Back in November 2021 I was contacted out of the blue by AXA business insurance to see if I wanted to be a part of an advertising campaign! They were looking for gardeners/landscapers, so I guess they looked through their data base of customers. As luck would have it for them, I was a teacher for 10 years before diving into the world of plants and previous to that I did a degree in Communications and PR, so I am very happy to chat and waffle until they get the good sound bites!
That said I am not looking to be the next TV gardener, there are plenty of those and I am very happy doing my thing in reality and occasionally in print! So once I triple checked that it wasn’t going to appear in any ad-breaks during Coronation Street or my face staring at people going up and down tube station escalators I agreed. A photo shoot was arranged forthwith, which came at the right time by mid-December diary wise as I had quite a lot of availability!
“The only other sort of photoshoot I had been party to was my wedding day and that is not quite the same thing, let me tell you! It took a bit of getting used to”
It was totally different for me – the only other sort of photoshoot I had been party to was my wedding day and that is not quite the same thing, let me tell you! It took a bit of getting used to but everyone: one photographer and two assistants, an art director and a representative from the marketing department were so lovely and incredible at putting this camera-shy, country bumpkin at ease. They had also come down from Glasgow to Northamptonshire for the day to get this done on one of the shortest days in the year so time was very much of the essence so I needed to get over myself – to be frank!
This image took about half an hour to get because I kept looking down to get down the steps. I was so worried I was going to fall off!
Following a faff about on my allotment pretending to work they bought us lunch and moved ‘location’ (model speak) to a Nursery I use a lot where there was more faffing with plants and pushing trolleys around and racing the day light and pretending to run my business from the allotment/garden centre!
Just making an important call to my insurance company while holding a primrose and fern – naturally.
In the new year there was a meeting with their digital content and marketing team to get the interview. Charting my move to horticulture, what it is like as a woman trades person and what it entails running a business.
You can read the outcome of this interview and photoshoot here.
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