Read My Story
*This story was originally published in the Nashville Voyager online magazine May 20, 2022.
Katie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I spent the better part of two decades traveling the world with a corporate job in the education world training people to grow their confidence in new skills.
Right after I had my first child, I moved to the Nashville area not knowing a single person. I began suffering heavily from postpartum depression and made the choice to leave my career and focus on my family and my mental health.
A few years later, I took a look at some of my plant propagations and had the thought, “I wonder if I can sell these.” This combined with my desire to get creative again and put something positive out in the world, especially on social media started a journey.
In early 2020, I decided to take my love for education and turn it into a plant business that actually cares if you keep your plant alive after you take it home.
Being a pop-up business, I am afforded the best of both worlds. I can run my own business, and be a woman out in the world, but also have the flexibility to be the primary caretaker of my family.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being a one-woman show, I had to learn how to do absolutely everything for the first time, essentially on my own.
Having the correct legal paperwork, building a website, finding credible wholesalers, bookkeeping, networking, and learning social media are all tasks that were new to me. So keeping all of these balls in the air while raising two small children in a pandemic 800 miles away from a family support system would have to be the biggest challenge.
All of that said, we’ve all heard the phrase, “If you find something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” I find this to be remarkably true. The energy that pursuing this dream has given me has had positive ripple effects on my personal mental health and the well-being of my family.
As you know, we’re big fans of Easy To Love Plants. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Easy To Love Plants is a pop-up plant business that specializes in easy care for plants. I partner with local ceramic artists and pot plants purposefully in their art.
I’m known for high-quality plants at a reasonable price. I handpick each plant from commercial greenhouses here in Middle Tennessee. I will never sell you a plant that isn’t in tip-top shape.
When a person buys a potted plant from me, they never have to wonder about which soil to buy, how big the pot is, or if the combination is suited for each other. This helps them get confidence in their plant journey.
I also host a weekly series on Instagram Live called “Ask Katie, Your Plant Lady” where I answer questions from my online community.
Giving people the confidence to enjoy their plant parenthood journey has been what I am most proud of. Many people tell me that they were never successful in keeping their plants alive until they started following me!
I absolutely love seeing the same people over and over again all over town at my pop-ups. You’ll find me in Nashville and the surrounding community at local businesses.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson I have learned is how important it is to stay true to my mission.
My mission is to give people confidence in their plant parenthood journey from start to finish. As I started to gain momentum, it was tempting to pursue opportunities that didn’t quite fit my mission or my bandwidth as a one-woman team.
I had to sit down at the beginning of this year and write out exactly what I aim to do and what opportunities fit that mission. This took a lot more introspection than I had expected. But since then, my business decisions have been much easier and I’m seeing my business grow! Pun intended.
View the article here: