Ashlee Jane, an award-winning home decor influencer and entrepreneur, is the visionary founder behind flourishing floral e-commerce business The Suffolk Nest. With over 500,000 followers on Instagram, she talks to Lynda Clark about how her thriving business began and gives some tips on how to add flowers to your home without breaking the budget.
Ashlee runs The Suffolk Nest with her husband Chris, and although business is booming and she is incredibly busy, she has time to chat and obviously loves what she does with a great deal of passion. She explains, “I had a very normal upbringing. My sister is only 15 months older than me and we were like two peas in a pod! I was actually born in Liverpool, but my parents moved to Suffolk because of my dad’s work. Then when I was five, we all moved again to Hong Kong because of my dad’s career. My mum stayed at home and looked after us all and made a lot of sacrifices for the family. It did instill in me that a career was very important, and I used my dad as a role model. It was about 30 years ago, so not many English people had ever visited Hong Kong and we were rather unique. We used to get stopped in the street and the local people wanted to touch our faces or hold our hands – apparently for good luck – it was a very special time.”
Ashlee eventually went to university in Nottingham to study Fashion Management. “I was rather headstrong and always wanted to be the best at everything I did. I worked myself into the ground and set such high standards for myself. It really brought out the best and worst in me.” She got a first class honours degree and her dissertation on how online shopping was set to change the world won awards. Little did she know at the time that she would end up running her very own e-commerce business! “I then got a job at ASOS as a merchandiser, which again was a highly successful online fashion brand and tied in well with my dissertation. It was buzzing, busy, thriving and very exciting. We had goals to hit, and it was pretty full-on. I had to work on a lot of spreadsheets and numbers though and I missed doing anything creative. As a child I had always loved making things and I felt this creativity was lacking in my life and work.”
We Worked All Hours And It Was Both Exciting And Chaotic But The Suffolk Nest Was Born
After two years, Ashlee decided to move on as the wages were low and it was difficult to get a promotion and move up the ranks, but also time to move closer to home. She moved back to Suffolk and got a job with Cadbury. “I stayed there for eight years and it suited me at the time. It was getting near to Christmas and I was due to go with some friends on a wreath-making course. I had a terrible day as I had been driving a lot and was very tired but I felt I had to turn up as there were only four of us going and I didn’t want to let anyone down. Thank goodness I did go as that night something clicked! I loved it and it sparked something in me to want to do more. I went home and made lots more wreaths and foraged shrubs and trees in my parents’ garden to work with. Then I suddenly got requests from friends to make one for them and things started to take off.
“A friend then asked me if I could do the flowers at her wedding, which came as a bit of a shock. She wanted orchids and a trailing bouquet and I felt it was way out of my zone. I advised her that she needed a professional florist but Chris, my husband, encouraged me and said it might be my only opportunity to do something on such a large scale as this. I suppose I just needed someone to believe in me and I decided to go ahead. I spent hours and hours looking at orchids on the internet and how to work with them. I was terrified they would all die but everything worked out all right and the wedding was beautiful. She loved what I did and I must admit I was quite euphoric.”
Ashlee had been running an Instagram account detailing all the home renovations she and Chris were doing on their house. “I occasionally put up stories about flowers and wreaths and they were very popular. But, then the pandemic hit and while we were all at home I decided to launch my own Christmas wreath-making kit. People would buy the kit which I posted to them and then follow my video on how to make it. To my absolute surprise it went wild but we had no website and no way of taking anyone’s money and I had to go through each individual message on Instagram and get back to everyone.
“The other problem was where to get the flowers, as up until then I had only used a small local grower who just didn’t have the capacity to supply me with the amount I needed. It was very tough as my daughters were so young, Orla was two and Florence just six months, and I was working all hours trying to look after them and run the business. I was on maternity leave but Chris decided to come into the business and my parents thought I was crazy, but I couldn’t have done it without them. We worked all hours and it was both exciting and chaotic, but The Suffolk Nest was born.”
They created a website and at the start they only had three items for sale. One was an apothecary glass vase which they sold thousands of. They had a lot of hurdles to jump through as they needed to find more suppliers and sort out packaging. Then Ashlee was at a supplier and saw a eucalyptus stem which she was convinced was real but was actually faux. She said, “I asked how many stems they had and they came back and said just 80, so I bought them all. I packed them into the boot of my car and when I got home Chris was very surprised and asked how I proposed to sell them! They are still extremely popular today and three years on we work with different manufacturers and many different types of stems – it’s just grown and grown!”
