After a decade running her own business, Rachel Wardley relocated to Kendal in 2019, bringing her Tallulah Rose Flower School to a new, northern audience. It was a quick turnaround, she did her last class in Bath in the October and her first at her new premises on the Levens Hall estate, known for its world famous topiary gardens, the following month. “When I announced I was moving, our courses in Bath sold out. I was happy it was an established business but it was still a risk to up sticks and move it,” she says. “I was longing for outdoor space and to be closer to nature. Cumbria and Levens Hall…that was something it gave me. I personally felt I was giving the school more.”

A former accessories buyer for Debenhams, Rachel started bringing her creative flair to floristry after she was given a one-day course at Jane Packer in London by a good friend (now a florist) who she was a birthing partner for. That was nearly two decades ago. She went on to set up Tallulah Rose in Bath, but in 2018 she and her husband decided they wanted to be closer to the Lake District.

Rachel specialises in career change courses, both two-week and four-week, along with day courses. She not only teaches modern, sustainable floristry skills but also the knowledge needed to run a successful business, along with photography, social media and marketing.

Her two-week career change course in February 2020 was sold out and she decided to have parts of it filmed so she could show people what was on offer. It turned out to be a canny decision as a few weeks later lockdown led to her closing her business for the foreseeable future. “No-one knew what was coming. I was running a four-week career change course that March. I did the first two weeks of practicals and the third week is business. I was determined to get the ladies through that third week.” And she did.

Once the grant came through to cover her rent for 10 months she said she felt much more settled – she rents from the Bagot family who own Levens Hall - and set about improving everything about her business from taking new photographs to rewriting course notes.

“The silver lining is that I wrote the online career change course. It’s been on my list for the last five years if I’m honest. People from overseas often asked about one. My nature is not to do anything unless I can do it properly. It took time to find people to photograph and film it. I spent lockdown doing that so at the end I had something as a product.”

She also kept up her social media presence and every Friday would have flowers delivered so she could take pictures of the creations she made. “Lockdown gave me that day of flowers and photography. It also gave me constant new content for social media while promoting local flower growers.”

All the people who attend her courses are known as Tallulahs and during the first lockdown Rachel held a weekly online coffee break with them. “They had all been on my courses, mainly career change. Some had 30 weddings, all cancelled,” she says, talking about how the group were so supportive of each other.

In September she launched her online career change course – 14 pre-recorded lessons with places limited to 20 people per session as Rachel likes to be available to answer questions on the forum. Every month the course goes on sale for a week.

“My assumption was that it would be people who were too far away to ever come here and stay. I thought that would be the majority but it’s not at all. One of the first sessions we had about 17 ladies, many from Lancashire and Manchester,” she says. Now she also offers a range of shorter online courses too. “The online courses complete the offer here but for me it’s being here and with people.”

In March this year, in line with other educational establishments, she reopened her school for face-to-face lessons and received flower deliveries from Ixia Botanicals in Cumbria and the Flower Bank in Carlisle. She specialises in seasonal, local flowers but says sometimes when she needs a large quantity or certain blooms then the Flower Bank in Carlisle oblige. “They are brilliant, they have done an incredible job.” Most of her students go on to do wedding flowers and she also offers bridal courses at her school and at country retreats like Silverholme on the Graythwaite estate where the Tallulahs learn how to create large installations including arches, flower clouds, swags and canopies.

She says despite the challenges during lockdown she always thought her business would continue as out of all the bookings for 2020, only two people decided not to rebook. “People were grateful, they wanted something to look forward to and that gave me hope. I had a number of emails, people saying they wanted a change of career because of the pandemic.”

Rachel teaches on all her classes, which range from one-day floristry sessions concentrating on seasonal flowers to the life-changing four-week career change course. “That’s what I love to do. I never started the school with a view to watching it all happen. I started it because I wanted a job I love, rather than building an empire,” she says.

About 98% of students who attend the career change courses go on to launch their own business. “We have students now who do weddings worth tens of thousands of pounds,” she says, but added that the benefits of doing something you love are more than financial. “Some students find that it is life-changing, it empowers them. People have been told they’re not creative, but everyone is creative. I get so many cards and messages saying ‘you have changed my life’. They had the desire to change what they do and I have facilitated that.

“I always appreciate the position I am in having my own business and giving the gift to others of having their own business. I took a step back (during lockdown) to appreciate what the flower schools gives to people, how much of a community there is and how much support each student gives each other. It does good. It’s not just about putting a hand-tied bouquet together it’s about being empowered, particularly when we have been through a year like we have. It’s incredibly inspiring. “

Many of her career change and wedding retreat courses for 2021 are already sold out