We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mary Minchella. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mary below.
Alright, Mary thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
Sorella is Italian for “sister” and it was my sister, Gina, who was instrumental in prodding me to move forward with my business idea, and she came up with the name.
She and I are fortunate to consider ourselves best friends even though there’s ten years between us. For several years, before I started the succulent party favor business, we talked about a business venture together. The reality, however, was it was difficult to put it together, coordinate our schedules to truly pursue it as business partners. She is a full time physical therapist for a famous television show, runs a physical therapy concierge practice, and has two young children aged 7 and 1. I work in the real estate and mortgage industry and had teenagers at the time. We were each carrying a lot on our plates at the time I started my little succulent favor business,
Moving forward with it as a solo endeavor, she suggested naming it Sorella as a nod to the hope of having something together in the future, and of course, because it obvioulsy rhymes with our last name, Minchella. Technically, “sorella” is the singular noun, while “sorelle” is the plural form, but we decided that not only would the plural be confused with the boot brand and not rhyme as well, it made sense to use the singular form since I was going to be a solopreneur.
Even so, Gina works with me in the background, helping come up with new design ideas and being my right hand during the Holidays and Mother’s Day rush when I need help.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m going to pull some info from my Branding Package, that will give you an overview of my business, and then I will try to write a bit at the end of all of this information. You can come back to me with questions if you’d like:
Introduction: In business since 2017, Sorella Minchella has been providing succulent party favors, party favor tags, customized party goods such as signage, place cards, menus and banners, and succulent arrangements for events. The owner, Mary Minchella, is a succulent lover and self-taught floral designer. Using multiple varieties of plants and a rainbow of colors, her arrangement style is full and vibrant. Plant pun flag tags and paper party goods showcase beautiful watercolor artwork designed with a touch of humor and love. Sorella Minchella’s offerings reflect a thoughtful and detail-oriented approach to every aspect of gifting and event displays.
Products and services offered: Succulent party favors, custom party favor tags and matching signage, succulent arrangements as occasion gifts and centerpieces for events, and as the business has grown, new offerings include plant-themed gift items, succulent arrangements for home decor and outdoor spaces in the same full and overflowing style as our gift arrangements. On-site succulent planting parties and classes that can be hosted at venues, business locations, or in-home as a fun, creative experience for friends and family, corporate team building events, bridal or baby showers, and other occasions.
Sorella Minchella is guided by a distinct set of values that form the cornerstone of its identity and mission. At the core of the brand’s philosophy is a dedication to fostering creativity, authenticity, and personal expression, sprinkled with a touch of humor. Celebrating the joy of artistic exploration and the power of self-discovery, the brand values inclusivity, encouraging a vibrant community that embraces individuality and fosters a sense of belonging. With a focus on cultivating meaningful connections and genuine experiences, Sorella Minchella is committed to creating products and services that inspire joy, creativity, and a profound love of gift-giving, leaving a lasting impression on the lives of its customers.
Celebrating the beauty of plants and the joy of giving, Sorella Minchella cultivates vibrant experiences and heartfelt connections through artful succulent arrangements, personalized gifts, and engaging events. With a playful touch and a genuine love for the green world, we inspire moments of wonder and self-expression, fostering a welcoming community where every interaction blooms with shared delight.
A little bit off-the-cuff from me now:
I LOVE a good party, and I have always loved planning parties, especially the small details. I used to pour over bridal magazines – and now it’s Pinterest – looking at the creative and detailed ways a party theme was pulled together, and how all the small, special pieces made an amazing experience for party guests. I have been to large, extravagant parties and noted all the little things that provide a cohesive event, down to matching place cards, small framed signs, tags on items, table numbers, etc. The fact that also have a penchant for paper goods and stationery and a background in graphic design meant I was the party guest oooing and ahhing over all the little party goods and taking it all in.
It’s my belief that you don’t have to spend an exorbitant amount of money to throw a cohesive party with small details, and in fact, I ususally throw parties on a tight budget, but I know that it’s the attention to these little points that create such a fun experience for party guests and provide a “WOW!” factor. So Sorella Minchella offers party goods that you can DIY – digital downloads of darling tags for favors, place cards, banner signs – or that you can have done for you. They can be customized to colors and theme, or include a logo for corporate events.
The thing I do differently is include a bit of sarcastic tongue-in-cheek humor or just goofy pun jokes, and usually within a plant theme. For instance, baby shower favors tags include a variety of plant + baby puns like: Aloe Little One, Plant Parenthood, Watch Me Grow, and Sometimes I Wet My Plants. Wedding or Bridal celebrations include love + plant puns like, Aloe You Vera Much, He had Her at Aloe, Let Love Grow, or Thanks for Rootin’ for Us!
Our plant favors our shipped just in time for your event freshly watered and ready to set out – no need to maintain or water before the party – and they can be “dressed” in hand-sewn burlap wraps or custom designed cardstock wraps that coordinate with the flag tags we make. Attention to detail is a hallmark for us: favors look so cute in a group, but each one goes home solo with a guest, so each one should be as perfect as possible.
I love what I do, and consider it an honor to be a small but important part of so many beautiful celebrations in other’s lives!
For succulent party favors, favor tags and other beautiful party goods and plant themed items, visit succulentpartyfavors.com
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I love a good idea, to a fault. I’m a bit distractible, which I like to think is a marker for “creativity” but it’s very bad for business building. I can’t say that I’ve learned my lesson and put it completely into practice, but I do know for certain that Focus is imperative when you are talking about stabilizing a business and setting it up for future growth. I am not speaking from the pinnacle of this lesson, I have to force myself daily – and I do mean daily – to try to focus on what is most important, what is my best seller, what will bring stability and growth with consistency, etc. I am plagued by becoming interested in ALL the ideas, and all the opportunities, because I truly believe we are living in a time where we have so much opportunity, it’s overwhelming.
To anyone starting or currently running a business, especially as a solopreneur, whittle it down. All of your ideas, your goals, your methods: simplify your life by simplifying your work and your routines. Just pick one thing, because you cannot do them all, even if you really really want to. We only have so much time and resources and energy to create something that will be our legacy.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Even though I’ve been working this business for almost 7 years, I am still building a following, so again, I don’t speak from a point of reaching a pinnacle of success, but I do believe I’m on the path to it, if that gives fellow entrepreneurs hope. I thing it’s important to fully embrace the community aspect of going live on social media. There is a longing for people to make connections through social media and not just buy stuff, which means we cannot just be on social media to sell. Lives on both TikTok and Instagram are incredibly fun and engaging and broaden your organic reach. I’m learning that teaching something useful to people who are “like” me in that maybe they like plants, or have a sense of humor, or just have a mild interest in succulents, love to just log into a live and watch. I do the same – sometimes it’s just fun to watch someone do their craft or create their art. So, my suggestion is to find the thing that you can “teach” and just do it live, or make Reels about it. Not everyone is going to have the wherewithall to steal your method, either – that’s always a concern, but the majority of followers follow to learn something they previously didnt’ know, and someday, when they are ready to buy, and they know what you do and how you do it and the care that goes into it, they’ll come back and be your customer.
Contact Info:
- Website: succulentpartyfavors.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sorellaminchella/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sorellaminchella/
- Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sorellaminchella
Image Credits
Mary Minchella or Gina Minchella