It’s fair to say that 60-year-old Roz Chandler is a do-er. After moving from a career in travel to building her own digital marketing agency, the mother of two decided to follow a newfound passion in her late 40s and start a flower farm alongside her day job.
Fast forward 12 years, and Roz runs Field Gate Flowers full-time. The farm not only supplies weddings, funerals, and London flower markets with a kaleidoscopic array of floral blooms, but also teaches amateur gardeners and wannabe business owners how to grow cut flowers. Roz has also written a book on the subject and hosts a weekly podcast.
We sat down with Roz to learn more about her broad-ranging career, what it takes to build a successful business later in life, and how to start growing cut flowers…
“I thought I could turn this into a side hustle – which is what I did!”
When Roz, her husband, and two daughters moved into a house in the Buckinghamshire countryside just outside of Milton Keynes in 2007, they weren’t quite sure what to do with the five acres of land that came with it.
“We got some pigs, goats, and chickens,” Roz explains. “And then I saw this half-day course on growing cut flowers.”
A marketeer by trade, Roz didn’t have any experience in agriculture. But whether it was the newfound space she found herself with or an endless curiosity, something drew her to the prospect of growing flowers.
As she explains, “I’m not from a horticultural background. I didn’t have a grandma with lots of space in the garden, and I didn’t always have a longing to grow flowers. I’d never really grown anything before, so I started from scratch. I had these three raised beds, which I’ve still got today, and I thought, I can do this!”
Roz has had an eclectic career. After studying for a degree in environmental chemistry, she became a holiday rep in the Greek Islands. She returned to the UK after a few years but remained in the travel industry, taking groups of professionals all over the world.
“There’s absolutely no doubt that taking 20 BMW salespeople to Mauritius for a week or some magicians around the States to learn about magic is great fun. I loved it and met lots of really interesting people.”
But when her children arrived in the late 90s, Roz decided to make a career change, so she set up and ran a digital marketing agency for over a decade.
By the time she enrolled in the cut flower growing course, she’d moved on to working as an interim marketing director. “I’d go into businesses and turn them around,” she explains.
As her unconventional career journey shows, Roz has always been keen to seize opportunities when they come around, making drastic pivots and taking risks. So, it’s no surprise that once she attended the flower growing course, she saw the potential for more than just a new hobby.
Roz says, “I thought I could turn this into a side hustle – which is what I did! So, over the years, I grew a bit more and a bit more. We started providing flowers for weddings, and it got to the point where we were doing about 50 a year. I hired a team to help me out; it got bigger and bigger. Then COVID hit, and I thought, now what?”
“I love helping people run businesses and change their lives”
In the years between starting Field Gate Flowers and the coronavirus pandemic, Roz wound down from her day job as her floral side hustle continued to bloom. So, when lockdown came around, she was only working as a marketing director one day a week.
But devoting more time to the flower farm didn’t mean that she was finished using the wealth of skills developed over her career. In fact, Roz used her marketing knowledge to adjust to the rapidly changing climate and took Field Gate Flowers online.
She explains, “In February 2020, I started my own online course called ‘Seed to Vase’. It was about teaching anybody out there how to grow cut flowers in their garden – and I used my marketing experience to find an audience.
“It was an eight-month course. It started in February and went all the way to the end of the season – and I took them through what you do each month. We looked at different plants, we had guest speakers every month, Q&As, and a lively Facebook group where people could ask questions. It was a real community!”
After the success of the Seed to Vase course, Roz began running other courses and workshops – including ‘Blooming Business’, which helped participants follow in her footsteps and grow flowers professionally.
“Some people were transitioning from full-time jobs into flower farming and just doing it on the side, some had retired and saw it as a way to generate extra income, and others were just jumping in with both feet.”
Today, Roz has stepped away from her marketing role and focuses on Field Gate Flowers full-time. She continues to run a variety of courses and workshops – including in-person retreats for those looking to become professional flower farmers.
“I love helping people run businesses and change their lives. For instance, we came to the end of a course, and one of the women – who I didn’t know that well and who had been very quiet for the eight months – said that I’d changed her life.
“She explained that she’d just lost her husband and had joined the course really cautiously. Her daughter’s now a trained florist, and they’re going into business together. She’s going to do the growing, and her daughter’s going to do the floristry. She said that she now has a new purpose in life.
“It’s amazing that you can actually change someone’s life and do something that makes them happy.”
