We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chloe Griffith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chloe, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I started Wildflora online plant shop because I loved caring for plants! It was that simple. I decided that if I’m at work most of my life I’d rather be doing something I absolutely love than something to just pay the bills.

My first thought was to become a plant influencer on Instagram but then I took it a step further by opening my own online store. I first had this idea November of 2021, and by February 2022 I committed by starting the LLC process and making my idea legit. I built my website myself, did tons of research, and found the best options for me. I did watch YouTube Chanel’s that gave me a lot of helpful information but overall I did a lot of my own research to make sure I was doing everything correctly. Doing your own research also allows you to learn so much more.

There’s many ways to go when opening a business but I did not want to start my business in debt, so the first process was saving the starting funds from February to August 2022, when I officially launched Wildflora. I purchased inventory, my domain name, opened a business bank account, and bought all my own supplies, such as shipping materials and extra plant care. By August 31st I launched Wildflora!

I have dealt with medical problems my entire life from hypophosphatemic rickets, to anxiety, depression, high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease. From February to August my kidneys were rapidly declining. In January on 2022 I contracted Covid-19 which dropped my GFR or kidney function from 20% of functioning to 11%. By August 2022 I was at 6% of functioning and I thankfully received a kidney donation from a deceased donor on August 12th 2022. I also thankfully was able to avoid dialysis.

After my kidney transplant I was on bed rest and unable to leave the house for 3 months so I had more than enough time to focus on my business idea and launch by August 31st 2022. It’s safe to say emotions were high but I was grateful and excited about life more than ever.

Wildflora aims to connect people to plants to improve their physical and mental health! As I said before I love caring for plants and truly believe they have bought me peace of mind and helped with my high blood pressure. Opening Wildflora was a passion project that I’m happy is doing so well. People see the value in plants and how that impact of physical and mental health!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I ultimately got into caring for plants because of my mom. She’s always had plants around the house and outside in her garden. Playing in dirt was the norm for me growing up.

I provide plant care tips and tricks, a wide variety of house plants, soil and care products! One thing that sets me apart from other plant shops in the emphasis on the impact plants have on our physical and mental health! Dealing with my own health problem I can tall you first hand that the joy and calmness I feel from working with plants and caring for them is real.

I’m most proud of building my brand myself and debt free! As a black woman it’s a real sense of freedom to be able to answer to yourself and provide for others! I want everyone to understand the benefit house plants can have on your life!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My story of resilience is solely from my health problems I’ve always had to deal with. I launched Wildflora only 19 days after life changing surgery. Thankfully, I was almost done with all the major tasks by the time I received my kidney transplant but there was definitely still last minute things to do! I’m thankful that I received my kidney transplant when I did and that while recovering I was also able to finish the launch for my business!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn that you don’t have to start perfect! Everything takes patience and practice. I’m so proud to be a business owner at 25 years old and where my business has grown from August 2022 to now! In the first few months I’ve noticed things I wanted to change, improve and try differently. I don’t have to be at my end goal within a year of opening my business but instead to continually grow and explore new avenues of my business!

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.wildfloraplants.com
• Instagram: @wildflora_plants
• Linkedin: Chloe Griffith
• Twitter: @WildfloraPlants