ACS Student leading industry
In 2005, with a business plan and a passion to grow things, Lana Mitchell
enrolled in several courses with the ACS. She did the hydroponics course,
and then a course on growing cut-flowers, and with these, she started a
venture growing the Australian native flannel flower using hydroponics.
Within a year she won a scholarship that enabled her to continue her
studies, including a course on propagation by cuttings and a course on
horticultural marketing. Within 2 years, she was exporting flowers to Japan,
USA, Europe and the UK, and quickly gaining a reputation as having some of,
if not the best quality Flannel flower in the country.
In the last 3 years, Lana has won the Young Achievers Award from the Flowers
Association of Queensland (2008) and then the prestigious RIRDC Rural
Women's Award for NSW in 2010, with a bursary of $10,000 and the Australian
Institute of Company Directors Course. She owns the plant breeders rights
for a specific tall stemmed variety of Flannel flower, called White Romance,
and licenses growers in Australia and overseas to grow the flower for the
cut-flower industry. She also propagates the flannel flower for the nursery
industry and for botanic gardens.
"I consider that my success in recent years is directly related to the
training I have done with the ACS. The materials were spot on, and the
tutors were superb. I have always firmly believed that if you have a passion
to do something, the only thing that will prevent you from attaining your
goals, is lack of training and lack of understanding -- and for me, the
Australian Correspondence School makes sure that that does not occur. Could
not recommend them more."
Lana plans to continue studying with the ACS for some time, with several
courses still outstanding. She has 2 young boys, is a director of her own
company, as well as a director of Wildflowers Australia and also New Rural
Industries Australia.
To find out more about courses that will help you in this industry, click:
Cutting Propagation
Greenhouse Cut Flowers
Horticulture I
Horticulture II
Horticultural Marketing
To view more ACS Horticulture courses, click here.