We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cassidy Lujan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cassidy below.

Cassidy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

Oh, absolutely—we love taking the scenic route away from industry norms. At The Plant Mill, we’re not your typical plant shop or co-op. We host over 30 local partner vendors, NOT just wholesalers. We work with these businesses to grow together and use our resources for a BIG small business impact.

Stepping into our space feels more like exploring a creative collective than walking into a single-brand store. You’ll find vintage glass, taxidermy, art, oddities, and, of course, plants in all their quirky glory. Rather than each vendor having a space, we mix products with like products and have fun designing areas in odd ways.

The shop glows (literally) with high-end lighting by Mosch, and that cozy, artful atmosphere is intentional. We want people to feel welcomed, inspired, and maybe a little enchanted when they walk through our doors so we play with themes and colors for each weekend or event. We have the standard community classes—everything from staghorn mounting to sourdough baking— but our lighting and atmosphere allow us to be creative with the space. It’s truly filled with curiosity and connection so that people want to hang around.

We’re a little weird, a little wild, and definitely not following any standard script—and that’s exactly how we like it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

The Plant Mill actually started as something totally different—a funky little fertilizer company called Casa Plant Club. Back then, we were obsessed with closing the loop on local waste systems—turning banana peels and coffee grounds into gold for your houseplants. That passion pulled us into Phoenix’s vibrant plant and agriculture scene, and before long, we were meeting growers, makers, scientists, and plant-obsessed creatives doing truly inspiring things across Arizona.

Then the world changed. During the early waves of the Covid pandemic, we saw people yearning for real-world connection—something tactile, beautiful, and grounding. Plants brought people joy in isolation, but what we really missed was being together. So, The Plant Mill was born: part plant shop, part creative co-op, part community living room.

Now we’re a home to 33 local partner vendors (and counting), offering everything from rare plants to vintage glassware, small-batch goods, art, and even a dash of oddity (hello taxidermy and ethically sourced bones). Our shop glows under high-end lighting by Mosch, which adds a soft gallery feel to the space—warm, elevated, and inviting.

We also host rotating community classes—everything from moss poles to sourdough to botanical watercolors. We’re proud to be more than a retail shop. We’re a space where people come to learn, connect, and feel a little less alone. Our goal is to make plant care feel approachable and joyful, while supporting a network of small creators doing what they love.

What started as a scrappy little fertilizer idea has grown, one root at a time, into this wildly unique retail space—and that path is now branching into our next big venture. The Plant Mill has become our living, growing foundation. What comes next builds on everything we’ve planted so far.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Oh, the pivot. Casa Plant Club actually began as a side hustle while I was still working full-time in SaaS. I spent over 15 years in the software world—mostly focused on product development, growth strategy, and building partnership operations from the ground up. I worked with early-stage companies, helped develop scalable systems, and built out programs that connected the dots between tech and people.

But I’ve always been drawn to sustainability and systems thinking, especially around local waste and agriculture. Casa started out as a fertilizer brand built on closing waste loops locally, and as I dug deeper into that world, I started connecting with folks across the agriculture and plant space in Phoenix. That exposure completely changed how I thought about community-based commerce and what’s possible outside of a traditional tech environment.

Fast forward to today, and I’ve built out a retail concept that’s home to 30+ vendor partners, hands-on classes, and a customer experience that feels deeply local and intentional. The Plant Mill isn’t just a shop—it’s proof of concept for the kind of operations, storytelling, and system design I’ve always loved building. The same mindset I brought to SaaS—iterative growth, clear frameworks, strategic partnerships—is what allows me to run a business that looks pretty different from the industry norm but functions with purpose and scale in mind.

Each pivot, from tech to soil to storefront, has been part of the same pattern: spotting where systems could be better, more connected, and more human. And it’s that path that’s now shaping our next venture—something that brings everything full circle.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Yeah, it did—and honestly, it was a bit of a wild road getting there. I started selling plants and plant products on the weekends at local markets. That was really my testing ground. Every Saturday, I’d set up a booth, see what people gravitated toward, listen to their questions, and just absorb what worked and what didn’t. I learned a lot about local buying habits and what kinds of products people were actually looking for.

From there, I started trying out different revenue ideas—dozens, really—under Casa Plant Club. I tested everything from monthly membership perks to stickers, pop-ups, one-off workshops, and even tried to wholesale directly to other plant shops. Some things flopped, some took off. The retail therapy shops were super valuable too; it gave me real-time feedback and a chance to experiment with price points, packaging, and even branding.

Then I got laid off from my full-time job. That was kind of the turning point. I had already been slowly building this side hustle, but I hadn’t fully committed. Getting laid off gave me the push—and, to be honest, the severance package—to finally go all in and treat it like a real business.

Once I had that time and focus, I opened The Plant Mill, created a regular rotation of plant education classes, and really leaned into building community around the brand. A big part of growth was keeping my overhead low, being scrappy, and constantly testing new ideas—seeing what stuck and pivoting quickly when something didn’t.

Now it’s a full-time business with multiple income streams—from retail sales to education to collaborations with other makers—and it all really started with listening to what my community wanted and just being willing to experiment.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theplantmill.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theplantmillave/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theplantmill/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassidy-lujan/

Image Credits

Self taken