Green and Field Horsforth: Leeds florist's 'dreams come true' as she opens first shop and becomes a mum

Little did she know that both would come to fruition at the same time, years before she ever expected.

Carly had studied and worked in floristry for only two years when lockdown began, but with large amounts of stock still on hand from workshops she had attended, she decided then was the time to start her at-home business.

The business quickly flourished, as lockdown caused house plant and flowery delivery sales to go through the roof and local businesses began to stock her products.

As lockdown was drawing to a close, Carly spotted an empty unit near her home in Horsforth. She decided now was the time to act.

Carly told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “It had a sign up saying lease to let and I saw the space and absolutely loved it. I just thought, ‘you've got to go for it and give it a try.’”

At this time, Carly and her partner had far-off plans of having a baby, something they thought they were unable to do naturally, and which they planned to act on after a year or two of the shop being open.

But this plan would soon be rushed forwards.

Carly said: “I went and got the lease all signed up, got the keys and had it ready to go, but then realised I wasn’t feeling that great. I found out I was pregnant at the same time.

“It was an amazing, happy surprise. It’s so cheesy but my dreams came true all at once.”

Although setting up shop while pregnant felt overwhelming at times, at the end of July 2021, Carly’s shop, Green and Field, was opened.

She added: “It was just me on my own to start with, so I was eight months pregnant lugging around these bunches of heavy greenery upstairs and downstairs with this massive bump, fat ankles, and God knows what else.

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“My third trimester was Christmas time when we started doing wreath workshops, so people probably came in and thought ‘what is she doing?’”

At the end of January, Carly’s little girl, Ivy, was born. Carly and her partner were “over the moon”.

Carly now wants to give back to the community who helped her when she started, and to do so, is stocking products from local businesses, along with setting up workshops for locals to both run and attend.

She said: “I got a lot of support from other small local businesses, and I want to be able to give that back because that’s what enabled me to have my dream.

“Equally, I want to offer the community something that bit different, you can come and buy things, but you can also learn a new skill, and walk away with something you’ve made yourself.

“I think Covid, as much as it was an awful time for many people, including myself, for a lot of people it made them think ‘life is too short, let's just do it, you never know what's around the corner.’”