Teaching classes is just a small part of my business, but it is probably one of my favorites. When I taught my first class at the Textile Art Center in Manhattan in 2012 it was with the encouragement of one of my very dear friends Nicolette Owen of Nicolette Camille. She is an absolute wonder of a floral designer and all around super human being. Nikki teaches her own classes at Little flower school and she talked me through how I too could and should teach classes.
My fear of talking publicly has taken me to some dark, sweaty, shakey "oh my god I really do think I'm going to vomit" places. The night before the class I wrote out things I might say during the lesson, I prepped and re-packed all my supplies I even learnt everyones names ahead of time. On the phone Nikki calmly reassured me. She reminded me of the big glass of white wine afterwards and her parting words I repeated to myself, - "You got this."
That class kind of changed me. I met some wonderful people, I enjoyed every single part of teaching and found a new voice I didn't know was part of me. In short, I got it.
I still get sweaty palms before everyone arrives, I still worry about embarrassing myself at some point and above all I hope everyone has the best experience during the time we spend together. So far every class has been a wonderful experience for me, and the feedback I get from my students has been overwhelming. We have, laughed, cried and eaten too much cheese together. We have learnt, conferred and spilt ink together. Above all else we have empowered one another to step past what scares us, whether it be the blank piece of paper or the first hesitant words that come out of our mouths.
To read more about my last classes please hop over to Bourbon&Gloss who wrote a smashing piece on the day we spent together in the Spring.
New classes will be available for October and November 2015 on the website later today.