“One of the benefits of starting a business later in life is you’ve got more knowledge than you think you do”
Whether you’re interested in starting a flower farm or any kind of business, we thought we’d take the opportunity to ask Roz for some of her top tips for budding entrepreneurs. Unsurprisingly for a marketeer, one of her biggest pieces of advice is to work out who your customers are…
“It’s almost like you’ve got to do that bit first. There are massive amounts of creative people out there who make really good stuff, but they haven’t thought who they’re going to sell it to.”
One way prospective business owners can do this, Roz explains, is by mapping out what’s known as ‘Ideal Customer Profiles’, which are descriptions of the perfect customers for their products.
“Normally, you’d have two or three. So I’d give her a name: Sophie. How old is she? Where does she live? What are her hobbies? I want to feel Sophie, have her as my screensaver. I want to know what she looks like, what she reads, and, most importantly, where I’m going to find her. Today, it’s mostly through social media.”
Aside from planting, harvesting, and everything in between, Roz’s courses place an emphasis on how to use social media as a marketing tool.
She says, “From a social media point of view, I’d start to think about where your audience is. If you’re catering to funerals, you might want to think about having a Facebook presence because your customers might be a little older. If you’re looking to do weddings, however, you’ve really got to be on Instagram because you’re selling to a demographic that’s on there.
“We train people to turn their social media profiles into something worthwhile, helping them to make content, get more followers, and all of that. Because if you’re a 55-year-old with no experience and need to make a reel with trending audio, that’s pretty tricky.
“For me, Instagram has been particularly successful – and I think the reason for this is because I do reels all the time. I’m visible every day. So it’s all about consistency – it’s about being there all the time, and, eventually, one piece of content will go mad. And that brings me an audience, so when I want to sell something, I’ve got an audience that’s ready to buy.”
From managing finances to dealing with the uncontrollable nature of the weather, Roz tells us that the road to becoming a successful business owner is full of hurdles.
But one of the main challenges that she sees aspiring entrepreneurs struggling with, especially the women taking part in her courses, is ‘imposter syndrome’ – a term used to describe feeling as if you aren’t as competent or worthy as people say.
Roz explains, “I think the reason people feel this way is because, way back, someone told them they couldn’t do something in their lives, and now they believe it.
“But one of the benefits of starting a business later in life is you’ve got more knowledge than you think you do. At this age, we’ve probably had enough experience with failure that we think, hey, let’s give this a go. Why not?
“People laughed and said, ‘What, you growing flowers? That’s hilarious!’ I was probably the person least suited to it because I had no experience. But remember, you don’t have to be a flower farmer on day one. You could run a community garden or [simply grow for the enjoyment of it]. Just get out there and have a go!”
“I never imagined I’d be where I am today!”
To those who are less worried about turning flower farming into a business and just want to grow brilliant blossoms as a hobby, Roz has this to say…
“It’s best to have a dedicated patch, but if you don’t have the space, you can grow in your main garden or even in pots. I would start with some really easy annual flowers, which are a direct sow. So you can basically just open the packet and throw it on the soil. It’s a little more complicated than that, but not really!
“Some good ones to start with are ammi, cornflowers, nigellas, and scabious. Then you can start to grow perennials – roses, dahlias, that sort of thing. But in the beginning, if you’re a real newbie, just get some seed packets and get them in the ground in April. In 12 weeks, you’ll have flowers!”
While it’s clear that Roz enjoys growing cut flowers, it seems that helping wannabe growers and potential business owners has breathed new life into her horticultural career.
By taking Field Gate Flowers online, offering courses and workshops, and creating a supportive community, Roz has found a fresh mission and purpose in an otherwise successful business.
She says, “Just before COVID, I think I got to a certain age. Sixty was coming quite quickly, and I wanted to do something that I was passionate about and interested in and that was going to make a difference.
“When I decided to give up my full-time job, I never imagined I’d be where I am today! But I did know that I enjoyed growing and wanted to have an impact.
“In the future, I want to keep growing and getting bigger. I’d love to run more courses, influence more people, and be on the radio and TV. I’ll probably write another book next year about the journey.”
To find out more about Field Gate Flowers and what they offer, head over to their website using the button below or follow them on Instagram at @fieldgateflowers.
Have you been thinking about starting your own business or growing cut flowers? Or are you inspired by Roz’s story? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.