Creative People - Grace Haskins of Bramble & Wild

One sunny morning towards the end of spring, we took a trip to the beautiful Somerset town of Frome.  We were staying nearby for a few days and I’d arranged to visit local floral artist, Grace Haskins, founder and owner of Bramble & Wild.  Bramble & Wild was born out of Grace’s passion for flowers, but owning a shop had been her childhood dream. In the summer of 2011, at just twenty, she opened the doors to her floristry business, a few short months after discovering a premises had become available on the picturesque cobbles of Catherine Hill - “I just jumped at the chance!” she says. Grace’s life is something of a masterclass in making the best of every opportunity that presents itself. She now also owns a small plot of land where she grows a burgeoning variety of flowers and foliage, has over forty thousand followers on Instagram and runs an ever expanding workshop business.  We met up during a rare quiet moment for her and chatted about her favourite flowers, Frome’s special vibe, and how she grew that following.

Claire: Could you tell us a bit about your background?

Grace: Floristry and floral design is almost all I’ve ever known, job wise. I started in the industry instead of heading to university to study photography, aged eighteen. I’m not sure I would be very good at anything else now! Initially I enrolled on an arts foundation course and really hated it. I’m not sure why. I love art but didn’t really like being creative ‘to order’! So I started a course in Level 2 floristry one night a week with Somerset Skills & Learning. I loved it from the first carnation and chrysanthemum filled posy (things have changed a bit since those days!). Cue a rather large argument with my parents when I cancelled my deferred place at Falmouth University to instead start an apprenticeship in floristry at Bicton College. Thankfully the shop was a success and I never had to endure hearing ‘I told you so”! And I’ve never regretted not going to university. I didn’t have any debt and I used the money I’d saved for my studies to open the shop instead. I do still love photography though and do a large proportion of our Instagram imagery myself. Following the apprenticeship, I worked at a few florists but the thought of my own business was always calling. I did start a Level 3 floristry course at Cannington College, but then the shop came up and I couldn’t do both.

Claire: How did the idea of Bramble & Wild come about?  

Grace: I desperately wanted a shop when I was about twenty. I’ve always loved the idea of a cute little flower shop; little did I know that it would actually become a much bigger entity. I’m not very good at waiting for things, so when a few months later the opportunity for a premises on Catherine Hill came about, I jumped at the chance! 

 Claire: Did you have a strategy when you started for the type of business you wanted to create, or did it evolve organically?

 Grace: Almost everything I do tends to evolve organically. I had no business plan at all, and absolutely nothing written down. I just filled the shop with things I loved and made designs that made me happy - luckily they made other people happy too! I had a huge amount of help from my dad and my now husband, who are both very handy, (they’re an engineer and joiner respectively). They’ve fitted out two shops for me now. For ideas, I use Pinterest for a lot of inspiration, but mostly just get an idea growing from one thing I’ve seen and take it from there. Luckily I had help from one of the shops I worked at before. The wonderful Sharon from Interiors and Flowers by Design helped me - and we went to several trade shows together too. For the flowers, I had enough knowledge to know what I was doing, but the style and skills have definitely grown throughout the last seven years. I wouldn’t say I had a strategy for the type of business I wanted to create, but it’s definitely very ‘me.'

 Claire: What do you think makes Bramble & Wild different from other flower related businesses?

Grace: I think we are exceptionally lucky to be based on Catherine Hill in Frome. I’m not entirely sure B&W would have been so successful anywhere else. There’s a special vibe in Frome which really helps nurture independents and the support from everyone around us is incredible. We only sell what we love and pick the more unusual varieties too, like stems of cotton, vintage coloured roses, garden varieties like helenium, echinops and rudbeckia - you won't find a gerbera or a carnation in here. I think it also helps to have a couple of dogs to greet you at the door!

Claire: Could you tell us about the plot where you grow your own flowers?  Where is it, when did you start growing and how does it work logistically for you?

