One year on from the Interflora World Cup we caught up with finalist Elisabeth(also known to friends as Lisa) Pålsson to see how she was doing since her amazing 2nd place finish.
Elisabeth's floristry journey started at a florist school in Sweden in 2008. she worked as a trainee at Blomst af Hansen Oslo between 2009-2011 with Stein Are Hansen (Interflora World Champion at Shanghai in 2010) before moving to become a full time employee until 2019. Elisabeth also worked as a teacher's assistant at a workshop with Gregor Lersch in Hong Kong 2013 and was employed at Shishi Blomster by Linda Johnsen between 2020-2021.
Elisabeth is a floristry demonstrator and lecturer, floral industry concept developer, Nationally Certified Assessor and Judge in Floral Design and an Ambassador for Floral Fundamentals.
Before the Interflora World Cup, Elisabeth competed in a number of floristry competitions before first being named the Norwegian Junior Champion in 2011 as well as Nordic Champion 2013; Oslo Champion 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2017; and Norwegian champion in 2018.
Speaking on how the Interflora World Cup affected her life over the past year, Elisabeth said:
It has made me see the possibility’s and given me the push to do something new and exciting with my florist knowledge and skills. This has led her to start a business of her own to combine with her freelance work. Elisabeth stated "I’m really looking forward to meet my new flowery future!"
Reflecting on her favourite memory from the Interflora World Cup Elisabeth told us:
The whole week was really an amazing experience! To meet all the lovely competitors and see all the wonderful designs. There are so many memory’s but one that always pops up and makes me laugh ... how could I? ... Is when I forget to put my quite big bouquet in the semifinals on the pedestal… and I managed to make it stay upright in less than a second, and then to see and meet the faces and the reaction of all the public afterwards.
Over the past year Elisabeth has continued to compete and take part in demonstrations back home in Norway and is back in the UK this month for a demonstration with Elizabeth Newcombe.
We asked if Elisabeth had any tips or advice for any florists looking to enter the world of competition floristry for the first time and the response was perfect:
Just do it! Enjoy and do it a lot. You will probably not end up in the top from the start but you need all the practice and hard work to make it all the way!
Follow Elisabeth on Instagram @lisapaalsson
