring out pricing and sourcing alone at midnight.

I wanted to reach all of them.

So we built the Fearless Floral Design Society — a live, bi-weekly design community that meets on Monday evenings and designs together. Before each class you receive a recipe and a materials list so you can gather your own ingredients — local, seasonal, whatever’s available to you. We design together live, I walk you through every decision, and you receive a full replay and design notes after so you can revisit it at your own pace or complete it when life allows.

Each class runs under an hour.

It is the most efficient, most enjoyable way I know to genuinely level up your floral design skills — and to stop doing it alone.

There are two ways in.

A single bi-weekly class is $29 — come and try it once, see how it feels, no commitment required.

The Fearless Floral Coaching Circle is $79/month at the founding member rate. This is the full experience — bi-weekly live design sessions with ingredient guides and replays, a monthly small-group coaching call on the real topics nobody else covers (pricing, wedding mechanics, workflow), a personal monthly design critique where I give you voice-note feedback on your actual work, and a private WhatsApp community where I’m genuinely present between sessions.

This is not a course you buy and forget. This is a room you show up to, with people who are building something real, and someone in your corner who has done this for 30 years and wants to hand you the shortcut she never had.

It’s for florists in years one through five. Studio owners training staff. Freelancers who are ready to stop guessing. Designers who want feedback on their actual work, not just more tutorials to watch alone.

If that’s you — the founding member rate is $79/month and the link is below.

Join the Fearless Floral Coaching Circle →

Single class option here: Single Class

Questions before you commit? Reply to this email. I read and answer every one personally.

— Darlene