LUCY MAY RAYNER
Director
Flower Tonic founder Lucy talks through losing touch with nature and how she used her corporate background to inspire a journey into entrepreneurship, mindfulness and flowers…
losing touch with nature
I’d lost touch with the magic and creativity of nature I relished as a child and my mental health was suffering. Working full time in Marketing, I found myself taking trips to a local florist on my office lunch break. There was something immensely healing about buying flowers; I’d take them back to my desk feeling a little bit lighter each time.
“Entering a florist shop was somewhat daunting; I rarely had a clue what I was buying and always had a budget to stick to”
That said, I found entering a florist shop somewhat daunting; I rarely had a clue what I was buying and always had a budget to stick to. It inspired me nonetheless and I took a leap of faith: I left the comfort (and salary) of my advertising job and enrolled on a course at McQueens’s Flower School.
Making ‘florist’ flowers more accessible…
I wanted to make choosing flowers more accessible and enjoyable for ordinary people like me who simply enjoyed the experience choosing flowers, so I launched a pop-up flower stall at my local Butcher’s Robson’s. Here, people could get more for their flower spend with unfussy, artisan flowers that would dry well and could be enjoyed for longer.
I wasn’t the best or the most experienced florist. But from the lunch breaks I spent as a customer tentatively entering that high street florist (scared I’d be sold a shed-load of flowers I couldn’t afford & didn’t know how to look after) I understood people wanted simple, long-lasting flowers.
“I realised that flowers are a dose of medicine to soothe the soul; a tonic. ”
Flowers for self-care
The experience of buying flowers was as meaningful to customers as the flowers themselves. Coming to the local high street on a Saturday; choosing your favourite bunch and taking them home to arrange in your favourite vase.
Just like a slow morning coffee, this becomes a small, simple but gorgeously indulgent self-care ritual that is so healing and beneficial for our wellbeing.
I realised that flowers are a dose of medicine to soothe the soul; a tonic.
The Flower Tonic mission was born
I launched Flower Tonic with two goals in mind: to offer a more creative, fun and accessible flower-buying experience, and bring nature and creativity back into peoples’ lives through mindful flower workshops.
I hope the Flower Tonic offering will allow nature to heal, promote mindfulness and boost wellbeing, just as it has done for me.
I love collaborating with like-minded creatives and brands. If this is you, click the link below and let’s start talking.