Grace: At the moment we grow dahlias, garden roses and sweet peas, plus a few extra bits and bobs at my parents place in Taunton. We started this about three years ago now, but logistically it’s a bit of a nightmare, as it’s over an hour away from Frome. My husband James and I have just moved house and with that came a small plot of land. We’re hoping to turn this into our new flower patch for 2020 and expand our selection too. We just need to conquer the nettles and brambles first. Brambles might be our namesake but they’re driving us mad! Once it’s up and growing, we promise to invite you over! I would love to add more annuals into the mix but I’m not quite sure what yet. We also need lots of picking foliage, so some hedging will go in, too. The dahlia collection is definitely going to expand and probably the roses as they’re my favourite. There’s already a lot of mint growing there and a huge rosemary bush, but I think we will put some more herbs in as they’re especially good for the wedding bouquets. My winter job is to sift through catalogues and choose what to grow.

Claire: Could you tell us about the workshops you run?

Grace: We run a few small, six person workshops in the spring and autumn at our shop and then two larger wreath making parties early in December at the HUBnub Centre in Frome. We like to offer these as fun mornings or afternoons out - they’re not for career change florists but more for those who just want to immerse themselves in flowery fun for a few hours and get away from the distractions of everyday life. In 2020 all of our workshops will be foam free!

Claire: How does the split work for you between being a creative person and a business person?  And could you give us an idea of how it breaks down in terms of time spent on each aspect?

Grace: This is currently something I struggle with quite a lot. I’m a creative at heart but I spend 90% of my week on admin. As we have grown, I have had to come to terms with the fact that I can’t do everything, even though I want to. We have an amazing team in the shop who take care of the day to daily orders and now I focus mainly on the weddings, social media, stock and day-to-day behind the scenes. I won’t lie, it’s not what I expected to be (or hoped!) to be doing, but it’s working for us right now. Maybe next year I’ll find a bit of admin help, but that’s quite tricky too as I know the ins and outs of every event on the books and keep a lot of it in my head!

 Claire: Is there a sense of community locally among small business owners?

Grace: Yes! St Catherines is an amazing place to have a business. It feels like we’re co-workers under lots of different roofs. There are always lots of initiatives to get involved with and the council is pretty supportive of us all too. There’s a monthly retail group which meets too, although I’m terrible at attending as we always have some event on!

Claire: Are there certain flowers or plants you’re particularly drawn to?

Grace: Roses. Always roses. I love the seasonal beauties like narcissi, peonies and all the berries of autumn, but I always come back to the garden rose. Margaret Merril is a particular favourite. I’ll be increasing my stocks of her next year.

Claire: How would you define the Bramble & Wild style?

Grace: Rustic, romantic luxe. Country style with a hint of elegance.

Claire: What does your working day look like?

Grace: That very much depends on what day it is! Monday to Thursday I’m often in my office working on wedding proposals, answering emails and sometimes tearing my hair out over paperwork. Fridays and Saturdays are much more fun, where I’m in the shop but often upstairs in the workshop, working on a beautiful wedding. I’m lucky that our suppliers deliver to us now, so the days of 3am starts are over but 10pm finishes on a Friday night are very much a part of my week.  Thankfully due to our great team it’s no later than this anymore.

Claire: What are the day-to-day challenges?

Grace: We are lucky to be on the shady side of the street in an old stone building, so our shop stays fairly cool, but in the hot summer weather we have been having, it does affect the longevity of our blooms and we don’t have a chiller. One of the reasons for this is that we simply don’t have the room, another is that they’re pretty ugly! Mainly though, I just feel it's a big waste of electricity. We only really need one for a few weeks of the year and anyway, I would rather sell the freshest blooms each day than have them hanging around in a chiller. This does mean that we have to be really careful with what we order; not ordering so much that it can’t all be sold within one day and not ordering too little, so that it’s all gone by 11am! Frome doesn’t have any set busy days which can be quite frustrating when it comes to ordering. One Wednesday you’ll be cleaning jam jars and the next you can’t fit in time for a sandwich!

Claire: Who or what inspires you?

Grace: Autumn is my biggest inspiration. I feel like I get a new lease of life come September. Maybe it’s that back to school feeling. I love the changing colours of the trees and that the hedgerows burst with fruits. It’s the only time of year I can tolerate orange. I do love looking at florist’s work on Instagram, like Swallows and Damsons and Floralista, but try not to spend too much time online looking at other people’s work as I’d rather be doing my own thing, and feel that social media can be a bit of a black hole!

