Zoe Julian, along with her husband Ben, runs the very successful postal flower company Scilly Flowers. Scilly Flowers not only helps to keep the traditions of the Scillonian flower farming industry going but provides year-round employment for many islanders.
In December 2008 I had returned from New Zealand. I wanted to plan my next adventure and saw an advert for a nanny and farm worker on the tiny island of St. Martins. I spoke to Zoe on the phone and we both happened to be at our parents’ homes in Devon. We arranged to meet at a local pantomime with her children, and the rest is history!
I came to work for Zoe and Ben and was lucky enough to have an insight into the operation of their business. My time at Scilly Flowers helped me understand a little of what it takes to run a business in terms of production, logistics and marketing. Sharing this conversation with Zoe was a great excuse to ask some nosey questions!
Zoe, how did you find yourself leaving your teaching career to run a flower farm on a tiny island?
I got distracted by meeting my husband, Ben! I knew pretty much from the start of our relationship that his plan was to move back to St Martin’s and help run his family’s farm. I really loved teaching and I did / do miss it, but I am not sure I would have been very good at juggling family life with being a teacher. You can’t do everything and choices have to be made.
Scilly Flowers has been running for 34 years and now sends over 100,000 gift boxes of scented flowers a year. Churchtown Farm (where Scilly Flowers is based) offers year-round employment and has a team of 16 working outside on the farm and inside the packing shed and office (more at the busier times of year). What have been the biggest challenges as the business has grown?
Keeping an eye out for what needs to be done to create growth and making sure that there is the capacity between Ben and I to manage and drive the changes needed proactively. Of course, we don’t always manage that ideal and inevitably end up occasionally paddling hard to catch up with a reactive change! Luckily Ben and I have quite different skills sets and tend to trust each other to cover what the other isn’t, it has worked so far with not too many balls dropped!
What are your hopes and dreams for the future of Scilly Flowers?
It would be great to see the farm continue to thrive way into the future, but I don’t have a crystal ball and we don’t want to burden either of our kids with the expectation that they will take it on. They are both currently at uni so we will have to see how that pans out. For the moment it is jogging along quite nicely, and Ben and I still enjoy coming to work so we will just see what the future brings.
You have a lot on your plate with running the business, sitting as a director on the islands’ tourism board and helping your two children transition to the mainland life at university. How do you balance this with finding time for yourself? What does self-care look like to you?
Being self-employed is such a double-edged sword. In theory your time is your own to manage. But learning when to stop and say – ‘that is good enough – job done’ is something I really struggle with. I confess I coexist with a some rather ludicrous, potentially unhealthy ‘to do’ lists. The immediate, do it this week list, is fine as it’s motivated by imminent time pressure. It’s cousin, the ‘would be nice one day’ list, is quite a friendly planning tool that doesn’t emanate stress. The one I struggle with is the medium-term list. This list holds the jobs that get put off, but that really do need to get done. They are the things that you know will take way longer that you optimistically allow yourself to admit. Taming that list is still a work in progress! It really helps that Ben is much better at separating home and often tells me to stop and call it a day.
I am not that good at being still, so self- care tends to revolve around ‘doing’. I really enjoy cooking (not that great at clearing up though) and of course enjoying the great outdoors of St Martin’s in all weathers and in many different ways.
What is your favourite way to spend a day off on the islands?
All the following in no particular order; food, an activity in or on the water – preferably both, something with friends, walk, more food and drink, sitting on beach on warm sand and out of the wind.
Finally, do you have a favourite P & P product?
Nurture Face Oil - love it!
You can find the Scilly Flowers website here. They have just begun sending their new season scented narcissi, an iconic Scillonian crop.
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