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infinitemagazine-blog · 7 years

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Interview with Charlotte Winbolt

I account Charlotte as the main influence for me discovering my love of creating magazines, telling stories and working with interesting women. I interviewed her in my second year for a magazine created for diversity, she was working as a lap dancer in the night and then completing her floristry course in the day, I real thought provoking contrast I thought.

I envisioned that it would be a good idea to create another article with her, but this time make it stronger and better than before. I feel that my skills have improved since then, and I’d like to showcase her story. It also would be nice to see how her life has changed since then, as she is no longer working at the club, but instead running her own floristry business and working in Topshop part time. I desperately want other women to hear Charlottes story, as she is someone that embodies the very essence of an empowering woman. Not many can loose their mother, survive sex work, and then create their own business solely of their own back.

I decided questions that would reflect this, as well as give Charlotte enough space to draw her own ideas. As she’s so busy, we messaged each other back and forth over text and email, and I have organised a date to shoot with her when she’s not working. I’m slightly concerned that this is a little late, as the nearest date she’s available is the 4th of April, will this give me enough time? Should I see if she's free before?? I asked if I could shoot her at her home, as this is where she runs her business, again I have set up a Pinterest board to generate inspiration for this shoot, and so Charlotte knows the direction I am after. I have recieved her answers, but I might her to edit these as she swears a little, but this is something I can decide when I come down to creating the article on InDesign.

1. Hi there Charlotte, for those who don’t know you as well as I do, would you mind briefly describing your story so far?

So basically, I'm a failed art student (hahahahahah Oh god) and retail slave of 5 years. I had a brief stint of working in the ‘nightlife entertainment’ industry, and now I'm training to be a florist.

2. What is it you do exactly, a little birdie tells me you’re quite the flower queen?

I'm trying my hardest to run a small floristry business from home while working a 37.5-hour week, at the moment, so definitely a struggling but motivated flower queen!

3. When I last interviewed you, you were juggling working at the club while completing your floristry training, how has life blossomed since then?

Life has blossomed in the sense that I don't work night and day now; I have so much more time for my own wellbeing which feels fucking wonderful. My relationships with friends are finally great and I'm the healthiest I've ever been, mentally and physically.

4. You’ve also acquired some new beautiful artworks on your body, would you describe what these are, why you got them and the inspiration behind them?

I'm a little bit obsessed with tattoos and a great tattooist has done most of my recent ones, Patrick Bates (Instagram: European.son.420). He hand pokes, which is just a needle and ink as opposed to the traditional way of doing it with a gun. I love the handwritten element of his work, and it feels much less aggressive on your body. Tattoos never used to be personal to me or mean anything, but I think they all do now, I'm inspired by my own mind state as every time I get a new one I'm in a different place. That sounds really fucking pretentious, but it doesn't come from a place of showiness.

5. How is your floristry business flourishing?

I don't know if flourishing is the correct word, because how much can a business really flourish when you work a 37 hour week and you like napping as much as I do haha? It's definitely progressed in the sense that I am doing a few weddings this year, I have plans in the works to do a few workshops this summer.

6. What’re your hopes for 2017, what do you wish to do?

It's as simple as not losing my fucking marbles. I've always struggled with balance my whole life so it's just maintaining that really. In an ideal world I'd like to make enough money from Stem & Petal to work part time in retail, but I think that might be a 2018 pipe dream.

7. With Infinite being Brighton based, what does this city mean to you?

I was on holiday recently, and I couldn't stop telling everyone I met that Brighton is the best city in the whole world. I don't think I realised how much it meant to me until I nearly left 2 years ago for good…like I've met some of the best people ever in Brighton. As much as I hate the tourists and shoosh and the wind, it could be a lot worse. Just means familiarity.

8. Is this somewhere that you feel you could call home?

Yes, definitely.

9. Who or what would you cite as your main inspiration?

This is a really hard question, because it changes daily…probably the people I surround myself with that I genuinely am fully in love with, like all my friends. Quality over quantity is the best decision with friends and I've met some of the purest kindest gentlest people this year. It's when I noticed that I literally had no negative feelings ever towards them that I realised that these people are my soulmates.

I guess I'm inspired by some celebrities, but not on a deep level. I inspire myself too because of all the times I thought ‘fuck I'm not gonna make it to tomorrow’, and whoops here I am? That's super cool, like I did it. So nearly everyone is my main inspiration…sorry I didn't answer that question very well haha.

10. What is your current life motto?

That it's going to be good and I'm only going to thrive more. That happiness being a constant state, is a stupid westernised idea and it's not that simple. Everything is good already, but it's not going to be all the time and it's okay? You're allowed to have bad weeks and basically I need to stop being so hard on myself haha because it only makes me miserable.

11. Do you believe in fate?

I didn't, but I think maybe I do. I don't believe in people using fate as a precursor to them making bad decisions you know? Like not everything is fate, sometimes you just make stupid decisions because you're stupid. But definitely the universe has conspired to bring me the people I have met in the past year

12. How does it feel to be so young, but already achieved so much, with Stem Petal being testament to that?

It feels like a lot of pressure but I think I work better under pressure

13. Lastly, talk me through your favourite flowers (mine are chrysanthemums)

THE HARDEST QUESTION EVER! I fucking love peonies. I'll get married in July just to have a peony wedding. But I also love dahlias, sweet peas, tulips, anenomies and ranunculus. Oh, and roses. Probably daffodils too. All of them really, I think they're fucking wonderful.

I’m not sure if I’m going to include all the interview questions and answers, as upon reflection it is quite lengthy??? I think that once I have the on location photoshoot with Charlotte I’ll be able to decide from there, it definitely makes for an interesting read! I had my Mum and friends read it and they reported how interesting Charlotte is, without even meeting her.

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