Chris came into the business full time around a year ago. It was a very big decision for them both as they have two young children and a mortgage. “I had a real inner belief that we would make it work. At the time we rented a warehouse, but within a year we had run out of space. We used to pack everything ourselves and often had to work nearly all night to get through the orders but we now employ someone to do it and we have a warehouse manager and executive. Chris looks after logistics and I look after everything else – I literally have a different hat on throughout the day!”
They stopped dealing with fresh flowers a couple of years ago as shipping them created multiple problems. For starters they are perishable and hot weather can cause real problems, plus once they are with a courier anything might happen. “I didn’t want to get a reputation for sending dead flowers to our customers. I used to panic and not sleep just imagining what might go wrong and that made me resent the flowers, which was awful. We don’t do weddings any more either as they take up so much time and at weekends too and we really want to spend some family time with the girls as we are always so busy.
It Seems Incredible That A Hobby Has Become My Full Time Career And We Are In A Period Of Huge Growth At The Moment And Beginning To Scale Things Up
“It seems incredible that a hobby has become my full-time career and we are in a period of huge growth at the moment and beginning to scale things up. I pride ourselves on our customer service though, as that is very important – some days I think we will take over the world and others I just go with the flow, but I am so happy and proud at what we have achieved.”
Ashlee and the family live in Suffolk and have recently moved into a new home. “We moved at Christmas which was a bit of a nightmare but I love Christmas and I managed to decorate the new house and put up a gorgeous garland on the fireplace mantle, and make it homely and cosy for our girls’ first Christmas there.”
Ashlee has some great advice for first time buyers who are working on a small budget but would still like faux flowers in their dream home. “My advice would be to buy just one arrangement or three or four stems that you love and arrange them in a simple vase. They don’t cost very much and will look sensational on a coffee table, in the kitchen, or bedroom. Buy something you really can’t resist and I know it will make a very big impact and you won’t have the expense of buying fresh flowers every week which can be pricey.”
She looks after all the social media and has just hit over half a million followers on Instagram. She explained, ”Instagram is my baby and we get around 100 to 200 messages a day, which is a lot to deal with. It is an incredible platform and is a huge priority for me and sometimes Chris will help me with content to put up but it’s very precious to me – it’s where it all started! We are also on TikTok which is great too.”
As if Ashlee wasn’t busy enough, she has also written a book, House of Flowers, published by Quercus, £25. It features 30 floral project ideas across each season and was published in March 2023 and hit the bestseller list on multiple occasions. “It was quite chaotic as I am not a writer, but I loved the creative side of it and all the wonderful photoshoots we did. It’s sold around 11,000 copies which is great and I am very pleased that I did it, even though it was tough.”
Instagram Is My Baby And We Get Around 100 To 200 Messages A Day, Which Is A Lot To Deal With. It Is An Incredible Platform And Is A Huge Priority To Me
Ashlee and Chris enjoy their holidays with the girls and even though they are both passionate about The Suffolk Nest, they try to spend as much family time as possible. The world-class faux flowers, arrangements and home decor pieces are stunning, but after talking to Ashlee I truly think her favourite is the Christmas wreaths she makes – it was, after all, where it all began.
thesuffolknest.com
@The_Suffolk_Nest
Explore more in our free magazine: Read Now
Lynda Clark
Lynda has been a journalist all her working life. She started as an indentured reporter on the Streatham News. After three years she joined Woman’s Weekly in the fashion department and eventually worked her way up to being Associate Fashion Editor. After 13 years she decided to go freelance and wrote for many newspapers and magazines. Her interest in homes and interiors began when she became Editor of Homestyle magazine. Having always wanted to start her own magazine she launched Spaces – an international magazine aimed at people who are passionate about architecture and design. After five years she sold the title and began working at First Time Buyer magazine. She quickly became Editor and eventually CEO of the company. She is truly passionate about getting first timers on to the property ladder and supports all the housing associations, developers, legal and financial experts helping them to spread the word about the affordable housing options open to first time buyers.
