Q&A with The Beautiful Bunch

Not only are The Beautiful Bunch passionate about creating beautiful floral arrangements, they're also a social enterprise that supports young women from refugee backgrounds to fulfill their dreams.

Founded by Jane Marx, her small team create magic in their Fitzroy North studio where her senior florists and trainees put together beautiful bouquets made from the freshest, seasonal blooms. 

We're excited to collaborate with Jane as part of our We Wear Cargo Crew campaign and caught up with her in this Q&A to learn more about her business.

1. We absolutely love the work you’re doing. Could you share a bit about the Beautiful Bunch?

My name is Jane Marx and I am the founder of The Beautiful Bunch. I’m passionate about creating better work opportunities for young women from refugee backgrounds, and I also really love flowers!

Our studio is in Fitzroy North. We provide paid training and employment opportunities to young women from refugee backgrounds who are marginalized from the mainstream workforce. Our trainees learn foundational floristry and also business administration skills - for many, working with us is their first ever job. We provide a warm, welcoming, and fun work environment, which is focused on supporting our trainees to build their self-confidence and take steps to achieving their dreams. 

2. What does a typical day at the Beautiful Bunch look like?

My day starts a little earlier than everyone else’s! I’m up at about 2:15am to feed my baby and then I’m at the market to buy the flowers just after 3am.

Most of the team start at about 8am. We have coffees, run through the orders for the day and then start with care and conditioning of the flowers. The actual making of the arrangements is usually complete by about 1:30pm. We take photos of our favourite bunches, and then we have lunch together. Our trainees leave at about 2:30pm, our senior florists usually work until about 3pm and my day ends late at night.

3. And talking about your flowers – you’ve got a beautiful selection on your website. How do you choose which flowers to get? 

We are all very different and our flower favourites definitely reflect this! However, currently, we are all loving the beautiful zinnias we get from a farm close by, and it’s tulip season, which is one of my favourites!

When we initially launched, we only had two options, a Bunch of The Day and a Bigger Bunch. The concept was, and still is, that we would buy the freshest, prettiest things at market and put that in to a simple arrangement.  Whilst we have more than two offerings now, at the core of what we do will always be a focus on seasonality, a commitment to use locally grown flowers wherever possible, and our signature aesthetic is cottage garden – playful, romantic, and pretty!

4. It’s great to see that your team wear our aprons! What do you love most about your Cargo Crew aprons?

The Tom Bib Apron in Forest is really perfect for the work we do. It’s not too long, but covers our clothes nicely to offer enough protection – so important as we make a real mess! And the single pocket is ideal too, as we need just someone small to pop in ribbon and twine. We also get lots of lovely comments on the colour! 

We chose to get our logo embroidered because it’s important that we look and feel professional, and it’s just a beautiful add-on to the apron design. 

5. What’s next for TBB? Where do you see yourselves in a few years’ time?

This year we are focused on growth in Melbourne, both in terms of our social impact and reaching more Melbourne customers. However, we have our sights set on Sydney and have started taking a few baby steps in that direction, which is really exciting.