Claire: What's the most rewarding aspect of your work?

Grace: The look on a brides face when you walk through the bridal suite door on the morning of her wedding - it’s priceless.

Claire: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Grace: My dad’s favourite saying is “if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.’ I try to apply this to literally everything I do and it has made me into a (probably very annoying) perfectionist, as I’m sure our floral designers would attest to!

Claire: What would your advice be to anyone starting out on an entrepreneurial adventure?

Grace: If you want it with your whole heart, you should definitely go for it! It wont be easy, I can almost promise you that, and there will be days where all you want to do is stare at the wall and cry, but there will also be days where you have the biggest sense of achievement and freedom. Don’t get me wrong, by freedom I don’t mean free time, (what is that anyway?) but rather freedom for your soul to be who it wants to be. 

Claire: You have over 40k followers on Instagram – how did you do that?!

Grace: I started the account not long after I opened - Instagram was just getting going then. For the first few years it didn’t do much and the following only really started to grow when we moved into our new shop five years ago. Or maybe I started trying harder then! I have been lucky enough to get a couple of shout-outs from big florists like @ponderosa_and_thyme, which definitely boosted the following, but besides that, I have absolutely no idea. I have a couple of cute dogs on hand, I think that definitely helps. Flowers and dogs, you can’t really go wrong there. 

Claire: Do you have any tips for creative types who trying to build an audience on Instagram?

Grace: Show only what you love, not every job you do. We are lucky that we really do love (nearly) everything we are asked to do, so we share an awful lot of our work online. But if I’m asked to make a domed bouquet of roses (actually that hasn’t happened for a long time), I won't share it because it’s not my style and not what I want to do more of. Some people love it, but it’s not my thing. That’s not to say I share everything that we make. Sometimes we’re so blooming busy that we completely forget to snap any photos of a wedding or event, which is incredibly frustrating!

Claire: Who are some of the other creative you follow online?

Grace: I love @twiggstudios, @linda_lomelino and @lindsaysfeast for the food and dark, moody photography which I covet for my own grid. I like @mossandstonefloraldesign and ohflorastudio ’s whimsical floral arrangements and @thekitcheners for just the most incredible imagery. They make me want to get married all over again.

Claire: Where is your weekend happy place?

Grace: Anywhere that James, my husband and Bracken (our Labrador) are. I know that’s soppy, but we hardly see each other because we’re so busy with work and house renovations, so I’ll take any time I can get!

Claire: Where are your favourite places in the world?

Grace: I love Cornwall and the laid back vibe of Ibiza. Work and home renovations have put a bit of a halt on travels at the moment, but the bucket list is long! Mexico is definitely near the top, for the food and the culture I’ve heard such wonderful things about. I’d love to travel around Canada in a van like our @orionthecampervan to see the mountains and the snow. I was lucky enough to visit Rome last year and loved it. Now Sicily is on the list, and Barcelona too. We love to explore, whether that’s the great outdoors or small cultural hot spots.

 Claire: Favourite shop?

Grace: Hmm, I don’t think I have an answer for that. Favourite place to shop maybe? Catherine Hill, of course!

Claire: Favourite restaurant?

Grace: Last year we visited an amazing little Mexican in St Ives called The Mex. Maybe it was the margaritas, but if you give me hot and spicy food I’m pretty happy. I’m vegan, so restaurants can be challenging, but as long as there’s chips… There is a great little cafe down in Exeter called Sacred Grounds, which is definitely worth a visit though.

Claire: What’s next for Bramble & Wild?

Grace: The new flower patch is high on our priority list, as well as a shop refit in spring 2020. I haven’t completely planned this yet, but I’m hoping it will feel more streamlined. There will be a bit more work space and there’s definitely going to be some neon, which is my current obsession. It will be five years since we moved into that shop and I think it’s time for a make over. We also have a new workshop space to kit out at home and over the next few years I hope to be able to run full day workshops there, so people can pick our flowers from the patch and then making lovely things with them after a homemade lunch.

Bramble & Wild, 4 Catherine Hill, Frome BA11 1BY

https://www.brambleandwild.com