We spoke with Corrie MacGregor (nee Wilkinson), who was a lawyer in our Property team in Melbourne from 2010-2012. Since leaving, Corrie has had a career change and is now a wedding and event florist, having founded Morrie & Maisie Event Flowers in 2018. With her business entering its fourth year, Corrie is looking forward to more weddings opening up post-COVID.
My career story...
I joined Natalie Bannister, John O’Kane and Peter Jenkin in the Hall & Wilcox Property team in 2010. After a short but sweet stint, I moved in-house to The Just Group for another four years. They had a decentralised legal department. I sat with the property team and looked after their NZ and Australian retail leases. A highlight of that job was the clothing sample sales; you needed your elbows out at the Peter Alexander ones! A return to private practice in 2016 at Holding Redlich was cut short when my husband was posted to a project in Africa. This was an opportunity I couldn’t resist, so I joined him over there for six months. We first lived in Luanda, Angola, and then moved to Cape Town, South Africa. This assignment was incredible and we have so many wonderful stories and experiences from living there. It also gave me the opportunity to think and reset. When we returned to Melbourne, I completed a full-time career change in floristry at Bloom College. My business Morrie & Maisie Event Flowers has grown organically ever since but really took off after moving regionally to Phillip Island in 2018. Now, finishing its fourth year of operation (and with weddings being prohibited for nearly two years of that!), the next couple of years are looking jam-packed with upcoming weddings. I’m so stoked that couples will soon (fingers crossed!) get to celebrate among their family and friends again!
A typical day at work for me is...
There is no typical day, especially at the moment with COVID-19 restrictions changing so frequently. However, in a non-COVID world, Mondays to Wednesdays are spent juggling two kids while also trying to fit in all the usual work administration tasks like preparing quotes, zoom meetings with couples, bookkeeping, social media, planning etc. Then, if I have a wedding on Saturday, it will essentially consume all of Thursday to Sunday.
Luckily, I have daycare and a patient husband who helps with juggling the children on these days. Thursdays are spent driving from Phillip Island to the flower markets and back (often leaving home at 4am), with the rest of the day spent prepping the flowers ready to make everything. Fridays are spent making as much of the flower items as possible in my home studio. Saturdays are spent putting on the final touches, delivering bouquets, creating and setting up flower installations in the venues, then Sunday mornings are spent dismantling, collecting and tidying everything away again afterwards! The only consistent part of my day is my morning coffee… I love a mocha.
The thing that makes me get out of bed and go to work each morning is...
Two small children… They. Wake. So. Early. Every. Morning.
I'm also passionate about...
Lindt balls. Anything more than $2.30 per 100g at Coles isn’t a bargain.
The best bit of advice given to me was...
You should never mistake good manners for weakness.
The best part of my role is...
Working in such happy environments. Couples are always so excited to get married and plan their special day.
My most memorable Hall & Wilcox moment was...
I’ll never forget my first day. I was super excited to start and remember having a really great first day – new job, new team, new city. Then I got home and realised my top had been inside out all day. I don’t know if anyone noticed but the embarrassment was real.
You can connect with Corrie through LinkedIn here.
This article was published in October 2021.